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A tsunami warning has been issued after three earthquakes, one with a magnitude of 7.4, were recorded off the Pacific coast of Russia, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Aljazeera reported.

The epicentre of a series of earthquakes – the others measuring 6.7 and 5.0 – on Sunday was around 140km (87 miles) east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, capital of Russia’s Kamchatka region, which has a population of over 160,000 people.

According to the USGS, the three quakes occurred in the same area off the coast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky within a span of 32 minutes, according to Aljazeera. 

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has urged the general public to refrain from non-essential travel and stay in safe areas.

His appeal comes amidst the Weather Forecasting Division’s prediction of heavy and widespread rainfall across the country while directing the security personnel to remain on alert.

He also urged the concerned authorities of the federal, provincial and local governments to remain active in minimizing the damage caused by potential disasters including floods, landslides and inundation.

Taking to social media, Prime Minister Oli said, “The Meteorological Forecasting Division has predicted heavy rain in various parts of the country this afternoon. He urged the people to stay informed through updates from the security agencies to take necessary precautions to avoid monsoon-induced disasters. I would like to request all to avoid unnecessary travel and direct the security agencies to remain on alert.”

Earlier, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority had urged the people to be cautious, saying that there is a possibility of heavy rainfall in various parts of the country from July 19-21.  

The year 2025 has been a roller coaster ride for the development sector. Some development partners have discontinued; others have downsized and focused on certain geographies/sectors and others still have changed course completely. What is clear is aid is not what it used to be, the pot is shrinking and shrinking fast. Developing countries must find alternative sources of finance to fund development outcomes—and strategically leverage grants and concessional capital to maximise financing of development needs. The British Embassy Kathmandu has been designing and implementing financial instruments that unlock and mobilise public and private sector finance to support economic growth, private sector development and climate change mitigation.

Nepal is a unique country and has been on a unique development trajectory. Nepal received more than $10bn in remittance in the last fiscal year supporting a positive macro-economic outlook. Still, challenges and vulnerability remain. Dependence on remittance has, sometimes, taken attention away from private sector development and local job creation. Nepali businesses are not adequately integrated with global value chains and attract the lowest levels of foreign investment in South Asia. This limits access to foreign partnerships, technology and know-how. Nepal’s tourism sector, for example, remains stagnant, largely due to a lack of innovation and market access. Despite this and other obvious challenges in the Nepali economy, there are attractive business and investment opportunities across several sectors which remain untapped.

Access to finance is critical to ensuring inclusive growth in Nepal. A study conducted by the British Embassy calculated the funding gap from formal financial channels to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at over $950m. More than 80 percent of the SMEs rely on informal financing sources and almost 60 percent rely on family and personal savings to fund their financing needs. Even on the formal financing side, SMEs in Nepal have very limited options for raising capital outside of collateralised bank loans. This puts many women, for example, at a disadvantage when so few of them own property or have access to savings. Limited access to finance also stifles growth, innovation and job creation. While the recent fiscal and monetary policies are more supportive of the private sector and SMEs in Nepal, SME development requires strong collaboration between all stakeholders—the government, development partners and the private sector.

Many developing economies like Nepal struggle to attract foreign investments or local capital into high risk/high rewards investment opportunities. Bilateral and multilateral development finance institutions (DFIs) are keen to invest in Nepal as is shown by the number of DFIs active in the country and those that are keeping a close watch for the right investment opportunities. Bridging the gap between interest and investment requires all stakeholders to join forces to mitigate challenges and find and develop opportunities. Designing innovative financial structures will be key in terms of crowding in large amounts of private sector capital.

Blended finance platforms invite the government, development partners, and development finance institutions (DFIs) to collaborate and unlock access to finance. Blended finance strategically uses development finance (grants) to mobilise local and international private capital (commercial capital) into strategic sectors. Further, a reform-oriented public sector that builds a supportive business environment through policy stability and effective partnerships is essential to achieving sustainable development outcomes. 

The British Embassy Kathmandu has been using a blended finance approach to support access to finance in Nepal. Funds such as Business Oxygen and Dolma Impact Fund achieved the dual goal of supporting development outcomes and enhancing returns to investors. International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank Group, has used UK official development assistance (ODA) to de-risk investments and mobilise finance for SMEs in Nepal. The right financial structuring can help further reduce the gap between demand for capital and supply of capital in the growing SME ecosystem.

Building on previous experience, the British Embassy is establishing Nepal in Business—Catalytic Finance to unlock new sources of capital for SMEs, from the Private Equity and Venture Capital (PEVC) space and financial institutions. This financing facility will be managed by the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank- FMO. Demonstration effects from blended finance facilities—investment leveraged, strengthened capacity of the financial sector, and shifting understanding of risks—can be catalytic in this ecosystem. The facility is also expected to create well above 10,000 new jobs.

The author is the Development Director at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in Nepal

“Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done”. This is what Lord Hewart, the then chief justice of England, said while pronouncing the verdict in the case of Rex v Sussex Justices, in Sussex in 1924. A century later, this aphorism coming from a court of law in Sussex has become a law of sorts onto itself. 

With the executive and the legislative falling miserably short of public expectations by landing in one scandal after another, the sovereign people have been pinning high hopes on another vital organ of the state—the judiciary—for quite some time. In this day and age of information and communication technology, where the people have information and knowledge at their fingertips, even the hallowed chambers of law cannot escape public scrutiny. 

People and the fourth estate—the free media—split hairs over judgments coming from the court of law, which is actually good for democracy, human rights and the rule of law. If it is bad for the rule by law, then so be it. At a time when the image of the executive and the legislature has taken a huge beating, the judiciary is under tremendous strain to maintain the sanctity of state institutions. The final interpreter of the Constitution can shoulder this task of Himalayan magnitude only by keeping itself above controversies galore. 

As they say, action speaks louder than words. Talking about action, a division bench of the Supreme Court has issued a verdict in a case related to ancestral property, stating that daughters married before 1 Oct 2015 cannot lay claim to ancestral property. Through this judgment, the court has put to rest a long-pending dispute over ancestral property, at least for now.  

As indicated earlier, the onus is on the top court to remain squeaky clean by minimizing extraneous influence to the maximum possible extent. For quite some time, the judiciary has been courting controversy over the appointment of justices close to a party or the other. It is a given that such appointments increase the risk of miscarriage of justice that can lead to all sorts of unwanted consequences for the country and the people. 

Some lay people, including skeptics, predicting judgments based on the benches hearing the cases is no good tiding—neither for the judiciary, nor for the state as a whole. As the top court of the country continues to deal with piles and piles of important cases ranging from property disputes to the protection of national boundaries and more, here’s wishing that an infallible sense of justice prevails in the hallowed chambers, driven by international conventions, precedents, our customs, traditions, societal norms and values as well as our own charter.