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Minister for Health and Population Pradip Paudel tendered his resignation on Tuesday.

He has announced his resignation, saying that he cannot remain in the government under current circumstances.

Paudel also said that the Nepali Congress should leave the government in this situation.

Nepal’s government lifted its ban on social media platforms Tuesday a day after police killed opened fire on mass street protests against the ban, killing 19 people, Associated Press reported.

The district administration ordered an indefinite curfew in the capital and schools were closed. A curfew was also imposed in two other cities.

Several widely used social networks, including Facebook, X and YouTube were blocked in the Himalayan nation last week after failing to comply with a new requirement to register and submit to government oversight.

Rallies against the ban swelled to tens of thousands of people in Kathmandu and crowds surrounded the Parliament building before police opened fire on the demonstrators, according to Associated Press.

“Stop the ban on social media. Stop corruption, not social media,” the crowds chanted, waving national flags. Monday’s rally was called the protest of Gen Z, which generally refers to people born between 1995 and 2010.

Two hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 58.8 MW have been completed on the Rahughat River and its tributaries flowing through Raghuganga Rural Municipality in Myagdi. Three more projects with a total capacity of 111 MW are in the final stages of construction. The 37.5 MW Chimkhola–Rahughat–Mangale Hydropower Project, developed by Tundi Power Company, and the 21.3 MW Thulokhola Hydropower Project, developed by Samyukta Urja Limited, have already started commercial production.

The Rahughat project is temporarily connected to the national grid through a switchyard at Tilkenichowar in Raghuganga-3. Prakash Timilsina, resident engineer of Tundi Power, said the electricity is being supplied through a temporary setup to avoid wastage, as construction of the Dandakhet–Rahughat transmission line is not yet complete.

An eight-kilometer 132 kV transmission line from Bandi to the Chimkhola–Rahughat–Mangale power plant in Chimkhola was jointly built by the Thulokhola and 22.5 MW Upper Thulokhola projects. In addition, a 220 kV transmission line from Chimkhola to Tilkeni was constructed in partnership by the Thulokhola, Upper Thulokhola, Chimkhola–Rahughat–Mangale, and Upper Rahughat projects.

According to Binod Poudel, Plant Manager of Samyukta Urja, the Thulokhola Hydropower Project, built in Kuinemangale of Raghuganga-8, was connected to the central transmission line in Bhadra and has since been operating at full capacity. The project, estimated to cost Rs 3.6bn, was financed by a consortium led by Nepal Bank Limited, along with Sunrise Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank, and Siddhartha Bank. Water from the Thulokhola dam, located at the border of Kuinemangale and Chimkhola, is channeled through a 3,382-meter tunnel and a 634-meter penstock pipe to a powerhouse in Chhari for electricity generation.

Similarly, the Chimkhola–Mangale–Rahughat Project in Bandi, Raghuganga-8, diverts water through a 5.3-kilometer tunnel and a 950-meter penstock pipeline to its powerhouse in Bagar, Chimkhola (Raghuganga-7). The cost of the 48.5 MW Upper Rahughat Hydropower Project, promoted by Tundi Power alongside Chimkhola–Mangale–Rahughat, is estimated at Rs 14bn.

Meanwhile, Upper Rahughat is preparing for test production. The 40 MW Rahughat Project and the 22.5 MW Upper Thulokhola Project, both promoted by Raghuganga Hydro, a subsidiary of the Nepal Electricity Authority, are also nearing completion.

Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ramnath Adhikari has resigned from his post on Tuesday.

Adhikari announced his resignation from the ministerial post, writing on social media on Tuesday.

“I cannot stay in the power following the deaths of 19 people in the Gen Z protests. Hence, I am resigning from the ministerial post,” he said.

Opposition parties representing in the Parliament have demanded resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

The meeting of the opposition parties, held at the call of CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the Maoist Center’s Parliamentary Party Office in Singhadurbar on Tuesday, demanded resignation of Prime Minister Oli, stating that the government suppressed the protests of Gen Z.

After the meeting, Maoist Center Deputy General Secretary Barshaman Pun said that the government suppression on Gen Z protests was an the assault on republic and demanded resigation of Prime Minister Oli.

Most of Karnali Province’s population depends on the highway. According to the 2021 census, 73.7 percent of the province’s population is engaged in agriculture. The highway serves as a vital means of transporting products to markets and accessing health services, education, employment, and trade.

Tek Bahadur Shahi, an apple farmer from Chilkhaya, Kalikot, said, “The highway gets blocked by landslides just when it is time to take apples to market. This affects our annual income. Trucks carrying apples stop every day near the Gagane River. Many apples rot on the way. Our product struggles to reach the market, and this has reduced our earnings.”

The Karnali Highway is equally critical for health services. It is the only convenient route for transporting seriously ill patients from remote districts such as Mugu, Jumla, and Kalikot to well-equipped hospitals. Even in districts with air services, flights are often grounded during the monsoon due to bad weather, leaving the highway as the only option.

Kalikot MP and Deputy Speaker of the Karnali Provincial Assembly, Yasoda Neupane, said, “The government does not listen to Karnali’s suffering. We have repeatedly requested sufficient budget allocations for landslide management and for building better roads along the Karnali Highway. But the government ignores us and our representatives. People here are suffering, and we are even being insulted.” She recalled that when a landslide blocked the Gagane River road for five days, apple trucks from Jumla and Kalikot were stranded along the way.

The tourism sector in Karnali is also badly affected during the rainy season. The province is home to many attractive destinations that remain popular year-round, especially during the monsoon when the greenery is most vibrant. However, tourism entrepreneur Kamal Gautam said, “Visiting Karnali in the rainy season is not easy because of floods and landslides. Transportation and air services are convenient only in the dry season, but that is not when Karnali’s true beauty is revealed. Moreover, climate change is now seriously impacting tourism here. This has long-term negative effects on the province’s economic development. The government must improve road infrastructure and make Karnali a destination accessible to tourists year-round.”

Karnali’s geography is complex, with many areas prone to landslides due to weak ground stability and fragile terrain. Heavy rainfall and flooding further destabilize slopes, while human activities such as deforestation, unplanned construction, and haphazard road building exacerbate the problem. Addressing these challenges requires modern technology and long-term planning for effective disaster risk reduction in Karnali.

Gen Z protesters have started gathering in New Baneshwor of Kathmandu on Tuesday.

The Gen Z youths, who have gathered in New Baneshwor from various places of Kathmandu, are preparing for the demonstration.

There have been reports that Gen Z’s have already started demonstrations in various other places.

At least 19 Gen Z protesters died in clashes with security personnel across the country on Monday.

The Health Ministry informed that 347 persons were injured in the incident.

The UN Human Rights Office has expressed shock over the killing and injury of protesters in Nepal, urging a prompt and transparent investigation.

Spokesperson of the UN rights body Ravina Shamdasani said the office had received troubling reports of excessive force by security forces against youth-led demonstrations opposing corruption and the government’s recent social media ban, issuing a statement from Geneva on Monday.
 

The UN called on authorities to uphold the rights to peaceful assembly and free expression, stressing that security forces must follow international standards on the use of force. It also urged the government to reconsider restrictions on social media to ensure compliance with Nepal’s human rights obligations, emphasizing that dialogue is the best way to address young people’s concerns in a democratic society.