6 October 2026
India approved temporary electricity exports to Nepal for 18 hours daily through 31 December.
The approval followed catastrophic floods triggered by a glacier collapse on the China-Nepal border.
At least 12 hydropower projects were damaged, and Nepal halted its own power exports and began importing from India.
India's power ministry said it would review the quantum of power to be exported in December talks.
It said the measure would help Nepal meet its power requirements during this difficult period.
Daily supply:
18 hours
Valid until:
31 December
Hydropower projects damaged:
at least 12
Why it matters for exams: India-Nepal energy cooperation and disaster support are recurring neighbourhood-policy topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
6 October 2026
An avalanche struck the Himlung Himal base camp in Manang district on Sunday, 27 September 2026.
At least 10 climbers and support staff were reported missing.
Himlung Himal is 7,126 metres high and lies near the Tibet border.
Heavy snowfall and a weather warning had led authorities to caution climbers and trekkers to suspend outdoor activities.
Bad weather delayed helicopter rescue.
Peak height:
7,126 metres
Missing:
at least 10
District:
Manang
Why it matters for exams: Mountain hazards and Himalayan geography are common Geography/Disaster topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Avalanche Avalanche — A rapid flow of snow down a slope.
Background
Nepal is located in South Asia and shares territorial borders with India and China. Kathmandu is the capital and the largest metropolitan city of the country. Under the present Constitution the country is organised into seven provincial governments. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre lists two natural properties for Nepal. Sagarmatha National Park was inscribed in 1979. Chitwan National Park was inscribed in 1984.
Capital:
Kathmandu
Land neighbours:
India and China
Natural World Heritage properties:
Sagarmatha National Park, Chitwan National Park
Why it matters for exams: Neighbours, capital and the protected areas on the World Heritage List are the standard one-mark facts asked about any South Asian neighbour of India.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Sagarmatha — The Nepali name carried by the national park that Nepal had inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979.
Metropolitan city — A category of urban local government used in Nepal for its largest cities.
Background
The present Constitution restructured Nepal from a unitary state under a monarchy into a federal democratic republic. It introduced a three-tiered system of public administration comprising a federal government, seven provincial governments, and 753 local governments. Nepal has a bicameral federal parliament. The House of Representatives, the lower house, is 275-strong. The country has been divided into 165 electoral constituencies, each electing one member under the first-past-the-post system, and the remaining 110 seats are allotted to parties under proportional representation. The National Assembly is the 59-member upper house. It is a permanent body, with a third of its members elected every two years after completing a six-year tenure.
Form of the state:
federal democratic republic
House of Representatives:
275
National Assembly:
59
Local governments:
753
Why it matters for exams: Comparative polity questions set Nepal's two Houses against India's Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and the three-tier federal structure is a standard match-the-following item.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Bicameral — A legislature made of two chambers that both take part in law-making.
FPTP First-past-the-post — A method in which the candidate with the most votes in a constituency is elected.
Proportional representation — A method in which seats are shared among parties in proportion to the votes each receives.
Background
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the Central Bank of Nepal, was established in 1956 under the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 1955. Its functions and objectives were recast by the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 (2002). Under that Act the bank formulates monetary and foreign exchange policies to maintain the stability of price and balance of payment. It is also charged with maintaining the stability of the banking and financial sectors and with developing a secure, healthy and efficient system of payment. Nepal joined the IMF and IBRD in 1961. The first World Bank technical assistance grant to Nepal was in 1964, a transport survey, and the first credit was in 1969 for telecommunications. The International Finance Corporation has been supporting private sector development in Nepal since 1966.
Central bank:
Nepal Rastra Bank
Established:
1956
Founding law:
Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 1955
Joined IMF and IBRD:
1961
Why it matters for exams: Central banks of India's neighbours and the year a country joined the Bretton Woods institutions are repeat questions in banking and general studies papers alike.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
NRB Nepal Rastra Bank — The central bank of Nepal, which issues the currency and sets monetary policy.
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development — The original lending arm of the World Bank Group.
Balance of payment — The record of a country's transactions with the rest of the world over a period.
Background
Nepal became a member of the United Nations through the adoption of Resolution A/Res/995(X) by the United Nations General Assembly on 14 December 1955. Nepal has held a non-permanent membership of the Security Council during the years 1969-70 and 1988-89. It has taken part in UN-mandated peacekeeping operations since 1958. Nepal became the 147th WTO member on 23 April 2004, and is the first LDC to join the WTO through the full working party negotiation process. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was established on 8 December 1985 and comprises eight members; Nepal is a founding member. The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987. BIMSTEC was established on 6 June 1997 through the adoption of the Bangkok Declaration, and Nepal and Bhutan entered it on 8 February 2004.
United Nations membership:
14 December 1955
Admitting resolution:
A/Res/995(X)
WTO membership:
23 April 2004
SAARC Secretariat:
Kathmandu
Entry into BIMSTEC:
8 February 2004
Why it matters for exams: The year of UN entry, the seat of the SAARC Secretariat and the BIMSTEC founding declaration are recurring one-mark facts, and Nepal's WTO accession is the standard example of an LDC accession.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation — The eight-member regional grouping of South Asia, with its Secretariat in Kathmandu.
BIMSTEC Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation — A grouping of countries around the Bay of Bengal drawn from South and Southeast Asia.
LDC Least Developed Country — A United Nations category of countries facing the severest structural obstacles to development.
Working party — The WTO committee of existing members that negotiates the terms on which an applicant joins.
Background
Nepal's acceptance of the World Heritage Convention is recorded as Tuesday, 20 June 1978. The World Heritage Centre lists two cultural properties for Nepal. They are Kathmandu Valley, inscribed in 1979, and Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha, inscribed in 1997. Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, lies in Nepal. The two natural properties are Chitwan National Park, inscribed in 1984, and Sagarmatha National Park, inscribed in 1979. Nepal also keeps 15 sites on its Tentative List, the inventory of properties a State Party intends to consider for nomination.
Acceptance of the Convention:
Tuesday, 20 June 1978
Cultural properties:
Kathmandu Valley, Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha
Natural properties:
Chitwan National Park, Sagarmatha National Park
Sites on the Tentative List:
15
Why it matters for exams: Lumbini is asked in every Buddhism question set, and the split of a country's World Heritage properties between cultural and natural is a favourite match-the-following.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Tentative List — The inventory of properties a State Party intends to consider for nomination to the World Heritage List.
State Party — A country that has accepted or ratified the World Heritage Convention.
Background
An ambitious Gorkha King named Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley by 1769 and moved his capital to Kathmandu. The Shah dynasty he established ruled unified Nepal from 1769 to 2008. During the mid-19th century Jung Bahadur Rana became Nepal's first prime minister to wield absolute power, starting a hereditary reign of the Rana Prime Ministers that lasted for 104 years. The Ranas were overthrown in a democracy movement of the early 1950s, and King Tribhuvan was reinstated as the Head of the State. An independent Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established in 1951, in place of the older Munshi Khana. A Constituent Assembly election was held on April 10, 2008. The new constitution of Nepal was promulgated by a vote of the Constituent Assembly on September 20, 2015.
Unification under the Gorkha king:
1769
Shah dynasty rule over unified Nepal:
1769 to 2008
Hereditary Rana premiership:
104 years
Constituent Assembly election:
April 10, 2008
Constitution promulgated:
September 20, 2015
Why it matters for exams: Examiners ask who unified Nepal, how long the Rana premiership lasted and which body adopted the present Constitution, and the three together make one clean chronology question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Gorkha — The hill kingdom whose ruling house went on to unify Nepal and give the country its royal dynasty.
Munshi Khana — The office that handled Nepal's foreign correspondence before a separate foreign ministry was created.
Constituent Assembly — An elected body whose task is to write a constitution.
Background
Nepal's 2015 Constitution established a secular federal-style republic.
It divides the country into seven provinces.
The legislature is bicameral, with two chambers.
The monarchy was dissolved in 2008 and Nepal was declared a republic.
All citizens aged 18 and over can vote.
Constitution:
2015
Provinces:
seven
Legislature:
bicameral
Republic declared:
2008
Why it matters for exams: Constitutional structure and the shift from monarchy to republic are standard polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Bicameral Bicameral — A legislature with two chambers.
Background
Nepal recorded a net surplus of Rs18.76 billion from electricity trade in fiscal 2025-26.
Exports earned Rs29.32 billion, up from Rs17.45 billion the year before (a rise of about 68 percent), while imports fell 18.29 percent to Rs10.55 billion.
Nepal sold power to India through the Indian Energy Exchange and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, and to Bangladesh under a trilateral power-trade arrangement.
The Nepal Electricity Authority's figures show imports from India fell as hydropower, especially in the monsoon, met more of domestic demand.
Net surplus:
Rs18.76 billion
Exports:
Rs29.32 billion
Imports:
Rs10.55 billion
Previous-year exports:
Rs17.45 billion
Why it matters for exams: Hydropower trade ties Nepal's economy to India and Bangladesh; a common question on South Asian energy links.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NEA Nepal Electricity Authority — Nepal's state power utility.
Background
Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank, unveiled a flexible monetary policy for FY 2026/27.
It supports the government's target of 7% economic growth and aims to hold average inflation at around 5.5% in the fiscal year.
It aims to keep foreign exchange reserves sufficient to cover at least seven months of imports of goods and services.
The bank rate, policy rate and standing deposit facility rate remain unchanged, and the CRR and SLR have also been left intact.
Governor Dr. Bishwo Nath Poudel said commercial banks will be encouraged to invest in foreign government securities to absorb excess liquidity.
Government growth target supported:
7%
Average inflation target:
around 5.5%
Reserve cover:
seven months of imports
Why it matters for exams: Central bank policy tools and targets are standard economy questions; compare with RBI's repo-based framework.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CRR Cash Reserve Ratio — Share of deposits banks must keep with the central bank.
SLR Statutory Liquidity Ratio — Share of deposits banks must hold in liquid assets.
Background
Kanchenjunga is the world's third highest mountain, at 8,586 metres (28,169 feet).
It lies in the eastern Himalayas on the international boundary between Sikkim, an Indian state, and eastern Nepal.
Four glaciers flow from its ridges: Zemu, Talung, Yalung and Kanchenjunga.
Its name is interpreted in Sikkim as the 'Five Treasuries of the Great Snow'.
It links the geography of Nepal and India directly.
Height:
8,586 metres
World rank:
third highest
Indian state on its boundary:
Sikkim
Why it matters for exams: Peak heights, rankings and border states are standard Geography recall.
Kerala PSCUPSC