KATHMANDU,
Nepal may face a sugar shortage in the upcoming festival season as the two government supply firms importing the household sweetener started off late.
Last year, Nepal faced a sugar shortage during the festive season, with the price jumping from Rs90 to Rs160 per kg. As sugar was not readily available in the market, consumers were forced to queue for long hours at Salt Trading and Food Management and Trading Corporation.
The corporation had imposed a quota system, allowing only two kgs
at a time.
The Cabinet meeting on September 9 permitted the Salt Trading Corporation and the Food Management and Trading Company to import 30,000 tonnes of sugar—15,000 tonnes each.
The meeting also decided to waive 50 percent customs duty. “Importing sugar through global tender will cause a delay as the festive season nears,” said Sharmila Neupane Subedi, information officer at the Food Management and Trading Company.
“So we are working on another option: to bring sugar through a G2G, or government-to-government, arrangement, which will speed up the process.”
“If the G2G model does not work, then the possibility of importing sugar for Dashain, Tihar and Chhath is low,” Subedi said. These are the festivals when the demand for sugar rises exponentially. The supply firms have planned to import sugar in phases. The quantity of sugar to be brought in the first phase through the G2G arrangement is yet to be decided. “Once a certain amount of sugar is imported in the first phase, the remaining quantity will be imported through competitive bidding.”
According to Subedi, the CEO of the Food Management and Trading Company had a first round of discussions with India’s National Cooperative Exports Limited about importing sugar through the G2G model.
Subedi said that despite the government providing a 50 percent customs duty waiver, the price would be determined based on the rate set by the Indian counterpart.
The retail price is Rs110 per kg in the market.
Subedi said that the company has no stock of sugar. For more than a year, the Food Management and Trading Company has not imported the commodity.
Kumar Rajbhandari, information officer at the Salt Trading Corporation, said his company opened the tender to import sugar two weeks ago.
“If we can find Indian suppliers, sugar may arrive before the festival. All our efforts are directed at bringing sugar on time. We are prepared to sign an agreement within seven days after the supplier is chosen.”
According to Rajbhandari, they started the preparation a long time ago but got the letter from the government late. “We were prepared and opened the tender as soon as we received the nod,” said Rajbhandari.
This year, the Dashain begins on October 3. However, sugar is also consumed in high quantities in Tihar and Chhath when tonnes of sweet items are sold across the country.
Nepal consumes 275,000 tonnes of sugar annually, of which 150,000 tonnes are produced in the country while the rest is imported.
Consumer rights activists suspect the motive behind the delayed sugar procurement process. “This year, too, the government delayed its decision—an intentional delay that occurs during the festivals every year,” said Prem Lal Maharjan, president of the National Consumer Forum.
“The sugar price will shoot up.”
Maharjan said the delay leaves ample room to suspect a collusion between powerful traders and the government. The delay favours private traders, who will artificially raise the price, he added.
The National Consumer Forum wrote a letter to the government on the issue three months ago.
Last year, on September 13, the finance ministry approved the import of 20,000 tonnes of sugar for the festive season. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies had asked to import 60,000 tonnes to meet the anticipated demand.
The finance ministry’s delayed approval caused panic in the market, and on that pretext, sugar prices nearly doubled, according to consumer rights activists.
“When it comes to sugar imports, something fishy happens every year,” they said. In October last year, India, the world’s biggest sugar producer after Brazil, banned mills from exporting sugar—in its first sugar export curb in seven years.
According to Reuters, India plans to extend a ban on sugar exports for the second straight year as the world’s biggest sweetener consumer grapples with the prospect of a lower sugarcane output.
According to the news agency, New Delhi plans to prohibit mills from exporting sugar when supplies from Brazil, the world’s top producer, are expected to drop because of a drought in the South American nation.
In November last year, when the country was facing a serious sugar crisis, India allowed Nepal to import 25,000 tonnes with immediate effect, valid until September this year.
However, with Indian suppliers quoting high prices, Nepal reached out to Pakistan for the sweetener—to no avail.

KATHMANDU,
The government has decided to prorogue the House session amid ongoing demands by the main opposition CPN (Maoist Centre) to remove the term ‘violence’ from parliament records and failed attempts at resolution.
The House of Representatives meeting was adjourned on Sunday following the decision of the Maoist Centre to continue the House obstruction until the statement of a CPN-UML leader was erased from Parliament’s records. Later in the evening, the Cabinet recommended the President to prorogue the ongoing session of the House of Representatives as well as the National Assembly with effect from Monday midnight, according to government spokesman and information minister, Prithvi Subba Gurung.
The Maoist party is demanding that the term ‘violence’ used to describe the decade-long Maoist insurgency be removed. Despite Speaker Devraj Ghimire meeting the chief whips and whips of major parties prior to the House meeting slated for 1 pm on Sunday, the discussions ended without resolution.
The main opposition insisted that removal of the term from the Parliament’s record was a must for the party to end the obstruction.
The dispute started on August 28, when UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai, while speaking in the lower house, described the Maoist insurgency as “unfortunate” and said Nepal’s hydropower sector would have progressed long ago had several electricity infrastructures not been destroyed by then-rebel Maoists. He had argued that Maoist “violence” made the country lag behind in electricity development.
Maoist lawmakers had promptly objected to his statement arguing that terming the “people’s war” as “violence” is an affront to the constitution. They demanded expunging the word from parliamentary records.
 They allowed the House to function only after Ghimire promised to address their concerns after reviewing the issue.
Last Wednesday, Speaker Ghimire announced that the term “violence” was not unparliamentary. He ruled that the word ‘violence’ does not qualify to be termed unparliamentary, citing the parliamentary regulations 2022, the discussions held at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, and the Parliament Secretariat’s opinion. Therefore, it would not be removed from official records, he said.
Maoist lawmakers objected to the Speaker’s decision, called it biased, and resorted to obstructing the House. A parliamentary party meeting of the third largest party on Friday concluded that terming “people’s movement” as violence was an attempt to demean the party and set the removal of the word from parliamentary records as its bottom line for lifting the
obstruction.
Maoist Centre chief whip Hit Raj Pandey reiterated the party’s position in the meeting called by Ghimire on Sunday. “The Speaker said that his decision is based on parliament regulations,” said an aide to Ghimire, adding the regulations clearly say that the Speaker’s decision will be final in such matters.
Talking to the media after the meeting with the Speaker, Pandey said any attempt to demean the glorious ‘people’s war’ is unacceptable. “It’s not just about a word. It’s about the intent to vilify the people’s war,” said Pandey. The Maoist Centre held its internal meeting, after the inconclusive dialogue with the Speaker, and decided to stick to its position.
A group of Maoist Centre leaders including Barsha Man Pun and Janardan Sharma met the Speaker in the afternoon to inform him that they would continue the obstruction. They also had complained to the Speaker about his ‘unilateral’ decision. The Speaker, however, maintained that the decision was fair.
Sunday’s meeting of the lower house was supposed to endorse the bill relating to legislation management. Similarly, UML lawmaker Surya Thapa-led committee was scheduled to present its report on the cooperatives fraud at the meeting.
The Maoist Centre has been maintaining that the constitution has validated the people’s war and calling it ‘violence’ is disrespect to republicanism, federalism and constitution. “It is unconstitutional to label the people’s movement ‘violence’. Parliament will not function until this matter is resolved,” said Pandey.
The ruling parties, however, say that the Maoist Centre is demonstrating its disdain for the parliamentary process by refusing to abide by the Speaker’s reasoned decision.
“The Maoist Centre is showing that it doesn’t have faith in the parliamentary process. It is the responsibility of the parties to abide by the Speaker’s ruling,” said Mahesh Bartaula, the UML chief whip. “Continuous House obstruction is only going to cost the party dearly.”

PUCHONG/PENANG,
Fifteen years ago, Terengganu-born Dr Salleh Ahmad could not find a job in Malaysia that matched his qualifications. He had just graduated from France’s top engineering school ESIEE Paris with an engineering degree in microelectronics in 2009 and wanted to design microchips for the aerospace sector.
Instead, he stayed in Paris to work for Laboratoire de l’Accelerateur Lineaire, a research unit within the French national nuclear and particle physics institute. In 2012, he moved to microchip manufacturer Weeroc to pursue his career while studying for his PhD in astrophysics at Paris-Sud University.
Now, Dr Salleh is returning to his homeland as Weeroc’s chief technology officer, tasked with setting up an office in Selangor’s Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Park. Located in Puchong, a suburb 20km south of Kuala Lumpur, this facility spearheads Malaysia’s ambition to move up the semiconductor value chain.
“Malaysia is a good choice due to its bright industry prospects, government incentives, and the low cost of doing business,” Dr Salleh told The Straits Times.
In 2022, Weeroc won a tender from the European Space Agency to lead a microchip project for the European telecommunication satellite platform in collaboration with Airbus Defence and Space. Dr Salleh said the team in Puchong will be gradually integrated into this project. Dr Salleh is one of the returnees contributing to the manpower needed to drive Malaysia’s chip-sector ambitions.
Another 60,000 engineers are required for the chip industry, in addition to the existing pool of about 90,000, said Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association (MSIA) chairman Wong Siew Hai.
The nation’s ambitions rest on a three-pronged plan to gain and train talent via the three Rs: recruit, retain and returnees. That is, to hire the necessary engineers; retain existing talent; and encourage Malaysian engineers working abroad to return home.
The talent pool is key to boosting Malaysia’s RM575.45 billion (S$174 billion) thriving chip sector, which contributes to 7 per cent of global exports. It aims to double this figure to RM1.2 trillion and 15 percent of global exports by 2030.
The country already hosts big names like Intel and Infineon in its semiconductor hub of Penang. But it aims to climb up the global semiconductor supply chain—projected to be worth more than US$1 trillion (S$1.3 trillion) by 2030—by transitioning from its traditional strengths in packaging and testing services to high-value fabless manufacturing and IC design.
Weeroc, for example, is set to invest RM20 million in its Selangor office by the first quarter of 2025. It plans to employ five French senior executives and 11 Malaysian engineers, eventually expanding to a 100-strong workforce in the next five years.
The Puchong integrated chip design hub that was formally opened in August—and touted as the largest in South-east Asia—needs up to 400 local engineers, with 60 already hired by anchor tenants and related partners, according to Selangor state executive councillor for investment Ng Sze Han.
“Anchor tenant MaiStorage has established an office in the park. Five Malaysians who previously worked at Taiwan’s Hsinchu Technology Park have returned to lead and mentor local hires as qualified IC designers,” he told ST.
In addition to providing a suitable platform for returning talents to advance their careers, the Puchong chip design hub is offering fresh engineering graduates an attractive starting monthly salary of as much as RM6,000, Mr Ng added.
This compares with the national median monthly salary of RM2,600 in the third quarter of 2023: with Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang coming in at RM2,900, RM3,900 and RM2,645, respectively. The Department of Statistics Malaysia did not provide salary data for specific electric-and-electrical engineering occupations. In Taiwan and France, engineering graduates can command ringgit-equivalent monthly salaries of up to RM9,000 and RM17,000, respectively. But they must have a relevant master’s degree, at the minimum.
When queried on the advantage of foreign countries such as Singapore to hire talent by offering higher pay, Selangor’s councillor Mr Ng said: “We can’t treat Singapore as a competitor, rather to complement your supply chain. Our cost of doing business is lower than in Singapore.
“Not every talent is fighting for top salary or is accustomed to fast-paced Singapore society. But they want better quality of life, so Puchong is the suitable place.”
Malaysia’s chip industry has benefited from US-China rivalry as global giants move their operations, and manpower, to South-east Asia to diversify their supply chains.
By setting up shop in Selangor, MaiStorage, a RM100 million subsidiary of Taiwan-based chip design house Phison Electronics, could spark a larger exodus of workers to Malaysia, said Phison’s Malaysian co-founder Pua Khein Seng.
“There are more than 100 Taiwan-based Malaysian engineers who may want to return home... At the end of 2023, I nearly decided to open a new office in Vietnam. However, it is not my home town. I believe Malaysia is more convenient, even though its efficiency is lower than Taiwan in terms of output,” he told ST.
And should Malaysia’s IC design sector really take off, Mr Pua estimates MaiStorage will be looking for at least 500 engineers to meet its operational needs.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow is optimistic that the northern island state, known as the Silicon Valley of the East, will be able to attract and retain its talent pool.
“There are more than 30 IC design companies in Malaysia, 28 of which are proudly based in Penang. The fact is that the talent pool is already established here,” he told ST, adding that its capital Georgetown is launching a new initiative called “Penang Silicon Design @5km+” to attract, hire and upskill vital talent.
MSIA’s Mr Wong said that over the past five decades or so, the chip industry has developed a strong ecosystem in order to retain the requisite talent, with a combination of good compensation, sound job prospects and a work-life balance.
“Most of the talent is in Penang. Local big names such as Oppstar, SkyeChip and Infinecs, as well as global players like AMD and Intel, have employed more than 7,000 engineers,” he told ST.
Germany’s largest semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies, which has a workforce of more than 500 on the island, claims the lowest employee attrition rate among the chip industry in Penang, thanks to better career prospects and continuous training.
“In the northern region of the electrical and electronic sector, the attrition rate is roughly 10 to 15 per cent. Our attrition rate is 5 percent, which is considered very healthy,” Dr Raj Kumar, senior vice-president for technology and research and development at Infineon, told ST.

KATHMANDU, 
Last week, a 24-year-old woman from Kathmandu was rushed to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for treatment of a drug overdose. The woman had consumed multiple tablets with the intent to end her life, and it was her second attempt to kill herself.
“We advised the right treatment to doctors attending the patient and also closely monitored her,” said Dr Apeksha Bista, a specialist in the Poison Information Center. “Along with treatment several tests were carried out to assess the impact on her vital organs. The woman survived, and we referred her for psychiatric care.”
This was among the 284 cases where the Poison Information Center either directly supervised or provided treatment advice in the last one year. The centre’s assistance has saved lives, not only in big city hospitals but also in far-flung health facilities across the country. However, the country’s only poison information centre, which started a year ago, is now on the verge of closure due to a shortage of funds.
“This project, which was initiated with financial and technical support from Brown Emergency Medicine and logistic support from ASK Foundation, as a pilot initiative is nearing completion,” said Dr Dinesh Kafley, executive director at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. “ This is the only centre in the country that has been helping health workers in saving lives. Without resources, we are not in a position to continue the centre.”
Studies show pesticide ingestion is the second major cause of suicide in Nepal, after hanging. Among those who consume pesticides, 95 percent ingest insecticides like aluminium phosphide, organophosphorus, and aluminium and zinc phosphide, among others. Despite the authorities banning dichlorvos and the removing the most toxic formulations of aluminium phosphide from sale years ago, suicide by pesticide ingestion has not declined.
In the last fiscal year, 7,223 people in Nepal ended their lives, according to the Nepal Police data.
“Just a few days ago, a doctor from Sankhusabha district sought help for the treatment of a 17-year-old girl who had ingested cypermethrin, an insecticide,” said Dr Rakesh Ghimire, chief of the Poison Information Centre. “We not only provided treatment guidance but followed up twice. The patient fully recovered and has been discharged from the hospital.”
Experts say deaths due to pesticide poisoning can be reduced if poisoning cases are managed optimally. Health workers, including doctors, can call the Poison Information Centre hotline at 01 4502011 for treatment assistance.
“Many healthworkers have already sought help,” said Ghimire. “Those who do not know or have not reached out could also call for expert advice. Doctors at the centre will provide the latest data and information on antidotes for treating poisoning.”
Doctors at the centre say besides intentional suicide attempts, cases of accidental drug overdose, ingestion of mosquito repellent, toilet cleaner, nutmeg (spice), toothpaste, and mushroom poisoning are frequently reported to them.
According to doctors, most patients get cured if they are taken to the hospital on time, as physicians know the proper antidotes for poisons. They say that with detailed knowledge of toxicology, which overlaps biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, is not extensively taught in Nepal’s medical schools. Toxicology studies the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms and their diagnosis and treatment.
Experts also point out that seeking support helps patients’ relatives financially, as they do not have to rush mild cases to big hospitals and hire an ambulance. Officials at the centre said they will also take help from TOXBASE, a database designed to meet the needs of first-line management of poisoning cases.

PALPA,
The lack of an access road to the concrete bridge near Ranimahal, Palpa, which connects Syangja, poses countless challenges to travellers and locals. Despite the bridge having been completed six years ago, no access road has been built. As a result, vehicles cannot operate on the route for three to four months each year.
Suresh Pandey, a resident of Satuka in Kaligandaki Rural Municipality, explained that during the winter months, vehicles operate on a temporary track along the Kaligandaki riverbank. However, the track is unusable once the water level rises.
“After constructing a concrete bridge, an access road should have been built in the six years,” he said.
The access road, part of the Kaligandaki Corridor project, would shorten the journey between the bridge and the Ranighat-Tansen road, making Tansen reachable in just 12 kilometres. However, the road leading to the bridge remains incomplete.
“The concrete bridge was constructed, and vehicles can run in the dry season, but as soon as the river’s flow increases, even motorbikes cannot cross. It’s strange,” Pandey noted.
Despite the presence of a concrete bridge across the river, transportation remains disrupted, causing problems for patients, the elderly, and others, said Deepak Pandey, another resident of Satuka in Syangja. “We don’t know when the access road to the bridge will be built,” he added. “For about eight months of the year, we’re forced to travel along the river. When the monsoon comes, the same problems return.”
There is a blacktopped road from Tansen to Ranighat used by people from Syangja, Parbat, Baglung, and Gulmi. This road also offers a shorter route to Tansen and Butwal. However, during the rainy season, the Barangdikhola and Kaligandaki rivers swell, forcing vehicles to stop and travellers to walk. “It takes four times longer to reach Tansen via Mirmi, Zero, and Ramdi,” Pandey said. “Even though it’s easier to call a vehicle at Ranighat after walking three to four kilometres, the authorities show no interest in addressing the issue.”
The situation becomes dire when ill people are forced to make long journeys during the rainy season. The residents of Syangja, Parbat, Baglung, and Gulmi rely on this route for trade and travel. The concrete bridge was built six years ago to link Khanigaun in ward 7 of Baganasakali Rural Municipality in Palpa, with Satuka in Syangja’s Kaligandaki Rural Municipality. However, the road on the Ranighat-Dailatung section of the Kaligandaki Corridor has been blocked by a landslide for years.
While the bridge was completed, vehicles cannot use it because the temporary track is buried. Arjun Pandey, a local from Satuka, Syangja, stated that although the Kaligandaki Corridor opened nearly 15 years ago, it has not been cleared of landslides, preventing the use of the access road to the bridge. “Vehicles usually travel along this road from Tansen via Ranighat to Satuka, Almadevi in Syangja, and Gulmi,” he explained. “But the authorities have shown no interest in constructing the access road. All levels of government must focus on this.”
Locals report that when the bridge was built, about 100 metres of road on the Palpa side was paved, but it has become impassable due to landslides, turning the paved road into a dirt track. “It’s possible to reach the Kaligandaki Corridor, but travelling to Tansen via Dailatung requires a long detour, and vehicles cannot operate for three to four months during the rainy season,” Arjun added.
Keshavraj Kharel from Dailatung in ward 7 of Baganasakali Rural Municipality, Palpa, criticised the authorities for failing to take timely action to maintain the Kaligandaki Corridor, which led to the current situation. “The contractors who were originally given the project didn’t even clear the landslide on this short stretch of road,” he said. “As a result, residents of Syangja are forced to travel 60 kilometres to reach Butwal via Tansen.”
Kharel also mentioned that a landslide has blocked the Barangdikhola area near Ranighat for the past 15 years. Although a track was initially opened, it has since been left to turn into a jungle with no further maintenance. Vehicles now have to navigate along the riverbanks.
The Barangdikhola area has not been properly cleared, and no efforts have been made to build a bridge or clear the landslide. As a result, about a kilometre of the road has been swallowed by nature, making it impassable for vehicles, he added.

KATHMANDU,
While Nepal is set to mark ninth Constitution Day on September 19 (Ashoj 3), the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP), one of the coalition partners of the Nepali Congress-CPN-UML-led government, is marking it as Black Day to protest the constitution.
The party’s Sarvendra Nath Sukla said his party’s activities for that day include wearing black armbands and holding discussions on constitutional amendments in every district with professionals from various fields.
Shukla said that his party has opposed the Constitution Day since the constitution since its promulgation on September 20, 2015.  
“On the day of the promulgation of the constitution back in 2015, six Madhesis were killed and hundreds injured in government crackdowns,” Shukla told the Post. “As the demands of Madhesi and Tharu communities are still unmet, there is no meaning in celebrating the day as a victory day.”
Sukla also said that although the former Congress-Maoist Centre coalition government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal had agreed to amend the constitution in 2016, the bid failed.
When the bill to amend the constitution was tabled in the House, UML, then the second-largest party in Parliament (in 2016), obstructed it. The government then registered a seven-point amendment bill, which also failed during the voting process.
“Although 62 percent of lawmakers supported the amendment, it fell short of the required two-thirds majority,” Shukla said. “Since then, there has been no serious effort to address our demands for constitutional amendments.”
The LSP executive members’ meeting on September 6 decided to collaborate with other parties advocating for constitutional amendments. The party also has formed a three-member committee under the leadership of Laxman Lal Karna to discuss possible cooperation with other parties to amend the constitution.
The Congress-UML coalition, which reached a seven-point agreement on July 1 and formed the KP Sharma Oli government on July 15, has included constitutional amendment as a major agenda.
However, former lawmaker Laxman Lal Karna of the LSP says the ruling parties have not prioritised this issue despite their agreement.
“We have taken the seven-point agreement positively, but the government has not addressed constitutional amendments since taking office,” Karna told the Post. “We should discuss what should be amended and what should remain unchanged.”
However, political analysts from Madhesh view the push for constitutional amendments by Madhes-based parties as a mere tactic to revive their political influence.
Analysts argue that the proposed amendments might have been resolved had the country’s federal structure been stronger. Although the country has been practising federalism since the 2017 elections, Madheshi parties are seen as undermining it rather than strengthening it, say political analysts.
“When it comes to Madhesh, we must separate the Madhesi parties, the Madhesi agenda, and the Madhesi people. To effectively address the Madheshi issues and constitutional amendments proposed by the parties, these three elements must align,” Chandra Kishor, a political analyst, told the Post.
Kishor believes that when the issues of Madhesi come up, the political parties claiming to represent the Madheshi remain divided.
While LSP is observing Constitutional Day as Black Day, the Madhesh Province government has announced plans to celebrate it by lighting oil lamps. The Janamat Party, which emerged as a new Madhesi political force through the November 2022 election, and is led by CK Raut, leads the Madhesh government with Congress and UML as coalition partners. Chief Minister Satish Kumar Shah’s office confirmed the celebration plans. Meanwhile, the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal, led by Upendra Yadav, remains undecided on how to observe the Constitution Day.

Kathmandu,
Road safety campaigners, civil society members and doctors, among others, have called on the government to take urgent steps to improve road safety in Nepal.
In a joint petition addressed to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, they urged the government to pass the Road Safety Bill from Parliament, endorse the National Road Safety Strategy and establish the powerful Road Safety Council without further delay.
“In a tragic incident, two passenger buses were swept by massive debris into the Trishuli river. While nearly 20 bodies have been recovered so far, the rest of the passengers remain missing. We call upon the government to ensure that such incidences do not repeat,” they said in the joint petition made public on Sunday.
A group of nearly 50 civil society members, including former diplomats, actors, doctors, professors, transport engineers, writers, journalists and experts from various sectors signed the letter addressed to the prime minister.
According to Nepal Police, nearly 24,000 people have lost their lives in road crashes over the past decade, while 72,000 more were seriously injured. According to the Ministry of Health and Population’s record, nearly 100,000 survivors of road crashes have been treated in various hospitals and health centres across the country in one year.
In its latest report, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 8,500 people die in road accidents in the country every year. Likewise, a study by the World Bank showed that Nepal has been facing an annual loss of nearly three percent of the national GDP due to road crashes.
The petitioners have also called upon the government to recruit at least 7,000 additional traffic police personnel or traffic inspectors across the country, improve the quality of roads, and implement strict road safety laws, including mandatory use of motorcycle helmets.
They have also called upon the government to set up vehicle fitness testing centres and introduce motor test certification, form a task force to review the national public transport policy, introduce an integrated and scientific transport based on a safe systems approach, enhance the capacity of driving schools, set standard for the quality of buses, conduct road network mapping and road safety audit across the country, among other measures.
The petition has also called for setting up 24-hour CCTV surveillance on high-risk highways and arterial roads, enforcing laws against drink driving and use of substances while driving, setting up vehicle fitness testing centres in all major cities of the country, devising strategies and protocols to conduct the search, rescue, treatment and rehabilitation of victims in the aftermath of road crashes.
The petitioners have also called upon Prime Minister Oli to direct the agencies concerned to introduce Star ratings of schools, roads, and vehicles based on road safety performance and introduce procedures to prioritise vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and wheelchair and white cane users.
They have also called for introducing an international driving permit (IDP), revising the Health Insurance Act to cover the treatment of victims of road crashes, introducing unlimited insurance and free legal assistance for road crash victims, and ensuring living wages for transport workers along socially appropriate safety measures.
The petitioners have said that enforcement of strong road safety measures will not only help the country’s economic progress but it would also help promote tourism and give the country a positive image on the world stage.

KATHMANDU,
The government has decided to hold by-elections for local government positions on December 1. The Cabinet meeting on Sunday approved the proposal put forward by the Election Commission.
“The meeting decided to conduct the by-elections on the date proposed by the Commission,” said Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung, the government spokesperson.
Earlier, high-ranking officials at the commission, including Chief Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, had met Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and proposed the by-election date.
According to Thapaliya, Prime Minister Oli had urged them to start the preparations. Prime Minister Oli also called on the election authority to create an environment for free, fair and peaceful elections. According to the election authority, there are 41 vacant positions, including two district coordination committee chiefs, two chairs, four vice-chairs, and 10 ward chairs of rural municipalities, as well as one mayor, one deputy mayor, and 21 ward chairs of municipalities.
Earlier, the commission conducted by-elections for the House of Representatives in Bara-2, Chitwan-2, and Tanahu-1 on April 23, 2023, and for Ilam Constituency-2 on 27 April 2024. The provincial assembly election in Bajhang (A) was also held on April 27.

KATHMANDU,
Nepal Oil Corporation reduced the price of petroleum products, effective from Sunday midnight.
The corporation slashed the price of petrol by Rs4 a litre and that of diesel and kerosene by Rs5 per litre.
As per the adjusted price, petrol will be available for Rs159/litre and diesel and kerosene will cost Rs149/litre in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Dipayal.
In Surkhet and Dang, consumers will have to pay Rs158 for a litre of petrol, while the price of diesel and kerosene will be Rs148 per litre.
Likewise, petrol will cost Rs156.5 for a litre in Charaali, Biratnagar, Janakpur, Amlekhgunj, Bhalwari, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi and Birgunj while diesel will be 146.5 per litre.

Despite the rhetoric of decarbonising the economy and ambitious pledges made to cut emissions to keep temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius during the annual Conference of the Parties meetings, extreme weather occurrences fueled by global warming are increasing, raising questions globally as to why the progress towards climate mitigation remains so slow. Meanwhile, with emerging facts about the consequences of rising polar temperatures, it seems like the worst is yet to come. Our efforts to fight the climate crisis are painfully lacking.  
Recall the severe droughts of the last two winters. They weren’t just regular droughts, as observed in the past decades, but a clear example of how climate phenomena occurring thousands of miles away have a bearing on the weather systems supporting our livelihoods and economy. The lack of winter rain has been attributed to the warming of the Indian Ocean and disruption of the Arctic polar vortex, as revealed by researchers examining the western Nepal winter drought of 2009, one of the most severe droughts in recent memory. Since then, winter droughts have been more frequent and lasted longer. With the Arctic region ceaselessly heating up four times faster than other areas, the cascading impacts on the Westerlies—responsible for bringing winter rains to our region—will undoubtedly continue to be strong. The Westerlies are also responsible for snow deposits at higher altitudes, including in the trans-Himalayan region of the country. As reported recently, farmers who rely on apple orchards as a major income source in Nepal’s northern region are already losing out as they’ve seen a massive drop in apple production in the last three years due to the lack of snow; its reversal seems unlikely.

Rare warming events
Rapid warming isn’t limited to the Arctic. Climate science research has revealed worrying facts from the Antarctic, too. A recent report discovered a series of rare instances of the warming of the stratosphere (the upper atmosphere about 30 km above the ground) over Antarctica. Unlike the Arctic, where such warming events are almost annual, these are uncommon in the Antarctic. Consequently, the polar vortex in the Southern Hemisphere normally remains more stable. However, according to the report, on July 7, the temperature in the middle of the stratosphere, which usually hovered around -80 degrees Celsius, reached 15 degrees Celcius. It cooled briefly and then rose to 17 degrees Celsius on August 5. This record-breaking warming over the Antarctic in the last 44 years has stunned researchers. Subsequently, the warming has disrupted the Antarctic polar vortex and affected global weather patterns.
Since the explanation for such sudden warming is yet to be ascertained, it appears connected to a higher ozone concentration over the region. Researchers believe that warming occurred when the ozone from other latitudes was drawn towards the polar region, a renewed concern in climate discourse. Whatever the reason, this raises questions regarding how it might play out when viewed from a teleconnection perspective, where events in one corner of the globe affect the weather in another. Though they are poles apart and occur alternatively, it’s yet to be seen if the warming of the poles and disruption of the vortex will produce any combined effect on the global weather system even more severely in future. Moreover, we must stay vigilant of any major event with a potential bearing on our weather system, like the disruption of the Arctic polar vortex suppressing the Westerlies. This should persuade us to consider what might be in store for our vital economic sectors of agriculture, tourism and energy.

Historical events
There isn’t much written about historical weather-related issues that shaped our land and sometimes demographic structure. Although such events have been recurrent, they are now more destructive and alarmingly frequent. One such incident was a mega-drought in 1919, which led to widespread crop failure and livestock deaths. Those who couldn’t grow enough to feed their
families moved to India and Burma (present-day Myanmar)—perhaps contributing to the drop in Nepal’s national population from 5.63 million in 1911 to 5.57 million in 1920, a fall of nearly 1.2 percent.
The historical mega-drought illustrates that the state made no effort to help people cope with the situation. People had no option but to escape the drought by moving elsewhere to start anew. A century later, the situation hasn’t changed much.
Despite several organisations at the national and local levels working on projects—many of them for decades—to address climate change together with government plans and policies, the impacts of drought, floods, declining water sources, forest fires and so on continue to rise, and so do the numbers of those impacted. Addressing these issues seems more complex because of a lack of local-level information, compounded by a limited workforce and nominal financial resources to implement appropriate climate actions.

Reviewing past events
With the increasing severity of climate impacts, we must play smart. There’s a need to identify area-specific problems because climate responses aren’t always one-size-fits-all. The responses must be tailored to suit local needs for specific issues an area faces several times a year. For example, areas at higher altitudes are threatened by expanding glacial lakes occasionally resulting in Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) and, more seriously, reduced snowfall, leading to increased drought. Middle hills face increased localised high-intensity rain, worsening the widespread problem of erosion, mass wasting, loss of farmlands,
drying water sources, etc. The low-lying areas of the valleys and Tarai region are increasingly being affected by floods, sand casting and river bank erosion.
From a practical standpoint, locating potential GLOF sites is pretty straightforward. They can be mapped for their state of critical urgency and area of influence in case the dams break. Planning for their mitigation can be done through proven methods of reducing the water level or installing early warning systems. However, developing effective and precise methods to address increasing droughts is an entirely different issue. It’s even more challenging to address the problems of the middle hills, which are extensive and difficult to foresee for their critical urgency.
As the imminent crises develop, we have no option but to move quickly with workable coping strategies. Reviewing historical events in each area would help us understand which regions or communities within the country are at higher risk and plan accordingly for quick and effective responses with the available resources.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister and current chair of the Rastriya Swatantra Party Rabi Lamichhane has desperately tried to evade responsibility for his role in the misappropriation of cooperatives funds. Yet the mounting pile of evidence suggests his clear culpability. The parliamentary special probe committee was specifically formed to look into his involvement in the siphoning of money from various cooperatives into the Gorkha Media Network, of which he was the Managing Director. If the feelers coming from the committee members are any sign, Lamichhane will be held accountable for his crime. Yet corruption in Nepal is not limited to Lamichhane or his party. If Lamichhane deserves to be investigated and, if found guilty, punished, so should members of any other political party, irrespective of the positions they occupy. Credible evidence has emerged of the involvement of Dhan Raj Gurung, the Nepali Congress Vice-president, in the embezzlement of funds from a Lalitpur-based cooperative. Gurung reportedly helped his ex-wife, Joyti Gurung, embezzle around Rs12.5 million. Similarly, there are accusations that Risikesh Pokharel, the CPN-UML leader who is also the chair of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee also helped his wife, Anjala Koirala, embezzle as much as Rs120 million from a Morang-based cooperative.
What is interesting about the cases against the senior Congress and the UML leaders is the state’s apparent collusion in shielding the two. For instance, the operators of Miteri Savings and Loan Cooperative had filed complaints against 11 people, including Gurung, for misappropriating funds. But the Bagmati Province government has excluded his name in the list of the possible culprits it has sent to the Central Bureau of Investigation of Nepal Police. (The province has Bahadur Singh Lama of the Congress as its chief minister.) Likewise, the Cooperative Registrar Office of the Koshi Province has excluded the name of Anjala Koirala in the list it has forwarded to the police. This is even though the victims of the cooperative had flagged her as one of the operators involved in fund embezzlement. (Koshi province has Hikmat Kumar Karki of the UML as its chief minister.) How seemingly the whole state apparatus is being employed to shield the political leaders from the two ruling parties is shocking. No wonder the government is facing allegations of bias and vindictiveness.
On Saturday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli spent much time fulminating against the Maoist Centre, new political forces, the royalists of various hues as well as Kathmandu’s mayor. Yet there was little in terms of introspection. How does he expect people to take either him or his government seriously when it is seen as protecting the corrupt and the compromised people? Rather than making big promises, Oli and his government would be better served if they are seen to be fairly applying the rule of the land and working in public interest. The cooperatives crisis is assuming alarming proportions. It has the potential to do serious damage to the national economy—besides adding untold miseries to hundreds of thousands of poor cooperatives victims who stand to lose everything if prompt measures are not taken to bring fraudulent cooperatives operators to book. If the Oli government plays with the cooperatives’ fire, it could find itself engulfed in the inferno.

Nepal is marking its ninth Constitution Day on Thursday. The country’s two largest parties—the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML—formed a coalition government a month ago with a commitment to reviewing and amending the constitution. In this context, Post’s Thira Lal Bhusal and Binod Ghimire sat down with constitutional expert Purna Man Shakya to discuss the good and bad aspects of the constitution amendment process.

The Congress and the UML have floated a proposal to amend the constitution. Is the time ripe to make changes in our statute?
Generally, constitutions are reviewed after around a decade of their implementation. So, we have come to the stage of reviewing whether our constitution has functioned properly. However, the sudden announcement of the amendment is premature, as this is a serious business. In our case, the constitution can’t be amended just based on the interest of one or two parties. It requires a national consensus. There should be an understanding among the political parties represented in Parliament. And, a sort of consensus even among the people’s level is important as there was huge public involvement in making this constitution. Sentiment of various communities must be respected while making any changes in the national charter.

What can be the modality of seeking consensus at the people’s level? Should a draft be prepared and opened up for debate?
While making changes in the constitution, some issues might be technical and not of interest to common people. But if any changes are made in policy issues that can alter our country’s structural dynamics, the concerned communities must be consulted. Just the present strength of the political parties represented in Parliament is no guarantee that they truly represent people. For instance, the Maoists emerged as the largest party through the election in 2008. But it has been shrunk to a distant third in the House. However, we can’t conclude from this that the people have discarded the party’s agenda. The Maoists might have been discredited due to their activities and failure in delivery but people might still favour the agenda they once championed. Similar is the case with other parties. Therefore, we have to consider broader consensus both in Parliament as well as the people’s level.

How challenging is it to enter the constitution amendment process?
Any amendment calls for a two-thirds majority in the House of Representa-tives as well as the National Assembly in the federal parliament. If an issue is linked to provincial authority, it should be endorsed by the majority [four] of seven provinces. So, this is not easy. Therefore, the parties should tread carefully.

You said that constitution amendments without a review process is not a right step. Could you elaborate?
The right way is to first have broad understanding among the top leaders of political forces on the issues and then constitute a panel of experts to conduct a comprehensive study on that. Such studies are conducted through two methods—doctrinal and non-doctrinal. The doctrinal method analyses related literature and principles on theoretical approach while the non-doctrinal method studies the public sentiments and opinions through surveys and interactions, and comes up with certain methodologies with the help of subject experts. Through such study, the experts identify the issues and recommend the ways to the politicians. This is the right process.

There are also arguments that reviewing the constitution without even bringing it into full-fledged implementation is wrong.
Based on the practice during these years, we have concluded that certain provisions didn’t work properly. It is true that we are talking about making changes in the constitution without even implementing certain provisions. First we have to give the system an opportunity to work in a full-fledged way. Then, we can evaluate whether it worked. Any move to dissolve the system without properly implementing it will create divisions and invite another conflict.

A question that is often asked: Is there a problem with our constitution or with our politicians?
People can change the constitution but the constitution can’t change the people. Therefore, a constitution should be developed also on the basis of the nature of people in the country who use it. If our political parties and the politicians had reformed themselves, we might not have had to discuss constitutional changes time and again. We should have made the system strong for more effective checks and balances and made leaders and officials more accountable.

The ruling parties reason that the constitution amendment became necessary to ensure political stability.
When a federal government is changed, its aftershocks are immediately seen in all seven provincial governments. It directly impacts development and other activities across the country. It’s a flaw in our party system but we have to find a solution in the system. We see people raising voices for two things—stability and retirement of old politicians. As Nepali politicians never retire voluntarily, we have to address it through the system. Direct election of executive head can be one way to address this problem. People have found local governments more effective than federal and provincial governments. It is because chiefs and representatives of local governments are directly elected and they can serve the full five-year term. Once people are given the right to elect heads of government, they won’t elect old faces such as KP Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Prachanda [Pushpa Kamal Dahal], who have been tested multiple times. It will serve two purposes—first, it gives stability and second, it allows popular leaders to emerge in place of the old ones. The old leaders have maintained control over national politics through their huge party organisations. But when people directly elect presidents and chief ministers their grip over party organisations can’t be decisive in national politics. For that we have to amend the constitution.
However, again, an expert team needs to thoroughly study the pros and cons of such changes. But what I can say based on the general study of public perception is that we can first go for direct election of executive heads at the provincial level. In the next phase we can go for direct presidential election at the federal level.

What went wrong in the practice of the three-tier federal system?
While adopting federalism, the basic idea was to allow the local governments to oversee local matters while the provincial governments would handle wide ranges of issues related to agriculture, industry, forest, education and health, etcetera. If the two sub-national governments handle these things, people don’t need to come to the centre seeking solutions to their problems. In such a scenario, the federal government can focus on important affairs such as foreign relations, defence, telecommunication, currency, national infrastructure projects and inter-provincial affairs. Such division of powers would automatically create specialisation in the respective governments.
But the federal system is not implemented as per that spirit. Provinces aren’t allowed to exercise their rights. People are still travelling to Kathmandu all the way from remote districts even for basic things. The constitution has mandated the provinces to maintain law and order in their respective provinces but the federal government hasn’t allowed them to have their own police forces. Provinces without police have become like administrative units. The centre has a huge bureaucracy in Kathmandu. It is high time that the centre delegates authority to provinces as per the constitutional spirit. Federal lawmakers have huge interest in local development activities because it is directly related to their election. They don’t want to lose this influence. The interest of federal lawmakers however contradicts with the constitution.

There is a belief that the local level has authority in areas where they can’t work effectively, for instance they are mandated to oversee the education system up to grade 12 while provinces don’t have much role. Do you think such jurisdictional matters need to be reviewed and provinces should be given more authority?
That’s right. First of all, we should be clear that there is no point in adopting a federal system if we don’t want provinces because we had central and local levels even in the past. Provincial layer is an integral part of federalism. So, we have to think about transferring certain rights from local to provincial level because the local units don’t have expertise to oversee education up to grade 12 on their own. Our local units are traditionally trained in local development activities. But now they are entrusted with the responsibility of not only overseeing education and health issues but also with legislative and judicial functions. They haven’t been able to play that role. We should think about transferring some roles from local to provincial levels. Likewise, the centre should be ready to allow the provinces to exercise their rights bestowed by the constitution. It is time to strengthen the provinces.

You said direct election of executive heads in provinces could end instability at the provincial level. But what if a popular leader got elected chief minister but other political parties won majority seats in the provincial assemblies? In such a situation, the rival parties may not help the chief minister pass a budget or policies from the assembly.
Yes, there are strengths and weaknesses of all systems. Such problems can be resolved because we see similar situations in other countries as well. Parties can’t prolong the deadlock in the House because they will be blamed for the impasse. One basis is that our local units are doing well under executive heads. So, we can practise it for a decade in the provinces and then apply it to the federal level based on that experience.

Some instances show that Nepal’s federalism might have been more effective had the judiciary worked proactively. For instance, the court hasn’t decided even the cases filed by provinces years ago. What do you think about the judiciary’s role in this connection?
Yes, those cases are still undecided. In the Constituent Assembly, the Maoist party had registered a proposal to form a separate constitutional court. The justices who were leading the judiciary at the time opposed the idea. It was later rejected. Then the idea to have a separate constitutional bench was included as a compromise deal. But it has failed to work effectively. It failed to decide election-related disputes. We have to review its jurisdiction. They have decided certain cases when there is public pressure. For instance they decided cases like House dissolution because there was constant public scrutiny. But they haven’t shown any interest in other important cases where constitutional interpretation is needed. Of late, a strong opinion is being built in favour of forming a separate constitutional court. These issues are being discussed seriously. This issue may emerge if the constitution amendment process begins.

CAPE TOWN, 
Ursula Felkers moved to “Tin Can Town” in 2007 after being evicted from an apartment near the centre of Cape Town when a new landlord took over.
She thought she would only be in Blikkiesdorp—where row upon row of shacks stand on a desolate plot next to Cape Town’s international airport—for a few months.
Intended for “housing emergencies”, the site 25 kilometres (15 miles) from central Cape Town made headlines in 2010 when the municipality was accused of moving thousands of homeless people there ahead of the World Cup.
“The city originally said this was only for three to six months,” said Felkers, 43, at her two-roomed shack made from rusting metal sheets. But a new housing project fell through and “16 years later, we are still waiting”, she told AFP.
“In summer, you suffocate inside. In winter, it’s like an icebox,” she said. There is not much here: no shops, no services, nowhere to work.
“In Woodstock (where she used to live), we had access to everything: we could walk to town, to the park, the supermarket or the butcher across the road,” she said.
Felkers’ name is among 340,000 on the Housing Needs Register for Cape Town, a city of around five million people.
Her family is one of 2.3 million on the national waiting list, most of them black and mixed-raced people whose families were forcibly displaced under the racially segregationist system of apartheid that ended 30 years ago.
“We had more than 300 years of explicitly racist urban planning which decided where different groups would live, and that legacy is still very present today,” said Nick Budlender from housing activist group Ndifuna Ukwazi.
The imprint of apartheid’s spatial segregation is strikingly apparent in Cape Town.
Its seaside areas and leafy inner-city neighbourhoods at the foot of Table Mountain are primarily enjoyed by white residents and tourists. On the outskirts are crowded and underserved townships where most people are black or mixed race.
They are “much further away from jobs, schools, and all the essentials needed for a decent life and a chance at social mobility,” Budlender said.
Since her husband was killed by a stray bullet at the door of their shack in 2015, Felkers has relied on social grants to raise her two children. Her son’s commute to school costs almost 1,000 rands a month (50 euros), which amounts to the entire grant.
“It takes 50 rands just to go into town and back, to put my CV out there,” she said. “If I still lived in the inner city, I would already have work.”
Cape Town has in recent years signed off on 10,000 housing units on well-located land, mayoral committee member Carl Pophaim told AFP. But the actual funding to build is a big concern, he said.
The city has “released more parcels of land in the last two years than in the 10 years before that,” Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said in a webinar hosted by the Daily Maverick newspaper last month. But there is a “mountain of red tape”.
At the same time, Airbnb tourist listings have soared. Cape Town has around 23,500 offerings, according to research project InsideAirbnb, more than major tourist cities like Amsterdam or Barcelona.
By taking “tens of thousands of homes completely off the property market”, Airbnb is contributing to “skyrocketing” rents, said Budlender. Airbnb rejected the criticism, telling AFP that almost half of hosts say the extra income helps them afford their homes.

DHAKA, Bangladesh,
A high-level US delegation met on Sunday with the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, to affirm “dedication to fostering inclusive economic growth,” according to the American embassy in Dhaka.
Yunus took over after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country last month amid a mass uprising. She was accused of corruption, violation of human rights and excessive use of force against the protesters.
During her 15-year rule, Hasina enjoyed close relations with India, China and Russia who have heavily invested in the country’s infrastructure development, trade and investment. The US has also become the single largest foreign investor in Bangladesh under Hasina.
Yunus on Sunday said he sought US support “to rebuild the country, carry out vital reforms, and bring back stolen assets,” his press office said in a statement after he met the delegation at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka.
He told the US representatives his interim administration has moved fast to “reset, reform, and restart” the economy, initiate reforms in financial sectors, and fix institutions such as the judiciary and police, the statement said.
The US delegation, led by Brent Neiman, assistant secretary for International Finance at the US Department of the Treasury, had representatives from the US Agency for International Development, and Office of the US Trade Representative.

MONTREAL,
If you care about the environment, think twice about using AI.
Generative artificial intelligence uses 30 times more energy than a traditional search engine, warns researcher Sasha Luccioni, on a mission to raise awareness about the environmental impact of the hot new technology.
Recognized as one of the 100 most influential people in the world of
AI by the American magazine Time in 2024, the Canadian computer scientist of Russian origin has sought for several years to quantify the emissions of programs like ChatGPT or Midjourney.
“I find it particularly disappointing that generative AI is used to search the Internet,” laments the researcher, who spoke with AFP on the sidelines of the ALL IN artificial intelligence conference, in Montreal.
The language models on which the programs are based require enormous computing capacities to train on billions of data points, necessitating powerful servers.
Then there’s the energy used to respond to each individual user’s requests.
Instead of simply extracting information, “like a search engine would do to find the capital of a country, for example,” AI programs “generate new information,” making the whole thing “much more energy-intensive,” she explains. According to the International Energy Agency, the combined AI and the cryptocurrency sectors consumed nearly 460 terawatt hours of electricity in 2022—two percent of total global production.
A leading researcher on the impact of AI on climate, Luccioni participated in 2020 in the creation of a tool for developers to quantify the carbon footprint of running a piece of code. “CodeCarbon” has since been downloaded more than a million times.
Head of the climate strategy of startup Hugging Face, a platform for sharing open-access AI models, she is now working on creating a certification system for algorithms.
Similar to the program from the US Environmental Protection Agency that awards scores based on the energy consumption of electronic devices and appliances, it would make it possible to know an AI product’s energy consumption in order to encourage users and developers to “make better decisions.”
“We don’t take into account water or rare materials,” she acknowledges, “but at least we know that for a specific task, we can measure energy efficiency and say that this model has an A+, and that model has a D,” she says.
In order to develop her tool, Luccioni is experimenting with it on generative AI models that are accessible to everyone, or open source, but she would also like to do it on commercial models from Google or ChatGPT-creator OpenAI, which have been reluctant to agree.
Although Microsoft and Google have committed to achieving carbon neutrality by the end of the decade, the US tech giants saw their greenhouse gas emissions soar in 2023 because of AI: up 48 percent for Google compared to 2019 and 29 percent for Microsoft compared to 2020.
“We are accelerating the climate crisis,” says Luccioni, calling for more transparency from tech companies.

WASHINGTON, 
From talks on social issues to topics like constitutionalism and religion, bookseller Yu Miao wanted Jifeng Bookstore in Shanghai to be a place for public discussions.
“But some topics are considered taboo and sensitive to discuss in public spaces,” he told AFP, of the store that was effectively forced out of business in China in January 2018.
Years later, Jifeng has started a new chapter as JF Books in Washington, a rare source of Chinese-language volumes in the US capital, covering everything from sociology to China studies. The bookstore originated in China in 1997, with up to eight outlets in cosmopolitan Shanghai at its peak.
But as Beijing tightened restrictions on booksellers and academics over the past decade, the store came under heightened scrutiny.
Authorities posed obstacles to organizing events on topics like feminism, constitutionalism and religion—sometimes notifying the store that certain seminars had to be canceled.
“We didn’t want to have any taboo topics or self-limitations,” Yu said, adding that subjects were chosen for their importance.
The store did not allow its decisions to be affected by concern over potential interference, added Yu, who took over the business from its founder in 2012. He recalls being delighted that most people attending the seminars were young.
But Jifeng came under increasing pressure to cancel events, and in 2017 it had trouble renewing its lease.
“You realize that your space for survival is shrinking,” Yu said.
In those years, he added, other publications, independent media and cultural institutions also shuttered amid scrutiny. In 2016, China shut down several online operations for independently reporting and publishing articles about potentially sensitive subjects. Some of the freewheeling political and social news sites of Sina, Sohu, Netease and iFeng were closed, state media reported at the time.
On one of the last days of Jifeng’s Shanghai operations, people were in the store when its power was cut.
“I think the power outage was also to prevent people from gathering,” Yu recounted. But instead of leaving, patrons lit up their mobile phones and put up battery-powered lights, casting a hazy glow over the space.
“People read poetry, sang, strummed the guitar and played the piano,” Yu said. “More readers heard the news and came to join us. It was a moving moment.”
Photos from that evening are displayed on JF Books’ brightly lit storefront in Washington, while handwritten cards from patrons of the Shanghai store remain displayed by its entrance.
After Jifeng’s closure, Yu moved to the United States with his wife and their children, furthering his studies.
With the family now planning to stay in the country for longer, opening another bookstore was a natural choice for Yu.
“My desire to participate in society came together with my inner regret,” he said, referring to his wistfulness over Jifeng’s closure.
Realizing it was tough to find Chinese-language books in Washington, even online, Yu figured that opening such a bookstore could fulfil the needs of readers like himself.
In addition to Chinese-language volumes, the store carries English titles with a focus on Chinese and Asian issues, alongside Asian authors’ works.
“Besides books from mainland China, we can also procure books published in Taiwan and Hong Kong,” Yu said. “This was hard to imagine when we were running a bookstore in Shanghai.” Many such books are not available in mainland Chinese stores due to strict controls.
Yu has faced other difficulties in recent years: after a visit to China, his wife was temporarily unable to leave, an experience he called “a nightmare.” Now, he added, “We really cherish being able to live together freely and without fear.”
Like its predecessor in Shanghai, Yu wants JF Books to be a space where people come together—to buy books or attend seminars and cultural activities. Already, three talks it is organizing in September, including one with Chinese-American poet Ha Jin, are fully subscribed. “It feels very nice to have a bookstore of Chinese books in (Washington),” said Rayna Zhang, 35, who visited the shop after reading about it on social media.
“I think it’s also a way of helping us keep up with the trends, the culture of young people back home,” added Zhang, who is Chinese.
Another patron, 36-year-old William Au, added: “I just find it fun that a place that seemed so prominent in the community out of Shanghai (is suddenly here).”

GENEVA: Switzerland on Saturday inaugurated its new supercomputer called Alps—one of the world’s fastest—which it hopes will help place the country first for trustworthy artificial intelligence solutions. The ETH Zurich university officially inaugurated Alps at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano, southern Switzerland. “Alps is an expression of our vision of a future characterised by knowledge and progress,” Economy, Education and Research Minister Guy Parmelin said in a speech at the CSCS site. In June, Alps was ranked as the world’s sixth most powerful supercomputer. However, at the time it was not fully constructed and had only reached 60 percent of its potential. The supercomputer was developed to meet extreme data and computing scientific requirements, and allows artificial intelligence to be utilised more fully. It is the central part of an initiative “to position Switzerland as the world’s leading hub for the development and implementation of transparent and trustworthy AI solutions”, ETH Zurich said in a statement. (AFP)

WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut for more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed chair Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to ensure both stable prices and maximum sustainable employment, has repeatedly stressed it will make its decision on rate cuts based solely on the economic data. But a cut on Wednesday could still cause headaches for Powell, as it would land shortly before the election, in which former Republican president Donald Trump is running against the current Democratic vice president, Kamala Harris. (AFP)

SEATTLE: Talks between Boeing and striking US factory workers are due to resume this week under a federal mediator, the government said after workers voted overwhelmingly to reject an earlier proposal from the embattled aviation giant. Thousands of Boeing factory workers in the United States walked off the job Friday over the pay dispute, its first strike in 16 years. Union leaders called for the strike to start just after midnight, shortly after hourly workers in the Seattle region in the Pacific Northwest spurned the tentative contract with 94.6 percent of the vote, and to strike with 96 percent. The strike shuttered two major plane assembly plants for the 737 MAX and 777 in the Puget Sound region and sidelines some 33,000 workers, further delaying the financially stressed company’s turnaround efforts. (AFP)

JERUSALEM,
A missile fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels landed in an open area in central Israel early Sunday and triggered air raid sirens at its international airport, in the latest reverberation from the nearly yearlong war in Gaza. Israel hinted that it would respond militarily.
There were no reports of casualties or major damage, but Israeli media aired footage showing people racing to shelters in Ben Gurion International Airport. The airport authority said that it resumed normal operations shortly thereafter.
A fire could be seen in a rural area of central Israel, and local media showed images of what appeared to be a fragment from an interceptor that landed on an escalator in a train station in the central town of Modiin.
Israel’s army said the surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by Israel’s defense system, which hit and fragmented the target but did not destroy it. It said the missile appeared to have fragmented midair. The military said the sound of explosions in the area came from interceptors.
The Yemeni rebels, known as Houthis, have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel since the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, but nearly all of them have been intercepted over the Red Sea.
In July, an Iranian-made drone launched by the Houthis struck Tel Aviv, killing one person and wounding 10 others. Israel responded with a wave of airstrikes on Houthi-held areas of Yemen, including the port city of Hodeidah, a Houthi stronghold.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at a similar response in remarks at a Cabinet meeting after Sunday’s attack.
“The Houthis should have known by now that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us,” he said. “Anyone who needs a reminder is invited to visit the port of Hodeidah.”
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the rebels, said they fired a ballistic missile targeting “a military target” in the area of Tel Aviv.
The Houthis have also repeatedly attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea, in what the rebels portray as a blockade on Israel in support of the Palestinians. Most of the targeted ships have no connection to Israel.
On Sunday, a European Union naval mission operating in the Red Sea said salvagers had begun towing a tanker that had been on fire for weeks after a Houthi attack. Operations Aspides said the Greek-flagged Sounion was being taken to a “safe location.”
The war in Gaza, which began with Hamas’ October 7 attack into southern Israel, has rippled across the region, with Iran and allied militant groups attacking Israeli and US targets and drawing retaliatory strikes from Israel and its Western allies. On several occasions, the strikes and counterstrikes have threatened to trigger a wider conflict. International carriers have canceled flights into and out of Israel on a number of occasions since the start of the war, adding to the conflict’s economic toll on the country.
Iran supports militant groups across the region, including Hamas, the Houthis and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, its most powerful ally, which has traded fire with Israel on a near-daily basis since the war in Gaza began. Iran and its allies say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Israel says ‘high probability’ its strike killed three hostages in Gaza
On Sunday, the Israeli military said there was a “high probability” that three hostages found dead months ago were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The army announced the conclusions of its investigation into the deaths of Cpl Nik Beizer, Sgt Ron Sherman and Elia Toledano. It said investigations had determined that the three were likely killed in a November airstrike that also killed a senior Hamas militant, Ahmed Ghandour.
All three of the hostages were kidnapped in Hamas’ October 7 attack. Their bodies were recovered in December, but the cause of death was only recently determined.
In its report, the army said there was a “high probability” they were killed in the strike, based on where the bodies were recovered, pathological reports and other intelligence.
But it said, “it is not possible to definitely determine the circumstances of their deaths.”
The conclusions could add pressure on the government to strike a deal to bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas. Critics say it’s too difficult and dangerous to try to rescue them. Late last month, Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages that it says were killed by Hamas captors shortly before Israeli forces arrived.
The army’s announcement is the first time it has linked the deaths of hostages to airstrikes. In other cases of bodies being recovered, the army has said people were either killed on October 7, died in Hamas captivity or were killed by the militant group.

New Delhi,
Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday he will
resign as chief minister of the Delhi regional government, a day after he was released from prison on bail in a graft case.
Kejriwal was granted bail on Friday by India’s Supreme Court and left prison on Saturday almost six months after being detained in relation to alleged irregularities in the capital city’s liquor policy.
Kejriwal is a fierce critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a former anti-corruption crusader whose decade-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) quickly rose to mainstream politics, although its clout is relatively small compared to older opposition parties.
AAP had expected that Kejriwal’s release from prison would allow him to campaign as a chief minister in regional elections next month in the northern state of Haryana, and in Delhi early next year.
Kejriwal, announcing his resignation as chief minister at a meeting with AAP workers, said he would only return to the post if people certify his honesty by voting for him in the upcoming Delhi election. He called on the Election Commission to bring forward the Delhi election to November, from February 2025.
“I demand elections be held in November with Maharashtra elections, I demand the elections be held immediately,” Kejriwal said.
He was first taken into custody in March by India’s financial crime-fighting agency, weeks before the country’s national elections, in relation to Delhi’s liquor policy.
Although he was granted bail in that case in July, he remained in detention due to his arrest the previous month by the federal police in another graft case related to the same policy.
Kejriwal, 55, and AAP deny the allegations and say the cases are “politically motivated”.

WASHINGTON,
It was almost time for the presidential debate, but Kamala Harris’ staff thought there was one more thing she needed to know. So less than an hour before the vice president left her Philadelphia hotel, two communications aides got her on the phone for one of the strangest briefings of her political career.
They told her that Donald Trump had been posting on social media about a false and racist rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pets. The former president might mention it during the debate, they said.
The warning, described by two people with knowledge of the conversation, proved spot on.
While answering a question about immigration policy, Trump said migrants in Springfield were “eating the dogs” and “they’re eating the cats.” Harris laughed, shook her head and stared at her Republican opponent in amazement. “Talk about extreme,” she said, and then moved on.
It was easily the most bizarre moment from last week’s debate, spawning an explosion of online memes and parody videos. Now, Harris is trying to use her performance as an ongoing source of momentum, hoping to rekindle the kind of energy that
she generated when she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
It is unclear whether the debate will affect the outcome of the Nov. 5 election. In a flash poll of viewers conducted by CNN afterward, opinions of Trump were unchanged and Harris received only a slight bump in the share of people who view her favorably. But her team is making the most of it, turning key points into television advertisements and flooding the internet with clips. No equivalent effort is apparent from Trump’s side, despite his repeated insistence that he came out on top.
There almost certainly will not be another debate; Trump has said he will not do one. That means the debate at the National Constitution Centre in Philadelphia may be the only chance that voters will have to see the candidates side by side.
This story is based on interviews with five people close to Harris, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations and reveal new details about how she prepared for and handled the debate. It was her first time meeting Trump in person. Harris spent five days getting ready at a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh after a breakneck few weeks of campaigning.
Her team recreated the set where she would debate Trump on the night of September 10. It was a far more professional setup than Harris had used eight years earlier as she was running for Senate in California, when campaign staff taped together cardboard boxes to serve as makeshift lecterns.
Two communications aides—one man, one woman—stood in for David Muir and Linsey Davis, the ABC News debate moderators. Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, reprised his role as Trump, which he played when the former secretary of state ran for president. Reines wore a dark suit, a long red tie and orange bronzer to embody Trump. One challenge would be the microphones.
When Biden was running, his team agreed that the debate microphones should be muted when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak. But Harris’ staff wanted the microphones hot at all times, which would allow her to jump in and create more opportunities for Trump to make outbursts.
But their campaign could not reach an agreement to change the rules, and the original plan remained in place. Harris decided to make the most of the split screen format, where each candidate would be on camera at all times.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida,
A billionaire spacewalker returned to Earth with his crew on Sunday, ending a five-day trip that lifted them higher than anyone has travelled since NASA’s moonwalkers.
SpaceX’s capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s Dry Tortugas in the predawn darkness, carrying tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, two SpaceX engineers and a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot.
They pulled off the first private spacewalk while orbiting nearly 740 kilometres above Earth, higher than the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope. Their spacecraft hit a peak altitude of 1,408 kilometres following Tuesday’s liftoff.
Isaacman became only the 264th person to perform a spacewalk since the former Soviet Union scored the first in 1965, and SpaceX’s Sarah Gillis the 265th. Until now, all spacewalks were done by professional astronauts.

BAGO, Myanmar,
Volunteers rushed to areas inundated by floods in Myanmar on Sunday as the country’s death toll from the Typhoon Yagi deluge surged to 113 and remote areas reported increasing numbers of dead and missing.
Floods and landslides have killed more than 400 people in Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand in the wake of Typhoon Yagi, which hit the region last weekend, according to official figures.
However, with roads and bridges damaged in Myanmar and phone and internet lines down, information has been limited.
One man told AFP how he had tried to rescue people with ropes as floodwaters four metres (15 feet) high surged through the hill town of Kalaw in Shan state on September 10.
“The current was very strong and even some buildings were destroyed,” he said, describing pieces of furniture being washed through the streets.
“I could see trapped families in the distance standing on the roofs of their houses,” said the man, who works for a local non-governmental group.
“I heard there were 40 bodies in the hospital,” he said.
A businesswoman in Yangon who runs a company in Kalaw told AFP her staff there had reported nearly 60 people had been killed in the town.
The junta said on Sunday the death toll had jumped to 113 by Saturday night. The previous toll had been put at 74. It did not specify whether any of those confirmed dead had been killed in Kalaw.
More than 320,000 people had been displaced and moved to “temporary relief camps”, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said.
At Inle Lake, a tourist hotspot about 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Kalaw, flood levels had risen on Saturday to the second storey of houses built on stilts above the water, according to one man there helping to evacuate his family. “Whole villages have been submerged” in some areas near the lake, he told AFP on Sunday, asking to remain anonymous.
“The elders say this is the highest level of flooding they have seen,” he said. Cars and trucks carrying volunteers were streaming north from the commercial hub Yangon to reach affected areas in Taungoo in the Bago region and around the capital Naypyidaw, AFP reporters said.
The vehicles were loaded with pallets of bottled water, bundles of clothes and dried food. Some had boats strapped to their roofs.
“We want to help anyone who needs help at the moment. That is why we arranged to go to the flooding area,” said one woman heading for Taungoo.
The floods have added to people’s miseries in Myanmar, where millions have already been displaced by more than three years of war since the military seized power in 2021.
Residents of the Yado displacement camp in eastern Karen state were forced to flee their temporary homes after torrents of water ripped through the camp.
Belto, a resident of the camp, said the waters had washed his house away, along with his sister who was inside trying to retrieve their money.
“She was taken by the water... and she got injured,” he told AFP on Saturday. “We are already displaced people from war zones and after the floods, we don’t have anything left... But we are not the only ones who face this fate, all families are facing difficulties.”
The Sittaung and Bago rivers, which flow through central and southern Myanmar, were both still above dangerous levels, state media said, although water levels were expected to fall in the coming days.
In the east, the Thanlwin river was more than two metres above its danger level in the state capital Hpa-an on Saturday, state media reported.

KYIV: At least 30 people, including three children, were injured when a Russian guided bomb hit a high-rise residential building in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine on Sunday. “The rescue operation in Kharkiv continues. A Russian air strike.
An ordinary residential building, a multi-storey building, was damaged. There is a fire and rubble between the 9th and 12th floors,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messenger app.
He posted photos of smoke and fire billowing out of the windows of a multi-storey building. All windows had been blown out. Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said civilian infrastructure was also damaged. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city, is located near the Russian border and is constantly under attack from Russian bombs, missiles and drones. “And the world must help defend Ukraine from Russian military aircraft, from dozens of guided bombs that take lives of Ukrainians every day. (Reuters)

DUBAI: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian will attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Russia, state media cited Tehran’s ambassador in Moscow as saying on Sunday, amid tensions with the West over military cooperation between the two countries. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that Russia had received ballistic missiles from Iran and was likely to use them in Ukraine within weeks. Cooperation between Moscow and Tehran threatened wider European security, he said. The United States, Germany, Britain and France on Tuesday imposed new sanctions on Iran, including measures against its national airline Iran Air. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday that Tehran did not deliver any ballistic missiles to Russia and that sanctions imposed by the US and the three European countries against Iran were not a solution. Iran’s ambassador in Russia Kazem Jalali confirmed on Sunday that Pezeshkian will attend the summit of the BRICS group of major emerging economies, scheduled to be held in Kazan, Russia from October 22 to 24, according to Iran’s state media. Pezeshkian will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin there, Jalali said. Iran and Russia are set to sign a bilateral comprehensive cooperation agreement. (Reuters)

GENEVA,
The new Champions League format kicks off Tuesday after more than six years of planning, one failed proposal and one Super League launch fiasco.
In the end, storied clubs who pushed for change from UEFA and created turmoil in European soccer got most of what they wanted: More teams, more games and more of them against strong opponents, more money.
Now there are 36 teams instead of 32, each playing eight games instead of six, against eight different opponents instead of three.
Opening night Tuesday hits a high note. Kylian Mbappé starts his quest for a first title with his third club, the record 15-time European champion Real Madrid that hosts Stuttgart. Mbappé reached the semifinals in 2017 with Monaco and was a beaten finalist in 2020 with Paris Saint-Germain.
Ultimately, all 36 teams will be ranked from top to bottom in a single league standings that finishes in January instead of traditional four-team groups that would end in December. UEFA has cleared its midweek schedule to relaunch the marquee club event over back-to-back-to-back nights—six games each through Thursday.

The new format
The league phase through January is quite simple. Each team plays a balanced schedule of eight games—four at home, four on the road—earning three points for a win and one for a draw. Eight different opponents were allocated in the draw last month by a software program picking two teams from each of four seeding pots. Seeding was based on a team’s UEFA ranking over five years of results in European competitions.
Recent champions Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich were among the top seeds. Low-ranked pot four included debutants Girona and Brest, and long-time absentees Aston Villa, Bologna and Stuttgart.
Advancing to the knockout phase is more complex, and UEFA suggested teams will need eight points from eight games to stay involved.
The top eight in the standings on January 29 go direct to the round of 16 in March seeded Nos 1-8.
Teams placed ninth to 24th in the standings enter a knockout playoffs round in February. Teams 9-16 will be seeded in the draw and play second legs at home against teams who placed from 17-24. The bottom 12 teams in the standings are eliminated.
The eight playoff winners advance as unseeded teams in the round of 16, which will be drawn into a set bracket like a tennis tournament. That replaces the old system of separate draws for the quarterfinals and semifinals.

Tuesday starts with ‘Miracle’ rematch
The new era starts with two 1645 GMT early kickoffs featuring three European Cup winners from the 1980s — Juventus (1985) hosts PSV Eindhoven (1988) and Aston Villa (1982) travels to Young Boys. Both are first-time fixtures between the teams.
Also playing are the four teams with the most European Cup and Champions League titles in their 70-season history. While Madrid plays Stuttgart, six-time winner Bayern hosts Dinamo Zagreb looking to extend a 40-game, seven-year unbeaten run in group stages. The standout pairing is AC Milan against Liverpool at San Siro. Milan won the last of its seven European titles in the 2007 final against Liverpool. That was a rematch of the 2005 “Miracle of Istanbul” final when Liverpool rallied from 3-0 down at half time to win the fifth of its six titles.

Man City-Inter meet Wednesday
A more recent rematch of another Istanbul final features the current champions of England and Italy. Manchester City, riding Erling Haaland’s hot start to the season, hosts Inter Milan it beat 1-0 in the 2023 final and is unbeaten in Champions League home games for six years. It is also a night for fresh faces. Girona, which is in the same Abu Dhabi-backed ownership group as Man City, will make its European debut at Paris Saint-Germain.
Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk in its first game in the competition since a preliminary round exit 60 years ago. Bologna still plays in the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara that has been its home since 1927 and staged games at the 1934 World Cup.

Leverkusen and Atalanta step up Thursday
The Europa League finalists last season now rise together to the bigger stage. Bayer Leverkusen’s only loss in a remarkable first full season under coach Xabi Alonso was that Europa final against Atalanta.
Now Leverkusen returns to the Champions League at Feyenoord, whose coach last season Arne Slot took the job at Liverpool that was first offered to Alonso. Atalanta hosts Arsenal which has lost captain Martin Odegaard to an ankle injury suffered playing for Norway on Monday.
La Liga leader Barcelona with 17-year-old star Lamine Yamal goes to Monaco and the most unlikely fixture of all 18 this week is Brest vs. Sturm Graz. Brest, founded 121 years ago, has never played a European game and Sturm last played in the Champions League 23 years ago. The game is being played at Guingamp, 110 kilometres east of Atlantic port city Brest, whose home stadium is not modern enough.

More prize money
UEFA has put at least 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) into the prize money fund for the 36 clubs, a 25 percent raise on last season. The title winner in Munich on May 31 can expect to get more than 160 million euros ($177 million).
Each team gets a basic 18.6 million euros ($20.6 million), then 2.1 million euros ($2.3 million) for each league-phase game won and 700,000 euros ($780,000) per draw.
Each place in the standings is worth more money with shares of 275,000 euros ($305,000) per place: 36 shares, or 9.9 million euros ($11 million), goes to the team finishing top in January and a single share to the last-place team. Bonuses escalate from 11 million euros ($12.3 million) per team for advancing to each knockout round.

LONDON,
Harry Brook is set to captain England for the first time in the upcoming one-day international (ODI) series against Australia after Jos Buttler’s persistent calf injury ruled him out, team management announced on Sunday.
Buttler has not played a competitive match since defending champions England lost a T20 World Cup semi-final against India in Guyana in June.
Buttler, 34, suffered a setback and has been forced to miss both the three-match T20 series, which concludes on Sunday, and the five-game ODI contest with Australia.
The 25-year-old Brook has only 15 caps in ODI cricket and said during last year’s chastening World Cup campaign in India, where England endured a woeful defence of their 50-over title, he was still “trying to figure out the format”.
But England already regard the Yorkshire batsman as a future long-term leader and his appointment means they will have deployed a new skipper in all three international formats this season.
Ollie Pope took over as Test captain from Ben Stokes when the all-rounder’s hamstring injury meant he missed the three-match series against Sri Lanka, with Phil Salt leading the T20 side after Buttler was sidelined.
Josh Hull, the 20-year-old left-arm fast bowler who made his Test debut in the Sri Lanka series finale at the Oval earlier this month, had been due to be a member of the 50-over squad but has suffered a quad injury and will rest ahead of next month’s trip to Pakistan.
Liam Livingstone, initially dropped from the ODI squad, has been recalled after two notable performances in a T20 campaign against Australia level at 1-1 ahead of Sunday’s decider in Manchester.
The ODI series against Australia, the reigning 50-over world champions, begins at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge ground on Thursday.

GUADALAJARA, Mexico,
Australian qualifier Olivia Gadecki powered into her first career WTA final on Saturday, beating Camila Osorio 6-2, 6-3 to book a title showdown with Magdalena Frech in Guadalajara.
Poland’s Frech, seeded fifth, battled back in both sets to beat fourth-seeded Caroline Garcia of France 7-6 (7/4), 7-5. Sunday’s winner in the 500-level hard court tournament will claim a first WTA title.
Gadecki, 22, had never reached a quarter-final until this week, and she hadn’t won a tour-level match since January. At 152 in the world, Gadecki is the third-lowest ranked player to make a WTA final this year, but her run to the final has included victories over former US Open champion Sloane Stephens and second-seeded Danielle Collins.
She is guaranteed to break into the top 100 for the first time when the new rankings are released on Monday.
“This week’s been a special one, and to be top 100 is pretty amazing and something I’ve strived for my whole career,” Gadecki said.
“My game plan was really just to play how I’ve always played. I’m an aggressive player, and I know I do well when I back myself and just commit, and I really feel like I did that well today.”
Against Garcia, Frech trailed 3-0 in the opening set and saved two set points before forcing a tiebreak, in which she also trailed 3-0.
She was also down 3-0 in the second, but it was more disappointment for Garcia, whose second-round victory over Ena Shibahara snapped a three-match losing streak that included a first-round exit at the US Open.
Garcia had then reached the semis via a walkover when Marie Bouzkova withdrew because of illness.
Frech, who entered the week at 43rd in the world, is assured of breaking into the top 40 on Monday.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)
Though watching from the sidelines may not be in your nature, steering clear of the limelight will provide a different perspective. Nurture the spirit by practising self-encouragement midafternoon.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
Pulling the trigger prematurely could lead to messes and disorganisation, and you’d be better off strategising first. Set boundaries to protect your vulnerabilities. Challenges could arise within personal goals.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21)
Your ability to read and process feelings will be pronounced. You’ll have a gift for setting boundaries with other people’s emotions without discrediting them. Harness these vibes by protecting your energy and standing your ground.

CANCER (June 22-July 22)
Let hope guide you today, dearest Cancer. Optimism, spiritual fulfilment, and manifestation work together, and you must maintain a strong belief in yourself, your loved ones, and the universe.

LEO (July 23-August 22)
You’ll feel things deeply, sweet lion, stirring up emotions to reveal your life’s strengths and cracks. Set your sights on finding empowerment, allowing yourself to ebb and flow through the changes before you without losing control of your destiny.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22)
Take more than a few moments to make space for love and grace, dearest Virgo. Now is the time to prioritise softness, putting your energy toward personal and interpersonal harmony. Seek camaraderie amongst those who inspire you.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22)
Find your flow, dearest Libra, setting the tone for an efficient and fulfilling start to the workweek. The more pampering you are toward yourself and others, the more productive and nurtured you will feel. Look for opportunities to promote teamwork.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21)
Brightness accompanies all that you do today, scorpion. The more authentic and creative you are, the easier it is to accomplish tasks and get ahead. Friendship also plays an essential role in your ability to thrive. Carve out time for laughter.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21)
Heighten your compassion and intuition. Though serving others can often feel like a thankless role, showing you care through helping hands and random acts of kindness will fill your spirit.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19)
Try to speak from other people’s perspectives today, dearest Capricorn. Intellectual bonds could trigger romantic feelings. Don’t kid yourself about who someone is, which could tempt you to ignore red flags.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18)
The more you seek beauty and stability, the more you’ll feel called to help others along their journey. Any special services you offer could lead to new financial opportunities. Don’t let others dim your light.

PISCES (February 19-March 20)
The more you invest in your agenda, the more eagerly others will help you. You’ll feel particularly revved up to do something bold, unleashing your passionate side. Allow yourself to be open and creative.

Kathmandu,
Pavitra Bahadur Gautam’s inquisitive nature was always drawn to science and technology. From a curious child to the CEO and Co-founder of Karkhana, his journey has been one of learning, growth, and innovation. Gautam is a former president of the Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum (NYEF), Kathmandu Chapter, and is currently an executive member of its National Governing Council. An electronics and communication engineer by profession, he focuses on promoting scientific thinking and strengthening science and STEM education in schools. Through NYEF, he also advocates for youth entrepreneurship.
At the end of his schooling, he became interested in computer programming. After SLC (now SEE), he began an internship, which he considers crucial to his growth and development. He believes, “The sooner you engage in professional activities, the better.”
While studying engineering in college, he became interested in robotics. In 2009, he co-founded the Robotics Association of Nepal, where he volunteered for three years.
Karkhana was founded in 2013 and was initially envisioned as a space to connect engineering with innovation. However, as they continued exploring, they realised that fostering innovation was more important than just focusing on engineering. The key was cultivating the right mindset, scientific thinking, and a culture of experimentation rather than simply teaching tools and concepts. This shift in focus led to Karkhana evolving into an educational platform.
Karkhana was created to promote a culture of experimentation and encourage Nepal students to develop the right mindset and attitude. Gautam highlighted that students can take control of their future by thinking scientifically and embracing experimentation. He believes this kind of education should begin in schools where science is taught in an engaging, relevant, and meaningful way. Karkhana’s goal is to nurture science as a way of thinking, not just as a subject to study.
Karkhana also creates science kits that are aligned with the school curriculum. Beyond just making these kits, it is working to build a comprehensive ecosystem. In addition to the kits, Karkhana develops lesson plans, resources, and workbooks and trains teachers to use them effectively, helping integrate science into classrooms in a fun and meaningful way. Everything included in the kits is engineered and designed by Karkhana itself.
In addition, it is involved in manufacturing, research, teacher development, lesson plan design, pedagogy design, and digital content creation.
Nearly 1,000 different materials are used to create Karkhana kits. While Karkhana designs all the materials, some are imported, others are designed locally but manufactured in factories, and some are produced in-house. All materials are assembled and distributed from Karkhana’s factory. To make the kits more eco-friendly and sustainable, minimal plastic is used, with most materials made from paper and wood. Gautam emphasised that although many assume the Karkhana kit is a toy, it is a learning tool designed to be playful.
Karkhana collaborates with the local government and the education ministry, which supports its efforts. The organisation partners with large and government schools in rural areas of Nepal. The ultimate goal is to ensure quality education for everyone.
A major challenge for Karkhana is the lack of awareness. In Nepal, science is often seen merely as a subject rather than a culture and way of thinking. Additionally, there is a perception that manual labour has a lower status than intellectual work, which poses another challenge. Access to capital has also been a significant hurdle, especially in Karkhana’s early days.
He notes, “Sometimes working in an economy and country like Nepal feels like moving forward in a leaking boat. There’s always something going on, whether the current economic crisis, past political turmoil, Covid, earthquakes, etc., making running a business very challenging. We’re constantly in a fight-or-flight mode, which complicates business operations.” He also highlights a recent concern: the growing hopelessness among young people and the trend of brain drain, which negatively impacts the ecosystem, human resources, quality of work, and the governance system.
He notes that in Nepal, there is a fear associated with admitting that one is in business. People are often reluctant to acknowledge profit openly, as if profit itself is fraudulent. He points out that while Karkhana is a profit-making company, it reinvests its profits into further research and development.
As someone who has managed Karkhana for over a decade, he acknowledges that sustaining and operating a business in Nepal is challenging due to the lack of quality in education, life, and livelihood. People seek a healthy economic environment, growth opportunities, and meaningful work, but these are often scarce in Nepal. He admits that while it is difficult, it is not impossible. To address these challenges, he suggests leveraging one’s privileges effectively, fostering a strong work culture, and improving salary scales.
He argues that Nepal’s education system has not effectively equipped students to handle failure. As a result, many people seek the least risky path to success, with the prevalent belief that going abroad is the safest route. However, he contends that this is not necessarily true. Karkhana’s ultimate goal is to cultivate a generation skilled in scientific thinking so that they are not merely following a path but creating their own. Building scientific thinking involves more than studying subjects like physics and biology; it requires developing a mindset for forming hypotheses, experimenting, observing results, and generating new knowledge applicable to various fields. He believes that significant positive changes can be achieved if society embraces scientific thinking.
Karkhana’s kits have helped students reduce screen time by engaging them in hands-on activities during their free time. Additionally, the kits have equipped teachers with practical resources to enhance their teaching. Currently, Karkhana has reached 150 schools across 25 districts, supporting 400 teachers and enabling 35,000 students to practice science in a practical manner.
Regarding his role in NYEF, he explains that the organisation aims to foster positive thinking among young entrepreneurs. Recognising that leadership can be a lonely journey, NYEF helps unite people to collaborate and build a strong community. It organises numerous events to promote young entrepreneurship and also provides seed funding. Last year, NYEF hosted 180 events. With 14 chapters and nearly 900 young entrepreneurs, the organisation creates about 35,000 to 40,000 jobs in Nepal. As NYEF supports younger entrepreneurs, its members are all under 40.
He notes that Nepal offers numerous opportunities since many areas remain untapped. However, there is a lack of flexible policies and adequate access to funding. Through NYEF, he aims to give back to the community he came from. Meanwhile, Karkhana serves as a platform for him to turn his dreams into sustainable action.

Kathmandu,
Writer and journalist Sudheer Sharma unveiled his two new books at the Yak and Yeti Hotel in Kathmandu on Sunday. The two works come after the twin successes of ‘Prayogshala’ and ‘The Nepal Nexus’.
This time, his ‘Bhikshu, Byapar ra Bidroha’, and ‘Himalpari Ko Huri’ have been published by Kitab Publishers.
These two books explore the historical relationship between Nepal, Tibet, and China. They span 1,500 years and detail the evolution of these ties up to the present day.
The book was launched in the presence of four guest speakers: Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa, CPN-UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel, Rastriya Swatantra Party vice-chair Swarnim Waglé, and Lila Nyaichyai, an expert on Nepal-China ties.
At the launch, Nyaichyai said, “A journalist has become a historian.” She praised the book for its account of the Tibet-Nepal relationship and its use of Nepal Bhasa and Tibetan language.
Pokharel remarked that the books offered a multi-dimensional perspective on the Nepal-Tibet relationship, highlighting the economic highs and lows influenced by this connection. He also offered feedback to the author, noting that the book focused on the Kathmandu Valley–and perhaps the area under review could have been widened.
Waglé meanwhile termed the book a ‘page-’turner. He praises the meticulous research, sources, citations, and interesting storytelling.
Thapa provided a chapter-by-chapter review of both books. He emphasised the need for Nepal to leverage its relationships with its two neighbours, India and China, both of which are major players in the global economy. He also pointed out that Nepal has not made significant efforts to understand China and vice-versa. Thapa recommended that young people interested in economics and politics read these books.
At the end of the event, writer Sharma thanked everyone present. He addressed the books’ shortcomings and asked for more feedback from readers. He said he wrote these books so that the youths can analyse Nepal’s past and understand the country’s present and future. He said he would be happy if the book served as a platform for discussions about Nepal’s role vis-a-vis the growing economies of India and China.
At the end of the formal event at a jam-packed Yak and Yeti hall, Sharma was surrounded by a hoard of people wishing him to sign the books. He did it all with his trademark smile.

The arts rarely have anything good to say about critics. That they’re not generally the hero of many stories is, at the very least, understandable. More often they’re portrayed as joyless, cruel and a little pathetic; themselves failed artists who live to take down others, or, worse, sycophants in search of a famous friend.
Without getting into any sort of philosophical, or even factual debate about the nature of the kind of person drawn to criticism (besides perhaps a staunch antipathy to either job security or amassing wealth), it is safe to say that the drama critic of “ The Critic ” takes all the worst stereotypes to hysterical heights.
Set in the 1930s in London, Ian McKellen is Jimmy Erskine, a veteran theater critic whose reviews can make or break a play or a performer. He has a monastic devotion to telling the truth, as entertainingly as he can, and knows what he must sacrifice to do so.
“The drama critic is feared and reviled for the judgement he must bring,” McKellen says in an ominous voiceover. “(He) must be cold and perfectly alone.”
When one woman dares to chat him up after a play, offering her take on the material and performances, he swiftly tries to have her removed from the restaurant claiming he must be protected from the general public. When an actress, Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), confronts him about his wildly inconsistent criticisms of her (how can she be both plump and emaciated, she wonders), he refuses to apologise. And he scoffs when the new boss at the newspaper, David Brooke (Mark Strong), implores him to tone it down: “Be kinder,” he says. “More beauty, less beast.”
But what starts as satire spirals into a wildly messy tragedy with contrivance upon contrivance. This is a film that could have listened to its anti-hero’s advice to the flailing actress: Do less. That someone as great as Lesley Manville, as Nina’s mother, gets a mere handful of scenes and is only minimally consequential to it all is telling. It strives to be an intricate spider-web of compelling, intersecting stories, but few characters are fleshed out enough for us to care.
‘The Critic’, handsomely directed by Anand Tucker (‘Hilary and Jackie’, ‘Leap Year’) and written by Patrick Marber (‘Closer’, ‘Notes on a Scandal’), is very loosely based on Anthony Quinn’s novel ‘Curtain Call’, itself more a murder mystery than this ever allows itself to be. Instead, the film is about the desperate lengths a man will go to when his job and freedom are threatened. Erskine is the kind of gentleman critic whose power and authority have gone unchallenged for so long, he’s become delusional beyond recognition. His words don’t just destroy, though. They’ve also inspired. Even the actress he obliterates time and time again admits as much: She tells him his writing made her fall in love with the theatre.
There are some fun ideas here, and good performances. McKellen is having a wonderful time living inside this charismatic monster who you are with until you’re really not. Erskine is also gay; an open secret that becomes a liability with his new boss and the rise of fascist thought around him. But none of it really adds up to anything poignant or enormously entertaining; its darkness is both lopsided and superficial, as most become casualties of Erskine’s aims. Theater critic as tyrant is a juicy premise; ‘The Critic’ just can’t live up to the promise.
‘The Critic’, a Greenwich Entertainment, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “some language and sexual content.” Running time: 100 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

– Associated Press