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Two years ago, at the age of 29, Bharat Badayar Joshi decided to run for the position of mayor in Parshuram Municipality, Dadeldhura. He won the election, defeating the frontrunner and former mayor. With the victory, Joshi also became the youngest mayor in the country. 

Joshi has a master's degree in atmospheric physics from the Chinese Academy of Sciences University in Beijing. Before joining public office, his plan was to go to Europe for higher studies. The decision to contest the mayoral election, he says, was a result of one incident that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic.   

Joshi was visiting his hometown to spend time with his family when the pandemic struck. As a result, his plan to go to Europe was indefinitely deferred. While the entire country was under a strict lockdown, Joshi’s mother needed medication for her thyroid condition.  

Joshi recalls having to scramble for days on end to secure the medicines for his mother. He experienced first hand the disparity in healthcare access. 

“The struggle that underprivileged people have to put up with just to get hold of essential medicines and healthcare moved me,” he says. “I couldn’t keep calm.” 

Joshi then decided to do something about it. He launched a social initiative called ‘We for Humanity’ with a primary focus on delivering medicines and healthcare services. His work didn’t go unnoticed, both from the residents of his towns and local leaders.  

He contested for the position of mayor with the Nepali Congress’s ticket and won with a huge margin. Since joining the office, Joshi has prioritized infrastructure development as a means to drive the economy of his hometown. 

Joshi says one of the major challenges faced by his town is a lack of proper roads and bridges. Almost every monsoon, flash floods and landslides have been damaging the local road network.  

“We need better roads and bridges to boost the local economy as well as the quality of life,” he says. 

Joshi also hasn’t forgotten about improving the healthcare access and education situation. He has started an ambulance service, upgraded local health facilities and introduced health insurance schemes for the poor and underprivileged. .

To improve education, particularly among girls, he has been organizing various programs aimed at pushing up literacy rate among girls. 

Joshi knows very well that to get things done he needs the support of other political parties. He also knows the provincial and central governments are also vital to attract development funds. Due to the power struggles and political rivalries, he says, many of his dream projects have been facing delays and unnecessary obstacles.  

“Local governments are under pressure to fulfill public aspirations, but the neglect of central government and constant political bickering have emerged as hindrance to development works,” he says.

But Joshi considers himself an optimist and thinks like one. He believes that opportunity often comes disguised in the form of a problem. In the face of adversity, he continues to boost economic growth and create opportunities for local residents. 

He has, for instance, set up a farmers' market with a cold storage chamber to help local farmers. He is also planning to electrify the entire town by forging a collaboration with the Nepal Electricity Authority.   

“We all must strive to fix the problems in our hands so that we can have a better future. We should not burden the future generations with the issues that could be addressed now,” says Joshi. 

The Nepal government has brought 254 Nepalis stranded in war-torn Israel following the armed attacks by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

They were brought home on a wide-body aircraft of the Nepal Airlines Corporation this morning. Government officials, including Minister for Foreign Affairs, NP Saud, had gone to Israel to evacuate them.

Talking to the mediapersons upon landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport, Minister Saud said 254 of the 503 Nepalis who wish to return home from Israel were brought in this rescue flight and the remaining ones would also be brought soon.

"Five hundred and fifty-seven Nepalis had provided their details in response to the request of the Embassy of Nepal based in Tel Aviv, Israel to the Nepalis wishing to relocate to safer places and return to Nepal to give their details online. Out of the 557 Nepalis, 503 had applied to return to Nepal and among them 254 have returned home today with us," the Foreign Affairs Minister said.

According to him, 54 Nepalis who requested to be relocated from risky areas have been shifted to safer areas in Israel.  He added that four Nepali nationals were injured in the attack by Hamas militants in the southern part of Israel and one among them has returned to Nepal today itself after treatment, another one has been discharged from hospital while two others are receiving treatment in hospital in Israel.

"A search has been intensified for Bipin Joshi who has gone missing following the attack. We will share the information as soon as we get additional information on this," Minister Saud said. 

Minister for Foreign Affairs Saud said that 10 Nepali students, who had gone to Israel from the Far-west University of Nepal, were killed in the attack and coordination is being established with the Government of Israel to repatriate their bodies.

"The Israeli side has said that it will take some time for handing over the bodies as it is required to complete the legal process and keep separate details of each and every deceased, and the number of bodies in Israel is currently very high," he said and requested the families and relatives of the deceased Nepalis to have patience for some time.

Minister Saud maintained that the government will make arrangements to rescue the remaining Nepalis who could not be brought this time due to some reasons, as regular commercial flights are also being operated from Tel Aviv at present.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has thanked mediapersons, the Government of Israel and the Government of Nepal, the Embassy of Israel in Nepal and the Embassy of Nepal in Israel and the members of the flight crew, who helped in rescuing Nepali nationals and expressed their solidarity in this.

Nepal Police had kept three buses on stand-by at the airport to take the rescued Nepalis to various destinations.

According to the statistics of the Ministry, there are currently 265 Nepali students studying in Israel and about 4,500 working in various professions and sectors. The 265 Nepali students went to the Israeli government funded 'Learn and Earn' program.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that the bodies of all the deceased will be brought to Nepal as soon as possible after the due procedures are completed.

Nepal Police has come up with a Kathmandu Valley-centric special security plan meant for public safety in view of upcoming festivals.  

The police force aims to deploy personnel and use modern technologies to enable people to celebrate the festivals in a safe and secure environment as part of its ‘Safe Valley, Our Commitment’ campaign.   

Effective security arrangements will be made during the festivals through proactive policing, which includes foot patrol, mobile patrol, plainclothes, picketing, striking, reserve force mobilization, CCTV surveillance, walk-through gates and drone surveillance for traffic and disaster management.

The idea is to use CCTV cameras and drones for surveillance in crowded areas. The police force will deploy personnel equipped with body-mounted GoPro cameras for the identification of suspicious individuals.

Plainclothes security personnel equipped with communication devices and small arms will be deployed in banks, financial institutions and other places where cash and precious jewelry are traded.  

“Public help desks with traffic police will be set up at 15 different locations in the valley,” said Dinesh Raj Mainali, spokesperson at the Kathmandu Valley Police Office.

Dog sniffing and search will be conducted at malls and major checkpoints in the valley.

A total of 1,800 traffic police personnel will be deployed to keep tabs on road traffic as there are chances of people driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, black marketing of bus tickets, mismanagement of the public transport system, looting, speeding and road traffic accidents.

Altogether 7,633 police personnel will be deployed in the valley during the festivals.

Meanwhile, police have issued an advisory on ways to remain safe. The advisory cautions people not to eat foodstuffs offered by strangers. It alerts people not to visit crowded places with cash and valuables, including jewelry and expensive phones. Keeping doors and windows closed, installing a lock with a siren and informing neighbors and local police before leaving home for a long time are also some of the ways to remain safe.

It also recommends people to use digital technology for monetary transactions, keep one-time password (OTP) private and not to post personal and travel details on social media.

Police have also alerted the public about the negative effects of gambling and cautioned against driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.  

A person was injured when police opened fire at a group of alleged robbers at Jagdol in Gokarneshwor Municipality on Thursday.

Crime Investigation Office spokesperson Rabindra Regmi said that police have recovered a pistol and seven rounds of its bullets from the possession of robbers.

He said that police opened fire at the robbers after they tried to attack security personnel. Amar Ghalan (25) was injured in the police firing.

Regmi said that police reached the incident site acting on a tip-off.