The celebrations are planned on a grand scale beginning with the traditional #bullfight, as every year. Marking the festival day, the country is going to see exciting bullfighting events across different areas.

The bullfighting event will be seen in Nuwakot and Dhading districts, adjoining the Kathmandu valley, as the major highlight of the #MagheSankranti2020 celebrations in Nepal.

Hundreds of public are going to be seen in Taruka village of Nuwakot district to watch the joyful event.

The local sport has its origin in Taruka village and has been played since some 200 years ago in the 19^th century.

Bullfight in Nepal is different from those in other parts of the world! #NepaliBullFight event includes both bulls and oxen, where they will be fighting continuously for nearly an hour period.

Ethnic appearances by the women of Tharu and Magar communities are going to be other highlights of the day.

‘Maghe Sankranti’ – The Auspicious Day

Maghe Sankranti, which falls on the first day of the Nepali month of Magh as per the lunar calendar, marks the transition of Sun into the Hindu zodiac sign called Makara (Capricorn), putting an end to winter and welcoming the other seasons of the year followed by summer.

As per the tradition, Nepali Hindus visit various holy shrines and rivers to observe traditional pujas and Makar Snan (holy river bath) at the confluence of major rivers on this auspicious day.

While the confluence of the holy Kali Gandaki and Trishuli rivers in Devghat hold great significance, devotees also take holy dips at various other rivers such as Dolalghat, Devghat, Ridi, Triveni and Baraha Kshetra, among others across the country.

A large number of people from Sunsari, Ilam, Morang, Saptari, Siraha, and Jhapa districts and a good number of people from various places of India gathered at Kankai River for Makar Snan, the tradition that is observed every year.

Culture and Tradition for Wellbeing

Marking the celebration as the start of New Year, Nepal’s Tharu community people will visit the Kathmandu Valley’s open ground Tundikhel (to commemorate Maghe Sankranti, the community’s biggest festival).

Meanwhile, the Newar Community also celebrates the festival as Ghyo Chaku Sanlhu with delicious dishes like ghee, chaku and remembering their beloved and departed souls.

As per the tradition, the elders apply a little amount of oil to the younger ones who then proceed for holy dip in sacred rivers. It is believed that sharing and eating ghee and chaku, vegetables and yam and sesame seed candy on the festival day adds to a healthy life.

Another special delicious item, a mixture of black gram and rice with hot spices and ghee, called Khichadi is also served on this auspicious festival day. On the occasion, national leaders President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli extended their best wishes to the global Nepali community.

Grand Celebrations

In 2019, a three-day-long fair was held in Gulmi at the pilgrimage site of Ridi of Ruru area at a place, a
tri-junction of Gulmi, Syangja and Palpa districts.

Meanwhile, another big religious fair was also celebrated in Devghat of Chitwan district with thousands of participants gathering at Devghat Dham for taking holy dip and observing the festival rituals.

Tharu community people also gathered at Tundikhel on a larger scale to mark the festival celebrations. Dressed in cultural attire, the community performed various cultural and religious dance shows at the event.

A Special Attraction

The traditional bullfight is one most famous animal sports event played as part of the Maghe Sankranti celebrations across Nepal and India. Commemorating the start of Magh and holy Sankranti festival, traditional bullfight sports event will be held across Nepal on January 15, 2020.

While Magh is also celebrated as the feast of molasses, Nepal’s mountainous district Nuwakot looks at it in a different way.

Marking the start of the Magh, the country observes the annual bullfighting event, a traditional animal sport that dates back to more than 225 years.

“This is the tradition which we (farmers) have continued for years. We have been herding the bulls and the government has been giving allowance to buy the tractors. However, we are not getting any sort of help or aid despite preserving the tradition for long,” says Bhoj Bahadur Bhandari, a participant of this traditional bull sport.

This annual bull-taming festival in Nepal is similar to that of the most-famous Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu of India and the Spanish Bullfight.

Apart from being a tradition, this unique bullfighting event is also adding to the promotion of Nepal tourism.

NepaliSansar team wishes all “Very Happy Maghe Sankranti”.

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Now, it’s the Nepal Festival 2018 time for the community, the event scheduled to be held in Aotea Square on November 17, 2018 under the theme ‘One Country, Many Stories’.

The event is going to speak the highlights of Nepal’s rich culture, heritage, customs & traditions, music, dance and ethnic attires, food and many more.

As every year, the Nepali community is planning the festival on a grand scale making it the first big outdoor event and more charming than previous editions.

“In the last few years, we have seen a spike in the number of visitors to the event and not just the Nepalese community but the Kiwi, Maori, Chinese and extended Indian community which led us to think and plan for a bigger venue,” says Dinesh Khadka, President of New Zealand Nepal Society.

More than 10,000 people are going to be participate in the event.

The event will begin with a cultural parade from Aotea Square to Customs Street, wherein, the performers in traditional Nepali attire, playing the Nepali folk and other instruments with variety posters invite the locals to the event.

The parade is followed by a main event.

“Every country has its story- in the form of art, food and culture and those are the three aspects of our country that we are trying to portray to the New Zealanders and that is the main essence of the Nepal Festival,” says Prayash Chhetri, Joint Secretary of New Zealand Nepal Society.

As a highlight, the event is going to feature a special performance by Nepal’s renowned international troupe Kutumba.

Around 50 dignitaries including Mayor Phil Goff, Minister for Ethnic Communities Jenny Salesa, Members of Parliament and Auckland Police District Commander Karyn Malthus, among others are going to attend the event.

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The three-day convention titled ‘Global Knowledge Convention’ will be held in Kathmandu during October 12-14, 2018.

“The three-day convention intends to bring together Nepali expertise scattered around the world and discuss possible measures for Nepal’s growth, development and prosperity,” NRNA President Bhaban Bhatta said in an official release.

Speaking about the convention, the Vice-President of NRNA Kumar Panta said the convention would bring together more than 350 Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs) and various other international experts onto a single platform.

According to Panta, the convention will be divided into 19 sessions and will see experts presenting nearly 160 research papers, besides discussions and deliberations on policies concerning investment in Nepal and ways to address them.

Further speaking about NRNA, Panta said the organization was established and with a commitment to bring back home the capital that Nepalis earn in the foreign land.

“The convention will not only encourage NRNs to invest in Nepal but will also bring their expertise and knowledge to the country,” he added.

It is noteworthy that NRNA is also launching its long-awaited Strategic Plan (2019-22) under its own initiative, Nepali Policy Institute (NPI), which advocates for effective public policy in Nepal for overall development.

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The US Government called Sunita as ‘TIP Hero’ featuring her among the ten US State Department’s 2018 Heroes recognized for fight against human trafficking across the world.

The US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo announced this at an event to release the US Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2018 in Washington DC on June 29, 2018.

Adviser to the President Ivanka Trump was also present at the event that saw Sunita get an international honor.

Sunita Danuwar is one of only ten anti-trafficking Tip Heroes selected from around the world to receive this international honor, which celebrates the work and achievements of exceptional individuals who have devoted their lives to the fight against human trafficking, the US Embassy in Nepal said in an official release.

Sunita Danuwar was recognized for her commitment to providing services to survivors and ‘at-risk’ communities across Nepal, the release added.

The US Embassy appreciated Sunita for her relentless efforts towards protecting victims and against human trafficking.

Besides a regular social activist, Sunita is also the Co-Founder and Executive Director of an anti-trafficking NGO called Shakti Samuha, which spreads awareness about human trafficking across rural communities of Nepal. 

US Annual TIP Report 2018

The 2018 TIP Report focused on ways to end human trafficking across local communities with the support of the local governments, globally.

The report appreciated the Government of Nepal for its measures to tackle the human trafficking menace.

The Government of Nepal has made progress to eliminate human trafficking through increased efforts to prevent it, as well as modest improvements in law enforcement and victim protection efforts, says the US Embassy.

The report also made special recommendations that can help Nepal meet the international standards in eliminating human trafficking.

The report recommended to accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol to ensure its continued commitment to fighting human trafficking.

So far, 173 countries have already ratified the UN TIP Protocol, which is also known as one of the Palermo Protocols.

The US Embassy extended its continuous support to the Government of Nepal in its fight against human trafficking.

Let’s hope Sunita’s success story will inspire more Nepali women to step up their efforts for social transformation!

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According to a recent update, the number of Nepali students pursuing educational courses in Australian Universities has increased.

The recently-released statistics show a rise in proportion of Nepali students by almost 46 percent to around 12,000 members out of the total 190,000 foreign students who had applied for courses in Australia during July-December 2017.

With this, Nepal replaced Brazil’s position as the third largest source of foreign student applicants for courses in Australia.

While Sydney’s Victoria University and Western Sydney University were found to be the major destinations for Nepali students, Auburn comes up as Sydney’s hub for Nepali speakers.

Interestingly, these figures are seen despite the indication of job-cuts in Australia for students from foreign destinations post the completion of their graduation.

Trend in the Recent Past

Nepal has witnessed an exponential growth as a source of international students in the last 10 years period.

The 2017 Open Doors Report by the Institute of International Education and the US Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, released in November 2017, has also shown a rise in Nepali students pursuing educational courses in US colleges and universities.

Surprisingly, Nepali students were found to be the fastest-growing international student community across US institutions.

“Every year, Nepali students travel to the United States to take advantage of outstanding opportunities for educational and professional development through hard work, thoughtful consideration about what course of study to pursue, careful financial planning, and an academic record that reflects good grades and test scores,” says US Chargé d’Affaires Michael Gonzales.

While US had 1.08 million international students as of November 2017, Nepal alone saw a 20 percent (around 11,607 students) rise in number of its students enrolled for higher education courses in US institutions.

As of November 2017, Nepal ranked 12 out of the top 25 countries with its students for undergraduate and graduate courses in US. Nepali students accounted for the highest growth rate of 42.4% for undergraduate courses among all the 25 countries.

India is another major source for Nepali students willing to pursue foreign studies. Lack of needed courses are moving Nepali students to look out for options outside the country.

“Hundreds of Nepali students are pursuing higher education degrees at Sharda University, and other universities also have a high number of Nepali students,” says Dube, a Nepali student pursuing MBA at Sharda University, Noida.

More than 500 Nepali students are pursuing higher education at Sharda University.

“Nepal basically lacks proper education policies. As a result, Nepali students have been investing a huge sum of money in higher education abroad,” says Prakash Pandey, president of Educational Consultancies Association of Nepal.

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The US-based Pew Research Center, in its analysis of World Bank report for 2016, concluded that Nepal is leading the way with an estimated USD 6.6 billion in remittances equivalent to 31.3 percent of the country’s GDP.

With regard to remittances by percentage of GDP, Nepal (31.3 percent) was followed by Kyrgyzstan (USD 2 billion, 30.4 percent of GDP), Tajikistan (USD 1.9 billion, 26.9 percent of GDP), among others.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, India and the United Arab Emirates remained the biggest source of remittances for Nepal in 2016.

Nepal saw a GDP revenue of USD 21.1 billion in 2016, ranking 96^th in the global ranking in terms of purchasing power parity.

According to the Pew Research Center, more than 1.6 million Nepalese were living in other countries in 2015.

Nepal’s Remittance Trend over the Years

According to the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 report, Nepal has been featuring among the top remittance recipient countries over the last three years.

When it comes to remittances (as a percentage of GDP), Nepal (29 percent) stood third in the list of largest remittance recipients following Tajikistan (42 percent) and the Kyrgyz Republic (30 percent) in 2015.

When it comes to remittances (by revenues) in 2015, Nepal (USD 6.6 billion) followed India (USD 72.2 billion), Pakistan (USD 20.1 billion) and Bangladesh (USD 15.8 billion) and Sri Lanka (USD 7.2 billion).

Nepal, with 29.2 percent remittances as a share of GDP, was also among the top 10 recipients in 2014.

Immigration and Emigration

Nepal was among the top ten immigration and emigration nations in 2013.

When it comes to migration corridors, Nepal featured among the top 10 list for forming migration corridors with India and Saudi Arabia.

Here, it is noteworthy that remittances to Nepal have almost doubled over the 2007-16 period boosting the country’s status as the top remittance-dependent nation.

According to UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) report, ‘Sending Money Home: Contributing to the SDGs, One Family at a Time’, the contribution of remittances to Nepal’s GDP has grown from 17 percent in 2007 to 32 percent by 2016.

For More Investment

In a move boosting investment in Nepal, the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) has come forward to set up a Rs 10 billion worth investment fund to promote investment in the country.

NRNA President Bhawan Bhatta informed this at a meeting on January 30, 2018 while informing that the fund will be utilized for the infrastructure development required to promote investments.

On the occasion, NRNA highlighted key developments they are undertaking in Nepal, which includes the construction of Laprak Model Settlement in Laprak of Gorkha and a park on 32 ropanis land on the Bagmati River bank at Shankhamul at an investment of Rs 22.5 million.

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Through this special program in the New Year 2018, the organization (Sneha Travel Media) is focused on promoting Nepali culture and tourism in around 70 countries.

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) are supporting this tourism promotion program.

“We are launching this campaign in Itahari, Sauraha, Janakpur, Pokhara, and Nepalgunj within the country and in 70 different countries of the world including Turkey, Australia, United States and United Kingdom,” says Suresh Chandra Basnet, Program Coordinator.

Basnet further informed that this special program will promote Nepali food and culture, covering various communities ranging from mountainous regions to Tarai and east to west, on a global scale.

This tourism and culture promotional program is expected to boost inflow of tourists to Nepal and is coming at a time when the country has registered a record tourist arrivals of 9 lakh in 2017.

It’s definitely an exciting update for the global Nepali community!

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Here are some of the key highlights of Nepal with regard to immigration and labor migration:

Immigration

Despite many challenges, Nepal took some key decisions towards ensuring safety of Nepali migrants working in foreign destinations in 2017.

Few countries with which Nepal signed key pacts related to labor cooperation include Bahrain, Jordan, Korea, Qatar, Japan, Kuwait, among others.

While Nepalese form the largest South Asian and the sixth largest migrant populace in Japan, there was a steady rise in number of Nepali migrants in Japan every year over the last decade.

Nepalese also form the fastest growing migrant community in Australia at an annual growth rate of 27 percent, and Nepali is the second most-spoken language other than English in the state of Tasmania.

However, the Australian Government’s decision to abolish the 457 Visa Scheme for skilled migrants is likely to affect Nepalis planning to move to Australia for work. With this, beginning March 2018, prospective Nepali immigrants will need to undergo the new Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa program involving a two-year short-term and a four-year medium term.

Meanwhile, in support of Nepali migrant workers, the Nepali Health Ministry has also announced plans to introduce the National Migration Health Policy.

“This policy will provide an opportunity to promote a more coherent and integrated approach to heal, beyond the treatment of specific diseases for all populations, including migrants, irrespective of their legal and migratory status,” says Paul Norton, Chief of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for Nepal.

Towards skill development for migrants, the Labor Ministry of Nepal has also requested the International Labor Organization (ILO) to initiate result-oriented projects in the country.

Highlighting that the Nepali youth migrating for foreign employment are in need of skill development programs, the Secretary at the Nepali Ministry of Labor and Employment Laxman Prasad Mainali had also urged ILO Director to ensure safety of Nepali migrant labor working at foreign destinations.

Mainali made this proposal as part of his participation at the 331^st governing board meeting of ILO held in Geneva in the first week of November 2017.

As a major immigration-related update in 2017, the Nepali Government announced passports to the foreign-born Nepali children. The government took an official decision in this regard at a council of ministers meeting held in Kathmandu on September 11, 2017.

Other Key Highlights

In a major update to the world, Nepal also joined the list of countries that signed the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty in 2017.

Nepal singed the treaty on September 21, 2017 as part of its participation at the 72^nd UNGA session in New York.

“It is a good step towards nuclear disarmament”, said the Nepali Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Bharat Raj Paudyal as he informed that Nepal’s stand on the disarmament of weapons causing mass destruction remains consistent and principled.

On the similar occasion, Nepal also won its long-awaited UN Human Rights Council membership. UN declared Nepal as UNHRC member on October 16, 2017 for the 2018-2020 term.

“Nepal’s first-ever election to the Council would be a recognition to the country’s long commitment and contribution in the field of human rights and an encouragement to do more at national as well as global levels,” says Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Making a conservation history, Nepal, in August 2017, became the first country to launch climate-smart snow leopard landscape management plan, leading the way in safeguarding its endangered species and habitat, ahead of the International Snow Leopard Summit and Ecosystem Forum in Kyrgyzstan.

In another major update related to conservation of endangered species, Nepal has also released its six captive-reared critically-endangered species of white-rumped vultures into the wild on November 9, 2017.

Besides, in a move towards tiger conservation, Nepal joined India for a first-of-its-kind exercise to estimate tiger population in both the countries.

These are some of the key among various other updates related to Nepal in 2017.

Previous

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The survey carried out on Nepali migrant labor in Malaysia and Nepal concluded that almost two-thirds of survey respondents had to pay high and illegal recruitment fees to the recruitment agencies for foreign employment.

88% of the respondents in mobile phone survey of 414 Nepali migrant workers reported payment of fees to agents for overseas jobs. “Because these fees are so high, the majority had to borrow more than half the sum from village moneylenders, placing them in debt,” the report noted.

To meet such high demands of the middlemen, many workers are finding no way other than limiting themselves to low-paid jobs or remain exploited to clear their debts.

“Workers’ calculations about how they will repay these loans are often derailed by unpaid wages or other forms of labor exploitation,” concluded the report.

More than 53 percent of the surveyed reported lower monthly salaries than what was promised by the recruitment agents.

A Special Case

Such situation was reportedly found in case of Nepali migrant labor in Qatar working for the construction of stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Nepali migrant workers to Qatar working in the project are reportedly facing vicious cycle of debt and exploitation, the report noted.

Nepali labor working in Qatar are facing exploitation

This report comes as an additional pressure to FIFA that has been facing internal pressure from its advisory board with regard to Kafala System, a mechanism used in Gulf countries to monitor migrant labor and is often termed as ‘modern-day slavery’.

“Companies who employ migrant workers in the Gulf and Malaysia directly or through their suppliers or subcontractors also have a responsibility. They need to take steps to prevent exploitative labor recruitment,” said AI in its release.

AI further urged the concerned companies to ensure migrants, who have paid recruitment fees, are reimbursed. “Until they take action, they are reinforcing the debt trap that is destroying so many lives in Nepal,” the release added.

Weak Enforcement Laws

Stating that “Nepali migrant workers are being systematically and mercilessly set up,” the Deputy Director of AI’s Global Issues Program James Lynch noted that weak enforcement of relevant laws by the Nepali Government is resulting in this situation.

“Migrant workers all too often end up trapped in the soul-destroying situation of working abroad for years simply to pay off the huge, often illegal fees they were charged to take the job,” James added.

“Nepali Government’s failure to crack down on recruitment agencies, which charge illegal fees for jobs abroad, is leaving migrant workers trapped in a vicious cycle of debt and exploitation,” the report concluded.

This situation is seen despite the presence of governmental policies like ‘Free Visa, Free Ticket’ introduced in July 2015, and only 20% of the surveyed reported proper implementation of the same.

Deep Exploitation

After an analysis and review of 100 Nepali recruitment websites, AI found that that Nepali labor are being advertised as ‘loyal and completely dedicated to work even in adverse situations’.

“Disturbingly, some of these recruiters – who trap workers into bonded labor by saddling them with huge debts – market Nepali workers to prospective foreign clients by highlighting how unlikely they are to leave their jobs,” highlighted the report.

Matter of Urgency

Nepal is working with other labor-sending nations to address migrant workers concerns

Terming this as a matter of urgency, James Lynch urged the Nepali government and businesses to take necessary measures and control corruption in the Nepali recruitment industry to protect migrant workers.

“A good start would be to penalize recruitment agencies that are not complying with the law. Until companies take action, they are reinforcing the debt trap that is destroying so many lives in Nepal,” he added.

In line with the report, Bhuban K.C., a senior official in Nepali Labor Ministry, has reportedly informed that Nepal is working with other labor-sending nations like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka towards necessary measures to protect migrant workers’ interests.

“We are raising our voice internationally to ensure that migrants are not cheated,” said Bhuban while also informing that the concerned authorities are offering compensations to the victims.

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While the three-tier local body polls were held on May 14, June 28 and September 19 of the current year, the most-awaited general elections for electing members for the provincial and parliamentary seats are currently underway in two phases (November 26 and December 7, 2017).

These two elections are important for Nepal for two reasons: One being the socio-political transformation that the Nepali citizens have been waiting for since around two decades and the other being the country witnessing these many number of elections in a single year for the first time in its history.

Local Body Polls

Nepal’s local body polls 2017 drew a huge response from the governments across the world, such as Japan, US, India, among others, which acclaimed that as Nepal’s major step towards its long-awaited development process.

“This is a significant progress towards the implementation of the constitution that was promulgated in 2015,” said the Government of Japan.

“Most importantly, Nepal held the first local elections in 20 years – a significant milestone for your democratic government,” stated the US President Donald Trump.

Upon the completion of local body elections, the United Nations had also hailed Nepal for its efforts towards institutionalizing democratic process through local body polls.

The local body election that concluded with the final phase on September 19, 2017 left its mark registering a record voter turnout.

Provincial and Parliamentary Polls

The intense election heat that began with the local body polls at the start of the Nepal new year 2074 in May continues till date currently in the form of the country’s general provincial and parliamentary polls that are underway.

This legislative election, also termed as the general election, began with the first phase polls that was conducted on November 26, 2017 across 37 constituencies of the House of Representatives and 74 provincial assembly constituencies.

The final phase is slated for December 7, 2017 and will cover 45 districts of the Tarai and hill areas for electing a total of 128 seats for the House of Representatives and 256 provincial assembly seats.

Nepal legislative election 2017 is being seen as a game-changer for Nepal as the country is most likely to witness an end to its long political and social turmoil along with the formation of new constitution.

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