Kathmandu, officially "Kathmandu Metropolitan City", is the seat of federal government and the most populous city in Nepal. As of the 2021 Nepal census, there were 845,767 inhabitants living in 105,649 households and approximately 4 million people in its surrounding agglomeration. It is located in the Kathmandu Valley, a large valley surrounded by hills in the high plateaus in central Nepal, at an altitude of 1,400 metres.
Though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is the government agency which is responsible for conducting the foreign relations of Nepal, historically, it is the Office of the Prime Minister (PMO) which has exercised the authority to formulate the country's foreign policies. As a landlocked country wedged between two larger and far stronger powers, Nepal has tried to maintain good relations with both of its neighbors, People's Republic of China and Republic of India. However, the relationship between Nepal and India was significantly hampered by the 2015 Nepal blockade when the Government of Nepal accused India of mimicking "Russia-Ukraine" tactics by using ethnically Indian residents of Nepal to cause unrest along Nepal's southern border. India denied the allegation and said the unrest were an internal affair. For the most part though, Nepal has traditionally maintained a non-aligned policy and enjoys friendly relations with its neighboring countries and almost all the major countries of the world.
Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, was the ninth King of Nepal from 13 March 1955 until his death in 1972, which was due to a heart attack, as told in an interview by his personal physician Dr. Mrigendra Raj Pandey. Following the 1960 coup d'état, he established the party-less Panchayat system, which governed the country for 28 years until the introduction of multi-party democracy in 1990. During his reign, Nepal experienced a period of industrial, political and economic change which opened it to the rest of the world for the first time, after the 104-year-long reign of the Rana rulers, who kept the country under an isolationist policy, came to an end in 1951.
The Mangla Dam is a multipurpose dam situated on the Jhelum River in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is the sixth-largest dam in the world. The village of Mangla, which sits at the mouth of the dam, serves as its namesake. In November 1961, the project's selected contractors were revealed; it was announced that Binnie & Partners, a British engineering firm, was going to serve as the lead designers, engineers, and inspectors for the construction of the dam. The project was undertaken by a consortium known as the Mangla Dam Contractors, which consisted of eight American construction firms sponsored by the Guy F. Atkinson Company based in South San Francisco, California.
The Katse Dam, a concrete arch dam on the Malibamat'so River in Lesotho, is Africa's second largest double-curvature arch dam after the Tekezé Dam in Ethiopia. Located just below the confluence of the Bokong River, which forms the western arm of the Katse reservoir, the dam is part of a larger project which will eventually include five large dams in remote rural areas.
A dhunge dhara or hiti is a traditional stone drinking fountain found in Nepal. It is an intricately carved stone waterway through which water flows uninterrupted from underground sources. Dhunge dharas are part of a comprehensive drinking water supply system, commissioned by various rulers of Ancient and Medieval Nepal. The system is supported by numerous ponds and canals that form an elaborate network of water bodies, created as a water resource during the dry season and to help alleviate the water pressure caused by the monsoon rains. After the introduction of modern, piped water systems, starting in the late 19th century, this old system has fallen into disrepair and some parts of it are lost forever. Nevertheless, many people of Nepal still rely on the old dhunge dharas on a daily basis.
Prakash Man Singh is a Nepalese politician and a leader of the Nepali Congress and current Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal. He is the son of Nepali politician Ganesh Man Singh. He has also been the Minister of Local Development and Federalism in Sushil Koirala's Cabinet.
Melamchi is a municipality in Sindhupalchok District in the Bagmati Province of central Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 3936 and had 710 houses in the village.
Sundarijal is a village and former Village Development Committee that is now part of Gokarneshwar Municipality in Kathmandu district in Province No. 3 of central Nepal.
Japan–Nepal relations are foreign relations between Japan and Nepal. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on 28 September 1956. Japan has an embassy in Kathmandu. Nepal has an embassy in Tokyo.
The Sunkoshi, also spelt Sunkosi, is a river that is part of the Koshi or Saptkoshi River system in Nepal. Sunkoshi has two source streams, one that arises within Nepal in Choukati, and the other more significant stream that flows in from Nyalam County in the Tibet region of China. The latter is called Bhote Koshi in Nepal and Matsang Tsangpo in Tibet. Due to the significant flows from Bhote Koshi, the Sun Koshi river basin is often regarded as a trans-border river basin.
Globally, Nepal is ranked fourth in terms of vulnerability to climate change. Floods spread across the foothills of the Himalayas and bring landslides, leaving tens of thousands of houses and vast areas of farmland and roads destroyed. In the 2020 edition of Germanwatch's Climate Risk Index, it was judged to be the ninth hardest-hit nation by climate calamities during the period 1999 to 2018. Nepal is a least developed country, with 28.6 percent of the population living in multidimensional poverty. Analysis of trends from 1971 to 2014 by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) shows that the average annual maximum temperature has been increasing by 0.056 °C per year. Precipitation extremes are found to be increasing. A national-level survey on the perception-based survey on climate change reported that locals accurately perceived the shifts in temperature but their perceptions of precipitation change did not converge with the instrumental records. Data reveals that more than 80 percent of property loss due to disasters is attributable to climate hazards, particularly water-related events such as floods, landslides and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).
The Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Project is a 456 MW peaking run-of-the-river hydroelectric project in Nepal. It is the largest hydroelectric project in Nepal, operating since July 2021. It is sited on the Tamakoshi River, a tributary of the Sapt Koshi river, near the Nepal–Tibet border.
The Ministry of Water Supply is a government ministry of Nepal that is responsible to provide effective, sustainable and quality water supply and sanitation to the people of Nepal.
Upper Mai-C Hydropower Station is a 6.1 MW run-of-the-river hydro-electric plant located in Ilam District of Nepal. It is powered by water from the Mai Khola.
Rudi A Hydropower Station is a run-of-river hydro-electric plant located in the Kaski District of Nepal that came into operation in 2019. The flow from the Rudi River is used to generate 8.8 MW electricity.
Melamchi River is a tributary of the Indrawati River. It originates from the Jugal Himal at an elevation of about 5,875 m (19,275 ft) above sea level. It joins the Indrawati River at Melamchi Bazaar.
In June 2021, the flood in Melamchi River caused damage in the Melamchi Bazar in Sindhupalchowk District of Nepal killing several locals and some foreigners
Sundarijal Small Hydropower Station is a run-of-river hydro-electric plant located in Kathmandu District of Nepal. The flow from Sundarijal River is used to generate 640 kW electricity and annual energy generation is 4.77 GWh. Constructed in 1939, it is the second hydropower plant of Nepal constructed after Pharping Hydropower Station.
