Submit your Article

The Third Tihar Flora Expo has witnessed transactions of Rs 10 million.

The five-day expo organized by Nepal Nursery Entrepreneurs Association held at Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, concluded on Saturday.

Laxmi Maharjan, Vice President of the Association and Expo Coordinator, said that more than 35,000 people visited the expo, which had a turnover of Rs 10 million.

Former Environment Minister Ganesh Sah, who participated in the Flora Expo closing program, underscored that everyone should support the 'Protect the Environment' campaign.

Actress Manisha Koirala stated that traditional and indigenous plants should be protected and promoted, emphasizing that this helps maintain environmental balance.

Association President Ramji Prasad Timilsina expressed a commitment to prioritize traditional local indigenous nursery plants in the upcoming expo.

The organizers stated that the Expo featured 70 stalls, including 62 commercial stalls, four official stalls of the Department of Plant Resources and the Floriculture Development Centre, and four competitive stalls.

Kaag Tihar is being celebrated today by worshipping and feeding delicacies to the crow.

Kaag Tihar is a part of the five-day Tihar festivities which is observed on the 13th day of the waning moon in the month of Kartik each year as per the lunar calendar.

This day is dedicated to the Kaag or the crow which is believed to be the messenger of the deity Yamaraj, the god of death, as per the Hindu mythology. According to scriptures, crows are considered as messengers of Yama because Yama learns about people's deeds through them.

On the day of Kaag Tihar today, crows are worshipped and offered delicious food with rituals to please them, hoping they convey 'good news' of people to the 'god of death'.

It is also a tradition in Nepali society to pronounce 'Shuva bol, shuva bol', meaning bring good news and auspiciousness, whenever crows craw at home, one's roof or around the house. If a crow caws around the house, it is even believed to bring some news.

Crows are offered rice mixed with curd and curry in the morning in reverence, in the belief that it is the crows' especial delicacy. The curd and rice are given to crows today in the belief that they will deliver good wishes of people to Yama.

On this occasion, a special worship ceremony will be held today at Kageshwari Mahadev Temple located in Kageshwari Manohara Municipality–1 in Kathmandu. Likewise, special worship of the crow will also be performed at Kageshwari Temple in Hanumandhoka.

Tihar festival is also associated with the belief that those who commit evil deeds are punished by Yamaraj and those who perform virtuous deeds are protected by Dharmaraj. Yamaraj is also known as Dharmaraj or the 'king of justice'.

The ritual of 'Yama Deepadaan' or paying homage to Yama by lighting butter lamps in the names of all family members for liberation from the torments of Yama has begun from Saturday evening.

There is a belief that making offerings of the 'Yama Deepadaan' leads to liberation from suffering in the afterlife.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has reclaimed more than 208 ropani of the encroached public land.

KMC Mayor Balendra Shah informed about this through a social media post on Thursday that more than 200 ropani of public land, worth Rs 23 billion, that had been encroached upon, has been reclaimed.

Mayor Shah stated that with his taking leadership of KMC, the metropolitan city is working with the aim of returning 1,859 ropani 14 anna of encroached land worth about Rs 200 billion.

The Local Government Operation Act, 2074 has granted full authority to the local government for the protection, management, and recovery of public land and property.

Mayor Shah said that pursuant to the same policy, a campaign has been launched to end the tendency of encroaching, occupying and grabbing public land.

KMC is expediting the works of developing the returned land into open parks, sports fields, skateboard parks, pavilions, green areas and public use spaces to prevent its reoccupation.

The metropolitan city has stated that an implementation committee has been formed with the aim of bringing 1,859 ropani 14 anna of encroached land back into public use, based on the report prepared by the commission chaired by former Secretary Ram Bahadur Rawal, and the committee will start its work from today, to further prioritise the protection of public land.

The GenZ protests of September 8–9 turned out to be among the most violent in Nepal’s history—both from the state authorities and the protesting groups. Never before had 19 peaceful protesters been killed in a single day by state forces, nor had all three organs of the state been set ablaze. The two-day uprising left 72 people dead, including three police personnel. The protests also saw former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his spouse Arzu Rana Deuba, who was also the Minister for Foreign affairs at the time, attacked by an angry mob inside their own residence. Widespread arson, vandalism, and looting targeted major political and business institutions across the country. The uprising toppled Nepal’s constitutionally elected leadership and brought in a new government led by former Chief Justice Sushila Karki, which was formed not under constitutional provisions but under the so-called “doctrine of necessity.” This once-in-a-lifetime protest was also marred by waves of misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation both nationally and internationally. Six major examples are as follows:

Social media ban protests

Many international media framed Nepal’s GenZ protests as a backlash against a “social media ban.” However, that was not the case. The two main issues that drove the movement were anger against “Nepo Kids” (children of political elites enjoying privilege at others’ expense) and widespread corruption. TikTok and Discord were the main platforms fueling the movement.

On the first night of the protests, the government lifted its earlier ban on all social media platforms. Even after unbanning 26 platforms that had refused to comply with Nepal’s registration request, protesters continued to use Discord, including for symbolic “voting” to make Karki the world’s first prime minister chosen via social media. Protesters criticized foreign outlets such as The New York Times and BBC for misrepresenting the movement as a reaction to a social media ban. On X (formerly Twitter), users added “Readers Added Context” to several misleading posts to counter this narrative.

Finance minister beaten up

Indian media outlet NDTV picked up unverified social media claims and ran the headline “Nepal Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel Beaten Up By Protesters.” Other outlets, including South Korea’s The Chosun Daily, repeated the story. In reality, Paudel was at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluwatar during the protests and was later relocated safely to Nepal Police Headquarters.

The man who was beaten and mistaken for the minister was actually Lok Bahadur Tandan, a hospital operator and philanthropist. None of the foreign media that ran the story sought verification or cross-checked their claims with credible Nepali outlets.

Ex-PM’s wife burnt alive

Another false report came from The Times of India, which wrote that “Ex-PM Khanal’s wife dies after protesters torched house.” The misinformation was also carried by India’s ANI and the UAE’s Gulf News, and echoed by Indian content creator Dhruv Rathee in his Nepal briefing. In reality, Rajyalaxmi Chitrakar, wife of former Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, was only injured, not killed. To their credit, some Indian outlets, such as Outlook, later corrected the misinformation.

Oli flees to Dubai via Himalaya Airlines

India’s Aaj Tak aired an unverified report claiming that then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was fleeing to Dubai to escape the unrest. The “breaking news” was echoed by Economic Times, Business Today, and Dainik Jagran, which quoted an unnamed “Nepali air hostess.” Himalaya Airlines publicly denied the report, clarifying that no such flight took place. Despite this, none of the Indian media retracted their stories. In fact, no member of Nepal’s ruling elite fled the country; the resigned Prime Minister remains under protection of the Nepali Army.

32 youths held hostage inside Parliament

Nepali-origin US citizen and Microsoft engineer Tanka Dahal, a popular Nepali-language content creator, spread misinformation claiming he had “heard of 32 youths being held hostage inside Nepal’s parliament.” He posted this on Sept 8, the first day of the Gen-Z protests. Though Nepal Police promptly denied the claim and conducted fact-checks, many social media users refused to believe them, further inflaming public anger toward the government and police.

80 kg gold found in mayor’s home

Nepali-American content creator Sujan Dhakal and controversial Nepali YouTuber Bhagya Neupane claimed that protesters had discovered 80 kilograms of gold and two sacks of silver in the home of Jhapa Mayor Rajendra Kumar Pokharel. The allegation turned out to be false, yet millions believed it online. Mayor Pokharel later remarked sarcastically, “How could that much gold be at my house? I urge Bhagya Neupane to return the gold needed for my children’s marriage and take all the remaining.”

The author is Kathmandu-based Nepali journalist writing mainly on tourism, diplomacy and the environment