Like an increasing number of tourists visiting Nepal's mountain peaks, colourful markets and lush national parks, Marina Argeisa wanted to experience the latest must-do activity on the tourist trail: a volunteering stint at an orphanage. What the 26-year-old Spaniard did not know was that her good intentions were unwittingly feeding an industry that dupes poor parents into sending their children to bogus orphanages in order to extract money from well-meaning foreigners.

Embassies generally busy themselves promoting their own culture and values, spending a large sum of their financial resources inviting cultural troupes from the countries they represent. What if, in addition to promoting their own culture, they could promote the culture and talent of their host countries without committing major financial resources? Wouldn't it be a masterstroke in the practice of public diplomacy and economy of resources?

Describing himself as an “accidental photographer,” Edwin Koo is an award-winning Singaporean documentary photographer who produces work that is striking and evocative. So much so that his body of work on Swat, Pakistan, titled Paradise Lost: Pakistan’s Swat Valley, won him the Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography in 2010.

The BBC launched a new morning radio show in Nepal August 1. The BBC Nepali 15-minute show began at 7:15 a.m. local time, broadcasting regional and international news. From Kathmandu, the station airs on 103 FM, re-broadcasting via a nationwide network of 260 FM stations. "The BBC has a strong audience base in Nepal, and this expansion of radio programming shows our commitment to providing these audiences with highest-quality news and information,” said BBC Nepali Editor Rabindra Mishra.

Shrestha and 80 other young techies and civil society representatives came together for the first time to create mobile applications to end gender-based violence as part of a hackathon sponsored by the World Bank. Patriarchy is a deeply rooted problem in Nepal. As someone who grew up there, I know of many instances in which women faced violence and discrimination. One-third of married women have experienced some form of emotional, physical, or sexual violence from their spouse in their marital relationship.

The third Nepal-Africa Film Festival is being organised at the Russian Cultural Centre of the Capital from 18 to 20 June. A total of 14 films (both Nepali and African) would be featured during the festival. Director of Nepal-Africa Film Festival, Dr Manju Mishra, said at a press meet that the festival would highlight Nepal and Africa's art, culture and positive developments.

Neaplis from diverse backgrounds will be benefitting from the Seattle-based Spectrum Dance Theater which is scheduled to launch the worldwide Dance Motion USA cultural exchange program in Nepal as an event sponsored by the U.S. Department of State in Nepal.