Namaste, diaspora family. Police in Kathmandu arrested four medical operators this week over fees charged to workers bound for Malaysia. Parliament did something it had never done before and rejected two of the government’s ambassador picks, one of them for Malaysia. Gagan Thapa took the Congress presidency with 94 percent of the vote. And with tika on Wednesday, a day earlier in London, New York and Toronto, the prime minister spoke about the Nepalis who cannot afford the trip home.
Where Things Stand
The missing. Officials began compiling the list of people missing from the August flood on 9 October. More than 5,200 are missing, 636 of them foreign nationals, and no deadline is set. A death declaration brings Rs 200,000 per person (The Kathmandu Post).
The classrooms. 777 students were displaced. A Rs 3 billion, five-year school recovery plan is ready (The Kathmandu Post).
🌍 Diaspora & Globalisation
Arrests in Malaysia’s Name
Nepal’s row with Malaysia over recruitment has moved from diplomatic notes to handcuffs. On 14 October police arrested four health-service operators, including Kailash Khadka, president of the Nepal Health Professionals Federation. They are accused of collecting an extra “biomedical service charge” on top of the Rs 6,500 government medical fee. The labour ministry says a bilateral committee approved that charge, and an official says the foreign ministry prefers a diplomatic fix. The Department of Foreign Employment has also issued arrest warrants for operators of the 25 agencies Malaysia chose, while Kuala Lumpur holds its line: from early November, only its 275 listed agencies can send workers (The Kathmandu Post). The envoy nominated to Kuala Lumpur, Chudamani Kharel, was rejected by Parliament over complaints that include dealings with a manpower company. He denies wrongdoing. Before you pay anyone, check that your agency is on Malaysia’s list.
Money Home, People Away
Remittances keep climbing: Rs 436.36 billion ($2.85 billion) arrived in the first two months of the fiscal year, up 23.9 percent, though slower than last year’s 33.1 percent. Bhadra alone brought in Rs 221.31 billion, against Rs 174.67 billion a year earlier. The workforce behind the money is shifting. First-time foreign-employment approvals fell to 78,320 from 90,198, while approvals for workers returning to jobs abroad rose to 52,163 (The Himalayan Times). In his Dashain message on Saturday, Prime Minister Balendra Shah said hundreds of thousands of Nepalis abroad are separated from their families by economic need and called for collective efforts to change that. A festival this important, he said, “should not become a burden for anyone because of financial hardship” (The Kathmandu Post).
In Brief:
Lottery back on. A US federal judge, Jinsook Ohta, ordered the State Department to open 2027 Diversity Visa registration by midnight on Thursday 15 October and keep it open at least 30 days. She called the effective suspension “arbitrary and capricious” (NepYork). We could not confirm it has opened, so check the official announcement.
Hilsa road. Minister Sunil Lamsal says the snow-blocked Narapass-Hilsa road, at about 4,500 metres, will reopen within three days. Nepali workers who went to Taklakot in China need it to get home for the festival (OnlineKhabar).
Remittance rails. eSewa Money Transfer has partnered with Visa Direct, so money can go straight to Nepali bank accounts and eSewa wallets (The Kathmandu Post).
🏛️ Politics & Governance
Thapa Takes Congress
Gagan Thapa won the Nepali Congress presidency on 10 October with 6,584 votes to Shyam Krishna Khadgi’s 375. Bishwa Prakash Sharma became senior vice-president unopposed, the party’s office-bearer posts grew from 14 to 25, and 21 working-committee seats are reserved for members under 35. Thapa lost his own seat in March, and the legal dispute over his January election as president continues. “We want to bring back the politics of values,” he said, and he promised to talk to the Gen Z protesters. One analyst’s verdict: “He needs to demonstrate what he has said” (The Kathmandu Post). Sher Bahadur Deuba’s camp is not folding. It has finished constituency conventions in 112 of 165 constituencies as it builds a rival convention (The Kathmandu Post).
A First for the Hearing Committee
On 14 October the parliamentary hearing committee rejected two of the government’s 13 ambassador nominees: Giri Bahadur Sunar (Saudi Arabia) and Chudamani Kharel (Malaysia). It put Jigyan Kumar Thapa (Japan) on hold and cleared ten, including the picks for India, China, the United States and the United Kingdom (The Kathmandu Post). The Post reports it is the first time a House committee has turned down a government envoy. Chair Bodh Narayan Shrestha said of the allegations against Sunar: “The allegations are serious.” The ruling RSP holds eight of the 15 seats, and its own lawmaker Amaresh Kumar Singh said: “Having a two-thirds majority does not mean that every government decision is correct.” Insiders describe a rift between Shah’s circle and party chair Rabi Lamichhane (The Kathmandu Post).
In Brief:
Delhi’s man. India has named Sudhakar Dalela, a 1993-batch diplomat and former ambassador to Bhutan, as its next envoy (The Kathmandu Post). Shah’s first bilateral trip, to New Delhi, is expected in the third or fourth week of November, with no dates fixed. The boundary and Pancheshwar are on the list (The Kathmandu Post).
Madhesh wobbles. UML withdrew its four ministers from the Congress-led Madhesh provincial government on Friday, leaving it in a minority. The party says a 15-point agreement was never implemented (The Kathmandu Post).
💸 Economy & Development
Asking the World, Again
The Loss and Damage Fund’s board will hold its first-ever extraordinary meeting on 22 October to consider Nepal’s 31 August request. The proposal sets aside $21.6 million, $20 million of it for Nepal. Nepal’s government puts its losses at no less than $2.69 billion and recovery needs at $4.71 billion at least. A senior Nepali official called the meeting “an important test of how the FRLD can respond to urgent requests from climate-vulnerable countries,” though the decision is due to be announced formally only at COP31 in November (The Kathmandu Post). Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle is in Bangkok for the World Bank and IMF meetings, with more than 16 engagements, and returns on 21 October (The Kathmandu Post). Nepal is also exploring a World Bank catastrophe bond against earthquakes, with no size disclosed (myRepublica).
Dashain, Priced Up
The Rastra Bank’s index shows food and beverage prices up 6.77 percent year on year in mid-August, and ghee and oil up 15.62 percent. Mutton now costs Rs 1,600-1,700 a kilo, from Rs 1,300-1,400, and an entry-level smartphone about Rs 28,000, from Rs 15,000. Traders blame fuel prices after the Middle East conflict escalated in February, plus layers of middlemen (The Kathmandu Post). The northern road makes it worse. Rasuwagadhi has been shut since the 26 August flood, and Nepal is pressing China to reopen Tatopani, where a container costs about Rs 50,000 against up to Rs 500,000 via Korala. Beijing has not committed, citing security. “After Tihar, the onset of winter makes it virtually impossible to operate the Korala crossing,” said trade association president Ram Hari Karki (The Kathmandu Post).
In Brief:
Hydropower hit again. Sunday’s Budhi Gandaki flood affected four projects totalling 412.09 MW, and the main camp of the 341-MW Budhi Gandaki project was swept away, the independent power producers’ association says (IANS via NewKerala).
Cash, not credit. Lending is picking up, but bankers credit import costs, festive demand and currency depreciation rather than recovery, and banks are still flush with cash (The Kathmandu Post). NEPSE rose for a seventh straight session to 2,634 (OnlineKhabar).
Power trade. The government will let private firms prepare for cross-border electricity trade, a step the sector has long wanted (myRepublica).
⭐ Social & Cultural
A Medal, a Smaller Cheque
Tenzing Sherpa won Nepal’s first medal at the Asian Games, a karate bronze on 23 September, and the women’s kabaddi team took the other bronze three days later. Last week we reported that the cabinet approved Rs 1.3 million for Sherpa. The money reached athletes’ accounts on 14 October, and Sherpa went public on Facebook: the amount was “far lower than what I had heard of,” and tax deductions cut it further. National Sports Council officials say the reward is reduced because he entered without competing in an official qualifier. “What should athletes do in sports that do not even have an international qualifying round?” he asked. “More than the money, I simply want proper recognition for my hard work and my medal.” He addressed the complaint to the sports ministry, the council and the prime minister (The Kathmandu Post).
Another Flood, Another Gorkha Valley
At about 4:20am on 11 October an avalanche at roughly 5,500 metres in Gorkha’s Ungilung Khola set off a debris flood down the Budhi Gandaki. It destroyed more than 35 houses in northern Gorkha, swept away or destroyed three bridges and stranded more than 100 foreign tourists around Jagat on the Manaslu trail. Residents fled to higher ground, and the first reports suggested a landslide had briefly blocked the Syar Khola tributary before it burst. No deaths had been reported by Sunday morning (OnlineKhabar). The disaster authority’s report likens the landslide’s energy to a magnitude 3.5 earthquake and puts the flood at 20 to 25 metres at Salleri (OnlineKhabar). “There is nothing we can do except watch our houses being swept away,” said Ganesh Karki of Jagat.
In Brief:
Schools first. Of 57 schools assessed in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading, 28 were damaged and 15 destroyed. The recovery plan starts with temporary classrooms, textbooks and furniture, and rebuilds safer schools over five years (The Kathmandu Post).
Cricket. Nepal beat Oman by 113 runs, after beating Canada by 24, but must win all four games in the Oman series to finish in League 2’s top six and keep ODI status (The Kathmandu Post). The ICC has also recognised the third Nepal Premier League, which runs 26 October to 21 November (The Kathmandu Post).
New football league. Seven former Nepal Super League clubs have launched the Nepal Football League, due to start on 13 February without state backing (The Kathmandu Post).
Our sponsor, belayat.uk, the UK Nepali noticeboard, carries jobs, housing and events. Hosting a tika gathering on Tuesday? Post it there.
Next week: tika on Wednesday, the Loss and Damage Fund’s 22 October meeting, Wagle’s Bangkok results and Nepal’s cricket fixtures.
Until next week, stay connected.
— The Nepali Diaspora Digest Team nepalidiaspora.net
