BIRENDRANAGAR,
Chiuri Bitalu, aged 45, of Thirpu in ward 9 of Palata Rural Municipality of Kalikot district feels a deep pang when she sees a high cliff. Her 12-year-old son Binod fell off a cliff and died two years ago while collecting grass for cattle.
“I think of my son every time I see a cliff. It has given me lifelong pain and suffering. He could have been saved if he had not gone to the cliff to cut grass,” said Bitalu who is still traumatised by the tragedy that took place on 24 November 2022.
Bitalu’s sorrow is not an isolated case here. Hundreds of people in Karnali, the country’s largest and the most remote province, suffer due to dangerous cliffs.
Many people die, get injured or are maimed every year by falling off the cliffs in Karnali Province. As per data available at the Karnali Province Police Office in Surkhet, as many as 440 people died by falling off cliffs in 10 districts in Karnali over the past eleven years.
Salyan tops the list with 117 deaths. Police said six people died in similar incidents in the province in the first two months of the current fiscal year of 2024-25.
Besides fatalities, many people have been maimed, mainly with spinal cord injuries, after falling off cliffs.
The plight of the maimed people is as painful.
It was a cold winter morning in 2023. Kapil Rana of Naumule Rural Municipality of Dailekh district suddenly heard his wife Tulsi crying in pain after falling off a cliff, where she had gone to cut grass. He rushed to find her badly injured.
Rana took his injured wife to the Surkhet-based provincial hospital for treatment. Tulsi, 25, was found to have sustained serious spinal cord injuries.
“We spent about a month in the hospital and the treatment cost around Rs300,000. But despite the treatment, Tulsi is now permanently disabled,” said Rana who now helps his wife with regular physiotherapy at Birendranagar-based Shining Hospital.
Kapil’s family, reliant on agriculture, is struggling with the burden of Tulsi’s disability.
“We are a poor family dependent on agriculture. I cannot do even simple tasks now. How can we sustain our livelihood? How can we take care of our daughter?” lamented Tulsi. Their daughter is around two years old.
“The tragic incident could have been avoided had I not sent her to cut grass alone,” said Kapil, filled with regret.
Shining Hospital in Birendranagar provides free physiotherapy for people with spinal cord injuries. Physiotherapist Manoj Singh said the hospital also provides food and accommodation free of cost.
Despite the ongoing treatment, Kapil is unsure if his wife will ever walk again.
Karnali police do not have actual data on the people who were injured or maimed after falling off cliffs. They started recording injuries from cliff falls from the fiscal year 2020-21, with 175 documented cases over the past five years in the province.
Police officials also said that the actual number of cliff fall deaths in the province could be higher since people tend to avoid reporting to avoid bureaucratic hassles and postmortem examinations.
The Karnali government provides Rs100,000 to spinal cord injury patients admitted to the provincial hospital. “Many people who have broken their spinal cords, legs and arms after falling from cliffs and trees visit the hospital for treatment. Most of these visitors are farmers from remote districts,” said Dr Shuva Shrestha at the provincial hospital.
The number of people with physical disabilities is quite high in Karnali Province. As per the national census held in 2021, 3.1 percent of the province’s population has disabilities.  
Karnali has rough and steep terrain. Around 57 percent of the total land area in the province is steep. Many people fall off cliffs while collecting grass or herding animals.

KATHMANDU,
The erstwhile Pushpa Kamal Dahal government on April 12 constituted a committee led by Om Prakash Mishra, a former chief justice, to nominate candidates to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons.
While the government picked four members for the committee, the fifth member is either the National Human Rights Commission chair or someone nominated by him. Initially, the commission insisted that amending the Enforced Disappearance Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act was a precondition for its participation, but following the Act’s revision, it agreed to join the panel.
However, three weeks after President Ramchandra Paudel authenticated the amendment bill, the constitutional human rights watchdog has yet to recommend its representative. Its officials said they are waiting for a formal request from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, as they expect a new letter in the changed context.
“We have been told the ministry would send a new request letter for our representative, given the new context following the amendment to the Act,” said a commission member.
The revised Act states that the recommendation committee has two months to make nominations for the chairpersons and members of the two commissions. It has already been five months since the Mishra-led panel was formed.
However, a senior official at the law ministry said he does not think a new process needs to start just because the Act has been amended. “The two month countdown began the day the revised Act was enacted,” said the official. “I also don’t think the ministry told the commission that it would send a new request letter. If such a message was conveyed, it may have come from the political level.”
Those involved in forging all-party consensus on the amendment say tensions between the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) have stalled the transitional justice process. Relations between the two parties have not been cordial ever since the formation of the new ruling alliance. The UML has consistently referred to the Maoist insurgency as ‘violence’, while the Maoist Centre has warned that the present KP Sharma Oli government could meet the same fate as Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the immediate past prime minister of Bangladesh.
“The tussle between the two parties has directly affected the ongoing process,” one leader involved in the negotiations told the Post. “Oli doesn’t seem as interested as he was earlier.”
The committee was formed in May amid reservations from conflict-era victims of human rights violations and human rights defenders, who demanded that the Act be amended before selecting office bearers. The government, however, argued that forming the committee was necessary as per the Supreme Court’s March 12 order to the government to select office bearers for the two commissions within a month.
The court had asked the government to constitute task forces within the commissions to conduct preliminary investigations into the victims’ complaints until the office bearers were appointed.
Following the court’s order, the victims and human rights defenders demanded the government and the parties endorse the legal amendments by the top court’s deadline before starting the selection process. However, the amendment bill couldn’t be endorsed within the deadline, prompting the government to form a committee based on existing law.
Following the committee’s formation, the victims and human rights defenders requested the government to halt the selection process until the Act was amended. They also urged the national rights watchdog to hold off on sending its representative.
The two commissions have been defunct since July 2022, when the government decided to extend their terms without retaining their chairmen and members. The government claimed the bill to amend the transitional justice law would be endorsed by October 2022, and the appointments made based on the revised Act.
But it took over two years for the federal parliament to endorse the bill. The victims and human rights defenders are closely watching who will be appointed to the commissions.
The Truth Commission has received 63,718 complaints, while the commission on disappearances is sitting on around 2,400 cases. The new teams will have four years to accomplish their tasks, though there are provisions for their extension. The commissions that were formed in 2015 have done nothing other than collect complaints and conduct preliminary investigations on some of them.

BEIRUT,
Walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploded in Beirut and multiple parts of Lebanon on Wednesday in an apparent second wave of attacks targeting electronic devices a day after hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah blew up, state media and Hezbollah officials said. At least nine people were killed and more than 300 people wounded in the second wave, the health ministry said.
The attacks, which were widely believed to be carried out by Israel targeting Hezbollah, have hiked fears that the two sides’ simmering conflict could escalate into all-out war.
Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said, “We are at the start of a new phase in the war—it requires courage, determination and perseverance.” He made no mention of the explosions of electronic devices but praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, saying “the results are very impressive.”
In Wednesday’s attacks, several blasts were heard at a funeral in Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. An AP photographer in the southern coastal city of Sidon saw a car and a mobile phone shop damaged after devices exploded inside of them. A girl was hurt in the south when a solar energy system blew up.
The new blasts hit a country still roiling with confusion and anger after Tuesday’s pager bombings, which appeared to be a complex Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah members that caused civilian casualties, too. Tuesday’s bombings killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded some 2,800 others. The second wave also deepens concern over the potentially indiscriminate casualties caused in the attacks, in which hundreds of blasts went off wherever the holder of the pager happened to be—in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes.
While the pagers were used by Hezbollah members, there was no guarantee who was holding the device at the time of the blast.
Also, many of the casualties were not Hezbollah fighters, but members of the group’s extensive civilian operations mainly serving Lebanon’s Shiite community.
At least two health workers were among those killed Tuesday. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, charity workers, teachers and office administrators work for Hezbollah-linked organisations, and an unknown number had pagers.
The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, called for an independent investigation into the mass explosions. “The fear and terror unleashed is profound,” he said in a statement, urging world leaders to step up “in defence of the rights of all people to live in peace and security.”
Iran-backed Hezbollah—Lebanon’s strongest armed force—and Israel’s military have exchanged fire almost daily since October 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led assault in southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Since then, hundreds have been killed in strikes in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, while tens of thousands on each side of the border have been displaced. Hezbollah said its strikes are in support of its ally, Hamas.
Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that they might increase operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying they must put a stop to the exchanges to allow people to return to homes near the border.
Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, according to an official with knowledge of the movements who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
In his comments, Gallant said that after months of fighting Hamas in Gaza, “the centre of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces.”
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with top security officials at Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, the country’s army chief, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, said plans have been drawn up for additional action against Hezbollah.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday the US is still assessing how the attack could affect efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas.
New details on the pager bombings began to emerge. An American official said Israel briefed the United States after the attack, in which small amounts of explosive had been hidden in the devices. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the information publicly.
The AR-924 pagers used in Tuesday’s attack were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, which is based in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, according to a statement released by Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm that authorised the use of its brand on the pagers.
Gold Apollo’s chair, Hsu Ching-kuang, told journalists Wednesday the firm has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years. “But the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” Gold Apollo said in a statement.
At the headquarters of a building in a residential neighbourhood of Budapest, the names of multiple companies, including BAC Consulting, are posted on pieces of paper on a window.
A woman who emerged from the building and declined to give her name said the site provides headquarter addresses to various companies.
BAC’s parent company is registered to Cristiana Rosaria Bársony-Arcidiacono, whose describes herself on her LinkedIn page as a strategic advisor and business developer.
The Associated Press has attempted to reach Bársony-Arcidiacono via the LinkedIn page and has been unable to establish a connection between her or BAC and the exploding pagers.
The attack in Lebanon started on Tuesday afternoon, when pagers in their owners’ hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding—leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders.
It appeared that most of those hit were members or linked to members of Hezbollah—whether fighters or civilians—but it was not immediately clear if people with no ties to Hezbollah were also hit.
The Health Ministry said health care workers and two children were among those killed. In the village of Nadi Sheet in the Bekaa Valley, dozens gathered to mourn the death of one of the children, 9-year-old Fatima Abdullah.
Her mother, wearing black and donning a yellow Hezbollah scarf, wept alongside other women and children as they gathered around the little girl’s coffin before her burial.
Hezbollah said in a statement Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally, Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza.
“This path is continuous and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday,” it said. “This is another reckoning that will come, God willing.”

Kathmandu,
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will depart for New York on Friday, leading Nepal’s delegation to the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Oli is scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 26. This year’s General Debate theme is “Leaving No One Behind: Acting Together for the Advancement of Peace, Sustainable Development, and Human Dignity for Present and Future Generations.”
According to the Foreign Ministry, Oli will attend the opening session of the General Debate on September 24 and a reception hosted by US President Joe Biden on September 25.
During his visit, Oli will address the Summit of the Future as Chair of the Global Coordination Bureau of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). He is also expected to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit on September 22 in New York. Oli will also participate in the ‘High-Level Plenary Meeting on Addressing the Existential Threats Posed by Sea-Level Rise’ and the ‘High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)’, among other events.
In addition to his UNGA activities, Oli will deliver a keynote address on ‘Nepal’s Journey to Democracy and Economic Prosperity’ at Columbia University and speak at the John F Kennedy Jr Forum at Harvard University on ‘Nepal’s Perspective: From Transitional Justice to Climate Justice’ on September 27. He is scheduled to meet United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and hold various bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UNGA.
Oli will be accompanied by his spouse, Radhika Shakya; Minister for Foreign Affairs Arzu Rana Deuba; Chief Adviser to the prime minister Bishnu Prasad Rimal; Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal; and other senior government officials.
Oli is expected to return to Kathmandu on September 30.

KATHMANDU,
Along with dengue infection, major hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley are seeing a significant surge in cases of viral fever, flu, typhoid, and seasonal influenza in recent days.
Doctors attending to the patients said that the number of fever cases has risen compared to previous months, with some patients even developing pneumonia and requiring inpatient care due to worsening health.
“Around 50 percent of the patients who come to the outpatient department at our hospital are fever cases,” said Dr Rita Hamal, a consultant paediatrician at the Chabahil-based Om Hospital and Research Centre. “Some children have also been diagnosed with pneumonia and have been admitted at the hospital for inpatient care.”
Experts say the rise in fever and cold before weather transitions is concerning and that the spread of the virus could be behind the surge in infection rates.
They say the influenza virus causes respiratory complications, which affect the lungs. The virus spreads quickly in communities. These diseases can cause fever, cough, body aches, occasional vomiting, diarrhoea, and pneumonia.
Doctors say that while the number of new cases of fever and flu has risen significantly, the exact cause of the surge still remains unclear. Many patients do not opt for various diagnostic tests, and health workers also provide symptomatic care first.
“There is no specific care for viral infections, including dengue,” said Hamal. “We provide symptomatic care only. So we do not know the actual cause of the ailments.”
Doctors recommend multiple tests only for patients with serious health conditions. They say that early diagnosis is crucial for preventing infection, and patients recover quickly if treated in time. However, according to experts, the severity of the disease and the number of deaths increase if seasonal influenza cases are not diagnosed promptly.
“We don’t know the actual cause of the surge in fever, flu, and other ailments,” said Dr Sumit Agrawal, spokesperson at the Kanti Children Hospital. “Almost all hospital beds have been occupied by ailing patients, and the number of fever cases has risen significantly recently.”
The hospital, which also serves as the national referral centre for ailing children, said that over 1,200 children seek care daily, and 30 to 40 percent of them are fever and flu cases.
Doctors at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital and Patan Hospital also said that the number of fever and flu cases has risen significantly of late.
“Along with dengue cases, the number of people suffering from viral fever, flu, typhoid and other infections has increased at our hospital as well,” said Dr Yuba Nidhi Basaula, director at the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku, Kathmandu. “Most of the beds in our hospital have been occupied. The number of dengue infection cases has also surged lately.”
Doctors at Patan Hospital said that in addition to fever cases, patients with diarrhoeal infections and other water-borne diseases are also seeking care. They expect more cases in the coming days, as fever and flu cases usually spike during weather transitions.
Even though fever and flu cases are rising significantly, authorities remain unaware of the exact cause of the surge in infection rates.
“When the cause of ailments is not ascertained, it becomes difficult to provide effective care,” said Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit at Sukraraj Hospital. “The number of people infected with influenza could be several times higher than those seeking care at hospitals, as many people suffering from influenza-like illness do not seek treatment unless they become serious.”
A recent report by the Nepal Statistics Office also shows that cold and fever remain a significant concern, with an increase from 43.7 percent in 1995/96 to 51. 5 percent in 2022/23.
Doctors say more people get infected with viruses during seasonal changes, as most viruses—adenovirus, rhinovirus, influenza virus, and even coronavirus—become active during these times, particularly in winter.
However, they say this does not mean respiratory viruses do not spread at other times. People are continuously infected with respiratory viruses in other seasons as well, and those with weak immunity could become more severely affected by infections.
Doctors urge everyone to take precautions against these risks and ask authorities to step up surveillance to determine the real causes of influenza-like illnesses.

Kathmandu,
The government on Wednesday accepted the report of a
parliamentary special probe committee formed to investigate crisis-ridden cooperatives.
The report, which was prepared by crossparty lawmakers, had earlier been submitted to Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire on Monday. Later Speaker Ghimire had instructed that it be forwarded to the office of the prime minister and council of ministers for further action.
“The role of home ministry, Nepal Police and related investigative agencies is crucial, so Prime Minister KP Oli issued a directive in the meeting,” said a minister, adding, “After the home ministry goes through the report, it will proceed to investigation and other procedures.”
On Wednesday, Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal and Home Secretary Gokarna Mani Duwadi also discussed how to implement the report.
“A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening approved the report, which will be sent to different government entities including Ministries of Home, Finance, Land Management and Cooperatives,” said Prithvi Subba Gurung, the government spokesperson and the Minister for Information and Communication Technology.
The government has also decided to implement the recommendations from the special probe committee headed by Surya Thapa, a CPN-UML lawmaker.
The report concludes that Rabi Lamichhane, the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), was involved in misusing millions of rupees from cooperatives when he was the managing director of the now defunct Gorkha Media Network. The report also holds several others responsible for cooperative scams.
The committee’s report calls for action against former deputy prime minister and home minister Lamichhane, along with others implicated in embezzlement of cooperative funds.
The report has said over Rs63 billion was embezzled by cooperative owners from various crisis-ridden cooperatives. It has recommended prosecuting four individuals, including Lamichhane, the then managing director of Gorkha Media Network; chairman Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai; a board member Kumar Ramtel; and initial founder Chhabi Lal Joshi. However, Lamichhane and the leaders of the Rastriya Swatantra Party deny wrongdoing.
The special probe committee was formed on May 28.
Besides chair Thapa the committee had six other members. Sarita Bhusal from the UML; Dilendra Prasad Badu and Ishwari Devi Neupane from the Congress; Lekhnath Dahal from Maoist Centre; Sishir Khanal from RSP and Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan from RPP.

BIRGUNJ: An Indian national identified as Gopal Giri of Uttar Pradesh was arrested with around three kilogrammes of hashish. Acting on a tip-off, police personnel detained Giri, aged 42, from Chhapkaiya in ward 2 of Birgunj Metropolitan City on Tuesday. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Deepak Bharati, the suspect was apprehended in possession of 2.960 kg of hashish packed in plastic bags. A detailed investigation into the incident is underway, said police.

BARDIYA: A 39-year-old woman was killed after being assaulted with a sharp-edged object at her residence in ward 5 of Barbardiya Municipality in Bardiya, on Wednesday midnight. Police identified the deceased as Mina Tharu of Tarkapur. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Tulsiram Aryal, Tharu succumbed to her injuries while undergoing treatment at City Hospital, Jayanagar. The absconding suspect Shiva Chaudhary, 40, of ward 11 of Barbardiya was arrested the same night. Further investigation into the incident is ongoing, said police.

BAJHANG: Two people went missing and three others were injured after a tractor en route to Jhanana in Durgathali Rural Municipality from Moribagar, plunged around 50 metres down into the Seti river on Thursday morning. Sanjay Budha, the tractor driver from ward 2 of Bheri Municipality in Jajarkot and Lokendra Gharti are missing. Police said the injured—Hemraj BK, Tapendra BK, and Niraj BK, all from Jajarkot—are receiving treatment at the district hospital. Search for the missing are ongoing, police said.

KATHMANDU,
The coalition government of the CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress has reiterated its commitment to review the achievements made and weaknesses observed in the course of implementing the constitution in the past nine years.
The two ruling parties have pledged to amend the constitution based on a broader understanding made through discussions, dialogues and consultations with political parties, civil society, intelligentsia, constitutional experts and the public.
The parties have said such amendments will be made mainly based on the findings of the review and experiences of implementing it. Moreover, the parties said that establishing political stability in the country would be the major objective of the amendment.
The two ruling parties made the commitments in the common minimum programme of the government, which was submitted to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba on Wednesday evening. The parties had earlier formed a four-member panel to draft the government’s programme based on a seven-point agreement reached between the Congress and the UML in the first week of July. Party general secretary Gagan Thapa and spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat from Congress, and party deputy general secretaries Pradeep Gyawali and Bishnu Rimal from the CPN-UML were tasked to prepare the document. They jointly submitted the document to the two party chiefs and made it public.
“The achievements of the 2006 movement and the fundamental pillars of this constitution including federal, republic and inclusive governance system will be further institutionalised and strengthened,” the document says.
The seven-page document is divided into eight subtitles—safeguarding national interest and independent foreign policy; protection, implementation and amendment of the constitution; good governance and quality service delivery; dynamic economy and development; ensuring social justice and fundamental rights; youth partnership; transitional justice, sustainable peace and social harmony; and miscellaneous.
The coalition has pledged to set up a high-powered cooperative regulatory body as per the recommendation of the parliamentary inquiry committee to address the problems seen in the cooperative sector.
“Taking action against those involved in misusing funds from cooperatives, the return of depositors’ money will be ensured,” the common minimum programme states.
The ruling parties have pledged to punish corrupt people irrespective of the individuals’ power and positions.
On the economic front, the coalition has vowed to expedite generation and transmission of hydroelectricity and further intensify the electrification process.

KATHMANDU,
Representatives at the first national conference of the Rastriya Swatantra Party saw factionalism within the party.
Some of the representatives who arrived in Kathmandu three days ago for the two-day gathering starting on Tuesday said that growing factionalism is not healthy for the new political outfit promising to challenge traditional forces like the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML.
“We were told that factionalism existed in our party in various forms, but we denied such claims. However, during our three days in Kathmandu, we witnessed it,” a group of party members told the Post. It seems that President Rabi Lamichhane and Vice-president Swarnim Wagle are not in the same boat on how the party should function, they added.
RSP acting spokesperson Manish Jha explains that it is the lack of synchronisation—rather than differences—between the leaders. “People from various schools of thought came together to form the RSP. It is true that we lack synchronisation, but it would be wrong to portray it as differences.”
Another leader of the party said on condition of anonymity that the party has two schools of thought—one based on democratic principles and the other opposed to it.
RSP acting general secretary Kabindra Burlakoti claims that the party is united.
In conversations with the Post, representatives from Kathmandu Valley, Pokhara and Chitwan sounded more optimistic with the central leadership while those from remote areas were confused over their take on the party’s central leadership.
The representatives from Madhesh were mild in their opinion about the leadership.
Moreover, representatives were also not very positive about the way the central leadership is investing their energy to claim that Lamichhane had got a clean chit from the parliamentary special committee formed to investigate crisis-ridden cooperatives.
The probe panel, which submitted its report to the House of Representatives, has recommended the government prosecute Lamichhane, along with his former business partner GB (Gitendra Babu) Rai, board member of the media Kumar Ramtel and initial founder Chhabi Lal Joshi as per the prevailing laws. The inquiry committee, however, has said it couldn’t establish Lamichhane’s role in rerouting the cooperatives fund to Gorkha Media Network.
“It would have been better had the central leadership waited to see how the government would take action,” the group of representatives from western Nepal told the Post. “In case Lamichhane is booked under the law, it could be counterproductive for the party in the long run.”
The political campaign started by the RSP won’t get stalled even without Lamichhane, the representatives said, expressing their confidence in the party’s longevity.
Lamichhane also presented a political report incorporating proposed statutory changes, the party’s commitments to voters, policy agenda presented by Swarnim Wagle at the Jaleshwar meeting and the conclusion drawn from the closed session of the national conference.
Lamichhane’s report states that the policy paper presented in Jaleshwar defined ‘constitutional socialism’ as the party’s political ideology.
Lamichhane also accuses the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN-UML of trying to lead the country to a two-party system by polarising smaller parties.
“On the pretext of administrative reform, they are planning to wipe out the existence of small parties,” the report reads. “Potentially, this step can bring together new parties that want to be an alternative political force sooner or later.”
Asked about RSP’s possible alliance with other parties, Burlakoti said though they aren’t in talks with the main opposition CPN (Maoist Centre), they are in regular contact with several independent candidates of last election.
Asked if they are in discussion with Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah, who won the 2022 local election independently, Burlakoti said: “Strategic moves are not to be disclosed.”
However, when the national conference concluded after Lamichhane presented his report, representatives arriving from around the country were displeased.
“This is not the way a party functions,” a representative told the Post, asking not to be named for fears of reprisal.
When leaders put themselves at the centre and cadres in the periphery, the party’s downfall begins, another representative said.
Acting General Secretary Burlakoti, however, defended the party leadership. “Our national conference was designed this way,” Burlakoti said. The report presented by the chair will be discussed in the party’s Mahakali-Mechi campaign that will start soon, he added.
“At the national conference, we gave 5 percent of the total representatives (1500) time to speak, but those who spoke exceeded that number,” Burlakoti said.
The conference, however, passed Lamichhane’s report. On Wednesday, Lamichhane announced the date of the party’s first general convention. It will be held on May 8-10 at a yet-undecided venue. “I would like to inform you that the Central Committee has become the general convention organising committee,” Burlakoti said. Lamichhane also announced the ‘Mahakali-Mechi Campaign’ to interact with the general public.
In his report, Lamichhane has proposed a person not affiliated to any party to be elected the country’s president, directly elected executive head, or the prime minister. He also proposes giving the nation’s vice president the responsibility to chair the National Assembly.
While the paper bats for a fully proportional electoral system, it says provincial assemblies cannot be accepted in the current shape. However, this does not mean the RSP is against the federal structure gained through the sacrifice of thousands of people, another representative said.
“Our party has no strength to amend the constitution and scrap the federal structure. Therefore, for the time being, voices are growing among the party members about accepting the present political structure,” Khemraj Koirala, a conference representative from Kailali told the Post.
Party members also suggested downsizing the number of ministers to make the provincial system functional, Koirala said.
The report also stands for reducing the number of municipalities to less than 500, from the current 753.

Kathmandu,
The Secondary School Tulsipur Centre from Tulsipur Sub-metropolitan City, Dang, was awarded the first prize and a cash reward of Rs300,000 on the occasion of National Education Day on Wednesday.
According to the Education Ministry, the school was recognised for achieving the best results among community schools in this year’s Secondary Education Examination.
Viswa Niketan School from Tripureshwar, Kathmandu, secured second place and received a cash prize of Rs200,000, while Janakalyan School, Shantinagar, Dang, ranked third and was awarded Rs100,000.
In the private school category, Fluorescent Secondary School, based in Tokha, Kathmandu, stood in first place, followed by Bijeshwari Gyan Mandir Sainik Mahavidyalaya and Budhanilkantha School in second and third positions, respectively. These schools were also awarded cash prizes of Rs300,000, Rs200,000 and Rs100,000, respectively. Prime Minister KP Oli distributed the awards during a ceremony in Kathmandu on Wednesday, said Kamal Pokharel, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education.
In the higher education category, the School of Business, affiliated with Pokhara University, was declared the best public college and bagged a cash prize of Rs250,000. Among affiliated community colleges, Janabhawana Campus in Chapagaun, Lalitpur, secured the top spot, receiving the same prize. In the private category, the Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, affiliated with Tribhuvan University, has been recognised as the best institution at the national level. In the technical education category, Nepal Banepa Polytechnic Institute; Tulsipur Polytechnic Institute; Janata Secondary School, Kapilvastu; and Nepal Army Institute of Health Sciences were each awarded Rs100,000.

Kathmandu,
The fate of four proposed ambassadors, who are being vetted by the parliamentary hearing special committee, hangs in the balance.
The parliamentary committee has completed the hearing of 17 envoy nominees but its members are divided over four proposed names—Shankar Sharma (India), Kapil Shrestha (South Africa), Dhan Prasad Pandit (Israel) and Netra Prasad Timilsina (Malaysia)—and are undecided.
A meeting of the hearing committee, which was scheduled for Wednesday, has been deferred till Thursday owing to the differences over the four nominees, according to committee member Shyam Ghimire.
The committee had received complaints against Sharma, Shrestha, Pandit and Timilsina; and the committee itself has reservations over the nominees, said a lawmaker. Sharma, Shrestha and Pandit were recommended under the quota of Nepali Congress and Timilsina under CPN-UML’s.
Committee members told the Post that several complaints were filed against the four proposed envoys, raising serious issues, so they were unable to take a concrete decision.
After completing the hearing of all proposed ambassadors, a meeting was slated for Sunday to take the final decision but due to the differences among the members, the meeting was deferred. Since the Rastriya Swatantra Party held its national jamboree on Tuesday and Wednesday, the meeting is rescheduled for Thursday, Ghimire said.
Even Congress and UML members on the committee seem divided this time, a lawmaker said, after Congress panelists raised questions about the credentials of Timilsina. Then UML members also raised complaints against Sharma, Shrestha and Pandit.
“We do not know what Congress and UML committee members and senior party leaders are thinking and discussing but due to the nature of complaints, there are serious disputes about the four proposed ambassadors and there is growing opinion that they should be rejected,” said a member on condition of anonymity.
The complainer has stated that the recommendation of Sharma, who may be repeated as Nepal’s ambassador to India, goes against the ambassadorial appointment directives (2077 BS).
As per the directives, the same person cannot be reappointed to head the same diplomatic mission, the complainant says.
Committee members had asked that question to Sharma as well but he replied that this should be taken up with the government, not him.
The government issued the directive but it has been violated by successive governments multiple times. Therefore, ambassadorial appointments never follow the spirit of the directive.
The complaint against Shrestha, who is proposed for South Africa, raises the constitutional and legal question because as per the constitutional provision, a person cannot be repeated and reappointed to another constitutional post.
Similarly, a case has been filed at the Supreme Court on behalf of Timilsina wherein he seeks to get continuity as acting chair of Nepal Red Cross Society, said the complainant. So he is unfit to serve as ambassador because he has filed a petition at the Supreme Court to get continuation as the chair of Nepal Red Cross Society and the court has not cleared the deck.
Defending his case, Timilsina said that as an institution, the Red Cross had filed the case, not him. Timilsina was also accused of misusing the letter pad and stamp of the Red Cross Society and forming a parallel committee even after completing his tenure. The complainer has accused that Timilsina has misused the Red Cross’s name for personal gain, misused the letter pad and stamp and made illegal correspondence to various entities. A complaint was registered at the Kathmandu District Administration Office and Nepal Police is looking into the allegations.
Committee members of the Congress and the UML were divided over the complaint against Timilsina, another member said. Now the UML has threatened to disqualify all three candidates recommended by the Congress if they continue to raise questions against Timilsina.
“There are some complaints filed against the proposed ambassadors which we are looking into,” said Prakash Adhikari, a lawmaker from the Janata Samajbadi Party. “We have not decided what to do.”
The proposed ambassador to Israel, Pandit faces a charge that he was penalised by the Information Commission and is thus unfit to serve as ambassador.
When Pandit was the chief of Padma Kanya Campus in Kathmandu, the Information Commission fined him Rs15,000 for not sharing information. Later, he moved the Appellate Court against the commission’s decision but the court gave its verdict in the commission’s favour.
Pandit’s statement that he will try his best to stop the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas was also criticised. But Pandit defended his case during the hearing process stating that the fine was imposed on the campus chief of Padmakanya Campus, not him as a person.
The government had recommended Naresh Bikram Dhakal (Saudi Arabia),  Prof Dr Kapilman Shrestha (South Africa), Prof Dhana Prasad Pandit (Israel),  Ram Krishna Bhattarai (Sri Lanka), Sanil Nepal (Spain), and Dr Shail Rupakheti  (Germany) as ambassadors.
The recommendation of Kanta Rijal for the Australia mission was later changed with the government choosing Chitra Lekha Yadav instead. Incumbent Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamasal has been recommended for the European Union and Brussels but both nominations have yet to be sent to the parliamentary hearing special committee.
Lok Darshan Regmi (USA), Chandra Kumar Ghimire (UK), Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe (South Korea),
Junga Bahadur Chauhan (Russia), Ramesh Chandra Poudel (Qatar), Prof Dr Krishna Prasad Oli (China), Dr Sumnima Tuladhar (Denmark), Dr Netra Prasad Timilsina (Malaysia), Prakash Mani Pokhrel (Portugal) and Rita Dhital (Pakistan) are others recommended for ambassador positions.
“We will discuss the matter with legal experts and will proceed accordingly,” said Ghimire. “If someone wants to disqualify any ambassador, one needs a strong reason. But the complaints were not serious.”
Taking an exception to the nomination, the hearing committee on September 9 summoned Foreign Minister Arzu Rana and inquired why the government had failed to make the appointments inclusive.
On July 29, the government recommended 17 ambassadors and recalled some. The recommendations also failed to honour the spirit of inclusiveness.

KATHMANDU,
Minister for Foreign Affairs Arzu Rana reached Ottawa on Tuesday at the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Mélanie Joly.
The Embassy of Nepal in Ottawa said Foreign Minister Rana will lead a Nepali delegation to the Women Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Toronto on Thursday and Friday.
She was received by the Ambassador of Nepal to Cananda Bharat Raj Paudyal, officials of the Embassy of Nepal and the protocol officials of the government of Canada.
During the visit, the foreign minister will have a bilateral meeting with her Canadian counterpart Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Mélanie Joly in Ottawa.
She will also meet with the Canada-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group at Parliament Hill.
Likewise, Foreign Minister Rana is scheduled to attend the National Day reception hosted by the embassy.

There is no doubt that the promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015, nine years ago, was a significant accomplishment. That was primarily because it represented the realisation of the decades-old national dream of being governed by a constitution drafted by a sovereign body elected by the people of Nepal. Due to its “fast-tracked” provenance, the kind of deliberations that would have granted it much greater legitimacy was sorely missing. Even so, it was a milestone in Nepal’s history.
That momentous achievement was, however, marred by the somewhat contradictory turn of events in that it was adopted in the face of opposition by a large section of the populace, particularly from the Tarai. While the royalist Rastriya Prajatantra Party had expectedly voted against the republican and secular constitution, all the Madhesh-based parties had boycotted the proceedings altogether. The main grouse of the latter was the delineation of provincial boundaries, but there were also strong misgivings over the distribution of parliamentary constituencies as well as restrictions on the right of women to pass citizenship to their offspring.

The whys and the wherefores
With the political space heating up amidst talk of amending the constitution following the Nepali Congress-UML pact, we appear to be headed for another round of acrimony. As per the two-party agreement, the express purpose of the amendment would be to identify the constitution’s “strengths and weaknesses and complexities that have emerged in practice” which have contributed to Nepal’s chronic political instability. Party leaders have been clear that their main target is the current mixed electoral system, particularly proportional representation (PR), which they are more than quite certain is the primary cause for the never-ending making and breaking of governments. It is a different matter that our own experience from the 1990s clearly indicates otherwise, and other countries that have adopted PR have not been similarly blighted by the kind of instability that has become the hallmark of Nepali politics.
Beyond that, given the two parties’ record, there was immediate suspicion that they would try to do away with some of the more progressive elements of the constitution. The Nepali Congress leader, Sher Bahadur Deuba, has in the past hinted secularism could be up for negotiation. And while Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has maintained that any amendment would lead to an even more liberal document, given his earlier stance on issues such as inclusion and devolution of provincial authority, there are reasons aplenty to consider his assertion with a block of salt.
Besides the political parties, there have been similar calls from the judicial sector as well. Two prominent recently retired Supreme Court justices who had both served on the court’s constitutional bench have spelt out the need for amendments. Anand Mohan Bhattarai believes that it should begin with the political leadership first identifying where the bottlenecks are. The second jurist, Ishwor Khatiwada, goes further and argues that each and every article of the constitution should be up for review, albeit for the purpose of improving them and not to fulfil the interests of any political party. The latter, obviously, is the crux of the problem. Without doubt, there will be some fiddling with the constitution; it is only a question of when, not if.

Self-inquiry before self-interest
Now that he is out of office, the Maoist supremo, Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, has suddenly felt the need to re-embrace the agenda that propelled him to power but which he had lost sight of in his extended romp in the nation’s highest offices. Thus, he says that his party would be amenable to constitutional amendments provided there are no “attempts to shrink the rights of the citizens and dismiss the achievements in the name of the constitution amendment”.
Perhaps, it was the still-muted pushback that prompted Deuba to clarify that the provinces would remain, and instead, the focus would be on strengthening the provincial structure. He also said that many groups in the country will have to be provided with proportional representation in governance structure. “This country belongs to everyone,” he said somewhat sagely.
The hard sell, of course, will be to the Madhesh-based parties. For instance, the president of the Tarai Madhesh Loktantrik Party, Brikhesh Chandra Lal, writes that the move by the ruling coalition could be a cover for “extreme nationalism” which would ultimately negate sub-national identities. He believes such a move “could increase the possibility of the country getting stuck in a permanent conflict”. Conflict does not necessarily mean violence, but the kind of upheaval Lal warns about will have the same deleterious effect overall. Hence, the need to tread carefully and take all sides into confidence instead of ramming through amendments on the basis of parliamentary strength.
I do not think the NC-UML combine would opt for a path of confrontation. Going back to Deuba, we can take heart in his words that there was no need to distrust them since both parties have emerged out of the struggle for democracy. “Personally, I first met him [Oli] in jail. We have both fought for democracy. As parties that fought for democracy throughout our student life and jail experiences, there is no way we can go against democracy.”
One can read something in his use of the now-discredited “prajatantra” to refer to democracy instead of the more-favoured “loktrantra”. But it could easily just have been a momentary lapse, attributable to his advanced age.
Age did not hamper someone else in lucid expression though. In the summer of 1787, at the end of the rather raucous convention that drafted the American constitution, 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin, by then the elder statesman in the room, made a statement that rings true for all time: “I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them: For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.”
Those wise words should guide our politicians even as they begin discussions on changes to the constitution. We can only hope that they are capable of the same humility borne out of a lifetime of self-enquiry that Franklin articulated so eloquently.

As a child growing up in the early 1990s, I remember learning in school about the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels traps heat near the Earth’s surface, like the glass of a greenhouse. I imagined myself on the playground, roasting inside a humid hothouse.
Fast forward 30 years, and the terms have changed.
For a while, “global warming” was the go-to expression for talking about rising global temperatures and the role of human activities, particularly the use of fossil fuels. It had a spike in internet searches in 2007, probably due to former Vice President Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth: A Global Warning,” which hit theatres in 2006.
Near the end of the Obama administration, “climate change” became the most common term. It’s now trending in Google searches more than global warming. Both terms make the same point: Rising global temperatures have major consequences on local weather patterns and worldwide climate effects, including stronger hurricanes, droughts, floods and fires.

Trending terms
Google Trends tracks the relative popularity of internet search terms over time. The popularity of the term “global warming” has declined globally in recent years, while “climate change” has risen.
However, the words we use to discuss these effects can make a large difference in how people understand the risks and the need for more sustainable choices.

What’s in a name?
I’m a linguistics researcher currently living on Mayotte Island, off the coast of Madagascar, where I study climate change knowledge among local populations and the language they use to discuss it.
Local fishers in Mayotte struggle to talk about the phenomenon because there is no established terminology for it. What my colleagues and I have learned offers some insight into the difficulties people in many cultures have with understanding climate change.
In the grand scheme of climate change education and sustainability efforts, this seemingly minor problem of translation is in fact symptomatic of a larger underlying issue regarding the relationship between humans and their environment.
In fact, when we dig deeper into the challenges of communicating climate change across cultures, two factors come into play: spiritual beliefs and notions of time.

Spiritual language can overlap
Spiritual and religious beliefs can play an important role in how climate change is understood and even named. For example, the translation for the term climate in Inuktitut, an Inuit language spoken in Canada, is “sila.” However, sila also refers to wisdom, the spirit, the earth, and the universe. It is something sacred to be revered.
Seen through the lens of this second set of definitions, sila is effectively impossible for people to influence. It is beyond humankind’s reach to change the cosmos. As a result, communication aimed at promoting awareness of climate change becomes politicised in Eastern Canadian Inuit languages.
My colleagues and I encountered similar challenges while discussing possible future efforts to slow down environmental destruction caused by climate change in Mayotte.
The Maore fishers we interviewed, many of whom were of deep Islamic faith, often responded with “Inshallah,” or God willing, when questioned about efforts the community could make in the future to address the problem. They saw these climate change-related events as out of their hands, as something only God could interfere with.

Different understanding of time
Second, we might think that time is objective and therefore shared across cultures. But as Albert Einstein argued, time is relative.
Time is not only relative scientifically speaking but also culturally. For example, the ancient Greeks had more than three types of time, one of which we still use today, Kronos, or linear time—think chronological order. We have all but forgotten Aion, or sacred, eternal time, and Kairos, or cyclical time.
Notions of time play an important role when thinking about climate change since the heart of the phenomenon involves a slow, continuous change over a long period. We cannot see climate change happen with the naked eye, because it occurs over years and decades. Of course, we can see its effects on weather patterns, including extreme heat waves and heavy downpours.
Getting people to think about time in a way that simultaneously thinks about the now, and a “then” in the distant future proves to be challenging in many cultures.
For example, researchers studying sustainability efforts in the Maldives Islands have come up against this very issue. While discussing time, many local residents think in terms of the now and the near future, whereas policymakers must think about longer-term effects on a larger scale. These contrasting approaches to time have made it difficult to put into place sustainability efforts to tackle rising sea levels—a significant threat to this tropical nation of 26 atolls.

Translating climate change
A first step to confronting this problem is to put language at the forefront of climate change education efforts.
One youth-driven nonprofit making strides in this area is Climate Cardinals. The group’s objective is to translate climate change research into as many languages as possible. Most scientific studies and reports are in English, which can be a barrier to the many non-English speakers around the globe. In their efforts to translate this research and related phenomena, they need to think carefully about how important words are translated and understood.
The United Nations and other groups are also starting to take seriously the connection between climate change scepticism and religion, including the need to reconcile eventual points of friction.
For example, the Faith for Earth Initiative works with religious organisations to address the compatibility of sustainability efforts and faith. It does this by helping religious leaders connect core spiritual values, like caring and rejection of greed, to the community’s environment, thus reconnecting with nature and seeing themselves as its stewards.
Finally, it is imperative to keep studying local or indigenous knowledge about the environment as related to change and time. The ancient Greeks certainly had their reasons for dividing time into multiple categories. So what were the environmental and historical influences that led them to do so?
For instance, researchers and community members in Australia are looking to reconcile Indigenous knowledge with Western science. Thanks to the locals’ long-standing observations of their environment over several generations, they were able to identify local effects of climate change. Such information is often overlooked and difficult to obtain by traditional research methods.

Beyond the headlines
Climate change awareness and sustainability efforts will only increase over time. Care needs to be taken to how these concepts are lived, understood and talked about in non-Western settings. Language is part and parcel of these efforts and deserves to be considered more carefully.

Mori is an associate professor of Linguistics at Université de Mayotte.
— The Conversation

Nepal is marking the ninth Constitution Day on Thursday. While the government is preparing to celebrate with special functions, a few Madhesh-based parties want to mark it as a Black Day. The Loktantrik Samajbadi Party is one of the disgruntled groups that has announced a protest on the occasion. But the Janamat Party, a new force that is leading the provincial government in Madhesh, has decided to celebrate the day.
A document of compromise, multiple forces, including the Madhesh-based parties, have grievances over the present constitution. The CPN (Maoist Centre) registered its dissenting views on various issues at the time of drafting the constitution, including on the form of government. They stood for a directly elected presidential system and agreed to a compromise deal with other parties. The Rastriya Prajatantra
Party, which lobbies for a Hindu kingdom, was against the secular republican system. The pro-monarchy party has frequently launched agitations demanding the same. A fringe Rastriya Janamorcha party has stood against federalism right from the start. Various other parties and groups oppose one or the other constitutional provision. But they haven’t taken an extreme decision to mark the day of its promulgation as a black day.
It’s universally accepted that no constitution is perfect and a statute cannot satisfy all sections of the society. It is hence said that a constitution is a living document that can be amended and updated based on people’s aspirations and the changed reality. Nepal’s constitution and political forces of the country have accepted these facts. The major political forces at the time of unveiling the constitution in 2015 promised the disgruntled groups that they would address some of their ‘genuine concerns’ through amendments. They have a moral responsibility to keep their word.
After its promulgation, the statute has been amended multiple times. Going against the usual parliamentary practice of one of the two largest parties forming the government and the other leading the opposition bloc in the House, Nepal’s two largest forces—the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML—are now together in government. The given rationale for their coming together is to amend the constitution and ensure political stability. Again, it is incumbent upon them to do so based on broadest possible consultations.
Registering differences, pressing the establishment to get their demands addressed and peacefully fighting for the cause they believe is a democratic right of each and every Nepali. But the manner of the protest matters. The parties and the leaders that have joined governments and governed the country multiple times, both before and after the promulgation of the constitution, should present themselves in a more mature way. It smacks of hypocrisy when they say and do one thing when in the government and the complete opposite when out of power.
More importantly, people should be convinced the agendas and demands of political forces are genuine. It is unfortunate that over the past decade, people have come to believe that the Madhesh-based parties are more than willing to trade their agenda for Cabinet seats. Their image has taken a nosedive, as is reflected in recent election results. The role of strong regional forces is important in the federal system we have adopted. However, the country’s regional parties are getting weaker due to divisions. A few months after a group led by Ashok Rai split the Upendra Yadav-led Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal, a former Loktantrik Samajbadi Party leader Rajendra Mahato announced another new outfit on Tuesday. Madheshis are not impressed. They have some valid demands but they need credible political outfits to champion them.

The price that citizens had to pay to oust Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic regime, not just in terms of the lives lost but also the
sheer number of injuries, is stupefying. According to a recent report, more than 500 people, mostly in their prime age, have been fully or partially blinded by pellets of shotguns that law enforcers used on protesters during the July-August uprising. Despite repeated surgeries, many of the injured reportedly have no hope of regaining their eyesight. In some cases, the pellets penetrated so deep that removing those would require the removal of the eye altogether.
All this has meant extended hospital stays for many victims, taking a toll not just on their mental health but also on the financial and emotional state of their families. We appreciate the interim government’s announcement yesterday to provide cash assistance to families of the victims, including the injured within a week. While hospital fee waivers have been helpful, patients need money to buy certain medicine and have tests done in private clinics. Plus, lengthy hospital stay means rising costs of food and accommodation for the attendants, especially those travelling from different districts.
Many of the wounded come from impoverished backgrounds. For them to bear treatment and attendance related expenses over a long period is not just difficult; it is literally putting them into debt. We have written about this issue before, and urge the government to prioritise and expedite the cash disbursement, if necessary, in phases.
The government should also start putting in motion its rehabilitation plans for the injured, who will need assistance to rebuild their lives. An overall change is also required to integrate these individuals back into a society where persons with disabilities are often looked down upon and have little infrastructural support. Also, laws related to the use of less-lethal weapons such as pellet shotguns in policing must be reviewed, keeping in mind an Amnesty International finding that these so-called less-lethal weapons injure not only protesters but also bystanders causing permanent impairment, which explains the high number of wounded in the July-August uprising.

— The Daily Star(Bangladesh)/ANN

KATHMANDU,
Geopolitical conflicts and tensions are fuelling a surge of economic fragmentation and protectionism around the world, which would hit poor nations in particular, experts warn.
In addition, there is a climate crisis, which would require huge amounts of money to cushion the shocks.

But who will fund it?
The Horizons Dialogue series, organised by the British Embassy and UK International Development in Kathmandu on Wednesday, brought together national and international experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities in Nepal’s development in the next ten years amid geopolitical conflicts and growing climate crisis.
Experts have warned that the geopolitical conflict’s repercussions could cause Nepal to lose foreign grants, loans, and other support.
“We [Nepal] have seen a decline in international cooperation after the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and conflict in the Middle-East countries,” said Kalpana Khanal, senior research fellow leading the Center for Economic and Infrastructure Development Policy at the Policy Research Institute. She was speaking on the theme ‘Navigating Nepal’s Fragility’.
Khanal said, “The world is experiencing violence, interstate wars, and economic turbulence, with some countries adopting more anti-globalisation policies and populist regimes. This could cause a decline in international cooperation.”

What will happen then?
Khanal explained that such a scenario would force Nepal to focus on revenue collection to repay loans and interest rather than funding critical projects. “Currently, Nepal is channelling 22 percent of its total revenue towards debt servicing. In such a situation, if we do not receive the grant and rely more on loans, it will hinder overall development,” said Khanal.
Nepal’s public debt is 43 percent of its total GDP, half of which is made up of external loans and support.
“We can potentially face a decline in international cooperation, as global lenders and development partners may channel funds towards the war-ridden countries like Ukraine and Palestine,” Khanal said.
Khanal said climate change, amid geopolitical tension, may hamper projects built with foreign loans.
“Many of the ongoing hydropower projects in Nepal rely on foreign loans. The devastating floods and landslides due to extreme weather conditions increase the project’s costs. This, too, impacts public debt,” Khanal said.
The global war will bring not only disaster but also hunger.
Khanal said Nepal’s food inflation increased sharply after the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. “It’s high time the country focused on food security.”
According to a report prepared by the organisers, over the next decade, changes in the demand for Nepali workers, particularly in India and the Middle East, or geopolitical events that limit labour migration could have major impacts on the national development trajectory.
Climate change, disasters, and health crises could also have significant economic impacts. In recent years, disruptions to agriculture from droughts and floods have led to sharp rises in food prices, the report said.
Nearly 60 percent of Nepal’s population relies on agriculture, and two-thirds of that group is engaged in subsistence farming.
The report said that, as a result of male outmigration, women constitute 73 percent of the agricultural workforce. Over the past decades, air quality has significantly deteriorated, consistently exceeding the World Health Organization’s limits. The participants say that without significant intervention, it is likely to deteriorate further in the next five years.
“But hopefully, in 10 years, we have projected some improvement in some areas,” said Arun Bhakta Shrestha, senior climate change specialist
and programme manager for the Regional River Basins and Cryosphere programme of International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
Air pollution in the Kathmandu valley and the Tarai presents a growing health crisis, with around 12 percent of Kathmandu’s population suffering from chronic respiratory diseases like asthma and pneumonia, threatening to reverse reductions in infant and child mortality, the report said.
Air pollution hazards will be worsened by more frequent hydrometeorological events such as droughts and heatwaves, with huge knock-on effects for the health of the population, the report said.
Comparing the National Board of Diseases report of Nepal between 2011 and 2021, in 2011, malnutrition was the number one cause of death but now it’s air pollution.
Over 20 percent of deaths are now caused by air pollution in Nepal, which is around 42,000 deaths annually, said Dr Meghnath Dhimal, an environmental health scientist and chief research officer at Nepal Health Research Council.
As South Asia is suffering from heat waves, which increase non-communicable diseases, many people are now using more chemicals than before because once the temperature goes high, the effectiveness of the insecticide goes down, Dhimal said.
“As a result, more people are suffering from cancer, diabetes, malaises, and others,” he said.
Climate change, air pollution, and bio-diseases may result in the epidemic of the non-communicable disease. As climate change and air pollution all cause non-communicable diseases, this share may go up to 90 percent in the next five to ten years, Dhimal said.
Rob Fenn, the British ambassador to Nepal, said, “As the world grapples with climate change, Nepal is bearing the brunt despite contributing very little to global emissions.”
It is vital that global action supports Nepal’s resilience and growth, Fenn said. “The UK will remain a reliable partner in helping Nepal recover from shocks, adapt to challenges, and thrive,” he said.
“Our programmes will continue to invest in climate resilience, sustainable economic growth, and health systems that serve all communities.”

BRUSSELS,
An EU court on Wednesday scrapped a 1.49-billion euro ($1.65 billion) fine imposed by Brussels against Google over abuse of dominance in online advertising.
“The General Court annuls the (European) Commission’s decision in its entirety,” the Luxembourg-based court said in a statement, adding that the “institution committed errors in its assessment”.
Brussels “failed to take into consideration all the relevant circumstances in its assessment of the duration
of the contract clauses that the commission had deemed abusive”, the court said.
The commission, the EU’s influential competition regulator, said it “takes note” and would “carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps”—which could include an appeal.
A Google spokesperson said the company welcomed the ruling, noting it had “made changes” to its ad services in 2016, before the EU decision.
“We are pleased that the court has recognised errors in the original decision and annulled the fine,” a Google spokesperson added.
The ruling is especially welcome for Google after the EU’s highest court last week upheld a 2017 fine worth 2.42 billion euros, imposed for abusing its dominance by favouring its own comparison shopping service. As part of a major push to target big tech abuses, the EU slapped Google with fines worth a total of 8.2 billion euros between 2017 and 2019 over antitrust violations.
The 1.49-billion euro fine is the third of those penalties, focused on Google’s AdSense service.
But the long-running legal battles between Google and the EU do not end there. Google is also challenging a 4.3-billion-euro penalty Brussels levied on it for putting restrictions on Android smartphones to boost its internet search business.
The 2018 fine remains the EU’s largest-ever antitrust penalty. The General Court in 2022 slightly reduced the fine to 4.1 billion euros, but mainly supported the commission’s argument that Google had imposed illegal restrictions.
The legal saga continues in that case after Google appealed the latest decision before the higher European Court of Justice.
The EU has since armed itself with a more powerful legal weapon known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), to rein in tech giants including Google.

HANOI,
Factory roofs blown off, products worth millions of dollars destroyed, supply chains disrupted: Typhoon Yagi has had a disastrous impact on local and global companies in northern Vietnam who could take months to recover, business leaders warn.
The strongest typhoon to hit the country in decades slammed into the important industrial port city of Haiphong before unleashing a torrent of rain across the north, a major production hub for global tech firms such as Samsung and Foxconn.
With climate change making destructive storms like Yagi more likely, the disaster raises questions about Vietnam’s push to become an alternative to China in the global supply chain owing to its high susceptibility and lack of mitigating measures.
Dozens of factories and warehouses in Haiphong were damaged by Yagi, while some in neighbouring Quang Ninh province expect to have no power until the end of the week, business leaders told AFP.
“I can guarantee that (the damage) is more than tens of millions of dollars,” said Bruno Jaspaert, chief executive of DEEP C Industrial Zones, home to 178 companies across five industrial areas in Haiphong and Quang Ninh. “At least 85 percent of our customers have sustained damage.” Many companies lost roofs, while another business saw 3,000 square metres (32,300 square foot) of wall panels blown off in gale-force winds, Jaspaert told AFP.
At the Haiphong DEEP C industrial zones, energy consumption was at two thirds of its usual rate, Jaspaert said, and was not expected to return to normal for another two or three months.
Hong Sun, chairman of the Korean Chamber of Business in Vietnam, told AFP the typhoon had been a “disaster” for his members, with some struggling with staff shortages as flooding stopped workers reaching factories.
Samsung—Vietnam’s largest foreign investor—said its operations were running as normal, but a warehouse belonging to Korean giant LG Electronics was flooded last week, Hong said, damaging fridges and other home appliances.
LG told AFP it had resumed production of some products shortly after the storm and was making “every effort to swifty recover”. Among businesses from Japan, another major investor, around half reported some kind of damage—while around 70 said their business had been interrupted or suspended, according to Susumu Yoshida at the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Floods and landslides triggered by Yagi have killed more than 500 people across Southeast Asia—292 in Vietnam, according to government figures.
The southeast Asian nation of 100 million people has long been seen as a likely key beneficiary of the decoupling between the United States and the world’s second-largest economy.
Investors have expanded into the country as part of a “China plus one” strategy and US President Joe Biden made a high-profile state visit to Hanoi a year ago. Biden symbolically upgraded diplomatic ties and pushed Vietnam as a solid partner for “friendshoring”—diversifying manufacturing supply chains away from China towards friendly countries.

Zimbabwe,
Since childhood, Loveness Bhitoni has collected fruit from the gigantic baobab trees surrounding her homestead in Zimbabwe to add variety to the family's staple corn and millet diet. The 50-year-old Bhitoni never saw them as a source of cash, until now.
Climate change-induced droughts have decimated her crops. Meanwhile, the world has a growing appetite for the fruit of the drought-resistant baobab as a natural health food.
Bhitoni wakes before dawn to go foraging for baobab fruit, sometimes walking barefoot though hot, thorny landscapes with the risk of wildlife attacks. She gathers sacks of the hard-shelled fruit from the ancient trees and sells them on to industrial food processors or individual buyers from the city.
The baobab trade, which took root in her area in 2018, would previously supplement things like children's school fees and clothing for locals of the small town of Kotwa in northeastern Zimbabwe. Now, it's a matter of survival following the latest devastating drought in southern Africa, worsened by the El Niño weather phenomenon.
"We are only able to buy corn and salt," Bhitoni said after a long day's harvest. "Cooking oil is a luxury because the money is simply not enough. Sometimes I spend a month without buying a bar of soap. I can't even talk of school fees or children's clothes."
The global market for baobab products has spiked, turning rural African areas with an abundance of the trees into source markets. The trees, known for surviving even under severe conditions like drought or fire, need more than 20 years to start producing fruit and aren't cultivated but foraged.
Tens of thousands of rural people like Bhitoni have emerged to feed the need. The African Baobab Alliance, with members across the continent's baobab producing countries, projects that more than 1 million rural African women could reap economic benefits from the fruit, which remains fresh for long periods because of its thick shell.
The alliance's members train locals on food safety. They also encourage people to collect the fruit, which can grow to 8 inches wide and 21 inches  long, from the ground rather than the hazardous work of climbing the enormous, thick-trunked trees. Many, especially men, still do, however.
Native to the African continent, the baobab is known as the "tree of life" for its resilience and is found from South Africa to Kenya to Sudan and Senegal. Zimbabwe has about 5 million of the trees, according to Zimtrade, a government export agency. But the baobab's health benefits long went unnoticed elsewhere.
Gus Le Breton, a pioneer of the industry, remembers the early days.
"Baobab did not develop into a globally traded and known superfood by accident," said Le Breton, recalling years of regulatory, safety and toxicology testing to convince authorities in the European Union and United States to approve it.
"It was ridiculous because the baobab fruit has been consumed in Africa safely for thousands and thousands of years," said Le Breton, an ethnobotanist specializing in African plants used for food and medicine.
Studies have shown that the baobab fruit has several health benefits as an antioxidant, and a source of vitamin C and essential minerals such as zinc, potassium and magnesium.
The US legalized the import of baobab powder as a food and beverage ingredient in 2009, a year after the EU. But getting foreign taste buds to accept the sharp, tart-like taste took repeated trips to Western and Asian countries. "No one had ever heard of it, they didn't know how to pronounce its name. It took us a long time," Le Breton said. The tree is pronounced BAY-uh-bab. Together with China, the US and Europe now account for baobab powder's biggest markets. The Dutch government's Center for the Promotion of Imports says the global market could reach $10 billion by 2027.
Le Breton says his association projects a 200 percent growth in global demand between 2025 and 2030, and is also looking at increasing consumption among Africa's increasingly health-conscious urbanites.
Companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi have opened product lines promoting baobab ingredients. In Europe, the powder is hyped by some as having "real star qualities" and is used to flavor beverages, cereals, yogurt, snack bars and other items. A packet of a kilogram of baobab powder sells for around 27 euros (about $30) in Germany. In the United Kingdom, a 100-milliliter bottle of baobab beauty oil can fetch 25 pounds (about $33).
The growing industry is on display at a processing plant in Zimbabwe, where baobab pulp is bagged separately from the seeds. Each bag has a tag tracing it to the harvester who sold it. Outside the factory, the hard shells are turned into biochar, an ash given to farmers for free to make organic compost.

KATHMANDU: The Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI) participated in the Bodhgaya-Nalanda Conference—BIMSTEC Plus, which was organised by the Synergia Foundation in collaboration with Nalanda University in Bihar, India, on September 12. Sunil KC, vice-president of NICCI, representing the Nepali delegation, attended the three-day event. KC emphasised the importance of cultural and economic integration among BIMSTEC nations while speaking at the event session entitled, ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral
Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Plus: Shared Cultural Values and Futures’. He highlighted how the BIMSTEC bridges South and Southeast Asia, fostering a deep-rooted connection through shared historical values and economic ties. KC underscored the vital role of culture in regional development, noting that shared cultural heritage can drive economic collaboration, particularly in sectors like tourism, education, and creative industries. He called for greater cooperation to promote tourism, leveraging the region’s
rich cultural diversity, and boosting local economies. The conference explored the vision of “BIMSTEC Plus” to extend partnerships beyond the region, creating wider economic corridors and addressing global challenges such as climate change, digital innovation, and economic resilience.

KATHMANDU: As the vibrant and culturally rich Indra Jatra festival was organised, Galli Maps reintroduced its popular live location feature, offering festival-goers a seamless integration of technology and tradition. Building on the overwhelming success of last year’s launch, this year, Galli Maps introduced a new experience--real-time updates available directly through its app. Indra Jatra, one of Kathmandu’s most vibrant festivals, was celebrated enthusiastically on Tuesday. The eight-day festival observed primarily in Kathmandu Valley, Dhulikhel, and Dolakha, officially began with the installation of the sacred wooden pole, known as lingo, at Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square on Sunday morning. “With features like detailed 360-degree views, historical insights, and cultural stories, Galli Maps helped locals and tourists uncover hidden treasures within Nepal’s bustling cities,” said Yelin Hyoju, representing Galli Maps. “This year, our focus was not only on making the festival accessible through technology but also highlighting the powerful synergy between tradition and innovation.” Hyoju said, “Indra Jatra is a vibrant reminder of Kathmandu’s rich cultural tapestry, and with Galli Maps, we aim to ensure that the festival’s spirit reaches as many people as possible, regardless of location. It’s about making technology a bridge to experience culture.”

LONDON,
A large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Russia triggered an earthquake-sized blast at a major arsenal in the Tver region on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of a nearby town, war bloggers and some media reported.
Unverified video and images on social media showed a huge ball of flame blasting high into the night sky and multiple detonations thundering across a lake about 380 km west of Moscow.
NASA satellites picked up intense heat sources emanating from an area of about 14 square kilometres at the site in the early hours and earthquake monitoring stations picked up what sensors thought was a small earthquake in the area.
“The enemy hit an ammunition depot in the area of Toropets,” said Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger.
“Everything that can burn is already burning there (and exploding).” Russian state media have in the past reported that a major arsenal for conventional weapons was located at the site of the blasts. State media, which is now subject to military censorship laws, was muted in its reporting on Wednesday.
Igor Rudenya, the governor of the Tver region, said that Ukrainian drones had been shot down, that a fire had broken out and that some residents were being evacuated. He did not say what was burning.
One woman told Reuters that members of her family had been evacuated from Toropets. “A fire started with explosions,” said the woman, who identified herself only as Irina.
Rudenya later said the situation in Toropets was stable as of midday local time (0900 GMT) and that evacuated residents could return. The fire had been put out and there were no recorded fatalities, he said.
A source in Ukraine’s SBU state security service told Reuters the drone attack had destroyed a warehouse storing missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammunition. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian government.
Russia and Ukraine each reported dozens of enemy drone attacks on their territory overnight, with Russian forces advancing in eastern Ukraine.

Major explosion
The size of the main blast shown in the unverified social media video was consistent with 200-240 tons of high explosives detonating, said George William Herbert of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California.
A Toropets chatroom on the Russian social media site VK was flooded with messages of support from other parts of the country and offers of help to people fleeing the town.
Some people were asking whether buildings at specific addresses were still standing.
“People, does anyone know what’s happened to Kudino village??? They told me nothing is left of our house,” posted one woman.
Another woman replied: “It’s horror there.” Kudino is a village 4.5 km (2.8 miles) northeast of Toropets.
Some war bloggers questioned how drones could trigger such large explosions at what was thought to be a highly fortified facility.
According to an RIA state news agency report from 2018, Russia was building an arsenal for the storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives in Toropets, a 1,000-year-old town, which has a population of just over 11,000. Dmitry Bulgakov, then a deputy defence minister, told RIA in 2018 that the facility could defend weapons from missiles and even a small nuclear attack. Bulgakov was arrested earlier this year on corruption charges, which he denies.
“It (the concrete facilities) ensures their reliable and safe storage, protects them from air and missile strikes and even from the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion,” RIA quoted Bulgakov as saying at the time.
Some Russians on chat groups expressed anger.
“Why wasn’t the ammunition underground?! What are you doing???? In Kudino, houses were blown away! Why is the forest burning and no one is there... What kind of negligence is this!!!!” one woman posted.
Russia reported that its air defence units had destroyed 54 drones launched against five Russian regions overnight, without mentioning Tver. Ukraine said it had shot down 46 of 52 drones launched by Moscow overnight and that Russia had used three guided air missiles which did not reach their targets.

SRINAGAR,
Voters queued outside polling stations in India’s Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to vote in the first provincial election being held in a decade in the Himalayan region that has grappled with years of militant violence.
The nine million registered voters are choosing members for the region’s 90-seat legislature in the three-phase election. Votes will be counted on Octoberber 8 and results expected the same day.
“I gave my vote for development. For the last ten years, we were unable to exercise our democratic right and I am happy that ... I am able to cast my ballot,” said Mohammad Asim Bhat, a 23-year-old first-time voter.
Jammu and Kashmir is India’s only Muslim-majority territory and has been at the centre of a dispute with neighbouring Pakistan since 1947. India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part, after having fought two of their three wars over the region.
Until 2019, Indian-ruled Jammu and Kashmir had a special status of partial autonomy that was revoked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Last year, the Supreme Court upheld the government’s decision and set a deadline of September 30 this year for local polls to be held.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) government has said that revoking the region’s special status restored normalcy in the area and helped its development. “As the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections begins, I urge all ... to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy,” Modi said on X.
In the past, pro-independence militants have targeted elections in Kashmir, and voter turnout has been largely weak. The territory, however, recorded its highest turnout in 35 years in national elections held in April and May, with a 58.46 percent participation rate.
The contest this time is between regional parties promising to restore the special status, India’s main opposition Congress party which has allied with a prominent regional group, as well as the BJP, which is pitching development and a p ermanent end to militancy.
The legislative assembly will have powers to debate local issues, make laws and approve decisions for governing the territory but cannot restore special status as that is the remit of the federal government.

TOKYO/TAIPEI,
A Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japan’s contiguous waters for the first time on Wednesday, Japan’s defence ministry said, the latest in a string of military manoeuvres that has ratcheted up tensions between the neighbours.
The carrier, accompanied by two destroyers, sailed between Japan’s southern Yonaguni and Iriomote islands, entering an area that extends up to 24 nautical miles from its coastline where Japan can exert some controls as defined by the United Nations.
Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya said Tokyo had conveyed its “serious concerns” to Beijing, describing the incident as “utterly unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region”.
“We will continue to closely monitor Chinese naval vessels’ activities in the waters around our country and will take all possible measures to gather information and conduct vigilance and surveillance,” Moriya told a news conference.
Japan last month lodged a protest with China after one of its naval survey vessels entered Japanese waters, shortly after an airspace breach. In July, a Japanese navy destroyer made a rare entry into China’s territorial waters near Taiwan, according to the Japanese media.
An uptick in Chinese military activity near Japan and around Taiwan in recent years has stoked concerns in Tokyo.

LONDON,
Scotland’s leader John Swinney said on Wednesday that the country’s pro-separatist movement must build on the “overwhelmingly positive legacy” of the 2014 independence referendum to secure a split from the UK.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) leader was speaking 10 years to the day since Scots voted against independence, and as the movement licks its wounds with another vote currently off the table.
Some 55 percent of voters answered “no” to the question “should Scotland be an independent country” on September 18, 2024. Just under 45 percent said “yes”.
“Even though I was devastated by the result, I am in no doubt that Scotland’s independence referendum has left an overwhelmingly positive legacy on our country,” Swinney said in Edinburgh to mark the anniversary.
The issue of independence has dominated Scottish politics since the SNP came to power at the devolved parliament in Edinburgh in 2007.
The 2014 result was seen as a blow to the SNP’s long-standing central policy, with the government in London assessing that the issue was settled for a generation. But just two years later, a nationwide vote in favour of the UK leaving the European Union reopened the debate, as a majority of Scots opposed the move. Nicola Sturgeon, then pro-EU SNP leader and first minister in Edinburgh, pushed for another vote, arguing that Brexit had changed the terms of the UK union.
Polls indicating greater support for independence edged ahead from 2020, in part due to Sturgeon’s popularity and criticism of then UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
But after the UK Supreme Court in 2022 blocked the SNP from holding a non-binding advisory referendum without UK government permission, the issue has quietened—and since then, the SNP has become engulfed in a funding scandal.
The party has also faced public criticism for pushing independence at the expense of day-to-day issues such as health and education. It lost dozens of seats at the UK general election in July.

THE HAGUE,
A 32-year-old Australian “computer geek” has been arrested on suspicion of building an encrypted messaging app used by hundreds of criminals worldwide to arrange drug deals and order killings, police said on Wednesday.
Australian Federal Police said the Ghost app was marketed to underworld figures as “unhackable” and was used by hundreds of suspected criminals from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
But, unbeknownst to users, global policing authorities hacked the network and were watching as the criminals discussed illicit drug trafficking, money laundering, homicides and serious violence. Authorities made their move on Tuesday and Wednesday, arresting criminals from Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Canada and Australia—including Jay Je Yoon Jung, the alleged “mastermind” of the app.
Europol executive director Catherine De Bolle said law enforcement from nine countries had been involved in the international sting.
“Today we have made it clear that no matter how hidden criminal networks think they are, they can’t evade our collective effort,” she said.
“This was a truly global game of cat and mouse, and today the game is up”, Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, Europol’s deputy executive director, told reporters in agency’s headquarters in The Hague. Authorities dismantled an Australian drug lab while weapons, drugs and more than one million euros ($1.1 million) in cash have been seized globally, the EU policing agency added.
Ghost, a kind of WhatsApp for criminals, was created nine years ago and could only be accessed via modified smartphones that sold for about Aus$2,350 (US$1,590). The hefty price tag included a six-month subscription to the Ghost app and tech support, Australian police said on Wednesday, and users were required to purchase an ongoing subscription.
French police traced the creator’s location to Australia and joined forces with local police to target the platform.
The app’s creator regularly pushed out software updates but in 2022, Australian police were able to hijack those updates to access encrypted content.

WROCLAW, Poland,
Volunteers and emergency personnel raced to secure river banks and buildings in Poland and Hungary on Tuesday as flood waters that have wreaked havoc across central Europe began to rise in new areas and the Czech Republic reported another death.
The worst floods to hit central Europe in at least two decades have left a trail of destruction from Romania to Poland, spreading mud and debris in towns, destroying bridges, submerging cars and leaving authorities and householders with a bill for damages that will run into billions of dollars.
Authorities in the Czech Republic announced the death of a fourth person in that country on Wednesday, bringing the death toll across the region to at least 23. Seven people have been killed in Romania, seven in Poland, and five in Austria.
Czech media reported the latest victim was a 70-year-old woman from a village near Jesenik who was found 20 metres from her house. She had been evacuated on Saturday but left the evacuation centre on Sunday to return home, Czech TV said.
In the Czech Republic, water levels were mostly receding, but rivers were still peaking in some parts of southern Bohemia.

Difficult hours ahead
In Poland’s third-largest city Wroclaw, lines of people passed sandbags to fortify river banks and to protect buildings, while further south soldiers built walls of sandbags on the banks of the Oder. Authorities expect waters to peak in Wroclaw on Thursday. “We are concentrating on keeping the Oder within its banks,” said Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak. “We have a very difficult dozen or so hours ahead of US”
The Polish defence ministry said more than 14,000 soldiers had been deployed to flood-hit regions, with the armed forces using helicopters to evacuate people and strengthen flood defences, while drones monitored the situation from above.
At a water level measurement station near Wroclaw, the Oder had already significantly exceeded the alarm level. Albert Wrotnowski, 29, an artist living nearby, was securing the riverbank with sandbags.
“The mood is positive,” he told Reuters. “I think people have such faith and hope, and you can see it.”

‘Tragic Hardships’
Pope Francis talked about the “tragic hardships” caused by the floods during his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square.
“I assure everyone of my closeness, praying especially for those who have lost their lives and their families.”
In Hungary, authorities opened a dam in the country’s northwest to channel water from the Leitha river into an emergency reservoir in a bid to protect the city of Mosonmagyarovar.
The water was allowed to flow onto agricultural land.
In the capital Budapest, the Danube is still expected to peak around or slightly above 8.5 metres, likely on Friday or Saturday.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited the village of Kismaros, north of Budapest on the banks of the Danube, to see how preparations for rising waters were taking shape.
In Kismaros, 70 percent of the defences were in place, with nearly 100,000 sandbags already used, government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs wrote on X. “We are waiting for the peak in Kismaros on Friday,” Orban wrote in a post on Facebook. “It will be difficult, but our soldiers will stand their ground. We will do it!”

Financial aid
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was due to visit Wroclaw on Thursday, where she will meet leaders from affected countries. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said they are calling on Brussels to provide financial aid.
Poland’s Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told a crisis meeting in Wroclaw that Poland had set aside 2 billion zlotys ($521 million) in funds to deal with the effects of the floods.
Tusk said there had been reports of soaring prices for many products in flood-hit areas and he did not rule out the introduction of price controls.
He also said the government would pay instalments of the mortgages of people whose houses had been flooded for a year.

KATHMANDU,
Nepal Police Club missed their chance to leapfrog Tribhuvan Army Club to the second spot in the ANFA Women’s League after they were held to a goalless stalemate by sixth-placed Chandrapur Municipality at the ANFA Complex in Lalitpur on Wednesday.
Police also had to rely on a goalkeeping heroics from Usha Nath to avoid a shock loss late in the game as the goalkeeper saved a penalty kick from Dil Kumari Magar, helping the departmental side preserve their unbeaten run in the league.
The draw—second in a row and third in the season—will still have damaging consequences to Police as the outcome left them four points adrift of leaders and reigning champions Armed Police Force Club, who are on 16 points.
Police have 12 points from six games.
Army occupy second position with 13 points.
Police were not at their best and had to wait until the 34th minute to have a clean chance at goal when Niru Thapa outran two Chandrapur defenders to set up Nirmala Upadhyaya inside the penalty area but Chandrapur goalkeeper Usha Thapa reacted quickly to save Upadhyaya’s shot.
Niru also set up Anuska Sherpa with a beautiful through pass in the final minute of the first half but Chandrapur goalkeeper Thapa came to the rescue again with her quick thinking.
Chandrapur came close to scoring in the injury time of the first half after a poor defending from Samikshya Ghimire allowed Sunita Sunar from an open play but she ended up shooting wide.
Police almost found the lead five minutes into the break when Niru’s strike beat Chandrapur’s goalie Usha, who had come far off the post to check Ghim Kumari Gurung’s clever pass, but the shot could not find the target.
Chandrapur had a golden chance to punish misfiring Police in the 71st minute from the penalty kick. They were awarded the penalty after Ghimire handled the ball inside the area but Police goalkeeper Nath stretched full length to deny Magar and saved her side from the jaws of defeat.
In the later action, Karnali Province registered their first victory of the season with a 3-0 victory against Sudurpaschim Province.
Bhumika Budhathoki put Karnali in front in the 24th minute capitalising on an opportunity by Garima Rai, who twisted and turned to outwit Sudurpaschim defenders before putting it on the plate for Budhathoki.
Rai then combined with Budhathoki to double Karnali’s lead in the 62nd minute, before Barsha Oli finished off a counter attack to wrap up a comfortable victory.
Karnali stayed in the ninth position with four points.
Sudurpaschim are rock bottom after facing their sixth defeat in six matches.
Bagmati Youth Club play against Waling Municipality on Thursday.

PARIS,
Bayern Munich became the first team to score nine goals in a game in the modern Champions League as the new format of Europe’s elite club competition kicked off on Tuesday, with title holders Real Madrid and Liverpool also among the winners.
Harry Kane scored four goals, including three penalties, as Vincent Kompany’s Bayern hammered Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 at the Allianz Arena.
Michael Olise scored twice on his Champions League debut, while Raphael Guerreiro, Leroy Sane and Leon Goretzka were also on target for the home team in Germany.
Dinamo were 3-0 down at the break but scored twice in two minutes just after half-time to give the hosts a scare, with Bruno Petkovic and Takuya Ogiwara on target. But Bayern then scored six times from the 57th minute onwards.
It was a remarkable way to mark the opening night of the brand-new Champions League, with the competition now featuring 36 teams all pooled together in one giant league instead of the old group stage.
Every participant now plays eight games against eight different opponents, with the top eight teams at the end of the
league phase advancing automatically to the last 16.
Those finishing from ninth to 24th will go through to a play-off round to decide the remaining sides in the last 16, while the bottom 12 will be eliminated.
There was plenty of excitement around the continent on Tuesday, with reigning champions Madrid made to work hard before beating VfB Stuttgart 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Kylian Mbappe marked his first game in the competition with Real by scoring the opening goal just after half-time.
However, Deniz Undav equalised midway through the second half for a Stuttgart side appearing in the Champions League for the first time since 2010.
Real nevertheless emerged victorious as Antonio Rudiger headed them back in front against his old side seven minutes from time, and Brazilian youngster Endrick got the third goal in stoppage time.
Liverpool marked their return to Europe’s top table by coming from behind to win 3-1 away to seven-time champions AC Milan in Italy.
Christian Pulisic gave Milan an early lead, but Ibrahima Konate equalised and Virgil van Dijk headed the away side in front before the interval. Dominik Szoboszlai then wrapped up the victory for Liverpool at San Siro.
Aston Villa enjoyed a 3-0 win away to Swiss champions Young Boys in Bern in their first ever match in the modern Champions League, 41 years after they last appeared in the old European Cup.
Youri Tielemans and Jacob Ramsey scored in the first half for the 1982 European champions, and Amadou Onana completed their victory late on.
Elsewhere Juventus beat PSV Eindhoven 3-1 in Turin, with Kenan Yildiz opening the scoring in some style and Weston McKennie and Nicolas Gonzalez also netting. Ismael Saibari pulled one back.
Portuguese champions Sporting beat Lille 2-0 at home, with impressive Swedish striker Viktor Gyoekeres on target before a Zeno Debast piledriver. The French side had Angel Gomes sent off.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)
Payouts could come through exciting and unexpected places today, dearest Aries. This energy is perfect for trying new techniques within your work and adopting fresh routines, building new ground by shaking up what you already know.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
Live a little and prioritise fun today, dearest Taurus. This energy brings out your natural charisma, brilliance, and lust for life, asking you to seek excitement or creative experiences. Pay special attention to fresh ideas.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21)
Today’s energy is perfect for focusing on physical, mental, and emotional health. Work to build strength while releasing what you do not need. Focus on cultivating healthy habits with your screen time.

CANCER (June 22-July 22)
Today will put you in a witty and social headspace. Speak freely when surrounded by friends and dearest crabs, trusting that your charisma and natural brilliance will allow you to sparkle amongst the crowds.

LEO (July 23-August 22)
Trust your judgement, dearest Leo, especially when pursuing success. Though certain moves may feel like a risk initially, fighting for more will pay off in the long run. A rush of luck follows you.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22)
Don’t hide who you are, dearest Virgo, bringing luck your way when authenticity is demonstrated. Now is the time to take risks, seek attention, and push your ideas forward, trusting you can rally the support you need to charge ahead.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22)
You’ll reach your limit regarding nonsense, grief, or unhealthy situations, dearest Libra. Use this energy to make clean breaks from that which does not serve you, feeling electrified along the way.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21)
Love is on your side, darling Scorpio, helping you find friends or potential romantic interests in unexpected places. Make the most of these vibes by keeping an open heart while embracing your most authentic and outgoing self.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21)
Don’t hesitate to rock the boat at work and in your quest for success, dearest archer. Your natural charms will be accentuated when you are authentic and chase your passions. Watch out for ulterior motives.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19)
Your dreams could take shape in unexpected and beautiful ways today, dearest Capricorn. Consider how you can care for yourself while juggling a growing workload, seeking balance as your dreams roll in.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18)
Today is perfect for shaking what you do not need, even if doing so requires you to cut ties or rewire your feelings. Allow your wits and brilliance to speak for themselves. Take a moment to honour your beautiful mind.

PISCES (February 19-March 20)
Sweet Pisces, you won’t feel like concealing your true feelings, which will put you in a playful and loving headspace. Be free with kind words, romantic gestures, and random acts of kindness, spreading joy to elevate your mood further.

Tanka Chaulagain is a theatre artist, writer, and director. He has directed various plays, such as ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, and ‘Matilda’. Chaulagain is also the founder of ‘Lalabala’, an acting platform for children. He has also authored several books, such as ‘Kathmandu Geet’, ‘Taalatuli’, and ‘Ubadkhaabad’.
In this conversation with the Post’s Rishika Dhakal, Chaulagain discusses his newly published book ‘Rudane’.

What is your recent book about?
My latest book is based on the life of Rup Chandra Bista, a well-known political figure. It’s a mix of biography and fiction. Since the book is autobiographical fiction, some readers have asked why I chose to fictionalise Bista’s life instead of writing a straightforward biography. As someone with a background in theatre and drama, I was drawn to the dramatic elements of his journey. While biography is bound by facts, which anyone can research and present, fiction allows me to explore, be creative, and let my imagination shape the narrative. This approach makes the story more engaging, so I opted for a fictionalised account of Rup Chandra Bista’s life.

While writing fiction, there’s a concern that the emotional elements might overshadow the historical facts, potentially erasing them. So, how have you balanced these aspects to avoid distorting history?
I was aware of the challenge this posed as a writer. I never met Rup Chandra Bista, so I can’t write about him from a personal perspective. Sometimes, it’s easy to exaggerate a person’s character when trying to make the narrative more dramatic, making them seem different from who they truly were. To ensure I was fair in my portrayal, after finishing the draft, I gave it to Rup Chandra Bista’s nephew, Bhuwan Prakash Bista, for his review. He raised similar questions and suggested a few corrections.
Taking his feedback seriously, I revised the manuscript several times, carefully considering what he was trying to convey. After four or five rounds of edits, I feel I was able to present a more accurate balance of Bista’s personality.
However, my portrayal is still based on my understanding of him as a charismatic leader. I gathered information by listening to people who knew him and reading articles about his life, but my depiction may not fully capture his philosophy. That’s why I called it fiction.

Why did you write about Rup Chandra Bista?
In 2020, I did a play about Yogmaya, which was well-received. Yogmaya advocated a ‘dharma rajya’—a just and righteous society. While searching for another figure with a similar revolutionary spirit, I came across Rup Chandra Bista, whose story captivated me.
A film about Bista was planned then, but the project was halted for 3-4 years and eventually cancelled. One of my brothers suggested turning the story into a drama. However, I was more fascinated with the narrative itself, and instead of writing it for the stage, I chose to turn it into fiction. That’s how the idea for the book emerged.
Another reason I decided to write about Bista is that, in today’s political landscape, I don’t see any leader with a philosophy like his. Bista was a leader who connected with people from all social classes. He had a separate group for children, encouraging them to “Know”—his guiding motto. He believed that awareness was key to individual and societal change. He also formed a group for women and supported their causes.
Although Bista came from a wealthy family, he chose to live among the poor. He worked alongside them, striving to enlighten and uplift the marginalised.
Bista’s deep connection with people and unique vision drew me to his story, leading me to base my book on his life.

How important is your new book in today’s political and social climate?
Looking back at history, Rup Chandra Bista was a political figure who thrived within the system of his time, winning elections multiple times during the Panchayat era. Yet, he wasn’t afraid to openly criticise the Panchayat governments for their wrongdoings.
Despite his privileged background, Bista lived a simple life. He strongly believed in reusing things and always wore second-hand clothes. In today’s world, with issues like climate change and overuse of resources, Bista’s lifestyle should resonate with our society. Inspired by him, I’ve started sleeping on the floor to feel more connected to the Earth.
Bista also spent two decades living with farmers in Sim Bhanjyang, where he grazed goats and cultivated potatoes and cauliflower to improve their livelihoods. His focus on uplifting the underprivileged reflected his belief that society can only progress when the most disadvantaged rise.
Looking at Nepal’s current political situation—where there is no consensus among parties and governance feels disorganised—alongside society’s increasingly materialistic values, I believe this book is more relevant than ever.

How has your background in drama influenced your approach to writing fiction?
As a drama student, I naturally include a lot of dialogue in my fiction writing. Writers like Buddhisagar and Subin Bhattarai often focus on playing with words and descriptions, but in my process, I focus on creating scenes, establishing characters, and weaving in dialogues. For instance, my book ‘Rudane’ has plenty of dramatic dialogue. Without them, the book could have risked becoming a straightforward biography. However, the dialogue helped breathe life into the characters. Writing them and building scenes allowed me to bring the story to life.
Writing drama in Nepal is particularly challenging. The play’s audience is small, and there is no guarantee that it will reach its intended audience or be published and read. That’s one of the reasons I shifted toward fiction writing. However, I still translate plays I enjoy, which helps me balance my love for both forms. Even in my fiction, especially in the dialogues, the influence of drama is quite evident.
While fiction usually requires fewer dialogues than drama, writing both involves building vivid scenes. For example, when writing a scene with four characters in a café, I instinctively imagine the entire setting, down to the smallest details. My background in drama has been invaluable in this regard, as it has helped me visualise scenes more easily and bring them to life in my fiction.

What message do you want to convey to readers through your book?
Rup Chandra Bista’s life offers many valuable lessons. He believed in living a minimalist lifestyle and prioritised using Nepali products. Bista often wore clothes, bags, and other items made from burlap sacks. Despite being offered prestigious jobs, including one by Juddha Shumsher, he always put the well-being of others before his own.
In contrast, today’s generation often focuses more on personal gains than thinking of others. Through my book, I hope readers will learn from Bista’s selfless lifestyle and reflect on how they can also think about the needs of others. Bista was a man of strong principles and died on his terms. His statement, “Those I tried to awaken never did. Those who were awakened only ended up supporting the opposition,” reflects his deep frustration with the political system of his time.
Beyond the political and social lessons, Bista’s life, as shared through various articles and stories, offers timeless insights into leadership, selflessness, and the pursuit of justice for all.


Tanka Chaulagain’s book recommendations

Sotala
Author:     Dor Bahadur Bista
Publisher:     Sajha Prakashan
Year:     1976

Bista’s work captures a bygone era when many Nepalis journeyed to Tibet for the salt trade, offering readers a glimpse into Nepali society at that time.


Lamppost Bata Khaseko Joon
Author:     Manu Manjil
Publisher:     FinePrint
Year:     2011

This poetry collection features forty-six free verse poems and the book is known for its portrayal of contemporary Nepali culture.


Mantha Darayeko Jug
Author:     Mohan Mainali
Publisher:     Heritage Publishers and Distributor
Year:     2015

This book chronicles the lives of those who were killed during the war, highlighting their valiant efforts to protect themselves and their families.


Yashodhara
Author:     Haribol Kafle
Publisher:     Lipi Books
Year:     2023

Told from Yashodhara’s perspective, this novel provides a fresh view of Siddhartha’s journey to becoming the Buddha.


Ular
Author:     Nayanraj Pandey
Publisher:     Tanneri Prakashan
Year:     1998
 
This book is a window into the harsh reality of politics and people who have suffered from political instability.

Kathmandu,
On Tuesday, The Dwarika’s Hotel in Kathmandu recreated the festivities of Indra Jatra, one of the valley’s largest cultural festivals. The celebration at the hotel offered guests a glimpse into Nepal’s artistic practices and festivals.
The hotel welcomed guests with aila, a Newa drink and a symbol of good fortune that marks the beginning of the festivities. From the Kumari Puja, which invokes the living goddess’ blessing and sets the tone for the event, the evening unfolded into various cultural performances that echo Nepal’s rich heritage.
The tunes of traditional instruments such as khain, paschima, bhusya, tah (Tinchu), bou (Jhayali), murali, and madal mesmerised the listeners. Guests were treated to displays of the Devi Dance, Aarati Dance, and more, including the Lakhey Dance, in which the mythical Lakhey and Jhyalincha engaged in a riveting face-off. Each performance told a story of deities and traditions passed down through generations.
“We recreate the festival within the complex of the property, so our guests can interact with the performers and even partake in the chariot pulling ceremony so they feel a part of the festival’s reverence and collective energy,” said René Vijay Shrestha Einhaus, executive director at The Dwarika’s Group of Hotels and Resorts.
Food played a crucial part in the celebrations, which included feasts for the Gods—a lavish buffet of Newari delicacies was served.

MILAN, Italy
Just as the northern hemisphere starts the wardrobe transition from summer to fall, runway shows in the world’s fashion capitals seek to stir the imagination, and desire, for the next warm weather season.
Milan designers have been ambiguous about seasons in recent fashion weeks, with summer collections not corresponding to the soaring temperatures. That was not the case during the first day of Milan Fashion Week previews on Tuesday,
featuring diaphanous, dreamy summery dresses, alongside crisp cotton.
Here are highlights from the first day of Milan Fashion Week of runway previews of mostly womenswear for Spring-Summer 2025:

Fendi centenary
Fendi honoured its upcoming centenary with a Spring-Summer 2025 collection that paid elegant homage to the founding era, from art deco detailing to a flapper silhouette, light on the fringe.
In snippets of conversation that punctuated the show’s soundtrack, Silvia Venturini Fendi emphasised the matriarchal lineage that has made her the third generation to play a key Fendi role. “My mother was the energy of the house,” Venturini Fendi recalled.
The collection by Fendi womenswear artistic director Kim Jones sought to spotlight “100 years of very chic Roman women,” combining ready-to-wear with artisanal detailing of couture. Diaphanous dresses with art-deco embroidery were grounded with boots. Slip dresses were turned upside down as skirts, worn with a sheer top embellished with crystals. Knitwear defined the silhouette, under sheers or hugging the body over diaphanous trousers.
Bags by Venturini Fendi, artistic director of accessories, were soft and huggable, often carried in triplicate.

Ferretti’s artisanal summer
Alberta Ferretti showed her summery creations in the courtyard of a former
cloister, now a science museum, with an elegant dome rising in the background, the juxtaposition emphasising the artisanal heritage in her collection.
Instead of embellishments, Ferretti focused on technique. Laser-cut cotton created an almost lace effect. Individual cotton leaves were stitched together as dresses or accents on bodices. Pleating elevated dresses, while boxer shorts gave a casual flair.
The day looks were in earthy tones of sand, ecru and black. For evening, chiffon dresses flowed in bright shades.
“They are real summer clothes, because the world in the summer is very warm. I know a show is supposed to be a show but reality is important,’’ Ferretti said backstage.

Marni’s essential beauty
Marni maintained its zany heritage under creative director Francesco Risso, with a wardrobe of whimsically tailored everyday looks for him and for her.
The female silhouette was swathed in form-fitting dresses and skirts, often with deep back slits, sometimes with a mermaid flair. Feathers, boas and crystal embellishments were pretty, and sometimes off-beat accents.
For him, broad-shouldered jackets contrasted with skinny trousers. An off-skew bow on a chiffony blouson was kept aloft through some sartorial trickery.
Mixing art with fashion, models emerged in threes, and wandered through the showroom full of wooden chairs on conversational groups to a percussive piano trio.
A sense of Marni whimsy permeated the collection, partly but not only through a series of hats with a yesteryear military flair made light with feathery accents. Risso appeared to confirm his Napoleonic intentions, taking a bow with his hand thrust inside his jacket.
“We like things that are bold,” Risso said after the show.

– Associated Press