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W I T H O U T F E A R O R F A V O U RNepal’s largest selling English dailyPrinted simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj

Vol XXIX No. 52 | 8 pages | Rs.5Sunday, April 11, 2021 | 29-12-2077

38.5 C 2.0 CBhairahawa Jumla

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post photo: ElitE Joshi

Devotees pull the chariot of Lord Bhairabnath and Goddess Bhadrakali at Taumadhi Square in Bhaktapur as part of the Biska Jatra celebrations. The eight-night and nine-day festival is believed to have started in the Malla era.

Pandemic? It’s not there on Everest

SANGAM PRASAINKATHMANDU, APRIL 10

Everest, which ‘grew’ by more than two feet last year, is all set to see yet another rush of hopeful summiteers.

While the world is witnessing a resurgence of Covid-19 including in India, which has been breaking records for new cases every day in the past week, for Everest enthusiasts, it’s not a cause for concern.

And the Everest region is humming back with tourism activities after a painful 2020.

Yaks and ponies are transporting supplies on their backs up to the base camp at 5,380 metres from Lukla’s Tenzing Hillary Airport, a small land-ing strip carved into the side of a mountain at 2,860 metres where expe-dition members usually fly into.

Icefall doctors, the dedicated team of high-altitude experts who fix the ropes and ladders up to Camp 2 to make the path easy for climbers, are

already on their jobs. Hundreds of porters, high-altitude workers and staff at hotels and restaurants who had been laid off have got their jobs back.

Expedition outfitters, restaurants and hotels and logistic suppliers are back in business.

In other words, the 2021 spring Mount Everest climbing season is underway.

Although the actual climb towards the summit takes place in May, climb-ers get to the mountain as early as March to acclimatise to the high altitude. “This year, even in the midst of the pandemic, the climber numbers are expected to reach near-record levels,” said Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association.

To reach the highest point on earth at 8,848.86 metres (29,031.69 feet) costs $35,000 to $90,000 per person depend-ing on the extent of support the climb-er needs in terms of guides and sup-

plies. This amount includes the climbing permit cost of $11,000.

According to the Department of Tourism, the state agency that issues the climbing permits, 244 climbers–193 men and 51 women–have already been given permits to climb Everest as of Friday.

The attraction of Everest is good news not only for the work-ers and businesses but also for the government since royalty collection is significant.

>> Continued on page 2

Everest, closed last year, sees a high number of climbers. So far 244 individual permits have been issued and officials expect this number to near 2019 record of 381.

shuttErstock

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Nepal has 752 one-horned rhinos, new census revealsThe population of the endangered species has gone up by 107 since 2015. CHANDAN KUMAR MANDALKATHMANDU, APRIL 10

The population of one-horned rhino stands at 752, a new nationwide rhino census has shown.

The findings of the nationwide rhino count, made public on Saturday in Sauraha, Chitwan, concluded that Nepal’s rhino population has increased by 107 since the last census in 2015. The country’s rhino popula-tion stood at 645 in its four protected areas in 2015.

“The latest finding makes exciting news as the rhino population has increased in the country,” said Haribhadra Acharya, a spokesperson for the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.

“The nationwide census has been by and large successful except for two accidents in Bardiya National Park and Chitwan National Park.”

In Chitwan, a wild elephant had attacked the rhino counting team, leaving many enumerators injured whereas in Bardiya a mahout, who was part of the counting team, was mauled to death by a tiger.

“The latest rhino census also shows that our conservation effort is on the right track,” said Acharya.

As per the latest findings, Chitwan National Park alone accounted for an increase of 89 rhinos. In 2015, it had 605 rhinos and this figure has now gone up to 694.

>> Continued on page 2

Health Ministry recommends school closure for at least three weeksKATHMANDU: The Ministry of Health has recommended the closure of schools for three weeks in densely populated areas like Kathmandu, Pokhara and Parsa, among others, in light of rising Covid-19 cases among schoolchildren and their family mem-bers. “We have recommended shut-ting down schools for at least three weeks immediately in high risk areas and big cities,” Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari, joint spokesperson for the Health Ministry, told the Post. According to Adhikari, of the total cases reported in recent days, 14 per-cent are children. Last year, only four percent of the total infections were children. About two weeks ago, the Nepal Army-run Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya in Bhaktapur was shut down after some of its students and teachers tested positive for the coronavirus. At least 23 students and some teachers of the school had test-ed positive. (Details on Pg 3)

‘Nepal is on track to becoming a cashless society’Stay-at-home orders and social dis-tancing requirements in 2020 forced banks and financial institutions to promote cashless solutions. With mobile phones determining the uptake of digital banking, a planned roll-out of super speed 5G internet system by the next fiscal year will trigger a step-change in the digital banking industry. The Kathmandu Post’s Krishana Prasain talked to Ashok Sherchan, an experienced banker and CEO of Prabhu Bank, about the future of mobile banking and payment apps including the banking industry’s role in addressing the gender gap. (Details on Pg 5)

Virus lockdowns around world as vaccine efforts stumbleMUMBAI: Fresh lockdowns and cur-fews were imposed on tens of mil-lions of people from India to Argentina on Saturday, as Covid-19 infections surged again and vaccine roll-outs were hampered by shortages and scares over side effects. In India, the worst-hit state of Maharashtra was running out of vaccines as the health system buckled under the weight of the contagion, which has killed 2.9 million people worldwide. Having let its guard down with mass religious festivals, political rallies and spectators at cricket matches, the world’s second-most populous nation has added more than a million infec-tions since late March. (Details on Pg 6)

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>> Continued from page 1

This year, the department has so far collected $2.64 million as fees for Everest permits.

“Given the trend, the number of climbers seeking Everest permits could rise to 350, or near the 2019 level,” said Mira Acharya, director at the department. “The number is better than expected in this current situation.”

In 2019, Nepal had issued Everest permits to 381 climbers, the record number so far.

According to Acharya, potential climbers have been complaining about the difficulties of air connectivity to Nepal as more countries are enforcing lockdowns and restriction measures.

Nepal too has employed extra measures during these extraordinary times. The Department of Tourism has set up a health camp with two doctors—a first—at Everest base camp.

The department is also piloting fitting GPS devices on some govern-ment employees deployed as liaison officers to support expeditions to see whether climbers can be traced to prevent false claims of reaching the Everest summit.

“If it is successful, the department will implement it in a full-fledged manner from next year,” said Pradip Raj Poudel, an engineer at the Tourism

Ministry. Another technical innova-tion this year is the setting up of biometric attendance for the liaison officers at least at two locations—in the department office at Bhrikutimandap and Lukla—to pre-vent false claims by government officials that they have been doing their duty.

Liaison officers will first have to log in on the biometric attendance system installed at the Department of Tourism before heading to the mountains.

“It will show whether they reached their duty site and how many days they spend on duty,” said Poudel.

Then there are the climbers. There are those eyeing records of

all sorts, according to sources within the mountaineering industry.

Zhang Hong, 46, from Sichuan, China aims to become the first blind person from Asia and third in the world to climb Everest.

China has closed Everest to expedi-tions this year too.

“He will be assisted by four climb-ing guides directly,” said Dawa Steven Sherpa, CEO of Asian Trekking. “The Chinese climber is confident.”

American Erik Weihenmayer, on May 25, 2001 had reached the summit of Everest from the Nepal side and became the first blind man ever to do so. On May 21, 2017, Andy Holzer of

Austria, visually impaired since birth, became the second blind man to suc-cessfully summit Everest via the North Col route, or the China side.

Industry insiders say that Colin O’Brady plans to climb Everest and the 8,516-metre Lhotse, the world’s fourth-highest peak, in one go.

The summit to the two peaks diverg-es at the South Col situated at 7,906 metres.

This double-summit feat was achieved by American guide Michael Horst on May 14, 2011. Horst climbed Everest and Lhotse in under 21 hours.

While Horst had used supplementa-ry oxygen during the two climbs and his recuperation in the South Col camp, according to alpinist.com, O’Brady plans to achieve the feat of back-to-back ascents of Everest and Lhotse without bottled oxygen.

Spanish climber Kílian Jornet plans to explore the dangerously diffi-cult West Ridge of Everest without

supplemental oxygen. Willi Unsoeld and Tom Hornbein, two members of an American team, had climbed Everest using the West Ridge in 1963, a decade after Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary had reached Everest by the South Col route. Arjun Vajpai of India, who had climbed Everest in 2010 at the age of 16, becoming the youngest Indian climber to do so, is back on the mountain after 11 years and this time, he is climbing without the supplemental oxygen.

“A dream which I had since the first time I stood on top of Everest as a 16 year old! [sic] I head back to Mt. Everest after 11 long years but this time without oxygen!” he wrote on his Facebook page.

A Qatari woman is on a quest to complete the Explorers Grand Slam—reaching the summits of the seven highest mountains in all seven conti-nents and the two poles.

After reaching the North Pole, climbing the 6,959-metre (22,831 feet) Mount Aconcagua in South America and the 5,895-metre (19,340 feet) Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Sheikha Asma Al Thani’s sight is now set on Everest. If she climbs Everest, she will also be the first woman from her country to climb the mountain and 472nd from the world, from the Nepal side.

Another 16-member royal Bahrain team, who controversially arrived

with 2,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines for the people of a village in Gorkha, is also acclimatising in the Everest region.

Record holder Kami Rita Sherpa has announced he is climbing Everest for the 25th time this year. But he may do a double climb.

“That’s on my mind. It will depend on the weather condition,” Kami Rita told the Post.

According to him, his first job with Seven Summit Treks is to fix ropes and ladders above Camp 2 to the sum-mit. The expedition outfitter won the contract to fix ropes and ladders up to the summit this spring.

“I may come back to base camp and head to the summit with the Bahraini team. It will be the 26th time if that happens,” he told the Post.

According to Guinness World Records, the site that records ultimate record-breaking facts and achieve-ments, the most number of people to reach the peak of Everest on a single day is 354, with 212 climbers from the Nepal side, as recorded on 23 May 2019. This is considerably more than the previous record of 266 people, set on 19 May 2013.

A total of 6,507 mountaineers have climbed Everest from the Nepal side.

The unprecedented—and some would say alarming—number of climbers during the 2019 spring sea-

son was highlighted in a photograph taken on May 22 by Nirmal “Nims” Purja showing a serpentine line of climbers all the way along Hillary Step, below the summit, with some 100 people attempting to descend as around 150 pushed up the narrow ridge, the Guinness World Records said.

“The increase in the number of ascents was attributed to a narrow window of opportunity as the weather cleared on 22-23 May, forcing hundreds of climbers to tackle the last part of the ascent. Despite the successes, at least three people died during this busiest of days,” it said.

Overall, in 2019, 11 people died on Everest, 10 from the Nepal side.

“There are tragedies on Everest every year, but it doesn’t seem to have deterred adventure enthusiasts,” said Sherpa, the former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association.

In fact, according to him, the num-ber of potential climbers would have been higher than it is so far this year if the government had not delayed easing the quarantine provision and resumption of on-arrival visa.

“Otherwise, the mountaineering industry would be on its pre-Covid-19 levels this spring,” he said. “But despite the delay, things are on track. The industry is optimistic to recover from such a deadly financial blow.”

Pandemic? It’s not there on Everest

Excessive extraction of riverbed materials worries farmersCapitalising on high demand for construction materials and negligence of local officials, smugglers continue to haphazardly extract riverbed materials from Daraudi River.HARIRAM UPRETIGORKHA, APRIL 10

The illegal extraction of sand and construction aggregates from the banks of Daraudi River in Gorkha district has affected the farming land-scape of the surrounding areas, local farmers say.

According to farmers in Gorkha Municipality, they are facing difficul-ties in irrigating their farmlands, as the water level in the Daraudi river has been decreasing over the years due to excessive extraction of river-bed materials.

Man Bahadur Thapa, a resident of Ward No. 10 in Gorkha Municipality, says the excessive extraction of river-bed materials has increased the depth of the river, making it difficult to channelise water to the irrigation canal that feeds around 5,000 ropanis (254.36 hectares) of agricultural land from Beni Khola to Bohorabesi.

“The river has deepened in the last few years due to the rampant smug-gling of riverbed materials,” said Thapa. “The riverbed is empty of stones even in the dam area of the irrigation canal.”

The district authorities and local bodies responsible for monitoring ille-gal activities such as excessive river-bed extraction have done little to dis-suade illegal crusher plant operators from committing such crimes, allege local people.

“The people’s representatives and some district-based authorities are working in collusion with these smug-glers. This has emboldened the smug-glers to continue with the illegal busi-ness,” said Thapa.

Capitalising on high demand for construction materials and the negli-gence of local authorities, smugglers continue to illegally extract riverbed materials from Beni Khola, Bohorabesi, Khatribesi, Dash Kilo Phant and Masanepati areas of the Daraudi River.

“Smugglers use excavators to dig as deep as two metres into the riverbed. This is bound to have severe environ-mental repercussions. But crusher industries, even when they are operat-ing legally, are only focussed on mone-tary gains,” said Mangal Lama, a local resident of Palungtar Municipality Ward No. 1.

According to Lama, three crusher

industries are operating a kilometre apart from one another along the Daraudi river at present. These three crusher industries are operating between Chorkate to Masanepati areas without meeting the safety standards.

“The crushers are not allowed to excavate riverbed materials using excavators at night. It goes against the Standard Operating Procedure set by the local unit,” said Madan Bahadur Koirala, a local resident of Ghumnetar. “At this rate, we will not be able to irrigate our fields in the near future.”

The Daraudi River has been chang-ing its course time and again because of the rampant extraction of riverbed materials.

“In the last monsoon, floodwaters entered our farmlands and damaged our crops. This is the direct effect of the haphazard extraction of riverbed materials,” said Jit Bahadur Kumal, a farmer in Gorkha Municipality.

Local residents are demanding that the authorities concerned control the

haphazard extraction of riverbed materials in the district.

“The concerned authorities should take initiatives to protect the river and the ecology. But they allow contractors to haphazardly extract riverbed materials without conduct-ing a scientific study,” said Kaluman Kumal, a local resident of Gorkha Municipality.

Following complaints of excessive extraction of riverbed materials in Daraudi River, the District Coordination Committee in Gorkha plans to send an inspection team to conduct a field visit, said Ashok Gurung, chief at the District Coordination Committee in Gorkha.

“The District Coordination Committee will soon send a team to inspect the riverbank areas. Local gov-ernment should also take initiatives to control haphazard extraction,” he said. “An Initial Environmental Examination Report must be prepared before contracts are given to crusher industries.”

‘No drugs’ campaign has dismal results47 persons were interrogated for peddling contraband in Bardiya in the last month alone.

KAMAL PANTHIBARDIYA, APRIL 10

Police in Bardiya launched a ‘No Drugs’ campaign in the district two months ago. However, officials say the campaign, which was initiated to control the smuggling and consumption of drugs in the district, hasn’t been effective so far.

According to the data of the District Police Office, 47 indi-viduals were interrogated for smuggling and consuming contraband in the last month. Among them, four were taken into custody whereas one individual has been sent to a rehab centre.

Superintendent of Police Ishwor Karki said 42 drug users were handed over to their parents after counselling.

“We have already organised 15 awareness programmes targeting schools, colleges and public places. Those aware-ness programmes were attended by 2,500 individuals,” said Karki.

The District Police Office plans to make Bardiya a drug-free district. However, cases of drug smuggling and the arrest of users and smugglers in the district have shown that the campaign has not been as successful as expected.

The District Police Office says it will continue with the campaign despite getting dismal results.

“Most of the drug users are young people. We have been taking classes in 10 community schools in a day to raise awareness among them,” SP Karki said.

Mayor of Madhuban Municipality Ganesh KC said the police campaign hasn’t yielded the expected results but it should be continued to control smuggling and consumption of drugs in the long run.

According to the District Police Office, the campaign will end by the end of the current fiscal year.

“The consumption and smuggling of drugs have become rampant in Bardiya due to the open border,” said Dipu Chaudhary, a civil society leader and a local resident of Gulariya Ward No. 10. “Authorities should launch aware-ness programmes in the settlements near the border area. The border area should also be closely monitored to control illegal trade of drugs.”

According to Nara Bahadur Raut, Superintendent of Police of the Armed Police Force in Bardiya, over 12 indi-viduals were arrested with contraband in the last nine months. “Mostly pharmaceutical drugs are being smuggled into the country from the border point,” Raut said.

>> Continued from page 1The census found that Bardiya National Park has 38 rhinos, Shuklaphanta National Park has 17 and Parsa National Park has three.

These three parks had 29, eight and three rhinos in 2015 respectively.

The count, which took place after a gap of six years, began on March 22 after numerous postponements in the last two years.

In 2019, the count could not take place due to a funds crunch. In 2020, the count was called off for an indefi-nite period just days before schedule due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wildlife experts have described the increase in rhino population in the country’s protected parks as encour-aging news for the country’s conserva-tion sector.

“The rise in rhino numbers sounds important especially when there were concerns over the high mortality rate of the animal in recent years,” said Baburam Lamichhane, a wildlife researcher.

“That the number has gone up is an encouraging piece of news.”

Since the 2015 count, Chitwan National Park, which is home to the largest population of one-horned rhi-nos, has lost a total of 161 rhinos. At the time, when the country had large-ly controlled poaching of rhinos, the unprecedented rise in deaths due to natural causes had been a cause for concern.

In the fiscal year 2016-17, 25 rhinos were reported dead, including one killed by poachers. Twenty-six rhinos died in the fiscal year 2017-18; 43 in 2018-19; and 26 in 2019-20. This fiscal year alone, 22 rhinos have died in Chitwan National Park. Of them, four were killed by poachers.

Such reports fuelled concerns if the rhino population had gone down in Chitwan Park.

Acharya, who is also an ecologist with the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation, how-ever, said he expected the rhino popu-lation to go up.

“Birth and death are natural phe-nomena. Rhino deaths were reported but we had not seen calves being born,” said Acharya.

“There never was suspicion that the number of rhinos could go down in the country.”

Despite conservationists hailing the increase in rhino numbers, there is still something to worry about—the decline in the annual growth rate of the rhino population.

When rhino census results put their population at 645 in 2015, the country recorded an annual growth of 5 per-cent. The number after the 2011 cen-sus stood at 534 rhinos—503 in Chitwan, 24 in Bardiya and seven in Shuklaphanta.

From 2011 to 2015, the growth rate was 21 percent. Between 2015 and 2021, the growth rate averaged at 16.6 per-cent.

As the census shows, the annual growth now remains below 3 percent.

“The increase in rhino population is impressive, but the latest rhino cen-

sus, which took place after six years, also shows that the annual growth rate has remained below 3 percent, ” said Lamichhane, who is also chief of the Biodiversity Conservation Centre, Sauraha, under the National Trust for Nature Conservation.

“The lower yearly growth rate could indicate whether we are approaching the saturation level in terms of popu-lation density.”

According to Lamichhane, who also has conducted several studies on rhi-nos, the rhino population can show better growth when the habitat is less congested. But when there is competi-tion among the rhinos, such growth can remain limited.

A study conducted by Naresh Subedi, a wildlife researcher, in 2012 had estimated that a male rhino requires nearly 14 sq km as its home range, and a female rhino needs 9 sq km. However, some may share the same habitat. If the habitat is good and abounds with resources, then a small area would be adequate. Otherwise, a relatively larger area will be required.

Subedi, another expert on rhinos, is also concerned with the relatively smaller annual growth rate of the population this time.

Subedi, a spokesperson for the National Trust for Nature Conservation, said: “Such a trend shows that somewhere at some point of time the population can decrease. Their population cannot increase for-ever. Naturally, it can go up and down sometimes.”

Over the years, Nepal has done a commendable job in recovering the rhino population from the brink of its extinction.

In the early 1950s, around 1,000 rhi-nos were said to be roaming in Nepal’s Tarai jungles. However, as the govern-ment launched a malaria eradication campaign and enacted a resettlement programme, Chitwan saw massive migration from the hills and deforest-ation. As a result, around 70 percent of forests in Chitwan was cleared, according to the Rhino Conservation Action Plan (2017-2021).

With the destruction of forests and uncontrolled poaching, the rhino pop-ulation declined. A study released in 2003 said that there were less than 100 one-horned rhinos left as a single pop-ulation in Chitwan during the 1960s.

Increased conservation efforts, strict rules to protect wildlife species and management of wildlife habitats with the establishment of Chitwan National Park resulted in the gradual increase in rhino population. By 1994, the number had reached 466.

However, the decade-long armed conflict saw massive poaching of rhi-nos in the country. The recent spike in rhino deaths, mostly due to natural causes, called for special attention from conservationists.

Such deaths were linked to increas-ing rhino numbers, as territorial clashes among the inhabitants were also leading to their deaths.

An internal study even suggested relocation of rhinos from the western

side, where the majority of rhinos had congregated, to the eastern side of the park. The western part is determined by taking Kasara, the park’s head-quarters, as the centre.

“The rhino population has seen a significant rise in eastern part of the Chitwan National Park, where its pop-ulation was believed to be low. There were speculations that the eastern block has fewer rhinos, but the num-ber has actually gone up,” said Lamichhane. “In the past, we could see three-four rhinos, but this time, 20-22 individuals were spotted. Around 70 rhinos have increased in the east-ern belt.”

According to Lamichhane, the lat-est finding has given valuable insights not only into rhino headcount but also their distribution.

“Now internal relocation of rhinos for the sake of increasing the popula-tion on the eastern side would not be necessary,” said Lamichhane. “However, rhinos at the risk of floods and other threats could be relocated from the western side.”

A large number of rhinos concen-trated in one area had also worried park officials, as they feared the ani-mals could migrate to India. In recent years, rhinos were swept down to India, making it difficult for Nepali officials to bring them back.

Subedi says the country can still maintain an impressive growth rate of rhino population if biological man-agement is practised.

“In Africa, the rhino population has seen an annual growth rate of 12 per-cent,” said Subedi.

Until 1986, Chitwan National Park was the only rhino bearing area in Nepal. With the aim of establishing a second viable population in Bardiya National Park, 87 rhinos were translo-cated between 1986 and 2003 from Chitwan.

However, the illegal hunting of rhi-nos in Bardiya during the armed con-flict resulted in a decline in its popula-tion from 67 in 2000 to 31 in 2007 and 29 in 2015, according to the department. Later, eight more were moved to Bardiya National Park.

In 2003, four rhinos were translocat-ed to Shuklaphanta National Park and five more reintroduced in 2017.

Subedi says the authorities need to relocate more rhinos from high-densi-ty areas as part of the biological man-agement of the population.

Chitwan Park holds the second larg-est population of one-horned rhinos in the sub-continent—after Kaziranga National Park in India.

“A total of 13 rhinos were taken to Bardiya and Shuklaphanta in recent years. However, the population has not gone up substantially. We have been able to control poaching, which is still a major threat to rhino conservation,” said Subedi.

“Now what we can do is take more rhinos away from high density to low population density areas. The author-ities can annually translocate 15 to 20 rhinos from Chitwan. With this effort, we can still maintain an annual growth of 5 to 7 percent.”

Nepal has 752 one-horned rhinos ...

Post Photo

aggregate being excavated on the daraudi riverbank in gorkha.

A Qatari woman is on quest to reach the highest mountains in seven continents.

Post Photo: hemanta shrestha

two rhinos spotted in Bardiya national park.

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BRIefINg

Post Photo Anish Regmi

Motorists cross a waterlogged road section at Bijulibazaar, Kathmandu on Saturday.

Man held on charge of killing fatherSINDHULI: Police on Saturday arrested Prakash Hayu, aged 21, on the charge of murdering his father. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Lama, the suspect severely thrashed his father Surman Hayu, 46, following a family dispute on March 17. Critically injured Surman died two days later in the course of treatment. Security person-nel detained the accused, who was at large after the incident, from Guranse Danda on Saturday. Detailed investi-gation into the incident is underway, said police.

Five houses, 15 sheds destroyed in forest firePARBAT: A wildfire at Dandakahun for-est in Paiyun Rural Municipality Ward No. 6, Parbat, has destroyed five houses and 15 sheds. Six other houses were partially damaged in the fire, according to the Area Police Office in Paiyun. “The forest fire has already come under control. We are yet to ascertain the extent of destruction caused by the fire,” said Inspector Bijaya Singh.

500 hectares of forestland destroyed in Dhankuta firesDHANKUTA: Wildfires have been report-ed in 40 community forests of Dhankuta in the last few weeks, according to the data of the Division Forest Office. Five hundred hectares of forest cover have been destroyed by the wildfires. Police said they have kept security personnel on standby to prevent any untoward incident in the future.

Bipul Pokhrel-led panel sweeps all positions of Federation of Nepali JournalistsPOST REPORTKATHMANDU, APRIL 10

The panel of journalists led by Bipul Pokhrel and backed by associations close to the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) has won 51 of the 52 positions of the central committee of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, defeating a panel backed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s CPN-UML.

Pokhrel’s panel, backed by 11 asso-ciations, including Madhav Nepal-led UML faction and Rastriya Janamorcha, was elected president beating Nirmala Sharma-led panel backed by journalists’ associations close to Janata Samajbadi Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Netra Bikram Chand’s Communist Party of Nepal.

Pokhrel won with 6,942 votes while Sharma got 3,915 but the independent candidate Gajendra Budhathoki, who dared to stand against the candidates supported by different political par-

ties, received only 491 votes.After practicing a system of indi-

rect voting for decades, the outgoing office bearers led by president Govinda Acharya had adopted a direct election system by amending the stat-ute to allow all the Federation’s gener-al members to vote for central office bearers.

After the election committee announced the results, newly elected chairman Pokhrel expressed his commitment not to let the political parties affect the federation’s activi-ties, including its policy making process.

“I want to assure everyone that I won’t let any political influence in the decision-making process and poli-cy-making process of the federation,” said Pokhrel. “I will never compro-mise on the issues of working journalists.”

The Federation has come hugely under the shadow of politics and this year it was even more so, raising fears over journalists’ integrity.

Outgoing general secretary Ramesh

Bista was elected senior vice-chair, Bala Adhikary was elected vice-chair (woman), Uday GM vice-chair (inclu-sive) and Roshan Puri general secretary.

Six secretaries elected today are Govinda Chaulagain (open category), Narayan Kilambu (Janajati), Pawan Acharya (associate category), Hem Karna BK (Dalit), Srijana Aryal (woman) and Dipendra Chauhan (Madhesi). Kalendra Sejuwal has been elected new treasurer.

Lekhnath Neupane has been elected coordinator of the Accounts Committee while Devi Sapkota and Mukunda Bhandari its members.

The committee was envisioned to monitor the expenses of the federation.

Interestingly, one candidate Mani Dahal, who stood as an inde-pendent candidate for the central member representing the corporate branch, happened to win despite the strong political syndicate. The other 51 candidates won with political backing.

Health Ministry recommends school closure for at least three weeksOf the total infections at present, 14 percent are in children compared to 4 percent in the past, officials say.ARJUN POUDELKATHMANDU, APRIL 10

The Ministry of Health has recommended the closure of schools for three weeks in densely populated areas like Kathmandu, Pokhara and Parsa, among others, in light of rising Covid-19 cases among schoolchildren and their family members.

“We have recommended shutting down schools for at least three weeks immediately in high risk areas and big cities,” Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari, joint spokesperson for the Health Ministry, told the Post.

According to Adhikari, of the total cases reported in recent days, 14 percent are chil-dren. Last year, only four percent of the total infections were children.

About two weeks ago, the Nepal Army-run Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya in Bhaktapur was shut down after some of its students and teachers tested positive for the coronavirus. At least 23 students and some teachers of the school had tested positive.

Covid-19 cases were detected in 40 students at an engineering college in Pokhara a month ago, according to the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division.

School operators, however, are yet to agree on closing the schools.

On Friday, the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre held consultations with the represent-atives of private and public schools and guardians where they pushed for classes with physical presence by adopting strict health guidelines.

According to a school representative who attended the meeting, stopping classes would hamper students’ studies.

“We said a blanket closure of the academic institutions will affect children’s learning,” Ritu Raj Sapkota, chairperson of National Private and Boarding Schools’ Association, Nepal, told the Post. “We are for running schools by strictly following health guide-lines. The officials from the centre had agreed to our proposal.”

School operators say as the last year’s expe-

rience has shown, most of the schools and children are not equipped for virtual classes and the government shouldn’t opt for a blan-ket closure of schools.

As the Covid-19 pandemic severely affected the teaching-learning process, the govern-ment has extended the academic year by two months.

The academic session that normally con-cludes in April has been pushed until June.

Sapkota said the blanket closure could fur-ther affect the current academic session.

Over 7 million students study in around 30,000 private and public schools across the country.

“We are for allowing the respective local governments to decide on the matter as the effect of the pandemic is not uniform across the country,” Deepak Sharma, spokes-person for the Education Ministry, told the Post. “However, the schools that continue physical classes must abide by the health protocols.”

The government in September last year had endorsed a directive allowing the respective local governments to make decisions on the closure of the schools.

Although children are at a relatively low risk of developing a severe form of the infec-tion, health experts warn that they could pass on the virus to other vulnerable groups at their homes and communities.

Moreover, the Health Ministry has con-firmed that the fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus, the one first detected in the United Kingdom, is responsible for the recent spike in new cases in Nepal, whose infection rate, severity and death rate are very high compared to the variant first detected in the country.

“Even children and youths are becoming seriously ill,” Dr Sagar Rajbhandari, director at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, told the Post.

Scientists in the United Kingdom have said that the UK variant, known as B.1.1.7, is 40 to 70 percent more transmissible than the one that caused the first wave of coronavirus

infection.They have also said that the virus is 64 per-

cent deadlier than the previous strains.“We have also recommended that public

vehicles carry passengers only 50 percent of their capacity and enforce safety measures strictly,” said Adhikari.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Health Ministry had issued 10-point recommendations urging agencies concerned to take utmost caution, as the infection rate has been found high among schoolchildren in big cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara.

In a statement, the ministry called for strictly enforcing safety measures in public transportation of big cities and in other pub-lic places—shopping malls, bars, cinema halls, party palaces, health clubs, swimming pools and temples, among others.

The ministry has urged the local level and local administrations to encourage people to stay in home quarantine following their return from abroad and monitor if they are following safety measures properly.

“Increase contact tracing, antigen tests, and polymerase chain reaction tests as per the need,’’ the statement reads.

Nepal has so far reported 279,725 cases of coronavirus infections, with 3,039 deaths.

The Health Ministry said on Saturday that 337 people were infected and one died in the last 24 hours. Apart from this, 26 people tested positive during antigen tests performed at health desks set up at Nepal-India border points. The number of active cases stands at 2,800 throughout the country.

Public health experts have warned that health facilities could be overwhelmed within a few days, as new variants of the virus are more infectious.

“We may not get much time for prepara-tion,” Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, told the Post. “We should start necessary preparation for the worst-case scenario.”

Binod Ghimire contributed reporting.

PRITHVI MAN SHRESTHAKATHMANDU, APRIL 10

The government has taken a step forward towards widening the Prithvi Highway with the contracts already finalised for the development of two main sections of the road linking Kathmandu and Pokhara.

The government plans to widen the existing two-lane highway into four lanes. To that end, the Department of Roads has awarded the con-tract of widening the Anbu Khaireni-Jamune highway section to China Communications Construction Company. It has also picked Anhui Kaiyuan Highway and Bridge Co Ltd, another Chinese firm, for the highway widening project from Jamune to Pokhara.

Prithvi Highway was built with Chinese assis-tance and was completed in 1974. Being one of the busiest highways in the country, it faces frequent traffic jams. The highway traffic is expected to ease once the project is completed.

“The contractor is likely to be mobilised at the Anbu Khaireni-Jamune highway section after April 15,” said Sushil Dhakal, chief of project directorate (Asian Development Bank) at the Department of Roads. “In the case of the Jamune-Pokhara section, we are preparing to issue a letter of acceptance for contract award in a few days. The contractor will be mobilised in the field within the next two months.”

Prem Prakash Khatri, project director for Jamune-Pokhara section of Anbu Khaireni-Pokhara road, said that construction work is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

“The contractor will also be responsible for the maintenance of the highway section for another five years,” he said.

In October 2019, the Asian Development Bank had approved a loan of $195 million to upgrade the 81-km Pokhara-Anbu Khaireni section of Prithvi Highway into four lanes. The govern-ment is supposed to inject $59 million into the project as a counterpart fund.

Meanwhile, the road department has also started the contractor selection process for the

upgradation of the Muglin-Naubise section of Prithvi Highway. The section is being upgraded with the financial assistance of the World Bank. The global lender and the Nepal government had signed a loan agreement to this end in July last year.

The World Bank will finance the project from its $450 million loan that it agreed to provide to Nepal to upgrade and expand 82.4km Muglin-Naubise road as well as the Kamala-Dhaldebar-Pathalaiya road section of East-West Highway.

According to the Department of Roads, the Muglin-Naubise section will have different lanes—two, three and four—depending on the geographical situation.

The department on March 25 had invited applications from eligible and qualified bidders for the pre-qualification process to select a con-tractor to expand and improve the Nagdhunga-Naubise section of the road.

“A detailed design has also been prepared linking the Muglin-Anbu Khaireni section with an alternative road,” said Dhakal. “The ADB has shown interest to fund the alternative route as well.”

Dhakal added Prithvi Highway needed to be widened into four lanes due to high traffic vol-ume.

The highway, particularly from Muglin to Kathmandu, serves as the main gateway to Kathmandu for vehicles coming from eastern, western and southern parts of the country. Around 8,000 vehicles ply the road daily, accord-ing to the road department.

Currently, the capital city does not have a reli-able alternative to Prithvi Highway as the main supply line. A number of road projects includ-ing Kathmandu-Nijgadh Fast Track, Kanti Rajpath connecting Kathmandu to Hetauda, and Kathmandu-Hetauda Tunnel Road have been planned as alternative routes, but the progress of these projects remains poor, according to the road department.

“Since traffic volume in the Prithvi Highway continues to rise and since there are no better alternative routes, it requires major upgrad-ing,” said Dhakal.

Government finalises contracts to widen Prithvi Highway Traffic on one of busiest highways in the country is expected to ease once the project is completed, officials say.

Post Photo: Anish Regmi

Winners of the Federation of Nepali Journalists elections celebrate their victory at the FNJ office in Sinamangal, Kathmandu on Saturday.

C M Y K

SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2021 | 04

OPINION

The full title of this paper should be—’Erosion of the poetic element in the Nepali political imaginaire’. The reasons are the following. Recently, one student of Nepali arts reminded me of a paper that I had presented at a seminar on ‘Art and politics: art for federalism’ organised by the UNDP and Kathmandu University at Nagargot from May 11-13, 2013. In ret-rospect, I should mention that a prom-inent painter and teacher named Sujan Chitrakar of the Faculty of Arts at KU was behind this effort of making his students and colleagues sensitive to the question of art playing a role in politics.

The student wants to work in the area evoked by the title of my paper, ’Art and political imaginaire in the context of federal life’ in Nepal. I will dwell on the subject in a proper paper or discussions with the student some-time, but what struck me in his query is—has the poetic sensibility or the element of imagination reached the nadir of Nepali political imagination in the present times? In other words, is the Nepali political imagination devoid of any creative and inspiring thoughts? Suspicions abound for the following reasons.

Political discourses or discussions, especially in transitional times, natu-rally tend to be evocative, which means poetic. Though the promises they make may sound unrealistic, they carefully architect a language that gives the impression of creative and forward-looking ideas. That is essential for political dynamism. The promises of reaching the moon, climb-ing over Mt Everest, disseminating the Buddha’s messages of peace and joy all over the world, totally amelio-rating the condition of the poor people of Nepal and also of the region and so on could be examples of some such poetic thoughts. Knowing well that such poetic promises are not realistic, the very use of the language, the sheer evocation of good imagination would at least make people feel that there is space for creative imagination in life. Though it is well known that poetry may not make things hap-pen, it makes people reaffirm the con-viction in life, love and cooperation notwithstanding the differences in opinions, particularly of political

nature. Such is the nature of the tacit understanding.

There is one example that students and critics of literature love to reiter-ate. An English poet WH Auden wrote a great poem entitled ‘In Memory of WB Yeats’, a British poet of Irish ori-gin when he died in January 1939. That was a difficult time in Europe because the Second World War was raging and people’s hopes for peace and prosperity were being dashed. Addressing Yeats’ lifelong political activism for the freedom of Ireland Auden wrote: the madness of your Ireland is the same, nothing has changed despite the great poems that you wrote about it ‘For poetry makes nothing happen: it survives/ In the valley of its making…/ it survives,/ A way of happening, a mouth’. Though ‘Poetry makes nothing happen’ it exists there as a reality; it still shows that people’s propensity to think creatively is always there, and we can start from that.

In Nepal, there are examples of pol-iticians and rulers writing poetry. No matter what the quality of their poet-ry is, they have accepted poetry as a way of showing something unique about their imagination. Monarchs and some of their spouses have writ-ten poetry and songs. Politicians have written something in the name of poems and songs. That is fine insofar as that shows their respect for good language and creative imagination. I do take it as an example of their attempts to invent something in the language.

As such, nobody expects or has expected the political leaders like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel, Narendra Modi, Victor Orban, Emmanuel Macron—though he is said to have written fantasy fic-tion—Sher Bahadur Deuba and the current communist leaders of Nepal, to write poetry. My only problem is with the Nepali politicians’ use of language churned out for the con-

sumption of the masses who are visi-bly tired of listening to them. The warring camps of the communist parties go to any length in using vitu-perative language against each other. The most alarming aspect of their use of language is the produc-tion of lies, and their persistent quest for the alternate language in politics. I consider that aspect as the most damaging one.

Where does poetry come here then? My argument is that it is difficult to find any creative element in their political rhetoric. In their reckless use of language, and the invention of rhet-oric you find something more serious. They are perhaps losing any sense of creative political imagination. American poet Wallace Stevens in a lecture given in 1941 entitled ‘The Noble Rider and the Sound of Words’ sees ‘imagination and reality’ as the ‘two near-pseudonyms for poetry and politics’. Though I find this category difficult to accept hook line and sink-

er, I would nevertheless find one merit in that, which is, those who are deal-ing with politics should work with imagination, and allow themselves to be shaped by humanist and decent use of language in whatever condition do they make use of that.

In Nepal, I share a frustration with the general public who are simply tired of listening to the bland, fake and loosely architected rhetoric of people from the prime minister and the opposition and faction lead-ers, to the bureaucrats and business leaders who are entering the ruling party in droves to set their business houses in order. The dearth of crea-tive and honest use of language is a very tantalising factor. I am trying to evoke, though it is widely absent, the poetic use of language.

But as an optimist academic and a life-long teacher, I have invited the student to work in the creative direc-tion of this problem. Those who are working in the field of poetry and art

should find out what creative imagina-tion can do in life. Poets should not be content with producing texts that do not say anything. Writers should show the bankruptcy of the political rheto-ric that is devoid of good intention, and explain how creative meaning and a desire to say something decent and meaningful should replace the culture of producing false and reckless rheto-ric to affect the day-to-day life of the people in this society.

We still remember how poetry had played a powerful role in the first people’s uprising for the restoration of democracy in 1990. That was defi-nitely part of the political uprising, and that was creative. It is that very spirit that is in short supply today. Though I do not have space to explain that, I would like to end by repeating that erosion of poetry in Nepali politics is metonymically the erosion of good values in the political karma that is getting the better of us in Nepal today.

The current pandemic made us try several alternatives to manage educa-tion such as teaching online, broad-casting educational materials over radio and television to help children without an internet connection and running home schools, among others. However, their effectiveness in imparting education during the coro-navirus pandemic is yet to be assessed. It is certain that in order to re-engi-neer the education system to enable it to combat any kind of short- or long-term crisis, we need to have some pol-icies and action plans based on firm evidence. To this end, taking a census of educational information and communications technology (ICT) resources can be one of the essential steps to manage learning during crises.

Crises can occur due to natural calamities such as earthquakes, tsu-namis and floods; manmade reasons such as war and political instability or because of pandemics or epidemics. All such disasters can disrupt education for the short or long term, and at a regional or global level. So it is a wise step for every country to be well-prepared to manage education that can essentially begin from mapping ICT resources in aca-demic institutions.

In the case of Nepal, the municipal-ities and rural municipalities can design a survey of ICT resources for education to be conducted at the local level to gather information about the available assets. With the help of the census, we can collect data related to

access to ICT resources by learners, teachers, parents and academic managers, the availability of such resources in academic institutions, and the level of digital literacy possessed by the major stakeholders involved in student learning. The second step after conducting a successful census will be to update the information regularly at certain inter-vals. Some of the actions listed above are also in line with the aims of the Student Learning Facilitation

Guideline 2020 that is implemented by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to manage education-al disruption during the pandemic.

Nepal is socio-culturally and geo-graphically diverse, therefore, the school contexts across the country also vary although schools in Nepal as of now implement a centrally mandat-ed curriculum. Due to the federal structure, local organisations such as educational bodies and metropolitan and sub-metropolitan cities, munici-

palities and rural municipalities have opportunities to form local policies in line with national policies to manage education at the local level. In this scenario, conducting an educational ICT census can help local bodies to come up with context-sensitive and manageable plans that suit their local resources.

The ICT resources census for educa-tion can also assist in developing some educational plans at the national level. Needless to say, ICT is encroaching on

educational space gradually, and all major stakeholders have realised its potential for effective teaching and learning. That is why, it is high time that we thought carefully and planned based on some evidence to integrate ICT in educa-tion. Sobhi Tawil, Director Future of Learning and Innovation at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), argues in a document produced for UNESCO that during the Covid-19

pandemic ‘many in the educational community saw the massive global shift to digital learning as a source of innovation and a ‘forced opportuni-ty’ to re-imagine the how, what and where of learning’.

The recent pandemic has made us consider the potential of digital learning, however, we have our own constraints. According to the Covid-19 Education Cluster Contingency Plan 2020, there are 2,357,959 school children with no access to other media (such as inter-net, radio and television). Hence, we should be able to develop policies at the national level to address all types of learners in our country by obtain-ing extensive information from possi-ble actions such as an educational ICT resources census.

An ICT census can equally help us to realise the aims and objectives of ICT in education plans and policies. The first comprehensive ICT in Education Masterplan (2013-17) has accentuated four components, namely development of infrastructure includ-ing connectivity, human resources, digital teaching and learning materials, and enhancement of the education system. It can be inferred that to develop action plans focusing on all these components, a census that maps ICT resources for education can be a boon. Action plans based on the census are more likely to ensure effective implementation of the policies as successful delivery of the ICT in Education Masterplan is questionable.

Of course, while designing the cen-sus, it is necessary to allocate a budget and human resources to conduct the study. A model of the census needs to be categorically planned. Once the census is started, conducting it again at certain intervals to update informa-tion or gradually updating informa-tion in the system without conducting a census can be a smooth process. The outcomes of the census can also be a motivator as many future policies, guidelines and action plans can be designed based on the information obtained from it.

Shrestha is a PhD scholar at Dublin City University, Ireland.

Nepal needs an ICT census

The most alarming aspect of politicians’ use of language is the production of lies.

SAGUN SHRESTHA

AbHi SUbEdi

The survey will provide facts and figures to help manage education during crises.

Erosion of poetry in Nepali politics

ShutterStock

ShutterStock

WORDS &

ECHOES

C M Y K

05 | SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2021

MoNeY

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Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank

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‘Nepal is on track to becoming a cashless society’

You have closely observed the success of the Nepali banking industry over the years. Are banks the forerunners in addressing gender inequality?

I think there are no gender inequali-ties in banking and financial institu-tions. Even Prabhu Bank has more than 50 percent women employees. Most of the banks in Nepal have more than 20 percent women employees. We are sensible towards gender inequali-ty, and we think opportunities need to be equal. I think the number of women employees in the banking sector is high compared to other sectors. This is because the facilities are good in banks and there is always an opportu-nity to learn. And I expect the number of women employees to increase in the coming days as banks are expand-ing their branches. Women economic empowerment is critical to achieving gender equality.

Do you think narrowing the gender gap will foster greater stability in the banking system and enhance economic growth?

Yes, obviously. Including more women in the labour force stimulates econom-ic growth. In a country like Nepal, the habit of saving is more common among females than males. Similarly, in managing the home financially, women are always ahead. This is why women are good managers. I believe there is an important role of women behind the success of every organisa-tion. That’s why engaging women in productive employment can have economy-wide benefits.

Is Nepal’s banking industry strong enough to deal with calamities like Covid-19 in the future? Has the pandemic affected loan recovery?

We faced the pandemic. It was obvi-ously difficult for all. Covid-19 had a huge impact on loan recovery as industries collapsed and shut down due to the lockdown. The industrial and business sector did not generate income for months. Around 50 percent of the industrial units have now resumed operation. The repayment of interest that stopped during the pan-demic has gradually started. If a sec-ond wave hits the nation, the central bank might bring a relaxation policy on interest payment. But there will be no problem on the recovery side, if the Covid-19 caseload does not rise. Normal ups and downs are expected despite the threats that the pandemic brought. I feel that we are capable of facing such a situation in the future. The banking sector has shown that they are ready to face any uncertainties, challenges and unto-ward situations.

How do you assess the current bank-ing industry? Is the economic out-look positive for the banking sector?

The banking industry is a productive sector in itself as it mobilises immobi-lised capital. And the banking sector is an important part of the economy due to which its future is always good. During the pandemic, the banking industry provided interest waivers to entrepreneurs, industrialists and traders, following the central bank’s instruction, which amounted to around Rs14 billion. The banking sec-

tor’s contribution in terms of taxes, and also from an employment genera-tion point of view, is good. Yes, the economic outlook is positive for the banking sector. The recently pub-lished report by the World Bank also predicted that the economy would see a gradual positive recovery. There is a direct relationship between the econo-my—industry, agriculture, trading, transportation, tourism—and the banking sector. So, if the entire sector flourishes, the banking sector also grows. We hope that there will be pos-itive economic growth.

Digital banking is gaining momentum in Nepal. Can Nepal become a cashless society? What is Prabhu Bank doing to promote digital payment?

Prabhu Bank has been providing all facilities in terms of digital banking that are available in the country—mainly mobile banking, quick response (QR) code, internet banking, card payment and wallet payment. The use of digital payment has been increasing across the country. The service also depends on the quality of service provided by telecommunica-tion and internet companies. There is an equal need for imparting knowledge about digital payment. We think the future is digital. As technol-ogy, by its nature, changes rapidly, we have prepared accordingly. We are doing research, studies and experi-ments and adding features every month. We are spreading awareness about digital payment among our cus-tomers through different means of communications.

We will be targeting many sectors like the retail market such as grocery markets, pharmaceuticals, vegetable market, livestock market, restaurants and hotels. We are approaching them for the use of digital banking and pro-moting it through different media. Many customers already know about the service. The number of digital banking users will increase in the upcoming days. Digital banking will become a compulsory tool for provid-ing banking service to customers in the future. Obviously, the pandemic forced people to adopt digital banking and it is spreading at a much faster speed. Our digital infrastructure was already ready and it became popular in a short span of time. The govern-ment also prioritised a digital econo-

my and brought policies accordingly. As mobile access has covered almost all parts of the country, which is important for digital banking, we believe Nepal is on track to becoming a cashless society in the near future.

The central bank recently allowed the issuance of dollar cards to Nepalis so that can pay for foreign services. How is demand for such cards and has Prabhu also started to issue them?

Yes, we have also started issuing dollar cards as permitted by the cen-tral bank for a maximum annual pay-ment of $500 for the purchase of goods and services internationally. The ser-vice can be obtained by anyone accord-ing to their need. It had become essen-tial as well in recent times with many people making use of international services. Previously, users used to turn to illegal ways to make payment which will now stop. Being part of the global market, it is expected that the use of dollar cards will increase in the coming days. There is good demand for dollar cards as there are many consultancy services buying goods from international online companies and using international services like movie channels, among others. It will also help in generating income in a certain way as well while buying goods and services from the interna-tional market.

Lately, lending in the productive sector has grown due to the central bank’s instruction. How is demand for loans from agriculture and other productive sectors?

As the central bank has made it man-datory to lend a certain percentage of loans in agriculture, hydropower and retail, these sectors are flourishing; and banks have also been introducing different schemes targeting them. There is enough demand for loans from these sectors. But there are prob-lems also. Farmers who produce crops in a commercial way lack market access. The supply and distribution chain is also not good. The market sit-uation needs to be studied by the gov-ernment to facilitate sales of prod-ucts. If this happens, loan demand in agriculture will increase rapidly. Besides a few cases of bad debt, which is normal, the recovery rate is good. Compared to other South Asian coun-tries, the loan recovery rate in Nepal is good, which means our customers are responsible and repay their loans.

INteRVIew

Stay-at-home orders and social distancing requirements in 2020 forced banks and financial institutions to promote cashless solutions. With mobile phones determining the uptake of digital banking, a planned roll-out of super speed 5G internet system by the next fiscal year will trigger a step-change in the digital banking industry. The Kathmandu Post’s Krishana Prasain talked to Ashok Sherchan, an experienced banker and CEO of Prabhu Bank, about the future of mobile banking and payment apps including the banking industry’s role in addressing the gender gap. Excerpts:

Nepal’s apex private sector body aims for ambitious $100 billion economy by 2030

POST REPORTKATHMANDU, APRIL 10

Nepal’s apex private sector body on Saturday unveiled its vision paper envisaging an ambitious target to gen-erate 2.2 million jobs by 2030 by achieving an annual economic growth target of 12 percent per year between now and then.

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry said its vision ‘National Economic Transformation 2030’ aims to increase the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to $100 billion by 2030 from $39 billion in 2019-20.

The paper aims to reduce the trade deficit by 50 percent.

According to the federation, every year an estimated 500,000 people enter the country’s labour market but only 200,000 find jobs.

The successful implementation of the vision will create jobs, reduce wid-ening trade deficit, substitute imports, the federation said. For this, export strategy and promotion of a special economic zone (SEZ) needs to be prior-itized, it said.

“If the vision paper is implemented honestly, there will be investment of

$150 billion in the upcoming decade. Of the total investment, around $108 billion will come from the private sec-tor,” said Shekhar Golchha, president of the federation.

“But government cooperation is essential in the implementation of 100 projects prepared by us [the federation] to achieve this growth tar-get,” he said. According to him, the federation could implement 40 mega projects within two years. “These pro-jects are implementable and return-able projects. We are ready for the expansion of the economy,” he added. The National Economic Transformation aims to create a con-venient and competitive business environment, promote international trade, develop the micro, small and medium enterprises and promote start-ups.

Similarly, the vision paper has accorded priority for robust infra-structure development, human capital management and capacity develop-ment, and a responsible private sector for the investment promotion.

“We can increase the investment in infrastructure in a big way,” said Golchha.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli

addressing the 55th annual general meeting of the federation said that the government is ready to change any policies to facilitate the private sector.

“The private sector needs to pin-point and make the government clear what they exactly are expecting from the government,” he said. “The gov-ernment is open to discuss with the private sector to achieve the motto of Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali.”

As per central bank report 96 per-cent of industry was closed during lockdown last year and the economy was negative by 4.5 percent in the first quarter of this year which started reviving in the second quarter.

Golchha said that indicators have shown that the country’s economy is reviving gradually. In the last fiscal year 2019-20 ended mid-July, Nepal suffered the first economic contrac-tion in 37 years as Covid-19 related social distancing measures and lock-downs paralysed the country.

A slow recovery in the ongoing fis-cal year 2020-21 is expected to boost the growth rate to 2.7 percent, backed by a favourable monsoon and an optimistic outlook that the Covid-19 related disruptions will fade and gov-ernment relief spending will materi-alise, according to a recent World Bank report.

As per the report entitled South Asia Economic Focus Spring 2021: South Asia Vaccinates, Nepal would recover gradually and achieve a growth rate of 3.9 percent in 2021-22 and then 5.1 percent by 2022-23, based on the baseline projections of a successful domestic and global vaccination rollout and a gradual resumption of international tourism, which is expected to fully recover after two years.

“There is a risk that political uncertainty, if prolonged, may under-mine investment sentiment,” the report said.

A vision paper launched by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry has envisaged an ambitious target to generate 2.2 million jobs in a decade.

PoSt Photo: ElItE JoShI

According to the federation, every year an estimated 500,000 people enter the country’s labour market but only 200,000 find jobs.

High stakes at sea in global rush for wind powerREUTERSLONDON, APRIL 10

Global competition for offshore wind power is so hot that licence auctions now resemble the oil and gas competi-tions of just a few years ago, and some of the names are familiar too as global oil majors move aggressively into renewable energy.

The drive among top fossil fuel pro-ducers to make fast inroads into low-er-carbon businesses comes as more and more countries roll out plans to boost wind power in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint.

The cost of securing sites to develop has risen to levels that some top wind farm operators say are unsustainable and which will hurt consumers by driving up power prices.

Governments worldwide are expect-ed to offer a record number of tenders for offshore wind sites and capacity this year, with more than 30 gigawatts (GW) on the block. That is almost as much as total existing global wind capacity of 35 GW, and the tenders are shaping up to be the most competitive ever. Several European oil firms including Total, BP and Shell plan to rapidly increase their renewable

power portfolios, reducing reliance on oil and gas to satisfy investors who want to see viable long-term low-car-bon business plans and governments which are demanding reductions in emissions.

The oil majors, with deep pockets, are willing and able to pay up for a foothold in the market, even though margins are much smaller than for

their traditional operations. At a leas-ing round held by the Crown Estate earlier this year for seabed options around the coast of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, BP and German utility EnBW paid a record price to secure two sites, representing 3 GW.

Developers pay an annual option fee prior to taking a final investment deci-sion (FID), which in the case of BP

and EnBW will amount to around 1 billion pounds ($1.38 billion) made in four annual payments of 231 million pounds for each of the two leases.

Traditional offshore wind develop-ers, Iberdrola, Orsted and SSE all con-firmed to Reuters they had been unsuccessful in the leasing round.

The previous Crown Estate offshore round was held more than a decade ago when the market was a fraction of its current size and structured with-out option fees, an added cost develop-ers will now have to recoup.

“Someone is going to have to pay and it’s probably, at least in part, the consumer,” said Duncan Clark, Orsted’s UK head.

Some analysts also said the high fees threaten to erode the huge cost reductions the industry has achieved over the past decade.

Mark Lewis, Chief Sustainability Strategist at BNP Paribas, said the Crown Estate option fee would add around 35 percent to project develop-ment costs, assuming today’s building costs. BP said the fee was justified by the prime location of the two Crown sites: in the Irish Sea, in shallow water, close to the shore allowing for shorter, cheaper connection cables,

and next to each other allowing for cost efficiencies across both projects.

“Not every resource base was born equal,” BP’s low carbon energy chief Dev Sanyal told Reuters, adding that those factors made the company confi-dent of achieving the 8-10 percent return it has set for renewable pro-jects.

EnBW said the prices achieved reflect the different intrinsic value of the respective projects.

Some in the industry fear a knock on effect with Ben Backwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), saying there aren’t enough projects currently to meet demand.

“So you are going to create an over-heated market when what we want to see is more opportunities made available,” he said.

A price cap at a Crown Estate Scotland tender of Scottish seabed leases taking place this year has already been hiked tenfold.

Orsted, Iberdrola and SSE all con-firmed to Reuters they expect to enter the Scottish round, and while neither BP, Total nor Shell would directly con-firm their involvement to Reuters, analysts said it would be surprising if oil firms did not participate.

PoSt Photo: KEShAV thAPA

Ashok Sherchan, CEO of Prabhu Bank.

China fines Alibaba record $2.75 billion for anti-monopoly violations

REUtERS

A general view of the Walney Extension offshore wind farm off the coast of Blackpool, Britain.

Covid-19 curbs halt Indian gold demandREUTERSMUMBAI, APRIL 10

Physical gold demand in India stalled this week after local prices rebounded from a one-year trough and coronavirus restrictions were imposed.

On Friday, local gold futures were trading at around 46,600 rupees ($623.99) per 10 grams after falling to 43,320 rupees last week, the lowest level since April 2020.

Jewellers curtailed buying as state governments have started imposing restrictions to arrest the spread of Covid-19, said a Mumbai-based dealer. Meanwhile, India’s gold imports in March surged 471 percent from a year earlier to a record 160 tonnes.

REUTERSSHANGHAI/HONG KONG, APRIL 10

China slapped a record 18 billion yuan ($2.75 billion) fine on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on Saturday, after an anti-monopoly probe found the e-com-merce giant had abused its dominant market position for several years.

The fine, about 4 percent of Alibaba’s 2019 China revenues, comes amid a crackdown on technology con-glomerates and indicates antitrust law enforcement on internet platforms has entered a new era in China after years of laissez-faire approach.

The Alibaba business empire has particularly come under intense scru-tiny in China since its billionaire founder Jack Ma’s stinging public criticism of the country’s regulatory system in October.

A month later, authorities scuttled a planned $37 billion IPO by Ant Group, Alibaba’s internet finance arm, and then China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced its antitrust probe into the company in December.

While the fine brings Alibaba a step closer to resolving its antitrust woes, Ant still needs to agree to a regulato-ry-driven revamp that is expected to sharply cut its valuations and rein in some of its freewheeling businesses.

“This penalty will be viewed as a closure to the anti-monopoly case for now by the market. It’s indeed the highest profile anti-monopoly case in China,” said Hong Hao, head of research BOCOM International in Hong Kong.

“The market has been anticipating some sort of penalty for some time ... but people need to pay attention to the measures beyond the anti-monopoly investigation.”

The SAMR said it had determined that Alibaba had been “abusing mar-ket dominance” since 2015 by prevent-ing its merchants from using other online e-commerce platforms.

The practice, which the SAMR has previously spelt out as illegal, violates China’s anti-monopoly law by hinder-ing the free circulation of goods and infringing on the business interests of merchants, the regulator added.

C M Y K

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SUnDAY, APriL 11, 2021 | 06

worLD

Quake in Indonesia’s Java, Bali kills 6; no tsunami warningMALANG: A strong earthquake killed at least six people and damaged build-ings on Indonesia’s main island of Java and shook the tourist hotspot of Bali, officials said Saturday. No tsuna-mi warnings were posted. The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.0 quake struck off the island’s southern coast at 2:00 pm local time. It was centred 45 kilometres south of Sumberpucung town of Malang District in East Java province, at a depth of 82 kms. Rahmat Triyono, the head of Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami centre, said in a statement the undersea earthquake did not have the potential to cause a tsunami. Still, he urged people to stay away from slopes of soil or rocks that have the potential for landslides.

Five killed in election violence in India’s West Bengal stateNEW DELHI: At least five people were killed by gunfire in election-related violence at two polling stations in India’s West Bengal state, police said Saturday. Security forces caused the majority of the casualties—four killed and four wounded—while try-ing to control a crowd outside a vot-ing center in Cooch Behar district, said senior police officer Vishal Garg. He gave no further details on what sparked the clashes. In a separate incident, unidentified gunmen fired at voters at a polling station in the same district, killing one person. Garg said police were investigating the attack. Local elections in West Bengal are being held in eight phases.

Ukraine could be provoked by Russian ‘aggression’KYIV: Ukraine’s defence minister said on Saturday his country could be pro-voked by Russian aggravation of the situation in the conflict area of Ukraine’s Donbass region. The minis-ter, Andrii Taran, said Russian accu-sations about the rights of Russian-speakers being violated could be the reason for the resumption of armed aggression against Ukraine. “At the same time, it should be noted that the intensification of the armed aggres-sion of the Russian Federation against Ukraine is possible only if an appropriate political decision is made at the highest level in the Kremlin,” he said in a statement. (AGENcIEs)

Coronavirus triggers lockdowns around the world as vaccine efforts stumbleHaving let its guard down with festivals, rallies and matches, India added more than a million infections since late March.Agence FrAnce-PresseMUMBAI, AprIl 10

Fresh lockdowns and curfews were imposed on tens of millions of people from India to Argentina on Saturday, as Covid-19 infections surged again and vaccine roll-outs were ham-pered by shortages and scares over side effects.

In India, the worst-hit state of Maharashtra was running out of vac-cines as the health system buckled under the weight of the contagion, which has killed 2.9 million people worldwide.

Having let its guard down with mass religious festivals, political ral-lies and spectators at cricket matches, the world’s second-most populous nation has added more than a million new infections since late March.

Every weekend from Saturday until the end of April, Maharashtra’s 125 million people will be confined to their homes unless travelling or shop-ping for food or medicine.

“I’m not for the lockdown at all but I don’t think the government has any other choice,” media profes-sional Neha Tyagi, 27, told AFP in Maharashtra’s megacity Mumbai.

“This lockdown could have been totally avoided if people would take the virus seriously.”

The crisis is being exacerbated by a shortage of vaccines.

India has so far inoculated 94 mil-lion of its 1.3 billion people, but The Times of India reported Friday that states on average had just over five days of stock left, citing health minis-try data, with some regions already grappling with severe shortages.

Stay-at-home orders were also set to come into force for the eight million inhabitants of Bogota, as the Colombian capital battled a third wave of infections, adding to curfews already covering seven million across four other major cities.

Elsewhere in South America, Argentina entered a night-time cur-few Friday running from midnight to 06:00 am every day until April 30.

It will be in force in the country’s highest-risk areas, mainly urban cen-tres, where bars and restaurants will close at 11:00 pm.

Both Argentina and Colombia have

recorded about 2.5 million coronavi-rus cases, numbers surpassed only by Brazil in the region.

All of France is subject to restric-tions of some form, while the German government’s attempts to curb move-ment and commerce have been sty-mied by several states refusing to go

along with the proposals.Now Berlin is changing the rules to

centralise power, adjustments likely to usher in night-time curfews and some school closures in especially hard-hit areas. But some countries were in the process of opening up.

Italy was set to end lockdowns from

next week for Lombardy, the epicentre of its coronavirus pandemic, and sev-eral other regions with improving contagion statistics.

Neighbouring Slovenia announced it would ease coronavirus restrictions and suspend a six-month-long curfew starting Monday.

As in India, Europe’s stuttering vac-cine roll-out faced multiple hurdles Friday as EU regulators said they were reviewing side effects of the Johnson & Johnson shot and France further limited its use of the AstraZeneca jab.

France has repeatedly changed the rules on AstraZeneca’s vaccine, first over doubts about its efficacy, then over fears that it could be linked to blood clots.

On Friday, it did so again, with Health Minister Olivier Veran saying under-55s who had been given a first shot with AstraZeneca would be given a different vaccine for their sec-ond dose. But shortly after he spoke, the World Health Organization said there was “no adequate data” to sup-port switching Covid-19 vaccines between doses.

India protests US Navy’s transit through its exclusive economic zonereuters NEW DElHI, AprIl 10

India protested to the United States for a navy vessel conducting a transit through its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) without consent, the foreign ministry said on Friday, in a rare row between the friendly navies of the two countries.

The USS John Paul Jones “asserted navigational rights and freedoms,” inside India’s EEZ in line with inter-national law by sailing about 130 nau-tical miles (241 km) west of India’s Lakshadweep islands, the US Seventh Fleet said in a statement on Wednesday.

But an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement that UN rules did not allow such passage without consent.

“The Government of India’s stated position on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is that the Convention does not author-ise other States to carry out in the Exclusive Economic Zone and on the continental shelf, military exercises or manoeuvres, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explo-sives, without the consent of the coast-al state,” the spokesman said.

India’s military monitored the movement of the John Paul Jones as it transited from the Persian Gulf towards the Malacca Straits, the for-eign ministry said. The US Navy has previously conducted so-called free-dom of navigation sails through Indian waters without consent, with the last one in the fiscal year for 2019, according to an annual US Defence Department report.

However, former Chief of India’s Naval Staff Arun Prakash questioned why the US announced the operation in the waters of an apparent ally. “For the 7th Fleet to carry out FoN mis-sions in Indian EEZ in violation of our domestic law is bad enough. But publicising it?” he wrote on Twitter.

The navies of India and the United States carry out large scale exercises each year that now involve Japan and Australia.

Too much? Complaints over BBC’s Prince coverageAssociAted PresslONDON, AprIl 10

The UK’s national broadcaster switched instantly into mourning mode when Prince Philip’s death was announced Friday.

The BBC cancelled its regular pro-gramming and aired special coverage hosted by black-clad news anchors throughout the day.

Popular prime-time shows such as the cooking contest “MasterChef ” were supplanted, and the network’s music radio stations played instru-mentals and somber tunes.

Some Britons saw the BBC’s actions as a fitting mark of respect. For oth-ers, it was a bit much.

The broadcaster received so many complaints alleging its reporting was excessive that it set up a special web-site page for viewers to register objec-tions if they felt there was “too much TV coverage of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.” It didn’t disclose how many people had complained by Saturday.

Simon McCoy, a long-time BBC news presenter who recently left the network, suggested the wall-to-wall coverage was inordinate.

“BBC1 and BBC2 showing the same thing. And presumably the News Channel, too. Why? I know this is a huge event. But surely the public deserve a choice of programming?” McCoy said on Twitter.

The publicly funded BBC often finds itself under fire from all sides for its treatment of major national events.

When the Queen Mother Elizabeth died in 2002, the broadcaster received criticism because the announcer who delivered the news did not wear a black tie.

Britain’s other TV stations also gave extensive coverage to Philip’s death at age 99 and after 73 years of marriage to Queen Elizabeth II.

Commercial network ITV aired news coverage and tribute programs all day Friday in place of scheduled programming.

The BBC is under unique pressure, though, because it is taxpayer-funded. Scrutiny and questions about its role have grown in recent years as com-mercial rivals and streaming services give audiences more choice.

The BBC has often irked govern-ments with its coverage of their failings and scandals.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative administration has been especially rankled, detecting a liberal bias in the broadcaster’s coverage of issues such as Brexit.

For a time, the government refused to allow Cabinet ministers to appear on major BBC news programs, and it mulled the idea of scrapping the 159 pound a year licence fee that house-holds pay to fund the broadcaster.

BBC Director-General Tim Davie has acknowledged the organization must evolve with changing times, but says it remains essential to British society.

“We have a different purpose” than broadcasters such as Netflix, Davie told UK lawmakers last month.

Egypt unveils 3,000-year-old ‘lost’ city near LuxorAgence FrAnce-PresselUXOr, AprIl 10

Archaeologists on Saturday showed off their finds at what they say is the “largest” ancient city ever found in Egypt, dating to a golden age of the pharaohs 3,000 years ago.

At the site near Luxor, home of the legendary Valley of the Kings, work-ers carefully carried ancient pots and showed human and animal remains dug up from the earth as members of the media toured around curved brick walls and rudimentary streets.

“This is a large city that was lost. It was connected with the god Aton and Amenhotep III,” famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass enthusiastically told reporters Saturday.

“We found three major districts: one

for administration, one for workers to sleep in and another for industry,” he said.

Spaces include workshops for drying meat, making clothes and san-dals, and crafting amulets and small statues.

Mostafa Waziri, head of the coun-try’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said the site was not limited to buildings.

“We can see... economic activity, workshops and ovens,” he said.

Hawass had announced earlier this week the discovery of a “lost golden city”, and the archaeological team said the find was “the largest” ancient city ever uncovered in Egypt.

“We found one portion of the city only,” Hawass told AFP Saturday. “The city extends to the west and the

north.”- Jewellery, ‘golden fish’ -The team began excavations in

September between the temples of Ramses III and Amenhotep III near Luxor, some 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of Cairo.

Amenhotep III inherited an empire that stretched from the Euphrates River in modern Iraq and Syria to Sudan and died around 1354 BC, ancient historians say.

He ruled for nearly four decades, a reign known for its opulence and the grandeur of its monuments, including the Colossi of Memnon—two massive stone statues near Luxor that repre-sent him and his wife.

Betsy Bryan, professor of Egyptian art and archaeology at Johns Hopkins University, had said in a

statement this week that the find was the “second most important archaeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun” nearly a cen-tury ago.

“The archaeological layers have laid untouched for thousands of years, left by the ancient residents as if it were yesterday,” the team’s state-ment said.

Archaeologists have unearthed items of jewellery, coloured pottery vessels, scarab beetle amulets and mud bricks bearing seals of Amenhotep III.

Hawass said “a large fish covered in gold” may have been venerated.

Jose Galan, head of a separate Spanish archaeological mission near the Valley of the Kings, told AFP Saturday that the site was “a fantastic

discovery”.“We are used to discoveries related

to temples and tombs so we know about religious life and funerary hab-its. But we don’t know much about settlements,” he said.

The team have said they were opti-mistic that further important finds would be revealed, noting the discov-ery of groups of tombs reached through “stairs carved into the rock”, a similar construction to those found in the Valley of the Kings.

But since the announcement, some scholars have disputed that Hawass and his team have succeeded where others had failed by locating the city.

Egyptologist Tarek Farag posted Friday on Facebook that the area was first excavated more than a century

ago by a team from New York’s Metropolitan Museum.

Waziri dismissed these concerns, saying previous digs had taken place further afield to the south the site.

After years of political instability following the 2011 Arab Spring upris-ing, which dealt a severe blow to its tourism industry, Egypt is seeking to bring back visitors, in particular by promoting its ancient heritage.

Last week, the mummified remains of 18 ancient kings and four queens were transported across Cairo from the Egyptian Museum in iconic Tahrir Square to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, in a procession dubbed the “Pharaohs’ Golden Parade” watched by millions.

ap/rss

Marine Drive sea front is seen deserted during weekend lockdown in Mumbai, India, on Saturday,

ap/rss

Members of the 104th Regiment Royal Artillery fire a 41-round gun salute in the grounds of Cardiff Castle, to mark the death of Britain’s Prince Philip, in Cardiff, on Saturday. Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II who spent more than seven decades supporting his wife in a role that defined his life, died on Friday.

South Asia surpasses grim milestone of 15 million Covid-19 cases: Reuters tally

NEW DELHI: Coronavirus infections in the South Asia sub-region sur-passed the grim milestone of 15 million on Saturday, a Reuters tally shows, led by India’s record daily infections and vaccine shortages.

South Asia accounts for 11 per-cent of global cases and almost 6 percent of deaths. The region accounts for 23 percent of the world’s population of 7.59 billion people. India, the country with the third-highest coronavirus total, accounts for over 84 percent of South Asia’s cases and deaths.

The world’s second-most popu-lous country reported 145,384 new cases on Saturday, the fastest climb in the world and the country’s fifth record this week, as well as 794 deaths. The government blames the current spike on crowding and a reluctance to wear masks.

India is accounting for one in every six reported infections in its current surge.

Pakistan, the second-hardest hit in the region, is in its third wave, recording more than 700,000 cases and 15,000 related deaths. (REutERs)

C M Y K

07 | SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2021

SPoRtS | MeDLeY

YeSteRDAY’S SoLUtIoN

CRoSSwoRD

HoRoSCoPe

SUDokU

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19) ****You often cast your eyes on the future. The universe is working to show you that sometimes you need to look to the past before you can move forward. Expect developments to emerge around your home.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18) ***

You have things to share, Aquarius. You’re ready to tell your story and get yourself involved in new pro-jects that expand your perspective on life. Now is the time to speak from the heart.

PISCES (February 19-March 20) ***As a Pisces, you all too easily fall into a trap of self-doubt around your potential. But today is the time to kick that tendency to the curb. It’s also the best time of year to launch new projects that help you earn!

ARIES (March 21-April 19) ****One of the most important moments of your year arrives today. The month ahead sees you devoting energy into reinventing yourself, reclaiming your power, and ultimately reconnecting with yourself.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) ***

In order for you to grow, things need to be let go, Taurus. The following weeks see you dealing head on with your own self-sabotaging patterns and recon-necting with your own sense of spirituality.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21) ****

You’re ready to take things to the next level, Gemini. Don’t hold back when it comes to pursuing your dreams! New developments around friendship and community are also likely to emerge.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) ***This is your moment, Cancer. This is your time to shine and bring your projects into the limelight for all to witness. Take a moment today to write out some intentions around the new opportunities you wish to see emerge.

LEO (July 23-August 22) ***

Life seems to be one big lesson, Leo. Let yourself lean into that mode of thought, as the enthusiastic Aries new moon emerges this evening. Get out of your comfort zone, and don’t be afraid to learn something new.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22) ****You’re in one of your trickiest times of your year, Virgo. Let yourself sit with the messy emotions that are bubbling up and explore the intimacy issues that are emerging; this is the work you’re called to do now.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22) ***This time of year highlights one of the most impor-tant aspects of your life, Libra: your relationships! There’s more work and learning to be done, as you continue to explore the ever changing dynamics of closeness.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) ***

It’s time to get your ducks in a row, Scorpio. The day brings new developments on the work front. Now’s the time to ask for what you want in terms of getting ahead with your current job circumstances.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21) ***You have everything you need to set out on your next big adventure, Sagittarius. You’re right on the cusp of sharing new elements of yourself with the world. Now is the time to take a risk and share it!

10-man Leeds United shock Manchester CityReuteRsMANCHESTER, ApRil 10

Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City slumped to a shock 2-1 home defeat against 10-man Leeds United on Saturday, with two-goal Stuart Dallas scoring the winner in stoppage time.

Pep Guardiola fielded a much-changed City side who struggled to get going in the first half, with Leeds tak-ing a surprise lead in the 42nd minute when full-back Dallas drove the ball home off the post with the visitors’ first shot.

Leeds’ joy was short-lived, however, as a VAR intervention saw their cap-tain Liam Cooper sent off just before the break for a dangerous looking challenge on Gabriel Jesus.

The depleted visitors then defended en masse, with City struggling to break through, but Ferran Torres broke their resistance in the 76th, lev-elling the score with a fine finish.

The drama was not over however. As City threw everything at Leeds in search of a winner, the visitors broke at pace, with Dallas racing through to grab a sensational victory for Marcelo Bielsa’s side in the 91st minute.

The result ended City’s six-game winning streak in all competitions as they remained on 74 points, 14 clear of second-placed Manchester United at the top of the standings having played two more games, while Leeds moved up to ninth on 45.

“It is a great result for us,” Dallas told BT Sport. “It was tough out there.

It is hard enough with 11 men, never mind 10.

“We defended really well and kept them to very few good chances. We knew if we could have a bit more com-posure we could get one chance.”

Guardiola made eight changes to the side who beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at The Etihad in their Champions League quarter-final first leg last week, with the return match on Wednesday clearly in the Spaniard’s mind.

Bielsa described Guardiola, who once said the Argentine was the best coach in the world, as “magical” this week, but it was City’s makeshift defence who looked spellbound late in the first half as Dallas broke the deadlock.

However, the first dismissal Leeds have suffered in the top flight since May 2004, after referee Andre Marriner changed his original yellow card decision to a red having had a look at the pitchside monitor, brought them back down to earth.

With Illan Meslier making several saves in the away goal, City looked like they were in for a frustrating afternoon in front of goal before an incisive pass from Fernandinho split the Leeds defence, Bernardo Silva laid it off, and Torres levelled.

Leeds did not capitulate, however, and continued to commit bodies for-ward, with their attacking approach rewarded as Dallas still had the ener-gy to outrun the City defence and calmly score to spark scenes on jubila-tion on the visiting bench.

Armed Police Force clinch Lalitpur Mayor’s women’s T20 championshipsPORts BuReAuKATHMANDU, ApRil 10

Armed Police Force (APF) Club claimed the Lalitpur Mayor’s Women’s Championship twenty20 cricket defeating Sudurpaschim Province by eight wickets in the final at the TU cricket grounds in Kirtipur on Saturday.

The departmental giants, who had defeated the same opponents in the group stage by 37 runs, con-tinued with their dominations both in bat and ball to lift the trophy maintaining a cent percent winning streak.

Electing to bat first, Sudurpaschim posted a mod-erate score of 106-7 with only top four batters mak-ing notable contributions. In the run chase, openers Jyoti Pandey and captain Sita Rana Magar shared a 69-run stand for the first wicket as APF made 109-2 in 16.2 overs.

Bindu Rawal contributed the highest 44 runs for Sudurpaschim remaining unbeaten. Coming to bat at number three, Rawal cracked four boundaries in her 54-ball knock. Openers Rewati Dhami and Dolly Bhatta scored 10 and 14 runs while Kabita Kunwar was the other batter to score in double digits contrib-uting 13 runs.

APF bowlers Rekha Rawal, Karuna Bhandari, Sushma Shrestha, Sita Rana Magar and Binu Budha grabbed one wicket each.

In the run chase, departmental team openers Pandey smashed 36 runs and Rana Magar scored 27 runs to create the base for victory. The player-of-the-match Pandey hit five boundaries facing 38 deliver-ies while Rana Magar clobbered four fences in her 32-ball knock.

Indu Barma and Mamta Chaudhary played an unbeaten knock of 19 runs and 15 runs respectively. Barma hit two boundaries in her 21-ball innings while Chaudhary hit two boundaries facing nine deliveries.

Winners APF bagged a purse of Rs300,000 and the runners-up Sudurpaschim walked away with Rs150,000.

Rana Magar was declared the player of the series and was rewarded with Rs25,000. The APF captain had scored 123 runs and claimed five wickets to lead the team all the way to the title.

Province 1 and national captain Rubina Chhetry won best batter award while Binu Budha took best bowler award. They collected a prize of Rs15,000 each. Chhetry had scored 161 runs in four innings despite her team failing to cross the group stage hurdle. Budha had grabbed 10 wickets in five matches.

The tournament featuring five teams was played in the round robin format and the top two finishers at the end of the league had competed in the final.

Sankata Club lift first Aaha-Rara titleDeePAK PARIYARpOKHARA, ApRil 10

Sankata Club edged African Roots Association 4-2 on penalties to claim their first Aaha-Rara Gold Cup title at the Pokhara Stadium on Saturday.

The match was decided by a penalty shoot-out after the regulation playing time finished in a 1-1 deadlock and no goals were scored in the extra 30-min-ute time. In the tie-breaker, the visi-tors wasted two penalties against one missed by Sankata.

Winners Sankata bagged a purse of Rs1 million and the runners-up Roots Association walked away with Rs500,000.

Basscek put Sankata in front in the 10th minute, controlling a through pass from Moussa and forcing it inside the area before unleashing a scorcher at the near post giving goalie Raja Babu Thapa no chance.

Sankata survived a scare in the 21st when forward Basscek made a quick one-touch strike in Njimi volley pass forcing goalie Thapa for a diving save. In the 37th, Roots Association custodi-an Da Sylvio averted a threat punch-ing Jai Gurung pass before forward Fode Fofana could head it. Four min-utes into the second half, Sankata goalie Thapa responded quickly to deny Moussa’s low strike in Basscek pass.

But Glory, who came as a substitute player in the first half, restored parity for Sankata in the 51st minute with a semi-volley strike from the area col-

lecting the ball dropped in the attack-ing zone by goalie Thapa.

In the 68th minute, Roots Association custodian Sylvio made a diving save to deny Fofana’s feeble shot from the area.

In the late stage of the extra-time, Glory wasted twin scoring opportuni-ties. In the 110th minute Glory headed inches wide from the close range and two minutes later he again ended up chipping wide in a counter attack with only advancing goalie Sylvio on his way.

In the shootout, Amit Tamang con-verted the first penalty taken for

Sankata while Kuete who took the first shot for visiting Roots Association shot wide. But Sankata skipper Saroj Dahal missed the second shot as custo-dian Da Sylvio dived at the right side to level the scores 1-1.

Sankata forward Subash Gurung and Roots Association’s Rim both con-verted a third shot. Niraj Basnet scored the fourth for Sankata before R Mbakop was denied by Sankata goalie Raja Babu Thapa. The custodian dived at the right side to prevent the Cameroonian penalty taker as the score read 3-2.

Aysuh Ghalan, who came as a late

substitute for Sankata, converted the last penalty from the spot to give them a 4-2 victory. The man-of-the-match Raja Babu was declared the most valu-able player and the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

Sankata’s Neraj Basnet, African Roots’ Rim, Basscek and coach Serge Boris were named best defender, best midfielder, best striker and best coach respectively.

African Roots’ Moussa, Basscek, Sankata’s Glory and Nepal Police Club’s Budha Bal Tamang were the joint top scorers of the tournament with four goals each in their head.

The ‘A’ Division outfit beat African Roots 4-2 on penalties after the match ended in a 1-1 draw in the regular playing time.

Post Photo: DeePak Pariyar

Members of Sankata Club pose with the trophy as they celebrate after winning the Aaha-Rara Gold Cup title at the Pokhara Stadium.

Post Photo: keshav thaPa

Players of Armed Police Force Club celebrate after defeating Sudurpaschim Province in the final of the Lalitpur Mayor’s Women’s ChampionshipT20 cricket.

SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2021 | 08

fIctIoN PARk

Published and Printed by Kantipur Publications Pvt. Ltd., Central Business Park, Thapathali, Kathmandu, Nepal, P. B. No. 8559, Phone: 5135000, Fax: 977-1-5135057, e-mail: kpost@kmg.com.np, Regd. No. 32/049/050, Chairman & Managing Director: Kailash Sirohiya, Director: Swastika Sirohiya, Editor: Sanjeev Satgainya

(C.R.P.D.) - 3/052/053

SaranS Pandey

I am not entirely certain about the date shown on the calendar but I can rest assured June 21 will be quite an accurate approximation. Even though it has only been a couple of months since my birthday, which according to the citi-zenship I hold is an event to be celebrated in the

month of August, I still stand by my estimate. The month of June feels long, probably because it has the longest day of the year, June 2, but in this country, that title is shared by every other date on the calen-dar when one visits the premises of a government office.

As I make my way past the entrance gate, I notice a big faded white signboard that appears to be waiting desperately for monsoon rain. I look around and I take a deep breath, which given the current state of the pandemic and the carefree crowd I am now part of, is quite a risky endeavor. Because this is my first visit to this particular department, I find myself in a state of confusion which makes me wander in search of anything that remotely resembles an information desk. As luck would have it, I spot the word ‘Help’ written on a torn A4-sized paper fluttering against the wall not far from where I stand.

I enter the small room and I find myself in the presence of a mountain of files that are covered not by snow but, just like the board outside, by a thick film of dust. Unfortunately for me, the seat at the end of the room is without any humans. Perhaps what was written outside was not so much an invitation to a lost soul but instead a cry for help made by these inanimate objects waiting to be read aloud or acknowledged. As I am about to turn, a voice from behind reaches out to me.

“Madam has not arrived yet.” “Do you know when she will?” I ask the man. “No one knows.” Left without much options, I then proceed to ask

him where I ought to go to file for the application and he generously points me towards the direction. As prior experiences go, the public forms the biggest and the most efficient information desk in this country. I make my way to another block and from afar I can see a long line of anxious people, all latching on to a 15-rupee clear bag and a copy of their citizenships. I join them and after roughly 20 minutes, I get to meet the officer who tells me, without even looking at my face, that I’ll have to get a signature from someone else first.

Perhaps I need to amend the earlier statement about the efficiency of public support because I now feel that a disclaimer regarding uncertainty was lack-ing in the instructions. But then again, a generous margin of error is expected for anything that comes for free. When I reach ‘Room Number 29’ I see yet another long line and frustration starts to sink in albeit not for long as the lady in front of me reveals a different purpose for her patience. I then notice another desk at the corner of the room that only has three or four people standing in front of it.

This time instead of merely waiting, I choose to observe. I look on the other side and I see a confused young man being asked to fill a form. I am not entire-

ly sure what else he has to write but I can bet my house that his grandfather’s name is going to be one of them. As someone who lost his, well before birth, I feel guilty that the only place I remember my grand-father is at a government office. I have only seen a few pictures of him and I have no idea what he was like as a person but given this apparent fixation of offi-cials wanting to know his name, I reckon he must have been someone important.

After getting the necessary signature and then waiting for another half hour, I once again get myself to the front of the same line I was initially part of. Only this time, just as my turn is about to come, the officer declares it’s time for lunch. I protest but all it does is relieve my frustration temporarily without actually providing any solution to the problem. I fist bump the people behind me who had created a tempo-rary alliance in support of my discontent and then I make a call to cancel my afternoon appointment.

Part of me wants to walk out of this office but I know very well that the fines are processed much quicker than the papers and I don’t want any of that. I go outside to an open space, hoping that perhaps a

breath of fresh air can calm me down. It doesn’t, so I light up a cigarette instead. In the distance I notice a man, one of the officers I had seen inside, munching on peanuts, and for some reason all of my frustration begins to dissipate. I figure it would be best that I too put some food inside my mouth instead of just poi-son, which the air of Kathmandu already provides.

After devouring my lunch, I go back to the office and line up to successfully get the signature, after which I am instructed to get another one from ‘Room Number 69’. I can see the light at the end of the corri-

dor, both literally and metaphorically, but the smile on my face however is quick to turn into a frown. The door to the room is locked.

From behind, I hear the same voice that I heard in front of the empty information desk. It is as if God, after sensing the predicaments of my heart, sent this gentleman to my rescue. I share my problem with him and after ranting for about five minutes, I end with a question: “I have already submitted the neces-sary documents, they have already accepted it, but why do I need to get another signature?”

“One more step, one more opportunity. How else do you think we are number one-one seven?”

“I have no idea what that means,” I reply, confused. “Just give me the papers and go outside. But it’s

going to cost you.”In that moment I say to myself, Pally if you can get

me out of this cluster, you deserve all the money in this world. But it is a different issue altogether that I have none on me.

Pandey is a graduate from Macquarie University, Australia.

Part of me wants to walk out of this office but I know very well that the fines are processed much quicker than the papers.

Around and around we goI enter the small room and find myself in the presence of a mountain of files covered in a thick film of dust. There’s no one else in the room.

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