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The Minister Who Can't Stop Making News

Home Minister Sudan Gurung, a founding shareholder in Star Micro Insurance and Liberty Micro Life, is battling resignation calls from the Nepali Congress, civil society groups, and even voices within his own RSP after documents surfaced connecting both companies to Deepak Bhatt, now under arrest in a Rs 3.7 billion ($24.3 million) money laundering investigation. PM Balendra Shah has demanded a clarification (in writing), which Gurung's secretariat says it has supplied. Gurung's defense rests on a few points: his Rs 2.5 million stake was disclosed inside a Rs 20 million ($132,000) portfolio on the Council of Ministers' website, all transactions went through banking channels, and money laundering cases fall to the Finance Ministry's investigation department, not his Home Ministry. It’s not a bad argument, but less convenient for the minister is the now-deleted social media post in which he quoted Bill Gates on why dying poor is your own fault. Gurung, for now, is still in office.

Read more: myRepublica (declaration discrepancies), Nepali Times (loan-funded shares), myRepublica (civil society demands), Online Khabar (minister's defense), The Himalayan Times (jurisdiction argument)

Washington Calls on Kathmandu, Skips the Top Floor

S. Paul Kapur, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, finished a three-day Kathmandu visit Wednesday without ever sitting down with the Prime Minister. The gap was deliberate as the US side apparently never requested the meeting. Kapur did work through much of the rest of the cabinet, meeting Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal and Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, who both promised to help clear the way for FDI. The ICT pitch was the clearest tell of Washington's priorities when Kapur met American Chamber of Commerce leaders and posted publicly about "digital infrastructure, AI adoption, cybersecurity, and sharing US technological expertise." That’s language that tracks closely with Washington's effort to keep Huawei out of the country's 5G rollout (Huawei now supplies most of Nepal's 4G equipment). The finance ministry meeting also resulting in the airing of a list of American grievances, including unresolved tax disputes involving Cotiviti, Coca-Cola, and the Dolma Impact Fund. Wagle said those would be handled through legal channels.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post (elections context), Socialnews Xyz (RSP meeting, 5G framing), The Annapurna Express (immigration topic), The Kathmandu Post (MCC compact, tax disputes), The Kathmandu Post (ministers' FDI pledges)

The Hundred-Rupee Border War

Armed Police Force staff with loudspeakers have spread out over the 1,750-kilometer Indian border, announcing that no exemption will apply to civilians, government employees, or NGO workers on Indian goods worth more than Rs 100 (about $0.75, or 63 Indian rupees). The rule has always been on the books, but now the government plans to enforce it. Teams of customs officers, revenue investigators, district officials, and police have been searching pedestrians, cyclists, and sniffing through shopping bags. Duties are from 5 to 80 percent depending on the item. Nearly 50 rural markets along Bihar's 378-kilometer border say they’ve seen a drop in Nepali footfall during peak wedding season. Rajiv Jha, a member of Shah's own Rastriya Swatantra Party, says the limit is "extremely low and impractical."

Read more: Economic Times (Birgunj protests), Times of India (Rs60 lakh baseline), The Kathmandu Post (vehicle fee schedule), Times of India (shopkeeper quotes), The Kathmandu Post (45% price gap)

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Graduation Day, No Cap and Gown

Development assistance collapsed 73 percent year-on-year in the first months of the 2025-26 fiscal year, dropping from Rs 37.18 billion ($250 million) to Rs 9.54 billion ($64 million), a preview of what November's LDC graduation is going to look like on the ground. EU and Japanese trade preferences cushioning apparel and textile exports will disappear when the diploma is given.

Read more: East Asia Forum

Thapa Wins the Party, Inherits Rubble

Nepal's Supreme Court on April 17 gave Gagan Thapa clean legal title to the Nepali Congress presidency, upholding the Election Commission's recognition of the Central Working Committee elected at January's convention and ending Sher Bahadur Deuba's three-month rearguard action. The ruling is unambiguous but the math is not. NC won only 38 of 275 seats in March, its worst showing ever, and Thapa himself resigned after the results before the CWC refused to accept it. The Deuba camp, now operating under former acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka, agreed on Saturday to accept the verdict, then gathered at a Dhumbarahi hotel on Sunday afternoon to work out what comes next.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post (judges named), Thewire In (RSP competition), myRepublica (Thapa quotes), Desh Sanchar (Deuba camp reaction), The Kathmandu Post (seat-loss figures)

Rule 259, Written for a Friend

The House of Representatives Rules Drafting Committee handed its draft procedural code to Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal on Tuesday, and tucked inside it was Rule 259, which sets aside parliamentary regulations as federal special law and a "special privilege of the House." The committee was led by RSP lawmaker Ganesh Parajuli, and opposition members wasted little time reading the fine print. The provision, they say, is engineered to shield RSP Chairman Rabi Lamichhane from the cases now working their way through the courts.

Read more: The Rising Nepal (committee process stats), Khabarhub (Speaker refinement plan), Ratopati (Rule 259 controversy), Ratopati (petition filer named), The Rising Nepal (court rejection confirmed)

Wagle to Investment Board: Two Out of Fifty-Five is "Shameful"

Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle told the Investment Board's monitoring committee on Tuesday it was "shameful" that just 2 of 55 approved foreign investment projects have reached the construction stage, and asked on the record who, exactly, is responsible. If the 14th meeting shows no improvement, he warned, the government will take "strict measures." The same week, Wagle told cabinet ministers they can add new budget lines only by cutting old ones, and did away with the long-standing practice of "abanda" unallocated budget allocations from fiscal 2083/84.

Read more: Ratopati (advisor quotes), Ratopati (budget figures), Wionews (legal barrier)

Balen's Wealth Hunters Get Badges, Not Handcuffs

Retired Supreme Court Justice Rajendra Kumar Bhandari is chairing a new commission with a mandate to scrub through the assets of every major political figure and senior official who has held office since 2005, including former prime ministers Deuba, Oli, and Dahal. Cabinet authorized the panel on April 15, nineteen days after the government was sworn in. The commission is empowered to collect, review, and verify asset declarations, but what it can’tt do is arrest or prosecute. Actionable findings get handed to the CIAA and the Department of Money Laundering Investigation. A second phase, as per the government's published reform plan, is expected eventually reach back to 1990.

Read more: Nepal News (286 officials count), OCCRP (10 arrests noted)

USAID Exit Hits Family Planning

The Health Ministry has cut its contraceptive budget 32% to Rs 170 million ($1.1 million) for fiscal year 2026-27, and UNFPA has slashed its annual contribution from $3.2 million to $1.06 million after USAID suspended grants to both the ministry and the UN agency. Shelves are stocked for now, but Sarmila Dahal, who heads family planning at the Department of Health Services, has been clear about the consequences. "If the budget is not increased, there will be a shortage." The last stockout dragged on for about two years. Half of Nepal's 1.2 million pregnancies in 2017 were unintended, and nearly 359,000 of those ended in abortion.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post

Rubber Stamp to Red Pen

Australian student visa approvals for Nepali applicants collapsed from 96.8% in June 2025 to 38.7% in February, a drop the Department of Home Affairs has been careful not to call a crackdown. The consistent failure point appears to be money, since many applicants show loans enough to cover only the first year, sudden large account deposits with no savings history, self-declared income streams that can't be verified, and multiple income sources conveniently totaling the benchmark figure.

Read more: The Koala News

NEPSE Gives Traders More Rope

The Nepal Stock Exchange widened its daily circuit breaker from 10 percent to 15 percent this week in the biggest shakeup to local trading mechanics in years. The new rules also let investors place buy and sell orders around the clock, though execution will remain pinned to the 11am-3pm window and round-the-clock ordering won't kick in until NEPSE issues a formal implementation order, which it hasn't got around to yet. Intraday safeguards have been redesigned as well. Now a 5 percent move in the morning session will be cause for a 15-minute trading halt, and an 8 percent swing after 1pm will shut the market for the rest of the day. The pre-open price band has been widened to 5 percent from 2 percent, and the regular-session order band loosened to 3 percent from 2 percent.

Read more: myRepublica (effective date), The Kathmandu Post (Sebon approval)

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back - hit reply and tell us what you think.

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Private Press Prints Its Protest

Dozens of private newspapers blanked their front pages with giant question marks on Monday in protest of an April 1 order that funnels all government advertising exclusively to state-owned Gorkhapatra, Radio Nepal, and Nepal Television. Nepal Samacharpatra, Rajdhani, Madhyanha, and others replaced headlines and body text with the symbols, in a unified opposition to a policy they say threatens their survival. Private outlets collectively receive around Rs 3.84 billion ($25 million) from a total government ad budget of Rs 10.39 billion ($68 million). State media gets roughly Rs 1 billion ($6.6 million). The government says it's cutting costs and standardizing outreach, but media houses counter that choking off revenue will collapse everything from printing plants to journalism schools. Private publishers also claim roughly Rs 3.25 billion ($21 million) is already lost to corruption, so there may be better places to save a buck.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post (corruption claim), myRepublica (journalist response)

Show Us the Receipts

Balen's cabinet made their asset details public on April 12, a little less than three weeks after taking office, a first for Nepal. Its seems, however, that transparency without documentation might be riskier than silence. Prime Minister Shah listed social media as his main income source, with Rs 14.6 million ($96,000) in the bank and four million Facebook followers but no land to his name. Home Minister Sudan Gurung said he’s got 89 tolas of gold and Rs 43.1 million ($284,000) in stock market investments. The numbers caused street protests at Maitighar Mandala, as demonstrators demanded proof of income sources as well as tax records. Former Finance Secretary Rameshwar Khanal said that tax filings should carry more weight than public declarations, which is maybe a polite way of saying the ministers' explanations need receipts.

Read more: Online Khabar (asset amounts), myRepublica (protest)

Balen's Growth Target Meets Gravity

The new government published a five-year plan on Tuesday that dreams of targets 7% average annual growth, $100 billion in GDP, as well as 1.5 million new jobs. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank both think that FY26 growth is going to slow down to between 2.3% and 2.7%, reduced from an already uninspired 4.6% showing last year. The PM’s draft "national commitment" document, which folds his Rastriya Swatantra Party's 100-point agenda in with manifestos from six other parliamentary parties, wants to more than double per capita income from $1,400 to $3,000 and cut “multidimensional” poverty to 10%. Let’s see.

Read more: Spotlight Nepal (ADB inflation forecast), Khabarhub (policy specifics)

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Seventeen Ambassadors, No Pecking Order

Balen Shah pulled off something no Nepali prime minister has tried before: he sat down with 17 ambassadors and diplomatic mission heads at once on April 8, treating India, China, the United States, Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Qatar, and the UN Resident Coordinator as equals in the same meeting. Past leaders met foreign envoys in more informal settings, preserving the traditional hierarchy where New Delhi and Beijing got separate, carefully calibrated attention. The joint session flips that script by way of engagement with everyone, alignment with no one, in what one analyst calls "multi-vector autonomy."

Read more: Times of India (domestic reform agenda), Theprint In (April 8 details), The Annapurna Express (multi-vector autonomy concept), Spotlight Nepal ($1,400→$3,000 target)

Four Hikes in a Month and the Mayor's Carpooling

The cost of fuel hit Rs219 a litre ($1.48) on Friday, the fourth price increase in a month and the highest in South Asia, topping Pakistan's $1.36 and leaving Bangladesh's $0.87 looking like a distant memory. The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is still bleeding Rs7.81 billion every fortnight despite the hikes and now owes Indian Oil Corporation nearly Rs18 billion. The state oil company floated an odd-even vehicle rule to save fuel, though the government settled for a two-day weekend instead of the proposed four-day work week. Transport fares are already up 15 to 21 percent, and the NOC's latest statement suggests another 20 to 30 percent price jump could be coming. The Asian Development Bank warned Friday that the West Asia conflict keeps pushing global oil prices higher, with inflation projected to hit 3.7 percent this fiscal year before climbing to 4.5 percent next year.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post (regional price comparison), myRepublica

Oli Walks Free After 13 Days

Former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak were released Monday after the Supreme Court let their latest detention order expire, ending 13 days behind bars on criminal negligence charges tied to 19 deaths during September's Gen Z protests. The court noted that statements had already been taken and that Oli is seriously ill, but stopped short of calling the detention unlawful. Both men walked on the condition they show up when summoned. Oli claimed vindication on Facebook, calling his arrest "unlawful" and driven by "prejudice and revenge." The case remains open and the court instructed investigators to wrap up quickly.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post

Buddha's Backyard Gets an Eviction Notice

Nepal's Supreme Court has ordered the demolition of all industrial facilities within 15 kilometres of Lumbini, putting Rs 70 billion ($460 million) in investment and 10,000 jobs on the chopping block to protect the UNESCO World Heritage site where the Buddha was born. The ruling, issued last August but published in full text last Tuesday, targets 40 heavy and medium-scale firms including 11 cement factories in the Lumbini industrial corridor between Bethari and Sundi in Mayadevi Rural Municipality. The case dates to 2019, when senior advocate Prakash Mani Sharma filed a writ arguing that unregulated industrial construction was irreversibly damaging the archaeological integrity and spiritual sanctity of the site. Lumbini pulled in roughly 2.3 million visitors in fiscal year 2024-25: 1.46 million Nepalis, 570,000 Indians, and more than 252,000 from elsewhere.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post

Beijing Reads Kathmandu the Riot Act

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming sat down with Home Minister Sudan Gurung on Monday and delivered blunt some blunt talking points by telling the Minister to keep government hands off Tibetan and Taiwanese activities. Zhang mentioned the brief appearance of a Taiwanese flag at a March 28 cultural festival in Kathmandu and warned Gurung against sending any official representation to the May 27 swearing-in of Penpa Tsering, the re-elected Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala. Tsering won a second five-year term in February with more than 60 percent of the vote. Gurung, who has faced accusations of backing Tibetan refugee youth during last year's Gen Z protests, a charge he has repeatedly denied, assured Beijing that no Nepali soil would be used against China. The ambassador also raised concerns about continued "separatist" activities by Tibetans and the registration status of Tibetan refugees.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post

784 Pages of Helicopter Fraud

Prosecutors filed a 784-page charge sheet against the Everest helicopter rescue ring, using organized crime statutes that could multiply prison terms for anyone who knowingly enabled the scam. Field coordinator Vivek Pandey confessed on page 252 that he arranged choppers for tourists with headaches and coordinated with hospitals to fabricate altitude sickness diagnoses, though he's still denying it constituted organized crime. The charges cover five categories of fraud, from forged flight manifests to inflated medical claims that pulled $20 million from insurers between 2022 and 2025. Canada issued a Level 2 travel advisory warning its citizens about pressure tactics, falsified documents, and suspiciously cheap trekking packages.

Read more: Climbing (director implicated), The Travel (traveler protection tips)

Ninety-Four Billion and Counting

Nepalis sent Rs 93.89 billion ($617 million) out of the country for overseas education in the first eight months of this fiscal year, up 8 percent from the same period last year and part of a climb that's been running since the pandemic. The net outflow, after accounting for the Rs 4.10 billion foreign students brought in, hit Rs 89.79 billion. Former National Planning Commission vice-chair Prakash Kumar Shrestha says the government talks about improving education but has no policy to bring graduates back, and schools here don't prioritize foreign degrees even when students do return.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post

Balen's Bureaucrats Get a Week to Empty In-Trays

The government launched a "Zero Pending Files" drive from April 13 to 20, ordering every public office to clear backlogs and track stalled decisions daily. Files pending beyond three, seven, or 15 days face will get a mandatory review, and officials are being told to stop kicking decisions upstairs unnecessarily. The procurement office also released a draft amendment to the 19-year-old Public Procurement Act on April 8, proposing reverse auctions, forfeiting bank guarantees if contractors pocket advances without starting work within 30 days, and holding project officials personally accountable. The Prime Minister's Office published an 18-point "national commitment" synthesizing the economic plan outlined in Story 3 and requested feedback by April 23. A separate initiative targets reclaiming government land still occupied by party-affiliated trade unions despite a 2022 policy requiring them to pay leases or vacate.

Read more: Khabarhub (income target), The Kathmandu Post (six parties listed), myRepublica (tracking mandate), myRepublica (30-day forfeiture), The Kathmandu Post (monthly lease)

Passport Plus What, Exactly?

The Department of Foreign Employment told migrant workers on April 6 to show up at Tribhuvan International Airport with air tickets, invoices, and receipts for fees paid to manpower agencies. The Department of Immigration said workers need only a passport and labour approval, nothing more. The contradiction revived a turf war that last flared in July 2023, when 138 workers bound for Kuwait were stopped at the airport despite holding valid approvals. Labour expert Rameshwor Nepal called the receipt requirement "immature," noting that under free visa, free ticket programmes in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the UAE, and Mauritius, workers often don't have receipts to present. The Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies objected that mandating receipts without policy reform would burden workers caught between two agencies that can't agree on paperwork. As of publication, the receipt requirement has not been formally withdrawn, leaving workers to guess which set of rules applies at the gate.

Read more: Online Khabar (criticism), myRepublica (clarification)

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back - hit reply and tell us what you think.

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Balen Takes Office, Sends KP Oli to Jail

Balendra Shah's first act as prime minister was to arrest his predecessor. Within hours of taking office, the new PM told police to nab former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and ex-Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak over the September 2025 crackdown that killed at least 76 protesters. The move resulted in street clashes between Oli's supporters and security forces in Kathmandu; Kathmandu District Court gave investigators a five-day remand to question both men, later extended by two more days. Shah, whose Rastriya Swatantra Party came to power on the back of those same protests, had promised accountability during his campaign. Oli's Communist Party of Nepal (UML) raised the arrests in Thursday's first session of the House of Representatives, accusing the government of political persecution.

Read more: The Himalayan Times (protest violence), OCCRP (Bhatta financials), The Himalayan Times (Agrawal arrest), MSN (cabinet makeup)

Everest's $20 Million Baking Soda Scam

Police charged 32 people over a fake helicopter rescue racket that defrauded insurers of at least $19.69 million, a caper that was first exposed in 2018 when a government probe fingered 15 companies involved (no action was taken at the time). The operation operated by way of guides sickening trekkers with baking soda mixed into food or contaminated meals to justify evacuations, then filing multiple insurance claims for single flights and getting hospitals to issue inflated medical invoices. Ten suspects have been arrested, including people from trekking agencies, helicopter companies and hospitals. Investigators found that guides also terrified some tourists that were showing mild symptoms of altitude sickness into unnecessary airlifts.

Read more: Straits Times (AFP confirmation), Asian News Network (financials)

Two-Day Weekend, Zero Choice

Civil servants have been gifted a two-day weekend for the first time, and nobody's celebrating. The government shut down all offices and schools on both Saturdays and Sundays beginning this week, in an emergency fuel conservation measure. Aviation fuel prices nearly doubled on Thursday, and the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation has been hemorrhaging money on petroleum products even as it’s put price hikes in place. Officials are now exploring ways they might convert petrol and diesel vehicles to electric power. Nepal relies almost entirely on India for fuel supplies, leaving it exposed to both price shocks and Indian decision-making.

Read more: Al Jazeera (office hours), MSN (EV conversion)

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Taxes Cut, Oil Corp Still Bleeding

Nepal Oil Corporation has lost Rs 11.72 billion ($77 million) in just 15 days, caught between rising international prices and frozen retail rates. The Cabinet has, in an attempt to stem the bleeding, cut customs duties on fuel by half, but it may not be enough. Gasoline currently sells at Rs 202 per liter, but NOC's import cost of Rs 154 plus Rs 66 in taxes pushes the cost to Rs 220, leaving a per-liter subsidy loss of Rs 18. The Diesel story is even worse, it has a Rs 121/ liter loss at current retail prices.

Read more: Spotlight Nepal (tax figures), The Annapurna Express (customs cut)

Balen's Broom Sweeps 167 Points Off the Board

The NEPSE shed 167 points in the days after PM Balen Shah's government took office, a 5.7% slide that’s been a real-time barometer of investor anxiety. Markets dipped 71 points on the first trading day, then oscillated through a few brief recoveries before continuing the descent as the administration showed an appetite for enforcement.

Read more: The Himalayan Times (market), The Annapurna Express (example)

Half a Billion in Broken Glass

The National Planning Commission put a price tag on last year's Gen Z protests, and it’s Rs 84.45 billion ($555 million). The damage was widespread, across government offices, private businesses, community assets, and torched vehicles. The private sector took a Rs 33.54 billion ($221 million) hit, and the government and public sector losses ran to Rs 44.93 billion ($296 million). Rebuilding is expected to cost Rs 36.30 billion ($239 million) over the next two and a half years.

Read more: Spotlight Nepal

Big Spenders Stay Home

Nepal welcomed 120,516 tourists in March, a similar number to the same month last year, but the headline number is hiding a retreat of high-value visitors. American arrivals were down 28%, European visitors fell 19%, and UK numbers slid from about 6k to a little less than 5,000. A 21% increase from India and other SAARC countries papered over the gap, even though spring is normally when Western climbers and trekkers fill the lodges. Nepal Tourism Board CEO Deepak Raj Joshi is blaming the West Asia conflict for disrupting transit routes (he was personally stranded at Doha airport for a week).

Read more: Online Khabar

Three-Quarters Electric and Rising

Electric vehicles made up nearly three-quarters of new car sales according to fiscal year 2025 customs data, one of the world's highest adoption rates, and some drivers are giving thanks as diesel prices go through the roof. Gyanu Pattel, who swapped his Tata Sumo for a 10-seater electric van a year ago, now spends $9 daily on charging for his 140km Birgunj-Kathmandu shuttle, down from the $45 he was paying for diesel. The tailwind is significant because Nepal is able to generates electricity from its own rivers instead of importing fossil fuels. Charging stations have sprung up across the country since about 2020, and electric minivan drivers have become more willing to drive with empty seats since fuel costs aren't eating their margins, meaning unexpected efficiencies are being found in shorter wait time and roomier rides for passengers.

Read more: Climatechangenews

Kathmandu Forms Committee Number 1,001 to Fix Power Bottleneck

Speaking of hydropower… The government set up a committee to figuring out why 13,000 MW of private hydropower projects are stuck waiting for Power Purchase Agreements, in a backlog that's been frustrating developers for years. The panel, is expected to find bottlenecks in the PPA process and recommend reforms.

Read more: myRepublica

Cull and Kill

Bird flu was reported in 23 locations in five districts, forcing authorities to destroy 104,000 fowl and ban the poultry trade in the eastern belt. Sunsari had a dozen outbreaks, Morang seven, with cases also turning up in Jhapa, Chitwan, and Kathmandu, where a crow tested positive on the Tribhuvan University campus. The eastern belt is responsible for a significant share of national poultry production; the trade ban is already pushing prices higher in city markets.

Read more: Online Khabar

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First Majority in 27 Years

Nepal got its youngest prime minister on Friday when 35-year-old Balendra Shah took the oath of office. The former structural engineer and (**check notes**) rap artist leads the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which won 182 of 275 parliamentary seats in the March 5 election, the first single-party majority in 27 years. Shah, who served as Kathmandu mayor from 2022 to 2026 before stepping down to run, defeated former prime minister KP Sharma Oli by large margin in his own Jhapa constituency. His 15 member cabinet was also announced; it includes five women and shows a technocratic tilt. Deputy prime minister and finance minister Swarnim Wagle holds a master’s degree from Harvard, health minister Nisha Mehta is a nurse, for example. Shah kept the defence and industry portfolios for himself. The first cabinet meeting approved a 100-decision governance blueprint covering a wide range of issue. Details in the Katmandu Post, below.

Read more: AP News (protest context), The Kathmandu Post (constitutional process), The Himalayan Times (Vedic traditions), NDTV (Modi congratulates, seats), The Kathmandu Post (blueprint)

Rapper With New Job Arrests His Predecessor

Police arrested former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and ex-Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak early Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after Balendra Shah took oath as a Prime Minister of Nepal. The arrests are based on the commission report that found 76 people died during the September protests, with at least 19 killed on the first day when police fired on demonstrators protesting for anti corruption movement. The commission, was led by former justice Gauri Bahadur Karki, concluded Oli and Lekhak showed "extreme negligence" and made "no effort to stop or control the firing," though it couldn't establish a direct shoot order was given. New Home Minister Sudan Gurung wrote on social media: "No one is above the law. This is not revenge against anyone, just the beginning of justice.", but CPN-UML Secretary Mahesh Basnet says selective arrests tied to the Karki Commission report could push the country back into conflict, calling the government’s approach “controversial and conspiratorial.” Also see the next story.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post (warrant legality challenge), Christian Daily (protest clash details), Independent (sentencing specifics), BBC (Oli medical condition), myRepublica (court appearance timeline), myRepublica (threat of more conflict)

Burnt Money Burns Back

The anti-money laundering unit also arrested former energy minister Deepak Khadka Sunday from his residence in Budhanilkantha, months after protesters set his house on fire and videos spread online showing demonstrators tossing cash found inside into the air. After nearly six months of enquiries, the Department of Money Laundering Investigation, has launched the full investigation involving three former prime ministers- Sher Bahadur Deuba, KP Sharma Oli, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, as well as former minister Arzu Rana Deuba. Burnt pieces of banknote recovered from several leaders’ home after the September 9, 2025, vandalism were confirmed to be genuine by lab tests. Khadka’s detention came just a day after Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post (first PM probe), DW (protest death toll)

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Infinity and Beyond the Travel Ban

Money laundering investigators stopped Infinity Holdings chairman Deepak Bhatta from leaving the country, reopening the case that had previously stalled under the previous government. Bhatta, accused of acting as a broker to win government contracts, is under scrutiny over a suspicious Rs 450 million (~$3 million) transfer in 2021 from Jagdamba Steel that never appeared in the company's audit report. The financial trail was flagged by Nepal Rastra Bank's Financial Information Unit in 2022, which noted that the money was moved from Jagdamba Steel's account to one of Bhatta's personal accounts. The investigation has grown to include the Deuba family, with police stopping demolition work at Deuba's Budhanilkantha residence to preserve evidence.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post (Budhi Gandaki contract), Online Khabar (Rana connections)

The House Now Loses

The telecoms regulator blocked all online betting apps and websites within 24 hours on Sunday, after an order from the communications ministry. The ban is similar to a crackdown that took place in India last year. All gambling is already supposed to be illegal, but there is concern about the rise in online betting among young users.

Read more: iGaming Business

Tokyo Built It, Beijing Will Run It

The Nagdhunga Tunnel, funded with a Rs 16 billion ($105 million) Japanese concessional loan is still unopened almost a year after construction was more-or-less finished, but is expected to open soon under Chinese operation. A joint venture between China's Yusin and local firm ART won a five-year contract with bid of Rs 1.10 billion ($7.2 million), beating six other bidders. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had cautioned against choosing a Chinese firm, but Nepali procurement rules award to the lowest bidder. Trial runs are expected by early May, with full operations likely within three months, around mid-June. About 150 staff still need to be hired and trained before the tunnel, which will shortened the 7.5 km stretch from Balambu to Sisne Khola to 5 km, opens to traffic.

Read more: myRepublica (JICA objection), The Kathmandu Post (details)

Governance by Queue

Nepal's new ministers are finding that running the government means they need to meet with people before they even get to their desks. The Rastriya Swatantra Party assigned teams to each of its 22 ministries for "policy support and oversight," keeping ministers in all-day briefings. Gen Z activist groups are apparently showing up in packs of 30 demanding immediate accountability. A joint secretary at one ministry said ministers are "exhausted" after talking to groups who refuse to leave. The government's solution is reportedly a proposed Gen Z Council to channel youth demands away from ministry waiting rooms.

Read more: Ratopati (Gen Z Council), myRepublica (Thursday session)

Token System Dies, More Reform TBD

The Labour Ministry brought an end to its token system for migrant worker permits on Sunday, making a change to same-day approvals instead. This improvement is part of the reform the Cabinet approved on March 27. Other reforms include getting prospective migrant workers enrolled in the contribution-based social security system, making pre-departure orientation training available online through audio-visual formats, and getting bilateral labor agreements inked with five more countries.

Read more: The Himalayan Times (private sector partnership), The Himalayan Times (March 31 start)

Red Sunday, Green Light for Margin

Every sector fell as NEPSE lost 71 points Sunday, dropping 2.40 percent to close at 2,879.11 on the first trading day of the week. The sell-off came in a week of political frothiness, including the arrest of Oli , money laundering investigations, and, of course, a new government still finding its footing. Finance names were hit hardest, down 3.37 percent. Rs 15 billion ($99 million) changed hands in 196,158 trades. Of 333 companies traded, 255 declined and only 10 turned green on the session. Nepal Stock Exchange changed the margin trading rules on March 27, and will now allow 60 brokers to offer leveraged credit to investors. The Qualified brokers are permitted to lend up to five times a client’s certified net worth, but any single client can use only 10 percent of a broker’s total margin pool. The introduction of margin trading is likely to amplify market volatility.

Read more: The Himalayan Times (Sunday’s session), myRepublica (margin)

Soybeans Drive Birgunj Boom

Exports through Birgunj customs were up almost a fifth year-over-year in the first seven months of fiscal 2026, with processed soybean oil making up more than half the value at Rs 35.58 billion ($235 million). Fruit juice and sunflower oil were the next largest exports through the country's busiest customs point. Imports also rose 11% over the same period.

Read more: The Himalayan Times

Taxman's Share of the Barrel

Nearly half the cost of every barrel of fuel entering Nepal goes to taxes. Customs revenue from fuel imports was Rs 52.15 billion ($344 million) in the first seven months of this fiscal year, a figure that is 42% of the total import bill for fuel. Seems like a lot, and the time might be right for a fuel tax reform.

Read more: myRepublica (breakdown), myRepublica (collection trend)

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From Rap Bars to Rebar

Balendra Shah, the 35-year-old former rapper who once soundtracked Kathmandu's streets, takes the oath as the country's youngest prime minister on 27th March. His Rastriya Swatantra Party swept 182 of 275 parliamentary seats in the March 5 election, six months after Gen Z protests brought down K.P. Sharma Oli's government over a social media ban that sparked outrage across the country. Shah defeated Oli in the veteran's home turf of Jhapa-5, winning by nearly 50,000 votes. It's a remarkable rise for a structural engineer turned mayor turned national leader, carried by a wave of youth anger over corruption and a political class that kept recycling the same septuagenarians through the PM's office. The harder part starts now. Shah inherits an economy that heavily reliant on remittances with youth unemployment pushing millions abroad. He has promised visible anti-corruption measures, but whether the administrator who cleared Kathmandu's streets can navigate national politics remains very much an open question.

Read more: The Week (youth MP stats), The Himalayan Times (oath timeline), CIVICUS Lens (protest background), Gulf News (election results), Deccan Herald (geopolitical implications)

New Broom's Old Baggage Lands in Court

The Supreme Court of Nepal is hearing a challenge to the Attorney General's decision to drop organized crime and money laundering charges against RSP chair Rabi Lamichhane, who faces fraud allegations tied to 1.51 billion rupees (about $10 million) allegedly taken from cooperatives. Justices Binod Sharma and Abdul Aziz Musalman will resume the hearing on Thursday after advocates filed writs against Attorney General Sabita Bhandari Baral's January decision to withdraw the charges. The case has already shifted twice. Baral first amended only Lamichhane's charge sheet, then extended the amnesty to all co-defendants two days later. Lamichhane, who is out on 6.5 million rupees ($43,000) bail, no longer has to appear monthly at Kaski District Court. The timing is awkward for a party on the verge of leading the incoming government.

Read more: Khabarhub (justices named), Ratopati (bail details), myRepublica (charge sheet amendment)

Baking Soda and Helicopter Bills

Prosecutors charged 32 people on Sunday in a scheme which trekking agencies, helicopter operators, and hospitals allegedly poisoned tourists with baking soda to fake altitude sickness, then billed insurers $19.69 million for phantom evacuations. Guides reportedly laced food to make trekkers violently ill, forced them onto helicopters, then forged medical and flight documents to split the insurance payouts with cooperating hospitals. But the alleged mastermind, Rajendra Bahadur Singh of Mountain Helicopter, was not charged. The District Attorney's Office said there was "no evidence" linking him to the crimes, even though police had identified him as the ringleader. The investigation report sat at the Attorney's Office for a week amid what critics describe as external pressure. Major international insurers including Travellers Assists have already stopped selling policies for Nepal.

Read more: OCCRP (dollar amounts), Ratopati (mastermind not charged), myRepublica (six-year history)

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India and China Reopen a Pass Nepal Says Is Theirs

India and China are moving to restart border trade through the Lipulekh Pass this year after a six-year break, and Kathmandu isn't happy about it. The pass sits in territory Nepal claims as its own, a dispute that was formalized when K.P. Oli's government released new political map in 2020 and later amended the constitution to include Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani. Indian officials in Uttarakhand say preparations are underway for the annual June-to-September trading season, following clearance from New Delhi. RSP has strongly condemned the India-China move last year, calling Lipulekh sovereign Nepali territory under the 1816 Sugauli Treaty. The pass remains under Indian control, and the incoming government will have to figure out how to square its campaign rhetoric with diplomatic reality.

Read more: myRepublica (RSP diplomatic pressure), The Kathmandu Post (district official confirmation)

Iran War Cooks the Economy

Middle East tensions are hitting Nepal through four channels at once - fuel shortages, stranded migrant workers, disrupted tourism flights, and rising cooking gas prices. The most visible shift is happening in kitchens. Importers brought in nearly 148,000 electric stoves in the first eight months of this fiscal year, a jump of more than 50%, as consumers scramble to replace scarce LPG. The government is considering an odd-even vehicle rationing system to cut fuel consumption, though no decision has been made. Crude oil is hovering at $102 a barrel. Hotels and restaurants are feeling the squeeze the most, burning through roughly a third of the country's 45,000-tonne monthly LPG demand. The Hotel Association is pushing for concessional electricity rates of around Rs 6-7 per unit ($0.04-0.05) down from the current Rs 15 ($0.10).

Read more: Nikkei Asia (stranded workers), Desh Sanchar (import figures), Spotlight Nepal (rationing plan), The Kathmandu Post (hotel sector)

Kathmandu's Bourse Bets Big on Balen

The stock exchange rose almost 80 points, about 2.8%, over two sessions last week as investors piled back in after the election. The rally follows after a brutal stretch for government coffers. Capital gains tax collections fell by almost half to Rs 6.44 billion ($43 million) over the first eight months of this fiscal year, with trading volumes down nearly 30% as political uncertainty kept money on the sidelines. Microfinance stocks led the post-election bounce with a 4.2% gain, and turnover hit Rs 23.59 billion ($157 million) in Sunday's session alone. The market is betting on Balen, but capital gains tax is still running at about half of last year's total. there is a Lot of ground to recover.

Read more: The Himalayan Times (Sunday session), The Annapurna Express (Tuesday close), myRepublica (tax figures)

Graduating to Harder Terms

Exiting Least Developed Country status could cost 132,000 jobs and $1 billion in lost trade preferences. The strain is already showing at the Nepalgunj Customs Office, a key crossing point with India which has collected just 52% of its Rs 24.54 billion ($163 million) revenue target by mid-March. That leaves nearly half the target to be met in just the final four months of the fiscal year. Revenue has fallen short of its monthly target every single month, ranging between 69% and 88% of what was expected. The Integrated Check Post at Jamunaha was expected to ease this situation by boosting cross-border trade, but it hasn’t delivered the desired result. The previous fiscal year ended at just 75% of target, and the year before that at 63%.

Read more: myRepublica (monthly revenue)

The Grand Old Party Won't Let Its Leader Quit

Nepali Congress rejected president Gagan Kumar Thapa's resignation on Sunday after the party won only 38 seats in the March 5 election, its weakest performance in history. Thapa, who had taken over at a special convention in January and lost his own Sarlahi seat, stepped down on moral grounds on Thursday. However, the central working committee unanimously decide to retain him, pointing instead to "structural problems and uncontrollable external factors" rather than leadership failure. The committee also prepared a 27-point review that highlighted issues ranging from deep internal factionalism to what it described as "algorithmic influences in the digital age." One of the most striking finding suggested that some NC members practiced "silent killing" by choosing not to campaign for party candidates. Meanwhile, the Deuba faction, which has left out of the new central committee, has decided to continue its own parallel activities within the party.

Read more: myRepublica (13-page report), The Rising Nepal (rejection), The Kathmandu Post (Deuba faction)

First Trans Lawmaker Takes Her Seat

Bhumika Shrestha, 37, has made history as the country's first transgender lawmaker after RSP appointed her to a proportional representation seat in the 275-member House of Representatives. The Kathmandu based activist told AFP she feels "very excited but also the responsibility on my shoulders," and said she hopes to work toward strengthening constitutional protections for gender and sexual minorities.

Read more: DW, MSN (activism background)

Asia's Water Tower Is Melting Twice as Fast

Himalayan glaciers are losing 73 centimeters of ice each year, nearly double the 34 centimeters before 2000, according to two studies released Saturday by ICIMOD. In the Hindu Kush region, glaciers have lost as 27 meters of thickness since 1975, and around 12% of their area has disappear between 1990 and 2020. These glaciers are crucial water source, feeding at least 10 major Asian river systems that supports roughly two billion people. However, about a third of the remaining ice lies in areas that are especially vulnerable to rapid warming, raising concerns about the pace of future loss.

Read more: myRepublica (black carbon emissions), The Kathmandu Post (glacial lake floods)

Big Brands Queue at a Slow IP Court

The Department of Industry issued notices on Wednesday to 11 companies accused of copying trademark of global brands like Coca-Cola, Hugo Boss, Trek Bicycles, and New Zealand's Kathmandu Limited. The cases includes a snack company Chitwan accused of copying a Turner Entertainment logo, and a fashion business in Jhapa selling "Bass"-branded products that Hugo Boss says are too similar to its own. These are just small part of a large number of cases. Some complains from Coca-Cola's have been pending for years. The director general handles both administrative work and legal cases, and the backlog continues to grow.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post

Immigration Drops the Buddy System for Treks

Solo trekkers can now visit restricted Himalayan areas like Upper Mustang and Nar-Phu, as long as they hire a licensed guide through a registered agency. The Department of Immigration has removed the old rule that required at least two-person, after tourism operators said it often forced travellers to be paired with strangers. The new rules also limits each guides to a maximum of seven clients.

Read more: myRepublica (visitor stats), India Times (digital permit system)

Apples to Apples, the Border Doesn't Hold

Indian border forces seized 3,515 kg of Chinese apples and two Mahindra pickups at the Hanumannagar crossing. This shows a larger smuggling problems, with goods worth millions of rupees (tens of thousands of dollars) moving daily through nine border points in Sarlahi district. Locals says smuggling is busiest at night and early morning, when goods move freely between Sangrampur, Narayanpur, Malangwa, and six other crossings that seem to operate with flexible hours. The seizure was carried out by the Indian authorities, not the Nepali officials.

Read more: Ratopati

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back - hit reply and tell us what you think.

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