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The Consulate General of Nepal, and the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, jointly announced the return of two art objects from Rubin's permanent collection to Nepal.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Acting Consul General  Bishnu Prasad Gautam, and Executive Director Jorrit Britschgi, on their respective behalf of the Government of Nepal, and the Rubin Museum of Art, at a ceremony organized at the Museum for this purpose.

The artworks scheduled to return include an upper section of a Frieze/Torana (17th century) and a Garland Bearing flying Apsara/Gandharva (14th century). The Torana was lost from the main door of Yampi Mahavihara/I-Bahi, Patan, Lalitpur. According to the Museum officials, the artwork arrived at the Museum in 2010. The work of flying Apsara is originally from Keshchandra Mahavihara, Itum Bahal, Kathmandu which was lost in 1999 and added to the Museum's collection in 2003.

Receiving the art objects, the Acting Consul General remarked, "The proactive and warm response and thoughtful collaboration from the Rubin have positively contributed to Nepal’s national efforts to recover and reinstate the lost artifacts".  He expressed deep gratitude to the Rubin Museum, it's Executive Director, Board of Trustees, the Museum’s scholars, and officials for their initiative and cooperation in returning these artifacts back to Nepal. He also appreciated the support received from the media, civil society, and others in this endeavor 

The Consulate General and the Museum collaborated to verify the origin of these arts, possibilities to return to the original sites, and repatriation. During this process, the Museum engaged two scholars of Nepali art to further examine and research the known provenance of the artworks. Inputs to determine the ownership and origin of the artworks were received from the Department of Archaeology of the Government of Nepal.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Jorrit Britschgi, Executive Director of the Rubin Museum commented, “As custodians of the art in our collection, the Rubin recognizes that we have an ongoing duty to carefully research the art and objects we collect and exhibit. The theft of archaeological objects continues to be a major concern in the art world. Rubin’s collecting activities adhere to the highest standards of ethical and professional practice related to provenance. We believe it is our responsibility to address and resolve issues of cultural property, including helping to facilitate the return of the two objects in question".

The Consulate General and the Rubin Museum expressed their willingness to work closely in the promotion of art and culture, including Himalayan art, as these collaborative efforts contribute to the preservation of the cultural heritage, and further strengthen the long-standing people-to-people ties between Nepal and the United States of America.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu organized a function to mark World Hindi Day on January 10, 2022. After the first World Hindi Conference was organized in Nagpur, India on 10 January 1975, World Hindi Day is celebrated every year on 10 January in India and in various Indian Embassies and High Commissions abroad, Embassy said in a press statement.

The program was presided over by the Head of Press, Information and Culture Wing Shri Naveen Kumar, First Secretary. He shared the message given by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Twelve students from different schools of Kathmandu also recited Hindi poetry in the program. 

At least 22 people, including some children, died in a mountain resort town in Pakistan after being stuck in their vehicles overnight during a heavy snowstorm, officials have said. Most of the victims died due to hypothermia, officials said. More than 4 feet (122cm) of snow fell in the area of the Murree Hills resort overnight Friday and early on Saturday, trapping thousands of cars on roadways, said Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has launched the ‘Unity for Sustainability’ campaign, a two-year-long climate initiative, started by Annapurna Media Network, one of Nepal’s leading media houses.

PM Deuba inaugurated the campaign amid a special function organized by AMN at Hotel Yak & Yeti in Kathmandu on January 7.  The program itself, which came into force on January 7, was announced amid a special function in Kathmandu on November 24.

The first-of-its-campaign in Nepal aims to bring key climate stakeholders together to fight the effects of climate change and create sustainable development. Inaugurating the campaign, PM Deuba applauded AMN initiatives to create awareness on climate change issues.

PM Deuba added that media can play a vital role in highlighting issues of climate change and contribute to an enhanced dialogue. “I believe we can contribute to clean and green nature-based solutions to the prevailing climate change and environmental issues. I also strongly raised the issue in the recent COP26 Summit,” said PM Deuba. He informed of the initiatives taken by Nepal government to mitigate the effects of climate change. 

Three former prime ministers—KP Sharma Oli, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and Madhav Kumar Nepal—through their video message appreciated the AMN initiation as well. They also underlined the need to work together to fight climate change.

Speaking at the program, AMN Chairman Capt. Rameshwar Thapa said the world was passing through a climate crisis so all stakeholders must unite and work in collaboration. “I am confident that this initiation will add one more brick towards green minds, thereby green behaviors,” Thapa said. Thapa added that as a media house it is AMN’s duty to make people aware and alarmed about this life-and-death issue. “The issue of climate change concerns me. This it the time to give back to the environment and society,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer of Annapurna Media Network Sanat Neupane formally asked for more and more climate partners to support the initiative. Neupane said, “Join us or please make us join you, all that matters is a partnership and doing something more.” He further added, “Climate change, we thought, was a distant ghost but now it is knocking on our doors.”

The program also witnessed the signing of Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with dozens of organizations to work together on climate change. The inauguration program was attended by high-level government officials, climate activists, leaders of civil society, and national and international media representatives.  

To fight climate change individual steps are not enough and all stakeholders need to work together. Right now, these stakeholders are not working in unison and there is a lack of coordination, and hence no concrete output. AMN hopes to change this state of affairs by bringing together climate stakeholders and fostering meaningful interactions between them.

Nepal is in the process of rapid development and achieving economic prosperity. In the current development process, the issue of environmental protection has not received due attention. AMN believes in a sustainable development framework that strikes balance between development and environmental protection.

It wants to highlight the issue of sustainable development that takes care of the planet, and to address the challenges posed by the effects of climate change. So the core of the campaign is to unite all stakeholders to work on a sustainable development framework. AMN will be organizing a series of related programs in the days to come.