KATHMANDU,
Nepal’s food safety agency has banned the sales and imports of popular Indian spice brands MDH and Everest with an immediate effect, based on the findings from several countries that they contain ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing chemical.
The quality watchdog has also decided to recall and seize products currently in the customs clearance process.
The move follows bans by several countries, including Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Maldives, and scrutiny by the Australian authorities.
“We decided to ban the spices of the two Indian companies with immediate effect based on scientific evidence from several other countries showing high levels of carcinogenic pesticide ethylene oxide in many spice mixes. This poses a cancer risk,” said Matina Joshi Vaidhya, director general of the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control.
“We will allow their sale, imports and distribution once we get clearance from the manufacturing country that they are safe to consume.”
Experts say the presence of ethylene oxide, which is a flammable colourless gas with a sweet odour, in the spices, is concerning, as varieties of the products of both companies are easily available in Nepal and are popular too.
Ethylene oxide is primarily used to produce other chemicals, including antifreeze. In smaller amounts, it is also used as a pesticide and sterilising agent.
Lymphoma and leukaemia are the cancers most frequently associated with occupational exposure to ethylene oxide. Stomach and breast cancers may also be linked to ethylene oxide exposure.
Vaidhya said countries have their own acceptable limits for pesticide use. If products are found to exceed the limits set by the department, the department will direct relevant authorities to recall them from the market.
The department accordingly issued a circular to agencies on Friday to recall the spices from the market. The quality watchdog has also directed the National Food and Feed Reference Laboratory to prioritise testing for ethylene oxide.
Ganesh Agrawal, an official of Jay Ganapati Enterprises in Biratnagar, the distributor of Fish Curry Masala manufactured by Everest Food Products Pvt Limited, told the Post that they knew about the issue through news reports and had planned to stop selling the product.

“The sales, however, are not significant.”
Earlier this month, Hong Kong and Singapore banned the sale of MDH and Everest spice brands, citing the detection of carcinogenic pesticide ethylene oxide in several spice mixes.
India is the world’s largest spice producer, consumer and exporter. Zion Market Research estimates India’s domestic spice market to be worth $10.44 billion in 2022, and the Spices Board said India exported products worth $4 billion during 2022-23.
According to the Department of Customs, Nepal imported 946.42 tonnes of various Everest brand spices from India and other countries, amounting to Rs120 million, in the last fiscal year ending mid-July 2023. Spice imports from India alone amounted to 478 tonnes worth Rs74.65 million.
Similarly, the imports of the MDH brand spice amounted to 1,143.76 tonnes worth Rs637.21 million.
From India alone, Nepal imported 1,141.96 tonnes of spice worth Rs635 million.
Consumer rights activists say that authorities must take urgent action as the issue is related to public health.
“As the products that were found to be hazardous to public health in Hong Kong and Singapore are widely available in Nepal too, it would be irresponsible to wait for a test report to prohibit their use,” Jyoti Baniya, chairman of the Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights, told the Post in a recent interview.
“It will be too late to wait for the report—we should not forget that this is directly linked to public health.”
The quality watchdog said they have started inspecting the department stores and groceries to remove the banned spice.

KATHMANDU,
Over 600 people with respiratory illnesses seek care at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital on Tuesdays and Thursdays when the hospital runs its out-patient service.
The number of patients suffering from respiratory illnesses—pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, among others—has risen significantly not only in this hospital but those across the country, according to health officials.
“Polluted air is the chief culprit for the rapid surge in the number of respiratory illnesses,” said Dr Niraj Bam, an associate professor at the Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University. “Along with respiratory illness, the toxic air has led to severe conditions like ulcers, cancer of the lungs and intestine, kidney disease, heart complications, high blood pressure and stroke.”
Of late, polluted air has been taking a huge toll on public health, throughout the globe.
A new report published on Thursday in The Lancet, a leading international medical journal, states that polluted air and high blood pressure are leading contributors to the global disease burden.
The report, “Global Burden and Strength of Evidence for 88 Risk Factors in 204 Countries and 811 Subnational Locations, 1990–2021: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021,” shows that air pollution was the leading contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, making for eight percent of total disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), followed by high blood pressure (7.8 percent).
Likewise, smoking accounted for 5.7 percent, low birth weight and short gestation 5.6 percent and diabetes 5.4 percent of the burden.
Low birth weight, short gestation and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing (WaSH) were among the leading risk factors for the younger population up to 14 years, while for older age groups, metabolic risks such as high blood pressure, high body mass index (BMI), high blood sugar and high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol had a greater impact.
Nepal’s air quality reaches hazardous levels several times a year, and the capital city often becomes the world’s most polluted metropolis.
Doctors say particulate matter emitted from construction sites, wildfires, wood burning, agriculture activities, and dusty roads worsens air quality, threatening the health of hundreds of thousands of people across the country.
Most forests burn every year during the dry season. Vehicular and industrial emissions and the burning of agricultural residue make the air toxic.
A recent report by Save the Children also shows critical linkages between air pollution and multi-faceted hazards for children.
The report “Breathless Future: Unveiling the Impacts of Air Pollution on Children and Women in Kathmandu and Saptari” shows the systemic impact of air pollution on various aspects of children’s lives. It also explores the effects of air pollution on women and underrepresented groups.
“Deteriorating air quality, outdoors and indoors, has exposed children and women to many health hazards—asthma, other lung conditions, coughing, skin disease, nausea, and headache,” reads the report. “Alarmingly, these conditions have led to increased cases of pregnancy loss, child organ underdevelopment, and a general decline in life expectancy.”
Studies carried out in the past show that polluted air has been shortening people’s lives. Nepali lives are being cut short by around five years, according to a report by the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), which converts air pollution concentration into an impact on life expectancy. AQLI is a metric produced by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.
Toxic air is deadlier than tobacco use and high blood pressure, which reduce life by 2.8 years and 1.7 years, respectively.
The reduction in life expectancy depends on where one lives—7.5 years in Mahottari, 7.4 years in Rautahat and Dhanusha, and 7.2 years in Sarlahi and Bara districts, the AQLI report said.
Likewise, the pollution has been shaving 6.7 years off the lives of people residing in Siraha, and 6.2 years in Saptari and Rupandehi districts.
Environment experts in Nepal said that worsening air quality has not only affected people’s health but also hit the economy and hindered overall development. Polluted air has for long been taking a huge toll on public health in Nepal but what’s alarming is that the authorities have not taken the issue seriously.
“We heard the government’s policies and programmes. There is no mention of the issue of air pollution,” said Bhusan Tuladhar, an environmental expert. “How can we mitigate the effects of air pollution, without addressing the problem?”

KYIV,
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a visit to China that Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region aims to create a buffer zone but that there are no plans to capture the city.
The remarks were Putin’s first on the offensive launched on May 10, which opened a new front and displaced thousands of Ukrainians within days. Earlier on Friday, a massive Ukrainian drone attack on the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula cut off power in the city of Sevastopol, after an earlier attack damaged aircraft and fuel storage at an airbase.
In southern Russia, Russian authorities said a refinery was also set ablaze.
Moscow launched attacks in the Kharkiv region in response to Ukrainian shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region, Putin told reporters while visiting the Chinese city of Harbin.
“I have said publicly that if it continues, we will be forced to create a security zone, a sanitary zone,” he said. “That’s what we are doing.” Russian troops were “advancing daily according to plan,” he said and added there were no plans for now to take
the city of Kharkiv.
Ukrainian troops are fighting to halt Russian advances in the Kharkiv region that began late last week. In an effort to increase troop numbers, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed two laws on Friday, allowing prisoners to join the army and increasing fines for draft dodgers fivefold. The controversial mobilisation law goes into effect on Saturday.
Russia enlisted prisoners early on in the war, and personnel shortages compelled the new measures.
The legislation allows for “parole from serving a sentence and further enlistment for military service” for a specific period for some people charged with criminal offences. It doesn’t extend to those convicted of crimes against Ukraine’s national security.
Penalties will be increased to 25,500 hryvnias ($650) for citizens and 51,000 hryvnias ($1,300) for civil servants and legal entities for ignoring draft notices or failing to update the draft board of their information. Fines were previously 5100 hryvnias ($130) for citizens and 8500 hryvnias ($215) for civil servants and legal entities.
Ukrainian authorities have evacuated around 8,000 civilians from the recent flashpoint town of Vovchansk, 5 kilometres from the Russian border. The Russian army’s usual tactic is to reduce towns and villages to ruins with aerial strikes before troops move in.
At least two people were killed and 19 were wounded in the Russian bombing of Kharkiv, regional chief Oleh Syniehubov said on his Telegram posting on Friday. Four of the wounded were in critical condition.
Russia’s new offensive has “expanded the zone of active hostilities by almost 70 kilometres”, in an effort to force Ukraine to spread its forces and use reserve troops, Ukraine’s military chief, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Friday.
In the Kharkiv region, Russian forces have advanced 10 kilometres from the border, Zelensky said on Friday.
Separately, speaking about Ukraine’s upcoming peace conferences in Switzerland next month, Putin said it was a vain attempt to enforce terms of a peaceful settlement on Russia and stressed that Russia wasn’t invited to the meeting.
He said that Russia was ready for talks but shrugged off Zelensky’s peace formula as wishful thinking. Any prospective peace talks should be based on a draft deal negotiated by Russia and Ukraine during their Istanbul talks in 2022, he said.
Ukraine meanwhile carried out drone raids on Crimea in an attempt to strike back during Moscow’s offensive in northeastern Ukraine, which has piled on pressure on outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces awaiting delayed deliveries of crucial weapons and ammunition from Western partners.
A Ukrainian intelligence official confirmed to The Associated Press that the country’s intelligence services struck Russia’s military infrastructure sites in Novorossiysk, on the Black Sea coast, and in Russian-occupied city of Sevastopol. The official was not authorised to make public comments and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The operation, carried out by Ukraine-built drones, targeted Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels, the official said.
The Russian defence ministry said air defences downed 51 Ukrainian drones over Crimea, 44 over the Krasnodar region of Russia and six over the Belgorod region. Russian warplanes and patrol boats also destroyed six sea drones in the Black Sea, it said.
At least three fighter jets were destroyed in an earlier attack in Crimea a few days ago, according to satellite imagery of the airbase provided by Maxar Technologies.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Sevastopol, which is the main base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, said the drone attack damaged the city’s power plant. He said it could take a day to fully restore electricity and warned residents of power cuts. He also announced city schools would be closed temporarily.
In the Krasnodar region, authorities said a drone attack early on Friday caused a fire at an oil refinery in Tuapse, which was later contained. There were no casualties. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted refineries and other energy facilities deep inside Russia, inflicting damage.
The Krasnodar region’s governor, Veniamin Kondratyev, said fragments of downed drones around the port of Novorossiysk caused several fires, but there were no casualties.
Belgorov Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a Ukrainian drone struck a vehicle, killing a woman and her 4-year-old child. Another attack there set a fuel tank ablaze at a gas station, he said.
Recent Russian attacks have also targeted the eastern Donetsk region, as well as the Chernihiv and Sumy regions in the north and in the southern Zaporizhzhia region — apparently seeking to further stretch depleted Ukrainian resources.

JAJARKOT,
The source of the Kapke Drinking Water Project in ward 9 of Barekot Rural Municipality dried up after the magnitude 6.4 earthquake jolted the area on November 3 last year. The water intake area subsided nearly by nearly one foot after the quake. There has been an acute shortage of drinking water in the Kapke area over the past seven months, leaving 120 households in hardships. The locals are forced to manage water from the Sidherikhola stream, which is around half an hour walk from the settlement.
“We have to be frugal in using water due to the water crisis in the area. The villagers are forced to wake up early to manage drinking water. The women and children spend the whole morning fetching water from the spring,” said Gajendra BK of Kapke.
Plight of the locals in Ghartigaun in ward 6 of Barekot and Bayala in ward 1 is also the same. Various settlements in the area are reeling under water crisis as the November 3 quake damaged drinking water projects. Around 200 families in Ghartigaun and Bayala are hugely affected. The villagers have no alternative than to go to the nearest streams or other water sources for drinking water.
“One gagri (water pot) of water that I fetch in the morning is hardly enough to prepare a morning meal and for drinking purposes. One has to be busy from dawn to dusk fetching water from the nearby spring after the earthquake damaged the drinking water project,” lamented Bimala Gharti of Barekot-6. “It is quite difficult to carry water uphill. And there is always the threat of wildlife attack as we have to go to the water spring in the wee hours,” she shared her ordeal.
Many water sources have dried up in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Jajarkot, Rukum West and Salyan districts in the Karnali Province. According to the data available at the District Administration Office in Jajarkot, the sources of 143 drinking water projects dried up in the district after the November earthquake. Water supply has been disrupted in 106 drinking water projects as the quake caused substantial damage to reserve tanks and pipelines.
Nalgad Municipality is the hardest hit by the water crisis. There is an acute water shortage as 23 drinking water projects were destroyed while 26 others suffered partial damage in the natural disaster.
“Around 3,000 families of various settlements in Nalgad are reeling under an acute shortage of water. The villagers are forced to drink unsafe water from the Bheri river and other sources, exposing them to various water-borne diseases,” said Dambar Bahadur Rawat, deputy mayor of Nalgad. According to him, the number of patients suffering from diarrhoea and dysentery is rising in recent times, apparently due to drinking unsafe water.   
According to Nalgad Municipal Hospital, around 150 patients visit the health institution on a daily basis now. “Most of the patients suffer from fever, diarrhoea, typhoid and common cold. Open defecation by the quake-displaced people living in temporary shelters causes serious health problems. There could be an outbreak of diarrhoeal diseases if the problem is not addressed immediately,” said Dr Bishal Uprety, chief at the hospital.
Around 8,000 temporary shelters, according to Rawat, were built in Nalgad Municipality. “Some people have been using old toilets while others defecate in the open,” said Rawat.
Bheri Municipality, located at the headquarters, is also facing a drinking water problem.
“There was always a shortage of drinking water in ward 4 of Bheri Municipality, but it was all manageable with the water from natural springs. Currently, everybody is forced to buy water for all purposes because all natural springs dried up after the earthquake,” said Basant Prasad Sharma, chairman of the ward.
Residents of Kudu in ward 13 of the municipality have been grappling with water shortages for years.
A tap has been installed for nearly 300 families in Kudu after drilling a deep borewell.
“I wake up at 3:00 am in the morning and reach the tap to get in line because water is available only for a short time. When the tap runs dry, people are compelled to walk to the Bheri River three kilometres away, to fetch murky water,” said Sarita Rokaya, a local of Kudu who is living in a temporary shelter after her house was completely destroyed in the earthquake.
After the earthquake, nearly 80 percent of the locals of Kudu have migrated to temporary shelters made up of zinc sheets. Due to the shortage of drinking water, locals are forced to drink dirty and unsafe water.
“In the zinc sheet shelter it gets extremely hot during the day, we need more water to stay hydrated and for cleaning purposes. But there is not enough water,” Rokaya added.
Due to the lack of irrigation and drinking water, the locals of Kudu cultivate only summer crops. In order to solve the drinking water problem in Kudu, as part of the Integrated Karnali Irrigation Development Project, the government installed a deep borewell that could work using solar energy last year by spending Rs56.3 million.
Harka Bahadur Rokaya, another local of Kudu, said that after the earthquake, even the borewell is not pumping water like before.
In Jajarkot, despite being close to streams, rivers, and springs, everybody suffers from a drinking water shortage during the summer season.
Badri Pant, the chairman of ward 4 of Nalgad Municipality, said that after the earthquake, the water shortage has worsened in all the surrounding areas of the ward.
“All the springs slowly dried up after the earthquake, and the water level in the Bheri River is also very low. There is no alternative option except to use the murky water of the river,” said Pant. “Animal husbandry has also been greatly affected due to the water shortage,” Pant added.
Bir Bahadur Giri, chairman of Barekot Rural Municipality, said that plans are being made and prioritised to solve the problem of water shortage in the rural municipality.
“Along with other public structures, the earthquake has destroyed water supply projects in all wards, and we have accelerated the repair work on ten damaged projects, which is expected to be completed before the end of the current fiscal year,” said Giri.
“We have requested the provincial government to help us build a big drinking water project to solve the water scarcity problem in the municipality, but so far we have not received any reply,” said Chandraprakash Gharti, mayor of Bheri Municipality.
According to the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy Development of Karnali Province, the earthquake damaged 480 water supply projects in Jajarkot, Salyan, and Rukum West, and the loss caused to the projects has been estimated at Rs3 billion.
“The damaged projects will be reconstructed and repaired with the cooperation of the government of all three levels,” said Nabin Chandra Adhikari, secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy Development of Karnali Province.

KATHMANDU,
A team of high-altitude sherpa guides  on Friday recovered the body of a Mongolian climber from Mt Everest four days after his death. This marks the first casualty of the spring climbing season.
The search and rescue team found the body at the point of 8,600 metres, hooked in the fixed ropes of Everest, the expedition organiser said. Details of his death were unclear.
Two Mongolians--Tsedendamba Usukhjargal, 31, and Lkhagvajav Purevsuren, 53, have been reported missing since Monday.
“The rescue team spotted another body at 8,400 metres, a bit far from the fixed ropes,” said Pemba Sherpa of the 8K Expedition company that provided support services to the Mongolians up to their base camp.
“They [the rescue team] were not sure whether it was the body of another Mongolian. They have taken a photo and descended to the base camp to verify it,” he said. “It will be verified by Saturday.”
Pemba Sherpa, however, said that they have been discussing with the families whether to retrieve the body from the death zone, above 8,000 meters where oxygen is thin..
“It requires a huge amount of money--at least $70,000 to bring the bodies back.” “We have to mobilise at least 10 sherpas to bring the bodies from one of the dangerous points of the earth. From the lower reaches, the bodies should be airlifted by helicopter.”
According to the new rule of Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, in case of the death of a mountaineer, the guides, the trekking and travel agencies concerned shall be responsible for managing the body.
On April 4, the Mongolian National News Agency reported that Mongolian mountaineers D Otgonkhuu, TS Usukhjargal and L Purevsuren would depart on April 5, 2024, to climb Everest, the world’s highest peak.
“This time, it will be special as they will climb for the first time among the Mongolian mountaineers, not using any additional oxygen and without a guide. The three Mongolian mountaineers plan to conquer 8848.86 metres high Mount Everest by June 1, 2024,” according to the new agency report.
“They are the members of the Hunnu hiking club who decided to carry all the luggage themselves from the base camp and do the camping themselves.”
Of the three members, two set off last weekend from their final camp at 8,000 metres for the summit.
They were last spotted by another climbing group at Camp IV, the final camp, on May 13 at 8:45 am. Since then, they lost contact with the Everest base camp officials.
Bad weather and high winds hampered any search for the missing climbers in the death zone.
Everest is the world’s tallest summit at 8,848.86 metres, and according to the Department of Tourism, there have been more than 8,300 summit ascents from the Nepal side since the mountain was first scaled by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953.
World record holder Kami Rita Sherpa reached the top of Mt Everest for the 29th time on Sunday, breaking his own record for the most summits of the world’s highest mountain.

MAKAWANPUR: A 56-year-old man from ward 6 of Manahari Rural Municipality died in an elephant attack in the forest area of the Chitwan National Park in the same ward on Tuesday evening. According to the Makawanpur District Police Office, the authorities got information about the incident only on Friday. There were three men grazing their cattle in the nearby forest, where they were attacked by a wild elephant. Two of the cowherds managed to flee, but one was killed on the spot. In the current fiscal year, four people have died and five were injured in different elephant attacks in Makawanpur, said police.

RUPANDEHI: On Friday, the Rupandehi District Health Office plans to vaccinate 69,763 children, who missed regular polio vaccination, with the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV). According to Gaurav Dhakal, chief of the district health office, there have been zero cases of polio in all South Asian countries since March 2014, but currently, vaccinating children is important as polio cases have reappeared in Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent days. At least 856 vaccination centres will be set up in all 16 local units of the district for vaccination. The vaccination will start on May 26 in two phases, and the office will make sure no children are left out, said Dhakal.

PARSA: Police on Thursday made public a 22-year-old woman, a resident of ward 27 of Birgunj Metropolitan City, arrested on charge of murdering her own son. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Kumar Bikram Thapa, spokesperson of Parsa District Police, on August 12 last year, the woman allegedly strangled her five-month-old baby to death at their home. She was arrested on Tuesday afternoon from ward 13 of Birgunj after getting an anonymous tip. She was on the run after the incident, and it has been revealed that she was hiding in East Champaran, Bihar, India. Further investigation into the case is going on by remanding the woman into judicial custody, said Thapa.

Kathmandu,
The widening rift between the ruling and opposition parties over the formation of a parliamentary committee to look into the cooperative scam has further complicated the parliamentary process at a time when the government has the compulsion to announce the fiscal budget on May 28.
Despite multiple meetings and back-channel negotiations on Friday, the ruling and opposition parties failed to narrow down their differences over the formation of the parliamentary panel. Short of an understanding, meetings of both chambers of Parliament were put off until Sunday. While the National Assembly sitting was adjourned due to an obstruction by the main opposition, the House of Representatives meeting was deferred until Sunday through a notice.
A senior Rastriya Swatantra Party leader told the Post that the House session was deferred by a day at the request of Nepali Congress leaders and informal talks between the Congress, the RSP and the prime minister were headed in the positive direction.
“We do not want to derail the process of forming the parliamentary probe and we also do not want to introduce the budget through an ordinance,” the RSP leader who is engaged in multiple talks with leaders from ruling and opposition sides said.
“We do not want to be seen as a destabilising factor.”
A Nepali Congress office bearer told the Post that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s decision to seek a vote of confidence on Monday has made them suspicious. The opposition leaders have smelt a rat after the government’s decision to withdraw the bill related to political parties and frequent changes of the conditions by the ruling parties on the parliamentary probe as well as the resumption of the house session to discuss the government’s policies and programmes and the budget presentation have created suspicion.
“Now we are sensing that the government is set to bring the budget through an ordinance if our protest continues,” the Congress official said. The main opposition party is yet to decide whether to obstruct the House on Monday. Prime Minister Dahal has invited senior Nepali Congress leaders for a meeting on Saturday morning.  
The largest party convened a meeting of opposition parties on Friday. According to Gyanendra Shahi, chief whip of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, the parties were one on forming a parliamentary committee to probe the cooperative scam. “But we have also raised the issue that opposition parties should allow Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane to speak in the House and let him clarify his position.”
Instead of taking the lead to resolve the deadlock in Parliament, the way the prime minister hurriedly seeks a vote of confidence has made the Nepali Congress suspicious. Prime Minister Dahal has decided to go for a floor test on Monday. He is seeking the vote of confidence of the House after the Upendra Yadav-led Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal on May 13 withdrew its support for the government following a split in the party.
Some of the prime minister’s recent activities did not help resolve the deadline inside the house, Nepali Congress general secretary Gagan Thapa said. The way the prime minister decided to hurriedly seek a vote of confidence and withdraw the bill related to the Political Party Act leads us to suspect that he wants to close the budget session of Parliament and present the budget through an ordinance.
The prime minister’s meeting with Congress leaders on Friday evening to discuss the latest political situation was deferred till Saturday morning.
According to Thapa, the prime minister’s and the CPN-UML’s game plan will result in a loss for the Rastriya Swatantra Party.
“Whatever the UML chair says for public consumption, his inner interest is different. The prime minister has his own interests. Finally, the Rastriya Swatantra Party will bear the brunt of these one after another conspiracy. I do not know how seriously the RSP is taking these developments, but if the UML and the Maoist Centre will try to go on a new course, the RSP stands to be impacted a lot,” said Thapa.
Thapa said that his party’s position at the moment is to obstruct the House on Monday during the session in which the prime minister goes for a floor test.
Suspicions are growing between the ruling and opposition parties over the issue of budget. If the Congress continues to obstruct the House, the ruling parties will go for the budget ordinance. It is up to the Nepali Congress, said Yogesh Bhattarai of the UML.
If the Congress continues to obstruct the House, there is no option but to issue the budget through an ordinance.
He added that they are hopeful of having positive talks and discussions with the Nepali Congress by Saturday.
But the Nepali Congress is adamant on a probe against the home minister for his alleged involvement in Pokhara, Butwal, and Chitwan-based cooperatives. The parliamentary committee is needed to investigate the home minister, Congress spokesman Prakash Sharan Mahat said. Those who are in power and hold positions of authority should not be exempted from investigation.
But the RSP has been refusing to form a committee targeting the home minister.
“Why is the Nepali Congress only after three cooperatives at a time when 16 cooperatives are in crisis?” said Manish Jha of the RSP.
The government has declared 20 cooperative firms as deeply crisis-ridden. The top managers of these cooperatives are either facing police charges or absconding.
“Why are you only after three cooperatives?” Jha asked Congress leaders. “Though we cannot probe all 31,000 cooperatives, we can probe those in crisis.” Jha said that Congress leaders have no uniform opinions on how to resolve the cooperative crisis.
“It’s been difficult for us to understand whose voice is authoritative in the Nepali Congress. The Congress office bearers have differing positions on forming the parliamentary committee and its terms of reference,” said Jha. “Who do we trust? We have urged the Nepali Congress leaders to come up with an official position on the party’s letterhead.”

KATHMANDU,
A 1.43-km-long tunnel breakthrough on the Kathmandu-Tarai expressway was achieved on Friday.
The final point of one of a ‘twin tube tunnel’ at Lendanda has been completed and preparations for the completion of the other one are underway, said Brigadier General Gaurav Kumar KC, also the spokesperson for the Nepal Army.
Of the 1.63-km-long tunnel at Dhedre tunnel site, 1.506 kilometres have been cleared and only 124 metres remain, KC added.
Likewise, only 1.197 kilometres of the Mahadevtar tunnel, the longest in the project, is left to be cleared of the total 3.355 kilometres.
The Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway, or fast track, connects the capital city and Nijagadh in southern Nepal with a 76-km highway. Once completed, it will cut the current travel time by several hours. With 11 km in bridges and 6 km in tunnels, the expressway is more complex than any road construction project Nepal has undertaken before.
The Nepal government on May 4, 2o17 formally handed over the project, under the Department of Roads, to the Nepal Army. The national force started building the multi-billion-rupee project in August of the same year with a four-year completion target.
However, in December of 2023, Nepal Army Chief Prabhu Ram Sharma, presenting a bleak picture of progress at a parliamentary committee meeting, said that the highway might not be ready even in three and a half years.
The project has been split into 13 packages, with the army yet to award contracts for the 6.5 km area at the Khokana-Bungamati area in Lalitpur, Makawanpur and Nijgadh, due to land acquisition at the entry point yet to be completed.
So far, the expressway has made an overall progress of 33.99 percent.

KATHMANDU, 7
Koshi Province Chief Minister Hikmat Karki on Friday expanded his Cabinet, inducting five new ministers and two state ministers.
Province Head Parshuram Khapung administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly appointed ministers from the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre).
UML’s Lila Ballabh Adhikari has taken office as the Minister for Internal Affairs and Law while Ekraj Karki was appointed the minister for water supply, irrigation and energy. Panchakarna Rai has been handed the portfolio of the Ministry of Social Development while Srijana Rai has been appointed minister at the Office of the Chief Minister.
Rajendra Kumar Karki of the Maoist Centre will head the Health Ministry. Similarly, Narayan Burja Magar and Bandana Jhagad have been appointed the minister and minister of state for Tourism, Forest and Environment, respectively.
Karki was appointed chief minister as per Article 168 (5) of the constitution after he staked claim to the post with the support of 52 lawmakers earlier on May 9. The support of 47 lawmakers is needed for a majority to form the government in the 93-strong assembly.
He also formed a Council of Ministers by appointing UML leader Ram Bahadur Rana Magar and CPN (Maoist Centre) leader Ganesh Uprety, who will head the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning and Physical Infrastructure Ministry, respectively.

KATHMANDU,
The Nepal Army on Thursday said that it has collected nine tons of waste and retrieved two bodies from the Everest region as part of its ‘mountain clean up campaign-2024’.
The bodies have been handed over to the forensic lab of TU Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj, the army said.
The campaign, which began on April 11, aims to collect 10 tons of
garbage and retrieve five bodies from Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse area, according to the Nepal Army’s Directorate of Public Relations and Information.
The collected degradable waste will be handed over to local units, while the non-degradable waste will be transferred to organisations specialising in recycling waste.
The Nepali Army says it believes the annual campaign will play a significant role in minimising the impact of environmental pollution and climate change.

KATHMANDU,
The government is preparing to revise the Political Parties Act to ease the conditions for splitting a political party.
On Friday, the government wrote to the Parliament Secretariat that it wants to withdraw the bill to amend the Act that is under consideration in the House of Representatives. The bill was supposed to be discussed in the House of Representatives on Thursday, but it couldn’t happen following the obstruction from the Nepali Congress.
The very next day, the government wrote to the secretariat for the
withdrawal. “We decided to withdraw the bill because we have realised
that some changes are necessary on it,” Padam Giri, minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, told the Post. “The decision was reached after an agreement among the ruling parties.”
Since the bill was presented in the lower house by then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha on February 2, it is now the property of Parliament. “It can be withdrawn only if the lower house endorses the withdrawal proposal,” Ek Ram Giri, spokesman of the Parliament Secretariat, told the Post.
Both the Houses of the federal parliament have become non-functional due to protests by the main opposition. It has been demanding the formation of a parliamentary panel to investigate the embezzlement of funds of four cooperatives that invested in the now defunct Gorkha Media Network, where Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane was the executive director. While the opposition has been insisting on a committee to specifically investigate Lamichhane, the ruling parties are calling for a broader inquiry into the issues affecting the entire cooperatives sector. Withdrawal of the bill, therefore, is not possible as long as the obstruction continues.
The bill in Parliament aims to reinstate some of the provisions in the Act that became void after the ordinance to revise the Act was repealed three years ago.
On August 18, 2021, the then Sher Bahadur Deuba government had issued an ordinance to amend the Act to ease the split of two parties—the CPN-UML and the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal.
The ordinance revised a provision in the Act that previously required the support of 40 percent of members in both the parliamentary party and the central committee to split a party. The ordinance lowered the bar to 20 percent in any one of the committees.
On August 26 that year, Madhav Kumar Nepal of the UML and Mahantha Thakur of the Janata Samajbadi registered new parties—the CPN (Unified Socialist) and the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, respectively.
Two days later, the ordinance was repealed, having served its purpose. The provisions amended by the ordinance have become void after it was repealed. Three months ago, in February, a bill to reactivate those provisions of the Act was registered in Parliament which the government wants to withdraw now.
The existing bill proposes restoring the earlier provision to have a minimum of having at least 40 percent support in both the parliamentary party and the central committee to split the party.
Now, the government wants to lower the bar by introducing a new bill.
“Instead of a minimum requirement of 40 percent in the parliamentary party and the central committee, a new bill could allow a split with 40 percent support in either of the committees,” said a leader from ruling CPN-UML.
The Ashok Rai faction of the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal on May 5 split the party and launched a new Janata Samajbadi Party. As there are no legal provisions in the Political Parties Act relating to the formation of a new party after a split in an existing one, the commission registered the new party as per the regulations on political parties.
Upendra Yadav, chairperson of the JSPN, has challenged the commission’s decision in the Supreme Court.
Political experts say the act of tweaking the Act to suit the interest of some parties is a very irresponsible act. They say the parties that should be discussing the issue of national interest as the country is facing an intense economic crisis are happy playing petty party politics.
“This is an example that our parties can stoop to any low for their interest. Their one and only focus is to stay in power by any means,” Sanjeev Humagain, who teaches political science in Tribhuvan University, told the Post.

NEW YORK,
Boeing’s annual meeting on Friday comes amid an exceptionally difficult period for the crisis-ridden company, creating potential for drama at an event that is usually a snooze-fest.
The company, under heavy regulatory scrutiny following recent safety and quality control problems, has defeated shareholder proposals at past annual meetings that usually have lasted an hour or less.
While Boeing brass no doubt wishes for another low-key affair on Friday, the company faces at least a greater chance of a shareholder rebuke following recommendations from leading shareholder advisory firms that take aim at outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun. Calhoun, who has faced tough questioning in the wake of a near-catastrophic Alaska Airlines flight in January, will step down as CEO at the end of 2024, but has been renominated to the board of directors.
But the advisory services firm Glass Lewis wants shareholders to reject Calhoun’s nomination, while Investor Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended a “no” vote on Calhoun’s compensation package, which came in at about $33 million for 2023.
A recent Boeing presentation highlighted the broadened role of new Chair Steve Mollenkopf, the former head of Qualcomm who will oversee the CEO search.
“We are committed to ensuring every Boeing airplane meets the highest safety and quality standards,” said a Boeing shareholder presentation that reiterated support for Calhoun and his pay package. Glass Lewis said shareholders should use the annual meeting to send a message to Boeing.
“We have significant concerns regarding the board’s oversight of the Company’s safety culture and attempts to overhaul it,” said a report that urged investors to vote against the reelection of Calhoun, and Akhil Johri and David Joyce, who chair the audit and aerospace safety committees respectively.
The board “will understand the implication of shareholders voting against the company’s outgoing CEO and key directors with oversight of the safety culture and risks,” the report said. “Shareholders will be sending a clear indication of discontent regarding the Company’s recent oversight and handling of safety issues and safety culture.”
The Glass Lewis report recognized that other Boeing board members on the safety committee have “extensive, critical expertise in risk management and aviation safety” and that voting down the whole group “would not be conducive to long-term shareholders’ interests.”
ISS meanwhile urged a no vote on Calhoun’s executive pay package.
Under the plan, Calhoun received a base salary of $1.4 million, plus more than $30 million coming in stock awards. Calhoun declined a potential $2.8 million bonus in light of the Alaska Airlines accident, the company said in a securities filing. In setting Calhoun’s package, Boeing alluded to earlier crises he navigated as CEO, including winning regulatory approval to return the 737 MAX to the skies after two fatal crashes and the upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“While the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident shows that Boeing has much work yet to do, the Board believes that Mr. Calhoun has responded to this event in the right way by taking responsibility for the accident, engaging transparently and proactively with regulators and customers and taking important steps to strengthen Boeing’s quality assurance,” Boeing said in the filing.
But ISS said the executive pay package should be rejected because it included an increase in Calhoun’s potential long-term incentive award for the third consecutive year.
Boeing said the boost was “designed to focus our leadership team at a pivotal moment in our Company’s recovery,” including enabling Boeing to meet its long-term financial targets.
But ISS dismissed the argument as “not particularly compelling... especially given two other recent increases since Calhoun became CEO in 2020.”
After Friday’s meeting, Calhoun will face a full plate of issues, including a late May deadline to present a plan required by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has capped MAX production until the company shows progress on safety and quality control.

BEIJING,
Russian leader Vladimir Putin was in the northeastern city of Harbin on Friday, the final day of a visit aiming to promote crucial trade with China and win greater support for his war effort in Ukraine.
Putin arrived on Thursday on his first trip abroad since his March re-election, meeting President Xi Jinping for talks in which the leaders framed their nations’ ties as a stabilising force in a chaotic world.
China and Russia’s strategic partnership has only grown closer since the invasion of Ukraine, and Beijing has rebuffed Western claims that it is aiding Moscow’s war effort.
China has also offered a critical lifeline to Russia’s isolated economy, with trade booming since the invasion and hitting $240 billion in 2023, according to Chinese customs figures.
Putin’s trip to Harbin is part of efforts to enhance that economic relationship. Lying just a few hundred kilometres from the border with Russia, the city has long served as a key hub for cross-border trade and cultural exchange.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a Russia-China trade expo on Friday, Putin hailed energy ties between the two countries and promised to “strengthen” them.
“Russia is ready and able to continuously power the Chinese economy, businesses, cities and towns with affordable and environmentally clean energy,” he said.
“As the world is on the threshold of the next technological revolution, we are determined to consistently deepen bilateral co-operation in the field of high technologies and innovations,” he added.
Moscow’s state news agency TASS reported Putin is accompanied by Han Zheng, China’s vice president.
Putin will hold a press conference with Russian media later in the day.
The Russian leader’s arrival came hours after he hailed his country’s troops for advancing on “all fronts” on the battlefield in Ukraine following a major new ground assault.
Western countries have meanwhile been mounting pressure on China to cut off support for Russia’s economy.
After Washington vowed to go after financial institutions that facilitate Moscow, Chinese exports to Russia dipped in March and April, down from a surge early in the year.
In a statement to the media following talks with Putin on Thursday, Xi said the two sides agreed on the need for a “political solution” to resolving the war.
The two men later ditched their ties for a less formal meeting over tea at the palatial Zhongnanhai leadership compound.
China’s state broadcaster aired footage of Xi embracing Putin following their talks, which saw the Chinese leader express support for an “international peace conference recognised by Russia and Ukraine”.
There are no indications Moscow and Kyiv are prepared to engage in direct talks, which Ukraine says would only be used by Russia to buy time to prepare for a new assault.

PARIS: The social network formerly known as Twitter has fully migrated over to X.com, owner Elon Musk said on Friday. The billionaire head of Tesla, SpaceX and other companies bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and announced the rebrand to X last July. Although the logo and branding were changed to “X”, the domain name remained Twitter.com until Friday. “All core systems are now on X.com,” Musk wrote on X, posting an image of a logo of a white X on a blue circle. Queries to Twitter.com redirected users to X.com on Friday morning, though the original domain name still appeared on some browsers. Musk has repeatedly used the letter X in the branding of his companies, starting in 1999 with his attempt to set up an online financial superstore called X.com. When he bought Twitter, he set up a company called X Corp to close the deal. Musk has said he wants “X” to become a super-app along the lines of China’s WeChat. (AFP)

SAN FRANCISCO: OpenAI will have access to Reddit data for training its artificial intelligence models and will put its technology to work on the popular discussion platform, the companies said Thursday. Reddit, which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year, has been seeking to capitalize on the value of exchanges in its varied discussion groups as it seeks to improve revenues. Financial details of the partnership between the San Francisco-based tech firms were not disclosed. Reddit relies on advertising for revenue. “Reddit has become one of the internet’s largest open archives of authentic, relevant, and always up to date human conversations about anything and everything,” Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman said in a joint release. “Including it in ChatGPT upholds our belief in a connected internet, helps people find more of what they’re looking for, and helps new audiences find community on Reddit.” (AFP)

HONG KONG, 
Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks rallied Friday after China unveiled its most wide-ranging measures to support the country’s battered property sector, sending real estate firms soaring.
The move provided some hope for the world’s number two economy, which has been dragged by a long-running debt crisis among major developers.
However, the news was not enough to lift the rest of Asia, which was hit by a bout of profit-taking from a recent rally and concerns that bets on a US interest rate cut may have been overdone in the previous session.
Shanghai piled on one percent, having wallowed in negative territory in the morning, while Hong Kong extended a recent advance after the plans were unveiled the plans.
Beijing said it would cut the minimum down payment rate for first-time homebuyers and suggested the government could buy up commercial real estate.
Property and construction accounts for more than a quarter of China’s gross domestic product but the real estate sector has been under unprecedented strain since 2020, when authorities tightened developers’ access to credit in a bid to reduce mounting debt. Major companies have teetered since then, while falling prices have dissuaded consumers from investing in property.
The crisis has put huge pressure on leaders to come up with a plan to help the sector and avoid it spreading to other parts of the economy, but most measures have left investors disappointed. Officials announced the widest-ranging measures yet at a meeting on Friday attended by regulators, representatives of top banks, local governments and the property market. “Great efforts should be made to promote the handling of commercial housing projects classified as under construction that have been sold and are facing difficulties to deliver,” Vice Premier He Lifeng told the meeting, according to state media.
“In cities where there is a large inventory of commercial housing, the government can place orders and purchase some of the commercial housing at reasonable prices as appropriate to use as affordable housing,” he said. No details were provided
on how many houses would be bought. State media also cited the central bank and the National Financial Regulatory Administration as saying they would cut the minimum down payment rate for first-time homebuyers to 15 percent, one of the country’s lowest-ever rates.
The rate will be cut to 25 percent for second-home purchases, it added.
Investors welcomed the announcement with open arms. Agile Group soared 24.3 percent and Fantasia added 11.8 percent, while Sino-Ocean Group and CIFI Holdings each gained more than 10 percent.
Longfor Group added 10.9 percent and China Vanke piled on 19.4 percent, having jumped 15 percent and 16 percent respectively on Thursday, according to Bloomberg News. Friday’s news offset data showing a much-slower-than-expected rise in Chinese retail sales that revived worries about the economy.
However, while there were gains in Mumbai, Jakarta and Bangkok, other regional markets struggled.
Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Wellington all fell. London, Paris and Frankfurt were all down in morning trade. That came after all three main indexes in New York fell, having ended at record highs the day before.
Markets had rallied Thursday after a report showing that US inflation had slowed in April fanned hopes the Federal Reserve will cut rates this year, with the first as soon as July.
But warnings about the outlook for prices tempered that optimism and saw traders lower their forecasts to one cut this year, from two tipped on Wednesday. Three top officials at the US central bank pushed back against talk of an early cut, adding that they wanted to see more evidence that inflation was under control.
Cleveland Fed boss Loretta Mester said “incoming economic information indicates that it will take longer to gain that confidence”.
She was joined by New York counterpart John Williams, who said he saw no reason to reduce rates just now, while Richmond boss Thomas Barkin said it would take time to get inflation back to the bank’s goal of two percent.
Their remarks were echoed by JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon, who said he was still worried about price rises. “There are a lot of inflationary forces in front of us,” he told Bloomberg Television. “The underlying inflation may not go away the way people expect it to.”
Miller Tabak + Co’s Matt Maley was confident in the outlook for stocks.
“There is a lot of leeway for the stock market if we do see a short-term pullback soon,” he said. “Put another way, the bulls are still fully in charge right now, and so it will take a significant reversal to stem the tide of the upside momentum.”

WASHINGTON, 7
Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across a newly built US pier and into the besieged enclave for the first time on Friday as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hindered the delivery of food and other supplies.
The shipment is the first in an operation that American military officials anticipate could scale up to 150 truckloads a day, all while Israel presses in on the southern city of Rafah in its 7-month offensive against Hamas.
But the US and aid groups warn that the floating pier project is not a substitute for land deliveries that could bring in all the food, water and fuel needed in Gaza. Before the war, more than 500 truckloads entered the territory on an average day.
The operation’s success also remains tenuous because of the risk of militant attack, logistical hurdles and a growing shortage of fuel for the trucks to run due to the Israeli blockade of Gaza since Hamas’ October 7 attack. Militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage in that assault on southern Israel.
The Israeli offensive since has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, local health officials say, while hundreds more have been killed in the West Bank.
Aid agencies say they are running out of food in southern Gaza and fuel is dwindling, while the US Agency for International Development and the UN World Food Program say famine has already taken hold in Gaza’s north.
Troops finished installing the floating pier on Thursday, and the US military’s Central Command said the first aid crossed into Gaza at 9 am Friday. It said no American troops went ashore in the operation.
The Pentagon said no backups were expected in the distribution process. The US plan is for the UN to take charge of the aid once it leaves the pier. The world body’s World Food Program will then turn it over to aid groups for delivery.
Aid distribution had not yet begun as of Friday afternoon, said a UN official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The official said the process of unloading and reloading cargo was still ongoing.
The UN humanitarian aid coordinating agency said the start of the operation was welcome but not a replacement for deliveries by land.
“I think everyone in the operation has said it: Any and all aid into Gaza is welcome by any route,” spokesperson Jens Laerke, of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told journalists in Geneva on Friday. Getting aid to people in Gaza “cannot and should not depend on a floating dock far from where needs are most acute.” The UN earlier said fuel deliveries brought through land routes have all but stopped and that would make it extremely difficult to bring the aid to Gaza’s people.
“It doesn’t matter how the aid comes, whether it’s by sea or whether by land, without fuel, aid won’t get to the people,” UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the issue of fuel deliveries comes up in all US conversations with the Israelis. She also said the plan is to begin slowly with the sea route and ramp up the truck deliveries over time as they work the kinks out of the system.
Israel fears Hamas will use fuel in the war, but it asserts it places no limits on the entry of humanitarian aid and blames the UN for delays in distributing goods entering Gaza. Under pressure from the US, Israel has opened a pair of crossings to deliver aid into the territory’s hard-hit north in recent weeks.
It has said that a series of Hamas attacks on the main crossing, Kerem Shalom, have disrupted the flow of goods. The UN says fighting, Israeli fire and chaotic security conditions have hindered delivery. There have also been violent protests by Israelis that disrupted aid shipments. Israel recently seized the key Rafah border crossing in its push against Hamas around that city on the Egyptian border, raising fears about civilians’ safety while also cutting off the main entry for aid into the Gaza Strip.
US President Joe Biden ordered the pier project, expected to cost $320 million. The boatloads of aid will be deposited at a port facility built by the Israelis just southwest of Gaza City and then distributed by aid groups.
US officials said the initial shipment totaled as much as 500 tons of aid. The US has closely coordinated with Israel on how to protect the ships and personnel working on the beach.
But there are still questions about the safety of aid workers who distribute the food, said Sonali Korde, assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, which is helping with logistics.

ROUEN, France,
French police on Friday shot dead an Algerian man armed with a knife and an iron bar who tried to set fire to a synagogue in the northern city of Rouen, adding to concerns over anti-Semitic violence in the country.
The French Jewish community, the third largest in the world, has for months been on edge in the face of a growing number of attacks and desecrations of memorials.
Emergency services were alerted after a fire was detected at the synagogue, with the man spotted on its roof brandishing an iron bar and a kitchen knife, the prosecutor handling the case said.
Smoke was coming out of one window at the synagogue, Rouen prosecutor Frederic Teillet told reporters.
The attacker ran towards one police officer threatening him with a knife. The officer then "shot him five times, hitting him four times", the prosecutor said. The man died at the scene.
The attack was an "anti-Semitic act against a place that is sacred to the Republic", Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters in Rouen, adding he regretted the "unacceptable, despicable" violence against Jewish people in France. The man was an Algerian whose application for a residency permit in France for health treatment had been rejected by the authorities, Darmanin said.
He had lodged an appeal against an expulsion order but this had been rejected and he was then wanted by the security forces for deportation, said Darmanin. But he had no record of radicalisation, the minister said.
"If he had been arrested he would have been put into detention ahead of expulsion to his home country," said Darmanin. The synagogue is in the historic centre of Rouen, the main city of the northern region of Normandy that lies on the River Seine.
A resident, Elias Morisse, who lives opposite the synagogue, said he heard gunshots and explosions.
"I decided to open the shutters of my apartment, and indeed I saw smoke coming from the synagogue, the police, the firefighters and in the street a body—that of the attacker who was shot," he said. Separate investigations into the fire at the synagogue and into the circumstances of the death of the man have been opened, prosecutors said.
France's police inspectorate opens an investigation whenever an individual is killed by the police.
Teillet said the policeman had been detained for questioning but added that after seeing footage of the incident he believed the use of a weapon was in line with the law and that he would be released.
Darmanin praised the policeman's conduct and said he would be decorated for his actions. "I am chief of the police and personally, like many French people, I am tired of criticism of the police... He did his job."
France has the largest Jewish community of any country after Israel and the United States, as well as Europe's largest Muslim community.
There have been tensions in France since the October 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel, followed by Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip. Red graffiti was painted onto France's Holocaust Memorial this week, prompting anger, including from President Emmanuel Macron who condemned "odious anti-Semitism".
"Attempting to burn a synagogue is an attempt to intimidate all Jews. Once again, there is an attempt to impose a climate of terror on the Jews of our country," Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), wrote on X.
Since 2015, France has seen a spate of Islamist attacks that also hit Jewish targets. There have been isolated attacks in recent months and the country's security alert remains at its highest level.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced this month that 366 anti-Semitic incidents had been recorded in France in the first quarter of 2024, a 300-percent increase compared to the first three months of 2023.
"It is not only the Jewish community that is affected. It is the entire city of Rouen that is bruised and in shock," Rouen mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol wrote on X, calling for a solidarity rally at the town hall in the evening.

NEW DELHI,
India’s weather bureau has warned the country was facing its second heatwave in three weeks, including in areas where millions of people are set to vote in the six-week election.
Analysts have blamed a dip in turnout compared to the last national poll in 2019 on widespread expectations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will easily win a third term, as well as hotter-than-average temperatures heading into the summer.
The latest round of voting in the seven-phase election will take place on Monday, including in parts of India expected to see temperatures 2-3 degrees Celsius above normal.
Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Jharkhand states, all of which will hold votes on Monday, could expect to see “moderate” heatwave conditions including temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), a forecast said late Thursday.
The Indian Meteorological Department warned of “moderate health concern” for infants, the elderly and those with chronic diseases, and advised residents of those states to avoid the heat. The capital New Delhi was also expected to see maximum temperatures of 45C (113F) at the weekend, the forecast said. Hundreds of millions of people across South and Southeast Asia endured a prolonged heatwave last month that prompted school closures in the Philippines and Bangladesh.
India’s election commission said last month it had formed a task force to review the impact of heatwaves and humidity before each round of voting.
In Mathura, a city near New Delhi, temperatures crossed 41C (106F) on polling day in late April, with election commission figures showing a turnout drop of nearly nine points from five years earlier. Modi urged voters this month to drink “as much water as possible” on polling day after he cast his vote in his home state Gujarat.
India is no stranger to searing summer temperatures but years of scientific research have found climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense both in the Asian subcontinent and around the world.
Severe storms also hit parts of the country this week including in the financial capital Mumbai, where strong winds collapsed a giant billboard that killed 16 people and left dozens more trapped under the wreckage. At least 11 people were killed in lightning strikes during a thunderstorm in West Bengal on Thursday, authorities said.

Saint Paul, Minnesota,
Former President Donald Trump will head to Minnesota on a day off from his hush money trial for a Republican fundraiser on Friday night in a traditionally Democratic state that he boasts he can carry in November.
Trump will headline the state GOP’s annual Lincoln Reagan dinner, which coincides with the party’s state convention, after attending his son Barron’s high school graduation in Florida. Trump attended the graduation on Friday morning with his wife, Melania Trump, and her father, Viktor Knavs.
Trump will use part of the day granted by the trial judge for the graduation to campaign in Minnesota, a state he argues he can win in the November rematch with President Joe Biden. No Republican presidential candidate has won Minnesota since Richard Nixon in 1972, but Trump came close to flipping the state in 2016, when he fell 1.5 percentage points short of Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump returned to Minnesota several times in 2020, when Biden beat him by more than 7 percentage points.
“I think this is something Trump wants to do. He believes this is a state he can win. We believe that’s the case as well,” David Hann, the chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota, said in an interview. Democratic US Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, a Biden ally, said the Trump campaign is “grasping at straws” if it thinks he can win the state.
“The Biden campaign is going to work hard for every vote,” Smith said in an interview. “We’re going to engage with voters all over the state. But I think Minnesota voters are going to choose President Biden.”
Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump, graduated from the private Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. The former president had long complained Judge Juan M. Merchan would not let him attend the graduation before Merchan agreed not to hold court on Friday.
Hann is co-hosting Friday’s dinner along with Trump’s state campaign chair, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who represents a central Minnesota district. Hann said Emmer was instrumental in bringing the former president to Minnesota.
The dinner coincides with the party’s state convention. Tickets started at $500, ranging up to $100,000 for a VIP table for 10 with three photo opportunities with Trump. Hann declined to say how much money he expects it will raise, but he anticipates a full house of around 1,400 people.
All the money from the dinner tickets will go to the state party, Hann said, though he added that some money from photo opportunities may go to the Trump campaign.
Experts are split on whether Minnesota really will be competitive this time, given its history and the strong Democratic Party ground game in the state. But Hann said there’s “great dissatisfaction with President Biden” in the state, noting that nearly 19 percent of Democratic voters in its Super Tuesday primary marked their ballots for “uncommitted.” That was at least partly due to a protest-vote movement over Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war that has spread to several states.
In an interview aired Wednesday by KSTP-TV of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Trump said his speech would focus on economic issues.

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia,
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has undergone another operation two days after being shot multiple times and remains in serious condition, officials said on Friday.
Fico, 59, was attacked as he was greeting supporters after a government meeting in the former coal mining town of Handlova. A suspected assailant has been arrested.
Miriam Lapunikova, director of the University F. D. Roosevelt hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Fico was taken by helicopter after he was shot, said Fico underwent a CT scan and is currently awake and stable in an intensive care unit. She described his condition as “very serious.”
She said the surgery removed dead tissues that had remained inside Fico’s body. “I think it will take several more days until we will definitely know the direction of the further development,” Robert Kaliniak, the defense minister and deputy prime minister, told reporters at the hospital. Still, Kaliniak stressed that the government continues to work.
“The ministries are working on all their duties, nothing is frozen or halted, the country goes on,” he told reporters. “The state is stable and today the patient is stable as well.”
Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. His return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American platform led to worries among fellow European Union and NATO members that he would abandon his country’s pro-Western course, particularly on Ukraine.
Earlier Friday the man charged with attempting to assassinate Fico was escorted by police to his home. Local media reported that it was part of a search for evidence. Markiza, a Slovak television station, showed footage of the suspect being taken to his home in the town of Levice on Friday morning, and reported that police had seized a computer and some documents. Police did not comment.
Prosecutors have told police not to publicly identify the suspect or release other details about the case. The suspect’s detention will be reviewed at a hearing Saturday at Slovakia’s Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok, outside the capital Bratislava.
Unconfirmed media reports suggested he was a 71-year-old retiree who was known as an amateur poet, and may have previously worked as a security guard at a mall in the country’s southwest.
Government authorities on Thursday gave details that matched that description. They said the suspect did not belong to any political groups, though the attack itself was politically motivated.
Slovakia’s presidential office said Friday that it was working to organize a meeting of leaders of all parliamentary parties for Tuesday. Outgoing President Zuzana Caputova announced the plan together with President-elect Peter Pellegrini, who succeeds her in mid June, in an attempt to reduce social tensions in the country. At the start of Russia’s invasion, Slovakia was one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, but Fico halted arms deliveries to Ukraine when he returned to power, his fourth time serving as prime minister.

TBILISI: Thousands of Georgians led by Orthodox Christian clerics marked “Family Purity Day” on Friday, marching down the same central avenue in Tbilisi that has been the scene of some of the fiercest anti-government protests in the country’s history. The contrasting groups staging the marches—pro-Orthodox and conservative on one side and pro-European on the other—spotlight the deep divisions within Georgian society as it grapples with an unprecedented political crisis. For over a month, thousands of protesters, many of them young people, have filled Tbilisi’s streets on a near-nightly basis to voice their opposition to a draft law on “foreign agents” they condemn as authoritarian and Russian-inspired.The United States and the European Union have repeatedly warned the ruling Georgian Dream party to drop the bill, which protesters fear will harm the South Caucasus country’s bid to join the European Union.Dozens of rallygoers have been arrested or hospitalised since mid-April after police deployed water cannon and fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades to disperse the crowds. (Reuters)

Uttar Pradesh: Sonia Gandhi, the leader of India’s Congress party, made an emotional appeal to voters in the family borough, asking them to vote for her son in a region that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party have dominated in the last ten years. Standing on stage on Friday with her children Rahul and Priyanka, Gandhi, the party’s former chief and former lawmaker from Raebareli in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, said her family had a special connection with the constituency. Raebareli, which goes to the polls in the fifth phase of India’s seven phase-long general election, has returned a Congress candidate in 17 of the 20 elections held there since 1952, mostly members of the Gandhi family. Sonia Gandhi decided not to contest the seat in the current election and her son, Rahul was announced as the candidate from the region. “I am handing over my son to you. Just as you made me yours, please treat him as one of your own. He will not disappoint you,” Gandhi said, to loud cheers from the crowd. (Reuters)

BERLIN,
Thomas Tuchel confirmed on Friday he will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season after failing to reach an agreement with the club to stay on as coach after talks this week.
Tuchel took over last March and steered them to the Bundesliga title last season but Bayern will finish the current campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.
Bayern bosses had informed Tuchel in February he would not stay on for the last year of his contract and would leave at the end of the season.
But after several prospective successors, including Julian Nagelsmann, Ralf Rangnick and Xabi Alonso, decided to remain in their current jobs, Bayern turned to Tuchel to discuss the possibility of him staying on.
“This is the last press conference here. The February decision remains,” Tuchel said. “There were talks again with the club in the past week but we did not reach an agreement on a continued cooperation so we stick with the February decision.”
“We did not agree but I won’t go into individual points. That all happens behind closed doors.”
The Bavarians, who travel to Hoffenheim on the last matchday of the season on Saturday, are battling to hold on to second place in the table and are two points ahead of VfB Stuttgart.
They crashed out to third-tier Saarbruecken in the German Cup and were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, ending the campaign without a trophy despite spending a league-record 100 million euros ($108.41 million) to sign striker Harry Kane.
“The decision for me to leave was taken in February so you can imagine that my head, after processing, was 1000% behind that decision,” Tuchel said.
“There was the theoretical possibility of a 180 degree turn now and the initiative came from the club.”
“The reasons why it did not happen, I don’t know, are minimal. Maybe the reasons are not clear, also for the decision in February, but it is what it is,” Tuchel said.

KATHMANDU,
Sudurpaschim Province progressed into the final of the Lalitpur Mayor Women’s T20 Championship defeating Bagmati Province by a massive 109 runs at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Friday.
Sudurpaschim’s opponents in the Saturday’s title match will be
defending champions Armed Police Force Club, who are the most
successful side of the tournament having won all of previous three editions.
APF, who are bidding to a record-extending fourth Lalitpur Mayor T20 crown, are the only side to have maintained a perfect run in the tournament. They progressed into the final as group winners after accumulating eight points from four matches.
Sudurpaschim became group runners-up with six points.
Samjhana Khadka scored an unbeaten half-century—her second fifty of the tournament—while Rubi Poddar, skipper Bindu Rawal and Kabita Joshi were also impressive with the bat.
Openers Poddar and Khadka gave Sudurpaschim a strong start scoring 60 runs for the first wicket, before Poddar departed in the ninth over making 28 runs off 36 balls.
Khadka then put on a 43-run stand with captain Rawal for the second wicket to put Sudurpaschim in the driving seat.
After Rawal departed for 28 for 23 in the 15th over, caught by Krishma Gurung, Khadka completed her fifty off 35 balls and added another 54 with Kabita Joshi for the third wicket to post a big 157-2 from 20 overs.
Khadka ended her innings unconquered on 74. Her 47-ball knock featured 10 hits to the fences.
Joshi was not out on 20 runs.
In the chase, Bagmati were all out for just 48 runs in 16.1 overs, thanks to a lethal bowling from Ritu Kanoujiya who took 3-5 in her magical four over spell that also included one maiden over.
Joshi and Laxmi Saud were also outstanding with the figures of 2-16 and 2-5.
Except Gurung (16), none other Bagmati batters could score in double digits.
Rawal and Karishma Thapa also took one wicket apiece for Sudurpaschim. The tournament features five teams, including Mayor XI along with four teams reaching the playoff round of the 2023-24 Prime Minister Cup Women’s T20 National Cricket Tournament.
APF, Koshi Province, Sudurpaschim and Bagmati entered the Lalitpur Mayor T20 as teams reaching the PM Cup playoffs. APF won the tournament that was held from December 21, 2023 to January 3, 2024.
Mayor’s XI consists of players from the remaining four teams—Madhesh Province, Lumbini Province, Gandaki Province and Karnali Province—who failed to qualify for the Prime Minister Cup semi-finals.

BANGKOK,
Brazil will host the 2027 Women’s World Cup after a vote of FIFA’s full membership chose the South American bid over a joint proposal from Belgium, Netherlands and Germany.
The FIFA Congress on Friday voted 119-78 for Brazil in the reduced field of two candidates to host the 2027 tournament after a joint bid by the United States and Mexico was pulled late last month, and South Africa withdrew its candidacy in November.
It will be the first time the global women’s tournament, first played in 1991, is staged in South America .
Brazil was strongly favoured to win since October when FIFA brokered deals for the men’s World Cups of 2030 and 2034. It left South American neighbours Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay getting just one game each of the 104 in the 2030 tournament that will be mostly co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
A key point for FIFA was clearing the way for its close ally Saudi Arabia to get the 2034 World Cup uncontested in a fast-track process. South American football body CONMEBOL’s agreement to take a small part of the 2030 tournament removed it from the subsequent bidding.
The US-Mexico decision to opt out and focus on bidding for the 2031 World Cup—that decision is due next year—was another indicator of Brazil’s expected win.
The Brazilian bid team hugged and celebrated on the podium after the result was announced, and described it as a victory for women’s football, for their country and for South America.
“We are a South American country that achieved the victory for women’s football,” Brazil’s football federation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said before reflecting on recent flooding that has devastated parts of the country.
“After the things that impact all Brazilians our achievement today, the first Women’s World Cup in South America, will help strengthen us.”
It was the first time that all of FIFA’s member associations had the opportunity to weigh in on the host of the women’s tournament. Previously, it was decided by the FIFA Council, the governing body’s decision-making committee.
There were 207 of the 211 members eligible to vote in the electronic ballot which gave three options: Brazil, BNG or abstain.
Brazil was even more favoured to win the contest after ranking higher in an evaluation report by a FIFA-appointed panel.
The next World Cup votes, to endorse the 2030 and 2034 hosts, will be on December 11 in an online congress held remotely.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)
Look for opportunities to connect with new members of your social sphere. This afternoon, you may experience prosperous energy and be the recipient of unexpected blessings or gifts.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
Devote your weekend to the pursuit of wellness and personal balance. Be sure to focus on your long-term goals and what must be done to reach them. Luck is on your side this afternoon.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21)
Today will put you in the mood to express yourself. Use this energy to follow your passions, and consider bringing a spiritual element to your work. Look for opportunities to explore your community as evening sets.

CANCER (June 22-July 22)
Don’t feel guilty about hiding at home this weekend. Now is the ideal time to catch up on chores. A social energy emerges as afternoon sets in, putting you in the mood to make new friends.

LEO (July 23-August 22)
Your mind craves stimulation and connection, activating a house of communication. You’ll have a gift for scratching beneath the surface with grace and nurturing, marking the ideal time to further romantic pursuits through intimate discussions.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22)
Use today’s energy as an excuse to focus on what you need to feel holistically healthy. An immensely lucky energy finds you this afternoon, marking the ideal time to make wishes and take bold action.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22)
You’ll feel particularly empowered when you showcase the talents that make you unique. This climate can also bring meaningful moments to your friendships. Good vibes flow this afternoon.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21)
You may require solitude, urging you to find peace after a busy week. Your home will feel particularly restorative, inspiring you to nurture yourself and those you share a roof with. Excitement fills the air this evening.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21)
Use today’s energy to forge and nurture connections, taking time to expand your network. You’ll have a chance to uncover juicy gossip or important details, inspiring you to ask pointed questions.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19)
Take note of any dreams that find you early this morning. You’ll become aware of money’s empowering impacts, inspiring you to plant seeds that will grow into your garden. Allow your creativity to be free this afternoon.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18)
You’ll feel spiritually and intuitively charged up this weekend. You’ll feel empowered to transform as you gain wisdom and see multiple perspectives, making it easier to drop facades you no longer align with.

PISCES (February 19-March 20)
Focus on what you need to release stress or tension that builds up during the workweek. Consider spending the morning in solitude, giving yourself space to think and feel as you please.

When I first picked up an Alice Munro story collection in 2015, I did not expect the stories about the lives of girls and women in rural Ontario to acquire such a hold over me. Initially, I found her stories complicated. I had not been schooled in her artful ways then. I wondered why they meandered, digressed, and took time to come to the ‘main point.’
But when the truth at the story’s core exploded in my face, every time I needed to put the book down. And sit stunned. After letting the waves wash over me, I would call my friend, another Munro fiend, to discuss. How on earth did she do that? No one has ever put it like that.
‘It’ could be anything—the feel of a blood-soaked pad between a young girl’s legs, the smell and sensation of heavy menses, the way a ‘doting’ husband puts the wife in place even as he enacts perfect love, the slander that holds sway over small towns and small lives, the hatred a daughter feels for a mother, the artful pauses that give people away, the long silences etched between words.
Over the past decade, I have read every story from her fourteen-story collections. After dissecting, discussing, and rereading her stories, I can call myself not just an ordinary fan but a worshipper of Saint Munro. Considering I am a translator who advocates reading more translated Indian fiction, my Alice Munro adoration can be considered a digression—an imitation worship of a Western goddess.
I don’t think so. Her stories are great because in their attention to particularity, in capturing the constrained lives of women and girls in semi-rural Canada, she captures the fabric of sex, blood, and hate that makes women’s lives everywhere. Not by sensationalising them but by stripping off layers till the stories become life itself.
When she writes of the impossible desires in women’s lives bleached by the dailiness of scrubbing, cooking and caring for clamouring babies; when she shows women hankering for escape, for a city beau, wealth, a life of well-meaning deceit and spurious glamour, she could well be speaking of a woman of small-town Uttar Pradesh.
No one has excavated the feminine heart with such depth and diligence as she has. In her books, women tread paths not of their choosing but paths they escape into, only to find themselves locked into circumstances they hate. Every story has a story beneath it. Paths diverge only to loop and come together again, lending light to what happened and what might have been.
When I visited Toronto in 2018, I made a pilgrimage to Wingham, the town she grew up in. Wingham, 90 miles out of Toronto, lay deep in the Amish countryside. From time to time, the car had to pause to give way to horse-carts
driven by men in top hats, their bonneted women seated behind grey gowns. A pastoral calm stretched on both sides of the road—rolling acres of rich green against a fleeced blue sky, fenced grasslands lit up with gorse and honeysuckle, where cows, horses, and sheep grazed.
Two hours later, I arrived in Wingham, an impossibly quiet little place at noon. Google said that the Alice Munro Literary Garden, a garden made in her honour, after she won the Nobel Prize, was next to the post office. On my way there, I passed by a Salvation Army thrift shop on Josephine Street, where quaint old ladies in flowered hats, whiskered Amish men and bonneted women thronged. Munro Literary Garden. This main street mostly had shops selling secondhand clothes and used household goods.
The eponymous garden that I had come to see was just a tiny handkerchief of greenery with signage above a wooden bench. The names of all Munro’s books and prizes won were engraved on cement plaques on the walkway.
In India, putting names of revered books on the ground—waiting to be trampled beneath feet would be blasphemy. So I gingerly step around them. The Huron County Museum, next door to the tiny garden, is shut indefinitely. Faded flyers of a self-guided literary tour are still stuffed in a mailbox hung outside.
I walk out in less than 10 minutes. The few people around on the main street – a purple-haired girl in shorts, walking with a polio limp; a slack-jawed derelict with sideways lope, two young housewives debating whether to buy a second-hand kitchen utensil, made me recognise with a start, the time-warped feeling that Munro’s stories evoke.
I walked into one of the secondhand shops on the main street, which, among other things, also sold books. Thrillers and romances by Clive Cussler and Maeve Binchey were on display, as were Amish romances.
“No, don’nn think I have any by Alice Munro. Who is she? Some new wrrirer?”
The assistant in the Alice Munro Library on the next street was helpful. She told me the way to the house Alice Munro grew up in. “An old man lives there now. Go to the Lower Town and take a road.” She cannot remember the road’s name, “but it is the only road that leads to a dead end, and it goes through corn fields.”
I tried. But it was not possible to locate the house. The one or two people I found on the way had no idea about “Alice Munro lady.”
I was filled with a strange sense of revelation.                  
Writing like Munro was about a lifetime spent shunning the false and the clever, a lifetime spent observing life. To be able to see a lot, you needed to hide yourself. You never sought claps and pats. When Vancouver Sun called her a “housewife who writes short stories” she simply went on to write more, eventually becoming the only short story writer awarded a Nobel Prize. When someone else said she should write novels, she confessed the constraints of being a housewife.
“I was a housewife, so I learned to write in times off, and I don’t think I ever gave it up, though there were times when I was very discouraged because I began to see that the stories I was writing were not very good, that I had a lot to learn, and that it was a much, much harder job than I had expected.”
Such self-deprecation can come only from a goddess of literature.
I did not find Alice Munro’s house.
But in time-warped Wingham, I discovered why the streets felt like they had stepped out of her stories. To bring out the essence of life to the page, cherishing contact with the ordinary was a prerequisite. Wingham itself was a place that avoided the noise of the world and abhorred focus on the self. Just like its world-famous writer, the town did not seem to know.

Published in special arrangement with TheWire.in

Deities of Nepal-II
Nepal Art Council (NAC) is organising an exhibition on the principal theme of ‘Deities of Nepal-II’, this time with a broader range that will also include temples and viharas (monasteries) of Nepal.

Where: Nepal Art Council, Madan Bhandari Road, Kathmandu
When: May 21 to June 10
Time: 10:30 am to 5:30 pm
Entry: Free

Kurush Group Crochet Exhibition
Kalashala is organising a group crochet exhibition starting May 19. The exhibition will feature the works of twelve well-known crochet artists from all around Nepal.

Where: Kalashala, Sanepa Chowk,  
When: May 19 to June 7
Time: 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Entry: Free

Miss Nepal Peace
Miss Nepal Peace, also known as Miss Nurse, is set for its grand finale this Saturday. The pageantry celebrating nurses aims to promote health, peace, beauty, and unity.

Where: Hotel Yak and Yeti, Durbarmarg, Kathmandu
When: May 18
Time: 5:30 pm onwards
Entry: Rs2,000 to Rs5,000

Film Acting Workshop
Kantipur Film Academy is hosting a film acting workshop for individuals who want to learn about acting, develop characters, walk into an audition, confront the camera and pursue acting as a career.

Where: Kantipur Film Academy, Thapagaun, Kathmandu
When: May 19
Time: 7:00 am to 11: 00 am
Entry: Rs15,000

Women-Led Marketplace
The Rotary Club of Kathmandu Height is organising a ‘Women Lead Marketplace’ to promote the business of women entrepreneurs.

Where: Utpala Cafe, Bauddha
When: May 18
Time: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
Entry: Free

Game Night Thursdays
The Hostel Nextdoor is organising a game night where many board games such as Carcassonne, Keyflower, Azul, Wingspan, Catan, Bang, Coup, Dead of Winter, Blokus and more can be played.

Where: Hostel Nextdoor, Kupondole, Lalitpur
When: May 23
Time: 5:30 pm onwards
Entry: Free

Haat Bazar Charity Event
KUSOM Annual Festival and The Yellow House are collaborating for a charity Haat Bazar. This market will have art, apparel, jewellery, books and florals. There will be food and drinks with a live performance.

Where: The Yellow House, Sanepa, Lalitpur
When: May 18
Time: 2:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Entry: Free

Full Moon Meditation
On Buddha Purnima, Ojas Fitness Studio is organising a full-moon meditation. This is also an introduction to pranic healing, a meditation practice.

Where: Ojas Fitness Studio, Gairidhara, Kathmandu
When: May 22
Time: 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Entry: Rs1,000

After Market Session by Seen
After Market Session by Seen is happening at the Farmer’s Market, Le Sherpa. The event will feature street foods, live music, and local artisans showcasing their finest wares.

Where: Le Sherpa, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu
When: May 18
Time: 12:30 pm onwards
Entry: Free

One of the most frequent complaints that you hear from people while going out is that they say don’t have anything “nice” to wear. The term nice entails a variety of meanings, especially in the context where everything is captured digitally and archived, people want to look their very best all the time. We can’t help it—it’s a universal experience.
But when you go through your closet, it tells a different story. All the bundles of clothes piled up stare at you, some even stashed away in the corner, waiting to see the light of the day. You, however, are certain that anything in your closet is inappropriate for that specific event and decide to go on yet another impulsive casual shopping spree.
For most of us, clothing is the one item we spend more on because it is deeply personal. We are visual creatures, and fashion is a powerful medium for self-expression. It allows us to convey our personality, mood, and values through clothing and empowers us to curate our outward appearance. Thus, fashion is not just a superficial interest but a fundamental part of the human experience that intersects with identity, creativity, culture and social interaction.
However, the very nature of fashion, being dynamic and ever-evolving, has shifted the trend of the culture revolving around it to be consumed excessively. In the past, fashion was believed to follow a 20-year cycle, where popular trends would be adored, hated and eventually loved again over two decades.
However, with the advent of internet culture and digitalisation, we are experiencing micro-trends as our attention span decreases and the need for consumption skyrockets.
Fashion operates on a relentless cycle of trends, with new styles hitting the shelves almost weekly. What’s ‘in’ today might be ‘out’ tomorrow, creating a sense of urgency to constantly refresh our wardrobes. This rapid turnover encourages impulsive buying and fosters a mentality where clothing is seen as disposable.
Today, these trends come and go very quickly, and so does our desire to follow them. We leave behind a culture that thrives on disposability rather than longevity, contributing to an ever-growing mountain of textile waste—our closet attests to that.
Coming back to that, if getting dressed from your closet seems like a hassle, and you are having trouble finding the right outfit for the day, then you might want to introduce yourself to the idea of a capsule wardrobe.
A capsule wardrobe is a limited selection of interchangeable clothing pieces that complement each other. These are often classic pieces that do not go out of style. Capsule wardrobe represents a curated collection of essential clothing items that are timeless, versatile, and of high quality, designed to be mixed and matched to create a variety of outfits from a small selection of clothes.
This minimalist approach to dressing has gained popularity not only for its simplicity but also for its sustainability and efficiency. Thus, emerging as a refreshing antidote to the overwhelming world of fashion.
The origins of the capsule wardrobe can be traced back to the 1970s. Susie Faux, a London boutique owner, coined the term ‘capsule wardrobe’ in the 1970s. Donna Karan popularised it in the 1980s with her ‘Seven Easy Pieces’ collection, which comprised interchangeable items that could create a week’s worth of outfits.
However, the idea truly took off with Caroline Rector’s publication of ‘The Capsule Wardrobe’ in 2014, which inspired countless individuals to rethink their approach to fashion.
To revamp your wardrobe according to the principles of a capsule wardrobe, you must begin by analysing the clothes you have in it. Sort your clothes by season, assess what you wear regularly, and decide what you don’t.
Think about your lifestyle and your personal style. Ask yourself these questions: Is this piece of clothing timeless? Does it still fit you? Analysing and assessing your wardrobe is crucial for editing as it helps you better understand your choices—from the style to the material you like in your clothing. It will also help you narrow down the cut and the colour that suits you.
After editing your wardrobe, you notice that the clothing you are left with is the one that you frequently gravitate towards. Only after understanding what you love the most can you curate and style your own personal looks. Start planning for your capsule wardrobe by keeping your life in mind. For example, experimenting with clothing depends upon personal factors like your location, climate, culture, lifestyle and how often you do your laundry!
To start out, plan your outfit around a neutral colour scheme like white, black, cream, grey, navy blue, brown, and sage green, as these colours work well with any other colour. You can also add a few accent colours you love and complement your skin tone. Choose the style that you want to incorporate, and have fun while styling your outfits.
Adapt yourself and your wardrobe from a realistic point of view as well. It’s not that you will never buy anything else after starting your capsule wardrobe. It is just that you will be more mindful of your purchases and, most importantly, how well they pair off with the clothes you already have.
It is important to identify the missing items to complete your wardrobe as well. Staple items like good-quality cotton t-shirts, jeans, coats, and trans-seasonal boots are never out of fashion! Investing in them will help you maximise your wear by mixing and matching them with other pieces of clothing you already have in your closet.
Let go of any clothes you don’t wish to include in it. Declutter everything you don’t like. But do it sustainably by selling, donating, or giving the apparel to someone who likes it so it does not wind up in a landfill. It is also very important to
emphasise starting with what you already own and not decluttering everything.
Be careful not to add items to your wardrobe that will quickly go out of style. We focus more on longevity and personal preferences rather than chasing trends. Complete your capsule wardrobe by incorporating appropriate shoes, jewellery, and accessories for your preferred looks. There you have it—your capsule wardrobe is complete.
One of the other things to keep in mind is that making the capsule wardrobe according to season will help you be more creative with the options that you have. As other clothing will be stored away, you will find ways of incorporating basic elements into your everyday wear and next season’s style, maximising the wear out of the apparel.
In today’s digital age, there are even apps for planning outfits. These apps make it easier for you to choose clothing items based on the styles and colours that match your personality and body type. Apps like Cladwell, Stylebook, Smart Closet, and Acloset use technology to help you go through your closet and sort out the clothes to style your apparel.
Utilising these features can help you jumpstart the process of a capsule wardrobe and keep track of the number of apparel you already own, making you more efficient in the long run.
As a conscious consumer, the advantages of a capsule wardrobe are numerous. It promotes sustainability by reducing
consumption by buying less but buying better and minimises garment waste by preventing impulse buying and conscious consumption.
It also encourages versatility by helping us be more creative with our existing apparel, maximising utility, and focusing more on quality items, thus reducing the demand for cheaply made disposable clothing.
It also helps you save money, as you utilise the items you already own, decreasing the need for shopping. It also simplifies decision-making, which is a big help as too many choices often lead to decision fatigue.
As customers become more aware of the environmental impact of their fashion choices, the use of capsule wardrobes indicates a trend toward more sustainable and ethical purchase practices. While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, the concepts of a capsule wardrobe push us to reconsider our relationship with clothing, emphasising quality, variety, and durability.
Ultimately, embracing a capsule wardrobe is about making informed choices that align with our values and contribute to a more sustainable future for fashion. By redefining our approach to dressing, we can each contribute to reducing the environmental impact of the clothing industry and promoting a more conscious and ethical way of expressing ourselves through fashion.

Dr Samundra Gurung, who identifies as queer, is a doctor, artist, freelance writer and plant hobbyist based in Nepal.

Kathmandu,
Miss Pink Nepal 2024, which was organised in celebration of the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), concluded Thursday at Rastriya Naach Ghar, Jamal.
Blue Diamond Society (BDS) organised the event in collaboration with Right Here Right Now (RHRN) and AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nepal.
Three of the 18 final participants were crowned at the event. Anmol Rai was crowned Miss Pink Nepal 2024, while Sarosy Neupane and Aarohi Basnet secured second and third positions, respectively.
BDS President Pinky Gurung shared that the Blue Diamond Society has been organising the Miss Pink program since 2007, and the recent event was its seventh iteration. However, maintaining regularity has been challenging due to difficulties in garnering stakeholder support.
Gurung pointed out that the LGBTQIA+ community often remains hidden due to societal stigma and stereotypes, leading many individuals to refrain from exposing their identities and participating in the event. Despite this, over three dozen participants applied for the competition, this time from across Nepal, with 18 being selected.
Peter Rai, a transgender woman in BDS, said, “No matter who wins from eighteen participants, nobody will lose in terms of representation of the community, all will be winners”.
Anmol will represent Nepal in the Miss International Queen 2024 pageant, which will be held in August in Thailand, and will work as an ambassador of BDS for a year.
Gurung emphasised, “Miss Pink is the celebration of diversity and empowerment, providing an opportunity for the LGBTQIA+ community to shine and prove their capabilities. It promises hope for strength and resilience regardless of gender identity.”

Am I acting my age now?” Billie Eilish, 22, wonders aloud on the opening track to her ambitious third album, ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’.
“Am I already on the way out?”
The 10-track release sees a once-in-a-generation pop performer once again rewriting the rules: If Eilish’s first record introduced the world to her brilliant horror-pop, with its macabre humour, off-kilter beats and teenage Invisalign slurps, and her second wiped away those black tears for pop crooning and bossa nova ruminations on the expectations of fame, her third is an amalgamation of both, with bold new surprises.
‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ proves Eilish to be an outsider in contemporary pop in a few ways: This is an album meant to be heard and enjoyed in full, working contrary to the current single-centric model of the music industry. And she earns that distinction, with a fuller sound, courtesy of her brother, producer, and lifelong collaborator Finneas O’Connell, now joined by Andrew Marshall on drums and the Attacca Quartet on strings.
Opener ‘Skinny’ launches into the saccharine falsetto of her award-winning ‘Barbie’ ballad ‘What Was I Made For?’ The song’s messaging, too, has a similar kind of resonance—she tackles body image, singing ‘People say I look happy / Just because I got skinny’—echoing her short film and spoken word interlude ‘Not My Responsibility’ from 2021’s ‘Happier Than Ever’.
Then there’s the languid bass and airy refrain of ‘Away from me’ on the midtempo ‘Chihiro’, likely named after the 10-year-old protagonist in Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli classic, ‘Spirited Away’. That song, like many on the album, begins soft and ends hard. An erotic crescendo of thumping techno-house reaches ‘Challengers’ a level of audial elation.
‘The Greatest’ could be considered a thematic sequel to ‘Everything I wanted’ from her 2019 album, ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’ now with a plucky, nylon string guitar. Three and a half minutes in, it turns into atmospheric, arena rock. Blown-out guitars are executed in a way that feels familiar to the 2021 title track, ‘Happier Than Ever’.
The deceptively cheery sounding ‘L’amour De Ma Vie’, too, is true to the sort of jazzy, lounge moments of her last album. “But I need to confess / I told you a lie,” a clear-eyed Eilish sings. ‘I said you/you were the love of my life’.
Later, the song ascends into synth-pop bliss—autotuned, distorted vocals in a hyperpop, Eurodance rave—lest anyone forget this is the same pop performer who wrote the industrial track ‘Oxytocin’.
So where did the “bad guy” singer go? ‘The Diner’, duh. Here, her haunted carnival ride sound returns. “Don’t be afraid of me,” she opens her gothic vaudeville (now a command rather than the inquiry “Why aren’t you scared of me?” from 2019’s ‘bury a friend’.) She teases, “Bet I could change your life / You could be my wife.”
Where other artists might pull from their past to make derivative, impressionistic portraits of who they used to be, Eilish evolves her ghosts.
That’s true in the breathy closer “Blue,” a sonic reminder of Eilish’s long love of Lana Del Rey records until it takes a Massive Attack-style trip-hop detour. Two things can be true—and blue—at once.
‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ is the loudest Eilish has ever been on record—no longer singing almost exclusively in gorgeous, hushed tones just above an ASMR whisper, buried underneath sweeping, innovative production. Clearly, she’s gained the self-assurance to belt above the mix.
Throughout the album, Eilish is a bird: She’s a bird in a cage in ‘Skinny’; she wants to stick together on the baroque pop track ‘Birds of a Feather’, and by the album’s closer ‘Blue’, she realises they were not ‘birds of a feather’, after all—and she’s back in a cage.
It’s a welcomed change from the tarantulas that defined ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’, but it also serves as the ideal metaphor for Eilish’s third album. She’s motivated by a desire for freedom. And on ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’, she’s allowed herself to communicate the tension—and let it take flight.

– Associated Press