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Media under Threat: Trends and Cases of Press Freedom in Nepal report was published by Media Action Nepal on  Friday on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. The report has discovered 34 cases of press violation incidents between May 4, 2023 and May 3, 2024.

Media Action Nepal's report has examined the current status of constitutionally guaranteed rights such as press freedom and freedom of expression. The cases documented and data categorised based on Media Action Nepal's seven indicators, including threats, killings, illegal arrest, Misuse of Law, Seizure of Equipment, Newsroom Harassment and Information blockage, clearly show that the year was unsatisfactory in terms of press freedom, with nearly three dozen cases of press freedom violations reported. Over 79 per cent journalists were threatened while reporting, writing or gathering information.

Furthermore, journalists were forced to change careers due to the Working Journalists Act (WJA)’s poor implementation, or they were subjected to censorship or content compromise. Nepal's WJA stipulates a minimum salary that media houses must pay their editorial staff. 

However, in reality, this salary table is rarely followed when paying journalists. Because of this, the profession is not financially rewarding, which puts pressure on journalists' independence and ethical standards, according to report.  Several women journalists left the profession, although we got data on only 29 women journalists leaving journalism. 

Similarly, it has also underscored that journalists reporting on the environment often face threats. A photojournalist, R.K. Adipta Giri, was illegally arrested in Parbat district on charge of cybercrime, while the reason for the arrest was something else related to the Save Kaligandaki movement.

 This year's World Press Freedom Day theme is Press for the Planet: Journalism in the Face of the Environmental Crisis. It is crucial that the significance of journalists working in the environmental sector be enhanced and secured.

 Likewise, the report has also examined the state of impunity. It found that so far, only five journalists, 39 from conflict era times, have gotten justice.

Additionally, the ban was imposed on TikTok in November, saying it was disrupting "social harmony" and goodwill and blaming it for a "flow of indecent materials." Authorities ordered the telecom company to block access to the app. Similarly, the Social Media Bill (SMB) of the Government of Nepal (GoN) tabled in the Upper House threatens the fundamental rights to freedom of expression (FoE) and online civic space guaranteed under the Constitution of Nepal. The bill, if implemented in its current form, could jeopardise these constitutional guarantees and is deemed incompatible with international human rights instruments that Nepal has ratified. 

The report has claimed that, although it seems that there were fewer incidents of press violations compared to last year, the violations kept occurring, especially from authorities curbing press freedom.

This report is important to understand the trend of press freedom violations and the major incidents. Furthermore, it focuses on impunity, environmental issues and labour rights violations.

Media Action Nepal vice chair Priyanka Jha said, “This report could be useful to every individual who wants to understand the media freedom landscape in Nepal. The trends analysed and cases recorded cover the period of May 4, 2023, to April, 2024

The government has decided to change map on 100 rupee notes.

A Cabinet meeting held on Friday decided to use a new map of  Nepal on 100 rupee notes, government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma said.

A Cabinet meeting held today granted the approval on the proposal of Finance Ministry.

A student was shot at in Damak, Jhapa on Friday.

Anika Gajmer (Nisha) of Udayapur and currently residing at a rented room in Damak was shot at this morning at around 11.

She was shot at near Jastha Nagarik Pratisthan at Damak-5 while she was returning home after attending the Grade 12 exam at Damak-based Himali Higher Secondary School.

She received a bullet in her stomach.

Gajmer is being treated at ICU.

SP Milan KC of the District Police Office, Jhapa said that a police team has already reached the site to investigate the incident.

Firefighters and local residents battled a massive wildfire on the outskirts of Nepal's capital Thursday.

The country sees a spate of wildfires annually, usually beginning in March, but their number and intensity has worsened in recent years, with climate change leading to drier winters. Emergency crews worked through the night to fight the blaze which engulfed a forested area in Lalitpur, on the southern periphery of the Kathmandu valley.

More than 4,500 wildfires have been reported this year across the country, nearly double compared to last year according to government data but less than the worst fire season on record in 2021. "Wildfires have increased in an unimaginable ratio, and the season is expected to last for a month more," Sundar Prasad Sharma of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority told AFP.

"It is challenging to put out fires because of our difficult terrain," he added. Environment ministry spokesman Badri Raj Dhungana said the increase in the number of wildfires this year was because of a lengthy drought and heatwave conditions in southern plains.

"Generally, wildfires peak late April but this year they are still increasing because of rising temperatures," he said. Extensive scientific research has found climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense. Large swathes of South and Southeast Asia have sweltered through a heatwave since last month, with the El Nino phenomenon also driving this year's exceptionally warm weather.

Temperatures have risen above 40 degrees Celsius in the Buddhist pilgrimage city of Lumbini and other parts of the south, with more hot weather forecast in the days ahead. More than a hundred schools in the southern city of Butwal were closed on Thursday for two days out of fears the heatwave would impact the health of students. 

AFP