NEW YORK,
#MeToo founder Tarana Burke has heard it before. Every time there’s a legal setback, the movement is declared dead in the water. A legal success, and presto, it’s alive again.
So Burke, who nearly two decades ago coined the phrase “Me too”
from her work with sexual assault survivors, found herself again declaring after New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction:
The #MeToo reckoning is greater than any court case. It’s still there, and it’s working.
The most obvious proof, Burke
said: “Ten years ago we could not get a man like Harvey Weinstein into the courtroom.”
The movement, she said, was responsible for that huge cultural shift—regardless of the Hollywood mogul’s ultimate legal fate.
Also seeking to take the long view, following a legal setback that stunned many survivors and advocates, was Anita Hill. She testified against Clarence Thomas during his 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearing, becoming the face of the fight against sexual harassment more than a
quarter-century before the Weinstein revelations launched the #MeToo movement.
Alongside her academic career, Hill now heads the Hollywood Commission, which seeks to fight harassment in the entertainment industry. She sought on Thursday to reassure survivors that progress is real.
“I want those who are saddened by the New York Court of Appeal’s decision to know that no single legal ruling can ever match the tremendous progress we have made together in the movement against sexual violence,” Hill told The Associated Press in an email.
“The movement will persist,” she added, “driven by the truth of our testimonies. And changes to our systems and culture will follow.”
It was, of course, a rough morning for sexual assault survivors across the country, as Burke acknowledged at a hastily arranged Manhattan news conference following the court ruling with activists including Ashley Judd, one of the earliest Weinstein accusers.
In what Judd called “an act of institutional betrayal,” New York’s highest court, in a 4-3 decision, ordered a new trial, saying the first one had prejudiced Weinstein, 72, with improper rulings, including letting some accusers testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. Weinstein will remain in prison, however, because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape.
Among those who testified in New York was Dawn Dunning, a supporting witness, who told the court how during a business meeting Weinstein slid his hand up under her skirt and fondled her genitals.
Dunning told the AP through her attorney, prominent #MeToo lawyer Debra Katz, that she was “shocked” by Thursday’s ruling and dealing with a range of emotions, including asking herself, “Was it all for naught?”
“It took two years of my life,” Dunning said. “I had to live through it every day. I had to live through the terror of confronting Weinstein. But would I do it again? Yes.”
She said that in confronting the producer, she had faced her worst fear and realized he had no power over her. And she was proud that her testimony helped other women earn some justice.
Katz said she had spoken to Dunning and other accusers—women who felt “gutted”—reminding them of the important role they’d played in the broader reckoning against sexual abuse and violence.
“They testified at great personal cost. ... It was life-altering for them,” Katz said. “And to feel like this was maybe all for naught is a very, very, bad feeling.”
Still, Katz felt certain Weinstein would be convicted in a new trial.
“Their testimony was invalidated by the court today due to legal technicalities,” Katz said. But “no one doubted the truth of what they testified to, or the courage of their testimony. And so while this is a setback in this case, I do believe that their testimony changed the world.”
The testimony fundamentally altered how people view and react to issues of sexual assault in the workplace, she said.
“And their courage has grown beyond this case—people continue to come forward, people continue to support other victims who’ve reported sexual assault and violence, and I truly believe there’s no going back from that,” Katz said.
Many advocates saw the moment, however dispiriting, as an opportunity to call for a renewal of efforts to push the #MeToo message forward.
“Today’s decision does not erase the truth of what happened,” said Fatima Goss Graves, head of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund. It’s important to remember, she said, “that one well known case does not define this movement. We are a force.”
Graves noted the fund has provided support for some 9,000 people with sexual harassment complaints since 2018, and has funded 300 lawsuits. The fund is run by the National Women’s Law Center in Washington; the broader Hollywood-based group, launched in 2017, shifted all its resources to the fund in January 2023.
Burke stressed in an interview that while legal advances are necessary for progress, “the judicial system has never been a friend of survivors. And so it’s the reason why we need movements, because movements have historically been what has pushed the legal system to do the right thing.”
Burke said she spent the morning speaking to accusers, including actor Annabella Sciorra, who testified at the 2020 trial that Weinstein raped her.
“I can understand how devastating and disgusted and angry, just the range of emotions that so many of them must feel,” Burke said. “And I hope they understand for those of us survivors who will likely never see a day in court, that they are still heroes to us.”
Burke, who has spoken out about her own past as a survivor of abuse, added she could never imagine facing her own perpetrator in court.
“So just the fact that they got to do that, to bring a person, a man like Harvey Weinstein to account for his crimes, is incredible,” she said.

Kathmandu,  
Four projects to be funded by the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) are in the final stage of negotiation, officials say. Chairman of the Chinese external aid agency, Luo Zhaohui, is in Kathmandu as the head of the country’s delegation to the third Nepal Investment Summit.
According to officials, there is a high possibility of a letter of exchange being signed within days. During the investment summit, the government and the private sector of China will also sign some projects that are in an advanced phase of negotiation, said officials from multiple ministries in Kathmandu.
Those projects in the final round of negotiations are second phase of Ring Road expansion (Kalanki to Maharaj-gunj), Araniko Highway upgrade, Nepal-China cross-border power transmission and Hilsa-Simkot road.
“The Chinese side has communicated to us that they have already allocated the budget for expediting these projects,” Bishnu Pukar Shrestha, the Nepali Ambassador to China, who is currently in Kathmandu, told the Post. The CIDCA will fund and execute these projects, he added. However, the Chinese side is yet to disclose the budget to be spent on these projects.
On Friday, two agreements were signed and there will soon be an agreement on construction of these four projects, said Shrestha. On Friday, too, Nepali and Chinese officials discussed paperwork for the four projects and continued with their negotiation so that an agreement can be signed during the investment summit scheduled to take place on Sunday and Monday, a finance ministry official said.
“We signed some agreements and meeting minutes today and we have received the text for the letter of exchange of some important projects including Kathmandu Ring Road,” Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun said after the signing of the two agreements. In order to meet some legal obligations, their finalisation is going to take some time, Pun added.
“Once we complete the legal process, the projects will be signed and hopefully put into speedy execution,” said Pun. Given the Chinese record of timely project completion elsewhere, the minister expects a similar pace of work in Nepal too.
He also raised the issue of accessing the money announced during the Nepal visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping. “During the state visit of the Chi-nese president in 2019, there was an announcement of 3.5 billion RMB [approximately Rs60 billion] by the Chinese side but we could not use that assistance. We are committed to executing projects agreed during the visit of the prime minister last year and want to learn from China’s development experience,” said Pun.
Acknowledging delays in some-China funded projects in Nepal, the finance minister said the approved projects will be expedited soon.
A government secretary called for a productive use of Chinese aid, rather than seeking the neighbour’s help in minor projects that Kathmandu can execute on its own.
“If the Nepal government decided to expand the Ring Road with its own funds, it would have been built years ago. The Chinese side has not disclosed the budget or the detailed project report of the second-phase Ring Road expansion”, said the secretary.
The secretary also pointed to repeated signing of memoranda of understanding. “These four projects have been agreed on and agreements signed several times in the past.”
Two senior officials at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they have no idea how negotiations were going on with the Chinese side. Only the finance ministry is engaged in the process, the senior officials said.
During the China visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in September last year, Beijing had committed support for the establishment of a bone marrow transplant facility at the BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Chitwan. “China is ready to provide more support and cooperation with Nepal in the health sector,” the joint statement issued then read.
“This includes the establishment of bone marrow transplant services at the BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital. China will provide support for the construction of the physical structure, impart training to doctors and the Nepali technical manpower,” said a new statement issued after the signing of the agreement at the Ministry of Finance between Health Secretary Dr Roshan Pokhrel and CIDCA Chairman Luo on Friday.
Another new agreement is on imparting training for the Nepali human resources in various fields signed between the finance secretary and Lou. Beijing has assigned CIDCA to execute various projects under the agency established in 2018 with the mandate to formulate strategic guidelines, plans and policies for foreign aid, coordinate and offer advice on major foreign aid issues, advance the country’s reforms in matters involving foreign aid, and identify major programmes and supervise and evaluate their implementation.
The Chinese people and the government want to show firm solidarity with Nepal’s coalition government, Luo said.
“My purpose is to speed up bilateral project cooperation.”
He praised Nepal as a great country. “You have overcome the difficulties [arising] from the Covid pandemic, and the outside economic situation was not friendly. Now you are moving towards political stability, and economic recovery, especially in the tourism sector,” said Luo.
There are a lot of potential areas where the two countries can work together, said Luo. In his meeting with Prime Minister Dahal on Friday morning, he recalled the 2019 visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Kathmandu and the consensus then reached to build trans-Himalayan rail connectivity.
Last year Prime Minister Dahal, during his official visit to China, reached consensus with Beijing on a number of issues, said the head of China’s external aid agency. Luo attached priority to implementing the projects agreed between the two countries’ top leaders.
In his meeting with Dahal, Luo is said to have discussed past agreements. The two agreed to expedite projects that China had committed to earlier, according to a statement issued by the prime minister’s private secretariat.
“More trading points between Nepal and China have been opened, providing relief to the people of the border areas,” the prime minister said. “I have also sensed an excitement among Chinese investors when it comes to investing in Nepal.”
Lou told the prime minister that Chinese investors want to invest in Nepal’s infrastructure, transmission lines, and feasibility study of the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel project, among others.

KATHMANDU,
With two days left for the much-touted third investment summit, uncertainty hangs over the amendment to nine laws necessary to attract investors.
To attract investors, the Cabinet on Tuesday decided to amend nine Acts through an ordinance to clear legal complexities. An ordinance becomes effective after an authentication by the President.
However, the ordinance did not reach the President’s Office by the end of office hours on Friday, clearly indicating a lack of urgency in the Pushpa Kamal Dahal administration.
“The ordinance hasn’t reached the President’s Office by Friday evening. The President needs to study the content before authentication,” Baburam Kunwar, legal adviser to President Ramchandra Paudel, told the Post.
“Saturday is a public holiday. I don’t think the ordinance will be issued before the summit.”
The two-day summit commences on Sunday. Kunwar said the government should give the President ample time to study the content of the ordinance but, despite repeated inquiries, the government has not forwarded it.
Ministers in the Dahal Cabinet say the ordinance could not be dispatched early as they were busy fine-tuning its language. “It took time to refine the language. I believe it will reach the President’s Office and be issued on Saturday,” Padam Giri, minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, told the Post.
The presidential seal alone is not enough for the ordinance to come into force. It also needs to be published in the national gazette after the authentication.
If the claim of the government is to be believed, various provisions of the Lands Act, National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, Land Acquisition Act, Electronic Transactions Act, Special Financial Act, Public Private Partnership and Investment Act, Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, Forest Act and Industrial Enterprises Act have been amended through the ordinance.
When the ordinance is issued there will be no legal hurdles in the execution of projects in forest areas, mainly those listed as national priority projects or those approved by the Investment Board Nepal. Similarly, payments in foreign exchange will be made easy once the ordinance comes into force.
Easing the registration and operation of startup enterprises, allowing mining and extraction of minerals from forest areas and ensuring uninterrupted supply of construction materials to infrastructure projects are other new arrangements in the Acts.
The decisions on the amendments were made just a few days before the summit. It was in November last year that the Dahal government decided to hold the summit to attract foreign and domestic investors.
Amid suggestions from the business community that several provisions in the existing laws are unfriendly for investment, the government in January had constituted a committee headed by Ek Narayan Aryal, then secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, to identify laws and regulations that keep investments from flowing into the country as well as problems in accessing financing, and suggest ways to streamline laws and remove procedural and structural flaws.
The report submitted to Chief Secretary Baikuntha Aryal in February first week recommended amending over a dozen Acts.
The report said legal reforms will improve the investment climate and help bring capital into various service and industrial sectors.
However, for months, there was no initiative to amend the laws. The government was in no hurry to present the bills in the winter session of Parliament. With the summit less than a week away, the government on Tuesday decided to issue the ordinance.
Economists have been warning that such an ad hoc approach cannot create a conducive climate for investment.
The government has decided to showcase 148 potential projects, with nearly Rs900 billion worth of ready-to-go projects, before foreign and domestic investors at the summit.
Most of them are hydropower projects, with 1,902 MW Mugu Karnali storage hydro project, whose cost has yet to be estimated, being the biggest, followed by 1,216 MW Khimti Thoshe Shivalaya storage hydro project in Dolakha, with an estimated cost of Rs231 billion. Likewise, the 150-km Chandragiri-Chitlang-Palung expressway, which connects Kathmandu with Chitwan, is also on the list. Its estimated cost is Rs221.12 billion.
Over 1,100 people representing various business houses and donor agencies from Nepal and abroad are participating in the two-day event. In addition to 385 from Nepal, 634 investors, business people and representatives of the donor communities from 52 countries are converging in Kathmandu for the summit.
China will have the highest number of delegates (265), followed by India (143), the United States (33) and Japan (28).

BIRENDRANAGAR & MUGU,
Doctors and health workers think they are being punished when they get transferred to health facilities in Karnali Province, which has been affecting  services at public health institutions in the province for years. Even those doctors and health
workers who are from outside the province and have been working in Karnali for years say that providing services is challenging although not impossible.
According to the Karnali Province Health Directorate, there are 895 government positions for health workers in the province, but only 314 have been filled. Similarly, there are 79 positions for specialist doctors, but only ten have been filled, and out of the total 157 positions for medical officers, 124 are vacant.
Most of the doctors and health workers from outside the province refuse to work in Karnali, and those who do come, soon apply for leave or transfer under various pretexts, and the posts become vacant again.  
Mugu District Hospital of the province has been referring patients for all surgical procedures to health institutions outside the district. Patients have to visit the Karnali Institute of Health Sciences in Jumla, Karnali Provincial Hospital in Surkhet, or Bheri Hospital in Nepalgunj even for minor surgeries and specialist services since the hospital in Mugu has not had any specialist doctors since 2022.
Mugu residents have been put under further financial strain as they have to undertake a one-to-two-day road journey to reach Jumla, Surkhet, and Nepalgunj for treatment.
According to Dr Arjun Bham, a doctor at Mugu District Hospital, surgical services have been hugely affected at the health institution as the only two posts of specialist doctor are vacant.
“In the absence of specialist doctors [eighth-level medical officers as per government ranking], MBBS doctors have been conducting caesarean sections to save the lives of pregnant women. Specialist doctors are reluctant to work in Mugu due to its remoteness,” said Bham.
“Around 120 to 130 people visit the hospital’s outpatient department daily for treatment, with an additional 10 to 15 patients in emergencies and these numbers are slightly more during the monsoon. But there are no specialist doctors. Despite our repeated requests, the provincial government has not been able to send qualified doctors,” Bham added.
Dr Ganesh Thapa from Sainamaina Municipality of Rupandehi, was transferred to the then Surkhet Regional Hospital and now Karnali Provincial Hospital, Surkhet, 17 years ago as a seventh-level medical officer. He completed his MBBS from the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital and his Masters in General Surgery from Bir Hospital.
Thapa is currently the eleventh-level medical officer and the chief consultant surgeon at the provincial hospital.
“Earlier, health workers and doctors were reluctant to work in Karnali citing difficult geography and due to difficult topography, lack of transportation and inadequate living arrangements. Many would leave in a year or two for cities such as Kathmandu, Nepalgunj, and Pokhara,” said Thapa.
“But these days, new doctors don’t want to work here due to better opportunities abroad and in cities like Kathmandu. In my team as well, there are no junior surgeons, and despite the hospital management repeatedly advertising vacancies for years, nobody has applied,” Thapa added.
“Most of Karnali comprises geographically challenging hilly and mountainous areas with little development and these things dissuade doctors from working here. It is not that the government and relevant agencies have not tried to bring doctors and health workers here, but they have not succeeded,” said Dr Dambar Khadka, the director of the provincial hospital. “Except for Thapa, there are no eighth-level doctors at the provincial hospital, and when he is on leave, we postpone surgeries,” said Khadka.  
Navaraj Kandel, information officer at the Karnali Province Health Directorate, said that except for Mugu, almost all the districts of the province have at least one eighth-level medical officer, commonly known as a specialist doctor.
“We know that the existing ten specialist doctors alone cannot provide services to the people of the entire province. But the situation has been exacerbated by the fact that more than 70 percent of health worker positions remain vacant because the provincial ministry of Social Development and the provincial Public Service Commission have not been able to conduct exams for the recruitment of doctors and health workers,” said Kandel.
“We work under the Ministry of Social Development, and even though the ministry is trying hard to get doctors for the health facilities of the province. Despite their repeated efforts and countless advertisements, only a few apply for health worker positions, but none for specialist positions. Doctors from other districts will come here only if they see opportunities for career advancement,” Kandel added.
Dr Rajiv Shah, director and Gynaecology Specialist Associate Professor at Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, Jumla, is originally from Rajbiraj but has been working at the academy for nine years.
“Due to the shortage of specialist doctors in the province, people from remote areas suffer the most because they cannot reach health facilities on time during emergencies. The women suffer the most, as social taboos prevent timely consultations with doctors, and access to medical facilities. Six out of ten women in remote areas suffer from uterine prolapse or reproductive organ infections,” said Shah.
“I have worked in free health camps in every district of the province, and whenever a team of specialist doctors reaches remote areas, the crowd of people increases day by day until the last day of the camp. Most people cannot afford to travel to cities for treatment, and some are discouraged by the hassles associated with poor roads, among other things,” Shah added.

KATHMANDU,
Nepal missed the malaria elimination target, and this is official.
The government had committed to earning the ‘malaria-free’ status in 2026, for that the country needs to bring down indigenous cases or local transmission of the disease to zero, achieve zero deaths from 2023, and sustain zero indigenous cases for three consecutive years.
However, new cases of indigenous malaria have been reported in 2023 and 2024, which shattered all prospects to eliminate the disease from the country.
“It is not possible to eliminate malaria by 2025, as indigenous cases of the deadly disease have been reported in 2023 and 2024,” said Dr Sangeeta Kaushal Mishra, director general of the Department of Health Services. “The new deadline is yet to be set but it could be 2030.”
Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites. Infected female Anopheles mosquitoes carry these deadly parasites, according to the World Health Organisation.
Indigenous malaria cases are locally transmitted, in which infected persons do not have a history of travel to malaria-affected countries.
Of the 528 cases of malaria infections reported in the last fiscal year, 23 were indigenous. Of the 505 imported cases, over 80 percent were imported from India.
Some cases of malaria were imported from African countries. Nepali security personnel serving in UN peacekeeping missions in the countries having armed conflicts tested positive for malaria.
Officials say the disease is unlikely to be eliminated in Nepal unless India eliminates it first.
“Due to proximity, and an open and porous border between Nepal and India and unregulated travel of people of both countries, it is impossible to eliminate malaria here in Nepal, until the disease gets eliminated in India,” said Mishra.
Officials say several other factors including cuts in the health budget of government and aid agencies, and shifts in vectors transmitting malaria to the hills and mountains due to global warming also pose serious challenges to meeting the elimination target. Apart from this, most health facilities across the country lack entomologists, which is necessary to carry out surveillance.
“Unlike in the past, when malaria was concentrated in Tarai districts, a large number of cases are now being reported from hill and mountain districts,” said Dr Rudra Marasini, director at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division.
Malaria has been reported even in the mountain districts of Mugu, Bajura, and Humla, which were considered non-endemic in the past.  
“Carrying out surveillance in the hill and mountain districts is more challenging than in Tarai districts,” Marasini said, citing geographical difficulties.
The UN report ‘Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability’ states that at least six major vector-borne diseases affected by climate drivers have recently emerged in Nepal and are considered endemic, with climate change implicated as the primary driver.
The report also shows increasing evidence that global warming has extended the elevational distribution of Anopheles, Culex, and Aedes mosquito vectors above 2,000 meters in Nepal.
Malaria-related deaths had stopped since 2016, but five years later, in 2021, the country recorded one death from the disease.
Officials at the health ministry said that until recent years Plasmodium Vivax, a protozoan parasite, was responsible for most of the malaria cases in the country, which causes relatively less severe disease.
However, cases of Plasmodium falciparum, which most often cause severe and life-threatening malaria, have been rising. The parasite is common in many countries in Africa and the Sahara desert.

SIRAHA: On Friday, police arrested a woman, a permanent resident of Sakhuwanankarkatti Rural Municipality and currently living in ward 1 of Lahan Municipality of the district, on the charge of murdering her five-year-old son. According to Siraha police, they had been searching for the boy since Tuesday after receiving a missing report, and later his body was found concealed in a bed drawer in Sah’s room. The woman has confessed to killing her son. Further investigation into the case is going on, said the police.

GULMI: A man died and another was injured in a motorcycle accident in Myalpokhari in ward 3 of Gulmi Darbar Rural Municipality on Friday. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Shankar Pokharel of Gulmi District Police Office, a man from Gulmi Durbar Rural Municipality ward 3 died when a motorcycle en route to Birbas from Gaundakot overturned in Myalpokhari along the Ridi-Tamghas road section. Severely injured in the accident, the rider was rushed to the Gulmi District Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Another man from the same place has sustained serious injuries. He is receiving treatment at the Mission Hospital in Palpa, said Pokharel.

SALYAN: A forest fire in Adarsha Community Forest in Sharada Municipality spread to settlements and destroyed eleven houses and sheds in the municipality and neighbouring Triveni Rural Municipality on Friday. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Nabin Karki of the Salyan District Police Office, the fire started on Thursday evening in the forest and entered human settlements on Friday. The fire also ravaged cropfields of 15 local farmers, destroying seasonal crops like garlic and turmeric. The fire has not come under control, and efforts of the authorities and locals have been thwarted by heavy winds, said Karki.

Kathmandu,
Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa of Japan is arriving in Kathmandu on May 4 via Sri Lanka on a two-day Nepal visit, the Japanese foreign ministry announced on Friday.
Ahead of the Nepal visit, she will be travelling to France and other nations.
She is arriving at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha. Kamikawa is also likely to meet President Ramchandra Paudel, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other political leaders.
Foreign ministry officials, however, expressed their surprise at the Japanese announcement of the visit unilaterally. “We were supposed to announce the visit jointly,” a joint-secretary at the Kathmandu ministry said.
Japan has established a deep relationship of trust with both Sri Lanka and Nepal based on long years of development cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, and intends to further strengthen cooperation through this visit, the Japanese foreign ministry stated. She will discuss the celebration in 2026 of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Japan. Japan will pledge cooperation to facilitate Nepal’s graduation from a least developed country, according to the Japanese foreign ministry.
The visit is focused on the themes of economy and connectivity, said the ministry. “The idea is to develop diplomacy that acts as a bridge between Japan and like-minded countries.”

Chitwan,
Depositors of the Chitwan-based Sahara Cooperatives have accused the government of showing indifference to apprehending GB Rai, the founding chair of the cooperative.
“Why haven’t the cooperative operators been detained even after arrest warrants were issued? Is it because high-ranking individuals are involved in the scam? Serious doubts have arisen,” read the memorandum handed over to Chitwan Chief District Officer Chiranjeevi Sharma on Friday.
A police investigation revealed that Rs120 million was transferred from the cooperative by Rai to invest in his Gorkha Media Network. Rai is currently on the run. Home Minister Lamichhane, who chairs the Rastriya Swatantra Party, served as the managing director of the media company before joining politics.
In the memorandum, Shalikram Duwadi, coordinator of the struggle committee of the cooperative victims, said the police seized documents from the cooperative, but no further action was taken. Duwadi said the majority of the depositors belong to the lower and middle classes and they are facing difficulties even to fulfill basic needs, including accessing medical treatment.
The depositors have demanded that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal intervene and issue orders to apprehend the absconders.
“There is no indication that the issue will be resolved if the prime minister doesn’t intervene in the matter,” reads the memorandum.
The depositors also submitted a memorandum to Bhaktiram Adhikari, the president of Chitwan District Saving and Credit Co-operative Union, and urged him to find a solution.
Meanwhile, the victims of another cooperative, Shiva Shikhar Multipurpose Cooperative, also submitted a memorandum and demanded the authorities help them recover their savings.
While receiving the memorandum, Chief District Officer Sharma said the government is working to deliver justice to the victims.

KATHMANDU, 
The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division says all preparations for a mass drug administration drive have been completed in seven districts where the lymphatic filariasis disease, known more commonly as elephantiasis, is endemic.
All healthy people above two years of age will be administered anti-elephantiasis in the two-week-long campaign, which is set to kick off on Sunday in six districts of the Tarai region—Jhapa, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Rautahat, and Kapilvastu—and the mountain district of Rasuwa.
“Healthy people above two years will be given diethylcarbamazine, albendazole and Ivermectin,” said Dr Gokarna Dahal, chief of the Vector Control Section at the division. “This could be the last year of the campaign, as preparations have been made as per the strategy to cover all eligible populations.”
Lymphatic filariasis is a mosquito-borne parasitic disease caused by filarial worms transmitted by different species of mosquitoes, including Culex, Anopheles, and Aedes.
It is the second major infectious disease after leprosy that causes permanent and long-term disability in Nepal.
Doctors say the disease may be acquired during childhood and its visible manifestation may occur only later in life. The disease can lead to temporary or permanent disability, pain, and social stigma.
The World Health Organisation identifies the disease as a major public health problem, with an increasing prevalence worldwide. Nepal is one of the 73 countries where lymphatic filariasis is endemic.
Health workers, as well as female community health volunteers in the campaign districts, will also visit every household to make sure that no one is deprived of antiparasitic drugs.
Last year, antiparasitic drugs were administered in 15 districts. According to Dahal, some districts—Morang, Bara, Lamjung, Parbat, Baglung, Banke, Dang and Kailali, which were endemic to elephantiasis earlier—passed the threshold in a preliminary transmission survey, meaning they had halted the disease’s transmission rate.
The health ministry carries out a transmission survey every two years. Such a survey needs to be performed three times in six years. When all surveys show a halt in the transmission rate, the country will be eligible for the status of having eliminated the disease.
The Ministry of Health and Population has started administering Ivermectin, an antiparasitic that has been listed for the mass drug administration campaign, after diethylcarbamazine and albendazole failed to yield desired results in some districts.
Dahal said that two two-year mass drug administration campaigns would be sufficient to stop the transmission rate when Ivermectin is used.
The government started a mass drug administration programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in 2003. Under the programme, healthy persons above two years of age in 63 districts were given diethylcarbamazine and albendazole.
The Mass Drug Administration campaign has already been completed in 53 districts. An agency under the Health Ministry has been carrying out transmission surveys in four districts.
So far, the disease has been eliminated from 70 out of 77 districts. In some districts, the programme has continued for the last 14 years.
The government had committed to eliminating lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem by 2020. However, the target could not be achieved due to low programme coverage in some districts.
The Health Ministry had extended the deadline to eliminate lymphatic filariasis to 2028. Later, it was postponed further to 2030. Health officials said that this year’s campaign could be the last, as the government does not have the budget to continue the campaign further.
“Due to budget cuts in healthcare, it will not be possible to continue the programme next year,” said Dr Sangeeta Kaushal Mishra, director general at the Department of Health Services. “We would like to request all eligible people to take the anti-elephantiasis medicines, which are safe and effective.”

Los Angeles,
It’s time to forge a “supply chain diplomacy” reminiscent of the 1970s’ Ping-Pong Diplomacy between the US and China, said experts at an online seminar.
Global supply chains have been facing the most severe shortages in 50 years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions.
“We are aware that the supply chains that connect the US and China have been a large part of the cause of inflation, a word that hasn’t been used since 1997 till 2018,” John Kent, a professor at the University of Arkansas, said at the recent webinar titled “The US, China, and Supply Chain Diplomacy”.
“Because of this, the once-efficient and well managed set of supply chains have clearly been disrupted,” he said.
Claiming for himself the role of “clinical” professor at the JB Hunt Transport Department of Supply Chain Management, Kent said that the global supply chains are “sick” now.
“Perhaps it’s time for an updated version of Ping-Pong Diplomacy,” Kent said.
“We need to bring together academic and industry experts from the US and China to work collaboratively on the supply chains of the future—we call it supply chain diplomacy.”
Inspired by the historic Ping-Pong Diplomacy that helped thaw relations between the US and China in the 1970s, Kent and his team even placed a symbolic ping-pong table in the back of their meeting room.
“The ping-pong table demonstrates the diplomacy that we and our Chinese partners are getting along, having fun together, eating dinner together and socializing together,” Kent explained. “Diplomacy can start with simple gestures of goodwill and open the door to more substantial discussions.”
Over the past few years, Kent has worked with academics and industry leaders on a global supply chain diplomacy initiative led by the George HW Bush Foundation for US-China Relations and the Supply Chain Management Research Center at the University of Arkansas, offering another diplomatic channel to supplement government-level diplomacy efforts.
While some advocate a decoupling of American and Chinese supply chains, Kent believes that fostering strong trade relationships is a more effective strategy to reduce the risk of military conflicts. He said that countries actively engaged in trade are less likely to resort to direct confrontation.
“We feel that there is a significant number of supply chains that are still connected and will likely be connected between the US and China for years, maybe for many years to come,” Kent said.
The US imports a variety of essential items from China, including raw materials and manufactured goods, while China benefits from American agricultural exports such as grains and meat.
Kent’s colleague, Daniel Stanton, a supply chain executive, entrepreneur and educator, known as “Mr. Supply Chain”, believes that the supply chain relationship between the US and China is one of the most “fascinating” in the world.
“Some people refer to China and the US as the ‘G2’ because they’re the top two economies in the world,” Stanton said. “We’re huge trading partners. China depends on the US to eat, and the US depends on China for pretty much everything that we buy.”
However, since former president Donald Trump’s protectionist stance led to the imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods in early 2018, the current landscape of US-China trade relations includes a 25 percent tariff on many Chinese goods.
“The tariffs on a lot of Chinese products right now are 25 percent. So if you increase the cost of the stuff that you’re buying by 25 percent, then we call that inflation,” Stanton said.
He noted it’s not accurate when people assume tariffs take advantage of the other country.
“The tariffs are really a tax that’s paid by American consumers,” Kent echoed. “It’s actually the importers that pay the tariff. It’s as simple as a plus sign on a calculator. It’s not complicated math.”
Many companies strategising to deal with tariffs often face unintended consequences and supply chain inefficiencies. For example, a US fan manufacturer faces a 25 percent tariff on components, but not on imported fans.
That leads to higher costs for assembly in the US compared with China, yet the finished products must compete on price with Chinese imports.
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise that prices have risen due to inflation. If priorities shift towards reducing inflation, we could consider reassessing tariffs as a potential solution. This could potentially benefit people in both China and the US,” Stanton said.
Both experts emphasized that supply chain diplomacy serves not just economic interests but also as a platform for peaceful international engagement.
Despite concerns raised about domestic security, national security, competition geopolitically between China and the US, trade can maintain peace, as “when goods don’t cross borders, troops likely will”, Stanton said.
“The flow of products and services back and forth actually makes the world better, reduces the chances of conflict, increases peace,” Stanton said.
“We should allow both countries to do the things that they do best,” he added.

– China Daily

BUTWAL,
Police on Friday released Dipesh Pun, son of former Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun, after he posted a bail amount sought by the Rupandehi District Court.
The court on April 20 ordered the authorities to release Dipesh, who is accused of embezzling funds of the Butwal-based Supreme Savings and Credit Cooperative, on Rs400,000 bail. Pun, who was in judicial custody, was staying in prison even after the court order for failing to post the bail amount. Dipesh was arrested on March 15 on the charge of his involvement in a cooperative fraud.
The junior Pun is on police radar for his alleged involvement in gold smuggling. On September 5 last year, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) interrogated Dipesh for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of 60.716 kg of gold which was seized immediately after it passed undetected from the Tribhuvan International Airport customs office in Kathmandu in July. After CIB officials recorded his statement, the junior Pun was freed on the condition that he is available as and when needed for the investigation later.
On February 5, depositors of the Pokhara-based Suryadarshan Savings and Credit Cooperatives submitted a complaint to the district police against three people, including Rastriya Swatantra Party chair Rabi Lamichhane, the incumbent home minister. They had presented details to the district police also against Dipesh, and Gyan Bahadur Bomjan, who formerly chaired the cooperative.

BEIJING,
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised concerns on Friday about China’s support for Russia’s military, one of the many issues threatening to sour the recent improvement in relations between the world’s biggest economies.
Blinken raised the matter during five-and-a-half hours of talks with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing, the latest high-level contact between the countries that have eased last year’s acrimony.
“I reiterated our serious concern about the PRC providing components that are powering Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine,” Blinken said at a press conference at the end of his visit on Friday, using China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
“China is the top supplier of machine tools, microelectronics, nitrocellulose, which is critical to making munitions and rocket propellants, and other dual-use items that Moscow is using to ramp up its defence industrial base.”
Underscoring the closeness of the Beijing-Moscow relationship, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu met his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun on Friday and said the two countries were working to strengthen their “strategic partnership in the defence sector”. They met on the sidelines of a regional security meeting in Kazakhstan where Shoigu said Russia and its allies in Asia should expand joint military exercises and counter what he called US efforts to destabilise their neighbourhood.
Despite its “no limits” partnership with Moscow, China has steered clear of providing arms for Russia’s war in Ukraine, but Blinken said its supply of so-called dual-use goods was “having a material effect in Ukraine” and raising the threat Russia poses to other countries in Europe.
Blinken did not respond to a question on whether Washington would impose sanctions over China’s support for Russia. The US officials say such assistance risks hurting the broader bilateral relationship, even as ties stabilise after being hit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in 2022 and the US downing of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon in February 2023.
China has said it has not provided weaponry to any party, adding that it is “not a producer of or party involved in the Ukraine crisis”. However, it says that normal trade between China and Russia should not be interrupted or restricted.
Blinken’s visit produced little progress on other contentious issues, including US complaints about cheap Chinese exports and tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea. Instead, both sides were focusing on pragmatic issues such as people-to-people exchanges.
In addition to his talks with Wang, Blinken met Chinese President Xi Jinping, who reiterated Beijing’s concerns that the United States was suppressing its economic development.
“This is a fundamental issue that must be addressed, just like the first button of a shirt that must be put right, in order for the China-US relationship to truly stabilise, improve and move forward,” Xi said.
Earlier, Wang told Blinken that the “giant ship” of the China-US ties had stabilised, “but negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building”. Wang also said the US had taken “endless” measures to suppress China’s economy, trade, science and technology, equating such steps to containment.
“And the relationship is facing all kinds of disruptions. China’s legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges,” Wang told Blinken.
The agenda for the talks was set during the November summit between Biden and Xi in San Francisco and a follow-up call in April. Hours before Blinken landed in China on Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed a bill that included $8 billion to counter China’s military might, as well as billions in defence aid for Taiwan and $61 billion for Ukraine.
Wang said the US must not step on “red lines” covering sovereignty, security and development interests - an apparent reference to Taiwan, the democratically governed island that China claims as its own, and the disputed South China Sea.
Other issues being discussed include artificial intelligence and the US push for progress on the curbing of China’s supply of the chemicals used to make fentanyl.
Blinken, along with senior US officials focused on anti-narcotics collaboration with China, met China’s minister of public security, Wang Xiaohong, to discuss the fentanyl issue.

BENGALURU/NOIDA, India,
India voted on Friday in the second phase of the world’s biggest election, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his rivals raise the pitch of the campaign by focusing on hot-button issues such as religious discrimination, affirmative action and taxes.
Almost one billion people are eligible to vote in the seven-phase general elections that began on April 19 and concludes on June 1, with votes set to be counted on June 4.
Modi is seeking a record-equalling third straight term on the back of his economic record, welfare measures, national pride, Hindu nationalism and personal popularity. Surveys suggest he will easily win a comfortable majority.
His challengers have formed an alliance of more than two dozen parties and are promising greater affirmative action, more handouts and an end to what they call Modi’s autocratic rule.
A total of 88 seats out of the 543 in the lower house of parliament went to the polls on Friday, with 160 million people eligible to vote across 13 states and federal territories.
Voter turnout around the halfway mark was 39 percent, an Election Commission (EC) spokesperson said. The EC and political parties were concerned that unseasonably hot weather, and weddings in some parts of the country, would affect turnout. More than half of the seats in Friday’s contests were in the southern states of Kerala and Karnataka and the northwestern state of Rajasthan.
The campaign has become more heated since the first phase of voting on April 19 as Modi and the main opposition Congress party have faced off on communal issues with Modi accusing Congress of favouring minority Muslims, aiming to dilute affirmative action and planning to impose an inheritance tax.
Congress has denied the charges and said Modi fears losing and was using divisive language to distract voters from real issues such as unemployment, the price rise and rural distress.
But some voters were responding to the BJP.
“I will vote for BJP. Muslims will get a lot of benefits if Congress comes to power and I don’t want taxpayers’ money to go for the benefit of any one community,” said Shree Hari S.S., 23, who voted in the tech hub of Bengaluru.
Other voters were not happy with what they said was a sectarian shift in politics.
“The religious divide is very stark. As a member of the religious majority, I want to exercise my power to do something about it,” said Vinesha T, 26, brand manager at a Bengaluru liquor company.

WASHINGTON,
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has received US approval for a gene therapy against a form of haemophilia, a rare and inherited blood clotting disorder, the company said on Friday.
Beqvez, which is given as a single intravenous infusion, was shown in a clinical trial of 45 people to be better at preventing bleeding among adults with moderate to severe haemophilia B, compared to regular infusions of a protein that promotes clotting, called protein factor IX (FIX).
The current standard of care is cumbersome, requiring infusions up to several times per week.
“Many people with haemophilia B struggle with the commitment and lifestyle disruption of regular FIX infusions, as well as spontaneous bleeding episodes, which can lead to painful joint damage and mobility issues,” said Adam Cuker, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Comprehensive Hemophilia and Thrombosis Program, in a Pfizer statement. “A one-time treatment with BEQVEZ has the potential to be transformative for appropriate patients by reducing both the medical and treatment burden over the long term.”
The therapy was generally well tolerated but a common side effect was elevated liver enzymes, a sign of liver inflammation that wasn’t accompanied by outward symptoms. Still, patients are advised to avoid alcohol for up to a year following their treatment, to prevent liver damage.
Patients will be followed up to gather more data for up to 15 years.
Pfizer’s genetic therapy targets haemophilia B, the second most common form of the condition, which primarily affects males. More than 38,000 people worldwide live with hemophilia B, according to the World Federation of Hemophilia.
It works by infecting the body with a virus, modified to be harmless, which delivers a functional copy of the factor IX gene to liver cells, instructing them to produce the protein that promotes clotting that the patient otherwise lacks. It received approval by Canada in January and is awaiting review by the European Medicines Agency.
Pfizer’s statement did not mention a list price, which is often a limiting factor for gene therapy treatments. Recently approved sickle cell gene therapies run to $3 to $4 million before insurance.

JERUSALEM,
A delegation from mediator Egypt is travelling to Israel on Friday, a source close to the Israeli government told AFP, in what local media said is a bid to reignite stalled hostage-release negotiations.
The effort comes alongside preparations for a military push against Hamas militants in southern Gaza’s Rafah, and with spillover from the Gaza war leading to stepped-up exchanges of fire over Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
Israel’s army on Friday said missile fire near that border killed an Israeli civilian. A Hamas official told AFP that any push into Rafah, where much of Gaza’s population is sheltering, would threaten negotiations.
Qatar, Egypt and the United States have mediated truce and hostage-release talks, so far without success since a one-week halt to the fighting in November. That truce saw the exchange of 80 Israeli captives in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Since then, global criticism of the war’s toll on Palestinian civilians in Gaza has escalated, as have calls for militants there to release their captives.
The war began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 people in Israel, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, with a retaliatory offensive that has killed at least 34,305 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. During their attack, militants seized hostages, 129 of whom Israel estimates remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
The source told AFP that Egypt’s delegation was travelling to Israel “for security coordination”.
Several Israeli media outlets, citing unnamed officials, said on Friday that the war cabinet discussed a new plan for a truce and hostage release, ahead of the Egyptian delegation’s visit.
Aid groups warn any Rafah invasion would add to already-catastrophic conditions in Gaza where, according to the World Food Programme, famine is “a real and dangerous threat”.
Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told AFP that Israel “will not achieve what it wants” in Rafah.
After nearly seven months of war Israel had not achieved its goals, “whether eliminating Hamas or returning the captives”, he said.
Hamad warned that an invasion “will undoubtedly threaten the negotiations” and show “that Israel is interested in continuing the war”.
The official of the Islamist movement spoke by phone from Qatar where a number of senior figures from Hamas’s political bureau are based. After mediators failed to secure a truce for the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ended early this month, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said last week that Qatar was reassessing its role.
Opposition to a military operation in Rafah extended to protesting university students in the United States.
“Stop the invasion! Hands off Rafah!” said a sign among a pro-Palestinian encampment at George Washington University in the US capital. The campus is one of many across the country—Israel’s biggest military supplier—where protests over Israel’s war with Hamas have spread.
The Pentagon said Thursday that the US military had begun construction of a “temporary pier” off Gaza’s coast to boost shipments of desperately needed aid.
US President Joe Biden announced the plan in early March, as international calls intensified for Israel to facilitate more aid access to the territory.
The following month an Israeli drone strike killed seven workers, most of them foreign, from US-based charity World Central Kitchen. They had just overseen the unloading of food aid delivered by sea from Cyprus.

PARIS,
France and Germany on Friday firmed up plans to jointly develop a next-generation battle tank equipped with artificial intelligence and laser technology, billed as a game changer in modern warfare.
During a ceremony in Paris, the defence ministers of France and Germany, Sebastien Lecornu and Boris Pistorius, signed a memorandum of understanding that seals a 50-50 split in the industrial production of an advanced battle tank dubbed the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS).
The push to move ahead with the project comes as Berlin and Paris are eager to show unity after a series of spats on how to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.
In 2017, Germany and France agreed to jointly develop the next-generation battle tank as a successor to the French Leclerc and German Leopard tanks, starting in 2040.
But the tank plans have faced delays amid rivalry between French and German industrial companies, and different priorities in Berlin and Paris. In March, the two ministers announced in Berlin they had managed to unblock the stalled project by agreeing how to split the work between the two countries.
“Today’s signing is a real milestone”, Pistorius told reporters.
“This is not the tank of the future but the future of the tank,” Lecornu added. The tank system will have cutting-edge technology that could usher in a new era in land warfare.
The MGCS will consist not just of one armoured fighting vehicle but a system of manned and unmanned vehicles. It will include drones to protect the tank as well as the use of artificial intelligence and laser technology. Funded in equal parts by Paris and Berlin and run under German management, the project was originally led by defence industry firm KNDS, a tie-up between Nexter from France and Germany’s KMW.
But the delicate balance was upset when Germany’s Rheinmetall joined the project in 2019.
Friday’s agreement designates manufacturers to be responsible for key components of the tank systems including platforms, turrets and guns.
Talks are beginning with manufacturers to develop an initial demonstrator, a sort of pre-prototype.
“The aim is to have the contracts in place by the end of the year, which is very ambitious,” Pistorius said.

KYIV, Ukraine,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Friday that Russia’s capture of a major nuclear power plant threatened a radiation catastrophe, as the country marked the anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in southern Ukraine in the first days of its 2022 invasion.
Both sides regularly accuse each other of endangering safety at the site, Europe’s largest nuclear facility.
“For 785 days now, Russian terrorists have held the Zaporizhzhia NPP hostage,” Zelensky said on social media.
“It is the entire world’s responsibility to put pressure on Russia to ensure that ZNPP is liberated and returned to full Ukrainian control, as well as that all Ukrainian nuclear facilities are protected from Russian strikes,” he added.
“This is the only way to prevent new radiation disasters, which the Russian occupiers’ presence at ZNPP constantly threatens.”
The call came 38 years after the meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.
The incident, which is considered the world’s worst nuclear disaster, contaminated vast areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Swathes of western Europe were also exposed to radiation.
“The Chernobyl disaster demonstrated how rapidly deadly threats can emerge,” Zelensky said on Friday.
Russian forces captured the decommissioned Chernobyl facility on February 24, 2022—the first day of its invasion, when it sent troops into Ukraine from Belarus—but abandoned it weeks later.
Russian troops have controlled the Zaporizhzhia plant since early March 2022.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which has dispatched inspectors to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, has expressed concern over safety at the plant.
Moscow has accused Ukraine of firing drones at the power station, while Kyiv says Moscow has militarised the facility and is holding it “hostage”.

KATHMANDU,
Nepal’s Department of Industry has been awash with trademark, patent and design infringement complaints, government officials admitted as the country marked World Intellectual Property Day on Friday.
Weak policy enforcement and unstable government for a long time have promoted unlawful use, selling, or copying of patented inventions.
“We have so far received 1,500 complaints regarding trademarks, patents and designs,” said Yagyaraj Koirala, director general of the Department of Industry. “The number shows people are becoming aware of protecting their rights.”
However, industry insiders say settling infringement-related cases in Nepal can take years or even decades. That’s because the Department of Industry which handles infringement cases is not a fully judicial body, and instead depends on the country’s judicial system, which is notorious for delays. Koirala said that they have prepared a draft law to supersede the existing Patent, Design and Trademark Act of 1965.
“The draft is in the final stage.”
He said that around 113,000 old files of intellectual property rights in the department related to trademarks, patents and design have been digitised. The department said it is in the final stage of developing an intellectual property management information system.
“The department is also working to establish a technology innovation centre with the support of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to check patents online,” Koirala said.
Every year, World Intellectual Property Day is observed to spread awareness about the importance of safeguarding intellectual property rights. Nepal became a member of WIPO in February 1997. WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation.
Intellectual property rights are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. Intellectual property rights include patents, copyrights, industrial design rights, trademarks, plant variety rights, trade dress, geographical indications, and in some jurisdictions trade secrets.
The Constitution of Nepal has also guaranteed intellectual property rights as a fundamental right.
According to the Global Innovation Index 2023 report by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Nepal ranked 108th out of 132 countries surveyed. Nepal ranked 24th among 37 lower middle-income groups of economies.  
“Nepal’s position on the Global Innovation Index is disappointing, indicating that the country has a lot more to do improve in the intellectual property rights fronts,” said Dik Bahadur Karki, director at the Department of Industry, addressing a function titled ‘IP and SDGs: Building our Common Future with Innovation and Creativity’. The event was organised jointly by the Intellectual Property Protection Society Nepal and the Department of Industry.
The participants said that inadequate fines provisioned by the law also prompted trademark and patent infringement in Nepal.
For example, under the existing Patent, Design and Trade Mark law, offenders can be fined Rs100,000 and have their property seized for misusing a registered trademark.
During the function, a government official too admitted that anyone can pay the fine and misuse the trademarks and patents. Experts say that the weak implementation of the law has discouraged foreign investors from investing in Nepal.
While there have been increasing complaints, applications for trademark registration have also been increasing. However, patent and design registration has been low.
According to the Department of Industry, it received 876 applications for patents till mid-April.
The department, however, has issued only 88 patents--52 for domestic and 36 for foreign companies.  
Similarly, the department received 785 applications for designs. The department, however, has issued designs for only 310 companies during the review period. Out of them, 114 were issued for domestic and 196 for foreign firms.
The department received 113,607 applications for trademarks but was able to issue only 63,204.
Out of the total issuance, 34,363 were for the domestic and 28,841 for the foreign companies.
“The registration of patent and design is very disappointing. The lower number of registrations of patents and designs do not encourage industrialisation,” said Karki, the chief of the Industrial Property Section at the Industry Department. “But trademark registrations have been increasing during the last four years,” he said.
“Almost 99 percent of intellectual property rights in Nepal involves trademarks. The share of patent and design is only 1 percent,” said Karki.
Trademark protections include the word, sign, picture, or combination thereof to differentiate the product from others in the market.
The laws governing trademarks never expire. This means the holder has the right to the trademark for the life of the product or service.
“But in Nepal, there is no provision for assigning validity dates to trademarks,” said Karki.
“In other countries, a trademark can be registered for one to 45 years.”
“The Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act is outdated, which does not cover geographical indication, utility model, and traditional knowledge among others,” said Karki.
The other problem, according to Karki, is the manual registration process of intellectual property rights, which is full of hassles and discourages service seekers.
“Cases of trademark infringement and counterfeiting are rising in Nepal alarmingly,” said Karki.
In Nepal, trademark infringement and counterfeit products of multinational companies are sharply increasing. For instance, products like Coca-Cola, Mountain Dew, and KFC are available in the name of Club-Cola, Maintain Dew or Monsoon Dew and KKFC.
Experts said that foreign direct investment from the US in Nepal has been declining due to the lack of a compensation law, which is the number one priority for American investors. As duplicate products are easily available in the market, US investors fear putting money in the country.
Even if a well-known trademark is being stolen, there is no provision in Nepal’s law to differentiate between well-known and lesser-known trademarks. The well-known trademark is generally published in the Nepal Gazette, but till now, there is no such example of a trademark being published in the Nepal Gazette, according to the participants.  

ZURICH,
Swiss food giant Nestle reported slimmer sales than expected in the first quarter on Thursday, weighed down by weak demand for frozen pizza and snacks in North America.
Shares in the group fell following the publication of its earnings, which come as Nestle has recently faced scrutiny over the quality of its Perrier water and sugar levels in baby food sold in poorer countries.
Total sales fell 5.9 percent to 22.1 billion francs ($24.2 billion) in the first three months of the year at the group, whose brands range from Purina pet food to Nespresso coffee, KitKat chocolate bars and Gerber baby products.
Analysts surveyed by Swiss news agency AWP had expected sales totalling 22.3 billion francs.
Its organic sales growth—which excludes currency fluctuations and acquisitions—reached 1.4 percent.
The group’s real internal growth (RIG), which takes into account both sales volume and product value, slumped two percent—deeper than the 0.7 percent fall expected by analysts.
The company said in a statement that sales performance was “impacted by soft consumer demand, particularly in North America, and the temporary supply constraints for vitamins, minerals and supplements.”
Europe and emerging markets “more than offset” the decline in North America, it added.
“We had expected a slow start and see a strong rebound in RIG in the second quarter with reliable delivery for the remainder of the year,” Nestle chief executive Mark Schneider said.
“A wide range of growth initiatives across the group are now starting to deliver,” he said, noting that Nestle has “stepped up” commercial activity in North America, primarily in frozen food, which “lost ground” in the first quarter. Nestle’s RIG in North America was down 5.8 percent, said chief financial officer Anna Manz.
“Weakness in the US centered around frozen pizza and snacks, where we saw a combination of soft consumer demand, intense price competition and a reduction in retailer inventories in the quarter,” Manz said.
Nestle confirmed its annual forecast, aiming for organic growth of around four percent. Shares in the group ended 2.0 percent down on the Swiss stock exchange in afternoon deals. “We will reach a turning point in the second quarter,” Schneider said in a conference call.
“We are taking the right steps to accelerate growth and expect a much stronger performance starting from the second quarter,” he added.
Nestle’s first-quarter performance stands in contrast to those of rivals such as French group Danone, which reported rising sales volume last week. British consumer goods giant Unilever reported an uptick in first-quarter sales on Thursday.
Nestle has also scrambled to ease any concerns over its Perrier brand after France’s food safety watchdog recommended stricter monitoring of sites where Nestle extracts mineral water following the discovery of traces of “faecal” contamination.
The company has since said it has stepped up monitoring of the sites, and Schneider reiterated on Thursday that the group’s water was safe to drink.
He said Nestle was “working diligently with regulators in several countries where we operate” to
“continue to assure absolute food safety and full conformity with local mineral water standards”.
On the baby food issue, Nestle denied accusations by NGO Public Eye that it was applying a “double standard” by selling products with high levels of added sugar in low-income countries but not in wealthier nations.
“There is no double standard,” the company said in a statement. “We apply the same nutrition, health and wellness principles everywhere.”
“The negative news flow in recent weeks ... is raising concerns among investors,” said Jean-Philippe Bertschy, analyst at investment firm Vontobel.

KATHMANDU,
Atul Keshap, senior vice president for South Asia at the US Chamber of Commerce, has arrived in Kathmandu to participate in the third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled for April 28 and 29.
Keshap, a former US ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives and the deputy head of the US Mission to India, is currently active through the US Chamber of Commerce.
Having worked extensively in South Asia, Keshap has closely observed the region’s economy and business landscape. He played a pivotal role in establishing the American Chamber of Commerce in Nepal (AmCham Nepal) and has been an advocate for attracting American investment to Nepal on numerous occasions.
According to Amir Raj Thapa, general manager of AmCham Nepal, Keshap played a significant role in establishing AmCham Nepal in 2021 and gaining recognition from the American Chamber of Commerce in November 2022.
“After the establishment of AmCham Nepal, his contributions were instrumental in securing
recognition from the American Chamber of Commerce,” said Thapa. He emphasised that this recognition holds great significance for AmCham Nepal, facilitating easier networking with the American Chamber of Commerce’s global network and fostering trust.
Thapa highlighted Keshap’s positive impact in lobbying for American investment in Nepal through various networks, expressing delight at his participation in the investment conference. “He has been supportive since the inception of AmCham. We believe his participation in the investment conference will send a positive message to American investors,” said Thapa.
As a diplomat, Keshap has been instrumental in strengthening US-India relations, advancing Civilian Nuclear Energy Cooperation, and expanding trilateral relations between America, India, and Japan. His expertise extends to multilateral engagements with organisations such as the European Union, the United Nations, ASEAN, APEC, and regions like the Indo-Pacific, Middle East, Africa, North, and South America.

BEIJING,
Electric vehicle executives at a top car show in China were bullish on prospects for growth, despite a gruelling price war and mounting Western pressure on the industry.
Thousands of car lovers and company representatives descended on Beijing this week for the Auto China show—a chance for industry giants to show off new designs and cutting edge technologies aimed at getting ahead in the fiercely competitive sector.
And even as firms face down a cut-throat price war at home and mounting regulatory pressure overseas, executives and attendees were upbeat.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” one company representative who declined to be named told AFP.
“There’s a lot of expectation about what new models, new technologies Chinese carmakers will unveil.”
One of the stars of the show was Lei Jun, CEO of consumer electronics giant Xiaomi, fresh from declaring he had staked his “reputation” on the success of his firm’s first-ever EV, the SU7.
Lei was mobbed by scores of people, some shouting his memetic slogan “are you OK?”—a joke referring to the CEO’s broken English which fans have reclaimed as proof of his likeability. All were keen to get a snap of the latest player in the hotly contested EV sector.
Lei has said his SU7 is the most “Apple-friendly” EV on the market—tapping into a prominent theme at the Auto Show: the emphasis on smart technology.
With everything from high-tech navigation systems to built-in karaoke machines, Chinese EVs can sometimes feel equipped with more gadgets than James Bond.
“Chinese customers are now more attuned to fast-evolving digitalization, internet-stage and smart technology inside their vehicles,” Brian Gu, President and Vice Chairman of EV giant XPeng, told AFP.
“Using voice, using large screens and relying on more smart-driving technologies—that’s also already becoming a hallmark of Chinese products,” he said.
European customers, he said, aren’t yet ready for that technology. “It will take time, but I think ultimately, technology will converge,” Gu explained.
“We’re very confident about that.”
But before that can happen, Chinese carmakers will have to get past European regulators.
The European Union launched an investigation last year into Chinese state EV subsidies, which it said had given companies from the country an “unfair” leg up in the local market.
And Brussels—along with allies in Washington—has raised fears that Chinese industrial “overcapacity” created by excessive state subsidies could see global markets flooded with cheap Chinese EVs.
“We certainly hope that there won’t be an introduction of tariffs. I think it is not good for consumers,” said William Li, CEO of Nio, another EV giant. “Every place, region, and country has some consideration for protecting employment in their own industries,” he said.
“This is a reasonable demand, but we still hope to return to common sense.” XPeng, Gu said, is also determined to make headway into the European market.
He compared the obstacles Chinese firms are now facing to the similar hurdles European giants such as Volkswagen faced when entering the Chinese market in the 90s and 2000s.
“We may have to think about creative strategies, we may have to form relationships and partnerships. Maybe Chinese players have to do the same in order to compete, and I think there’s no shortcut,” he said.
“We may have to do all of that to remain a player, a leading player, in Europe. So we’re prepared to do that, for the long term-market and long term opportunity there.”
Executives are also sanguine about an intensifying price war between EV companies, made all the more competitive as consumer spending slows in China. On Monday, Beijing-based Li Auto slashed the prices of its models by up to 30,000 yuan ($4,100).
That followed a decision by Elon Musk’s Tesla—which notably did not attend this week’s Auto China—to lower its prices by 14,000 yuan.

KATHMANDU: Radisson Hotel Kathmandu on Thursday launched a 9-day-long Thai Food Festival in collaboration with the Royal Thai Embassy on the occasion of the Maha Songkran, a vibrant celebration of the Thai New Year. This food festival promises to bring the best flavours from Thailand. During the showcasing of the Thai culinary heritage from April 25 to May 3, Master Chef Yao from Thailand presented tantalising Thai delicacies at The Fun Café. The event was inaugurated by the Thai Ambassador to Nepal Suwapong Sirisorn, along with the general manager of Radisson Hotel Kathmandu Subrata Banerjee. “We are thrilled to start the culinary calendar with our inaugural food festival of the year. Collaborating with the Royal Thai Embassy has been a privilege, and we are delighted to present an event that celebrates Thailand’s rich heritage and flavours.”

Kathmandu: Bao Xaun, the renowned Chinese speciality restaurant located in The Soaltee Kathmandu, on Friday announced the Dim Sum Festival. It will run until May 5. The hotel said that the festival promises an unparalleled culinary journey through the art of Dim Sum, showcasing a delectable array of Steamed, Bao, Boiled, and Pan-fried delicacies prepared in different styles and flavours. During dinner hours from 7:00 PM to 10:30 PM, guests are allowed to relish the flavours of Dim Sum while enjoying the elegant ambience of Bao Xaun.

TOKYO: The Bank of Japan kept its ultra-low interest rates unchanged Friday and stopped short of signalling another hike, pushing the yen to a fresh 34-year low against the dollar. The slide, due in part to the differential between BoJ rates and others worldwide, stoked speculation that Japan might intervene in the market, possibly as soon as Friday if US inflation data is strong. The BoJ called time on negative rates last month with its first rise in borrowing costs in 17 years as inflation finally settled around two percent after the “lost decades” of deflation and stagnation.  (AFP)

LONDON: Copper prices rallied on Friday above $10,000 per tonne for the first time in two years, propelled by soaring global demand and tight supplies. In early morning trade on the London Metal Exchange, the price of copper breaching the key level for the first time since April 2022 to peak at just over $10,028. It later stood at $9,992.50 per tonne. The base metal is in the spotlight after mining giant BHP launched Thursday a $38.8-billion takeover bid for British rival Anglo American. (AFP)

KATHMANDU,
Niraj Tamang recorded a one-stroke victory over Bhuvan Nagarkoti to win the title of the Surya Nepal Kathmandu Open, the seventh event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2023-24, at the par-68 Royal Nepal Golf Club on Friday.
Tamang carded a record-equaling 8-under 60 in the final round for the total score of 8-under 264 and claimed his maiden career title along with a pay cheque of Rs120,000.
Tamang levelled the course record of 8-under with Shivaram Shrestha, who played 8-under 59 in the NPGA President’s Cup in 2015.
Tamang was seven strokes behind Nagarkoti going into the final round but played a superb round to edge the former Nepal number one pro by one shot.
Nagarkoti played even-par 68 in the final round to finish second at 7-under 265. He earned Rs82,000.
Jayram Shrestha finished third at 1-under 271 after he carded 4-under 64. He received Rs66,000.
Toran Bikram Shahi was fourth at even-par 272 after he carded even-par 68 in the final round. He bagged a purse of Rs53,000. Dhana Bahadur Thapa played even-par 68 to finish fifth at 2-over 274. He walked home with Rs45,000.
Subash Tamang played 1-over 59 in the final round to wrap up the tour in the sixth position at 4-over 276 in his first tournament as a professional golfer. Tamang took home Rs39,000 as his first pay cheque since turning pro in February at the Professional Golf Tour of India.
Dinesh Prajapati and Rabi Khadka shared the seventh place at 277. They got Rs33,500 each. Rame Magar was ninth at 278. He was rewarded with Rs28,000, while Sanjay Lama and Bhuwan Kumar Rokka shared the 10th position at 279 and won Rs24,000 each.
Sadbhav Acharya won the amateur section with a total score of 13-over 285. He played 7-over 75 in the final round and recorded a 10-stroke victory over Tashi Tsering, who played 12-over 80 for 23-over 295.
National team member Rahul BK was third at 28-over 300.
Champion Tamang took the turn at 5-under 29 to cut the deficit to one stroke after Nagarkoti played 1-over 35. Tamang levelled the scores with a birdie on the 10th hole, while he was two-stroke ahead after the 14th hole.
Tamang carded 3-under 31 on the back nine, while Nagarkoti carded 1-under 33.
Tamang made a flying start in the final round with four consecutive birdies on the first, second, third and fourth holes and added another on the ninth hole. After taking the turn, Tamang carded four birdies on the 10th, 13th, 14th and 17th holes and faced a lone bogey of the day on the 16th hole.
Nagarkoti carded four birdies on the second, fourth, 11th and 18th holes, while he suffered a
double bogey on the third hole and faced bogeys on the fifth and 12th holes.
Third-placed Shrestha carded 2-under 32 on both halves. He carded six birdies on the second, fourth, eighth, 13th, 14th and 17th holes and dropped shots on the ninth and 16th holes.

LONDON,
Manchester City are in ominous form as the champions chase a fourth successive Premier League crown.
Leaders Arsenal face a stern test of their title credentials in the north London derby at top four hopefuls Tottenham, while Sheffield United are on the brink of relegation.
 
’Frightening’ Man City make statement
Phil Foden issued a warning to Manchester City’s title rivals after the champions’ “frightening” attack inspired a vital 4-0 demolition of Brighton.
Pep Guardiola’s side could not afford to slip up at the Amex Stadium on Thursday as they try to overhaul Arsenal in the title race.
And City rose to the challenge as Kevin De Bruyne’s header put them in front before Foden netted twice in the first half.
Julian Alvarez added the fourth after the break to end his goal drought as second placed City climbed within one point of Arsenal.
City have a game in hand over both Arsenal and third placed Liverpool, who are two points adrift of Guardiola’s men after their damaging loss at Everton on Wednesday.
The Etihad Stadium club will be champions yet again if they win their last five games, starting at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
“In the first half it was frightening the way we attacked,” said Foden, while De Bruyne added: “I trust my team obviously, all respect to Arsenal and Liverpool because they are amazing.”
Arsenal must win at bitter rivals Tottenham for a second consecutive season to keep City at bay, while Liverpool take their spluttering challenge to West Ham.
 
Villa aim to cement top four place
With Tottenham facing a tricky task against Arsenal, Aston Villa have a golden opportunity to cement their grip on fourth place when they host troubled Chelsea.
Villa are six points clear of fifth placed Tottenham, who have two games in hand in the battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
A win for Unai Emery’s men on Saturday evening and a loss for Tottenham would take Villa within touching distance of a first European Cup campaign since 1982-83.
The prospect of plundering a Chelsea defence breached five times by Arsenal on Tuesday will be all the incentive Villa striker Ollie Watkins needs to extend his hot streak.
Watkins has 19 league goals this term—behind only joint top-scorers Erling Haaland and Cole Palmer—and is also the top-flight’s leading assist provider with 12.
 
Blades face the chop
Sheffield United travel to Newcastle with the grim prospect of relegation hanging over them after a disastrous season.
With just three league victories, Chris Wilder’s bottom of the table team are 10 points from safety with four games left.
They are almost certain to return to the Championship just 12 months after winning promotion, with their crumbling defence at the root of their impending demise.
Beaten 4-2 at Manchester United on Wednesday, the Blades have conceded 92 goals in 34 league games, surpassing Derby’s previous record of 89 in a 38-game top-flight season.
Their fate will be sealed if they lose at Newcastle on Saturday or if fourth bottom Nottingham Forest match their result against Manchester City on Sunday.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)
The weekend greets you with a rush of healing and supportive vibes. Use this energy as an excuse to devote your morning to self-care and seeking spiritual fulfilment, quietly raising your vibration while preparing for what lies ahead.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
Your presence will have an unpredictable impact on others making it important that you're ready for anything when venturing into the limelight. Forgo any social commitments you've made in favour of personal pampering. Embrace solitude in the evening.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21)
Don't shy away from the crowds this morning. Use your energy to find adoration amongst your peers, seeking out events or gatherings that are rooted in mutual support and positivity. However, you may require some alone time this afternoon.

CANCER (June 22-July 22)
Embrace your favourite Saturday morning routines, especially that promote healthy living. Remember that life is meant to be shared and celebrated, but that it's okay to take a social breather if you'd rather tend to your overall wellness.

LEO (July 23-August 22)
Allow your heart, mind, and thoughts to expand this morning. Share your interests and beliefs with others to solidify important bonds, encouraging your counterparts to do the same. If you're in the mood to explore, swap creative outlets.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22)
Your domestic instincts thrive putting you in touch with the needs of your space. Lean into these vibes by investing in each room of your abode, catching up on chores, restoring positive vibes, and allowing for energetic movement.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22)
You should feel socially elevated, curious, sharp, and ready to connect today. Love multiplies when you offer up friendship, so be sure to approach your weekend plans with a "the more, the merrier'' mentality. Embrace self-care or romance.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21)
Don't hesitate to spend a bit of scratch as it's important to reap the rewards of your hard work. Just be mindful to centre these indulgences around wellness practices that will elevate your mental, physical, and emotional health.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21)
Focus on cultivating a healthy ego by pursuing personal interests and passion projects. Though your friends may have other ideas when it comes to making Saturday plans, focusing on your own needs and desires should be the priority.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19)
Don't hesitate to keep the curtains drawn, silence your phone, and hide away from the outside world. This day is all about sensing what you and loved ones need most, taking time to nurture yourself and others.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18)
You'll find healing within friendly faces. Use this as motivation to venture outside for brunch with friends, attend community gatherings, or immerse yourself in religious services. Your positivity will be contagious as the hours pass, so demonstrate kindness.

PISCES (February 19-March 20)
Take a moment to appreciate the growth and achievements you've made recently, dearest Pisces. This day is ideal for cultivating stability within, nudging you to embrace gratitude practices while celebrating personal wins and successful triumphs.

The modestly titled book ‘Dabbling in Diplomacy’ is a vivid behind-the-scenes look at some of  the most explosive arguments and negotiations that have shaped South Asia’s politics in the last four decades. The writer, Professor SD Muni, was not only a witness but often an active mediator, unafraid to take unpopular positions to help forge an agreement between fighting parties.
Muni rose from an unskilled labourer to the heights of the Indian government through hard work, integrity and incisive scholarship. Throughout his career, South Asian politicians of all stripes, from democrats to communists to separatists, sought his counsel to untangle the tricky political logjams that stifled negotiations between opposing parties. His role as an often clandestine interlocutor in these charged meetings made him at once the most vilified and most admired foreign scholar in Nepal.
Muni authored 30 books, and has contributed scholarly articles to numerous academic journals of repute around the world. His first book, ‘Foreign Policy of Nepal’ was published in 1973. It was perhaps the first book ever written on Nepal’s foreign policy and is widely read by individuals interested in Nepal’s history and politics.  ‘Dabbling in Diplomacy’ is his latest book. He says he was reluctant to write it, but “having entered the last leg of my lifespan and in view of the repeated affectionate persuasion by friends and well-wishers, I have decided to pen them down”.
In the 219 pages he has penned, he shares with the reader untold stories of the clashes of egos; destructive fights; great accomplishments and sore disappointments. The book covers his experiences from his childhood to his academic years as a professor in the Jawaharlal Nehru University; his efforts in helping peacemaking in Nepal and Sri Lanka to his work as India’s ambassador to Laos, and later with India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as their special envoy. By far the biggest section of the book is dedicated to Nepal—his “first love”.  
Muni says he was so committed to the cause of peace that he often cast aside his own politics. He says he is against violence yet decided to work with the Maoists to bring them within the democratic fold, mainstream them and end the hostilities. In the chapters about Nepal, we come across Nepal’s principal political actors dead and alive: BP Koirala, Prachanda, Baburam, Rishikesh Shaha Pushpa Lal Shrestha, and get a sense of their politics and inner conflicts. All of them at one stage or other, sought his counsel. We benefit from Muni’s access to all of them.
We also learn India’s argument for rejecting Nepal’s ‘Zone of Peace’ proposal.  Muni acted as a go-between the Indian ambassador and Girija Koirala during negotiations with King Mahendra for BP Koirala’s release from prison. This was not known until the book came out.
The hardening of India’s policy towards Nepali Congress (NC) after China’s attack on India, had intrigued political observers in Nepal for a long time. At the time of the attack the NC, under its leadership exiled in India, was engaged in an armed rebellion against the King’s absolute rule. For the first time we learn from the book that, after the attack, India decided to “keep the king in good humor”, to dissuade him from leaning towards China. As a part of the keeping-in-good-humor policy, the then Indian ambassador to Nepal, Sriman Narayan, started welcoming the King with aarati, when he visited the embassy.
In Sri Lanka, Muni rejected the Tamil Tigers because of their extremely violent tactics but worked with the Sri Lankan leaders who were keen to induct the Tamils looking for a peaceful solution in the Sri Lankan government.  
His retirement from Jawaharlal Nehru University and appointment as India’s ambassador to Laos catapulted him to the role of a diplomat. Once this assignment was over, he spread his scholarly wings to Singapore, Bhutan and so on. He became an advisor to India’s Ministry of External Affairs in various key policy issues and a key person promoting India’s campaign for membership in the United Nations Security Council.
The book also opens a window to South East Asia’s violent politics of the 1990s and 2000s. Muni is in the middle of all this and has often been the target of those who questioned his motives. A couple of Tamils who came to seek his counsel were assassinated a couple of days after they saw Muni. Muni himself had to walk around with security guards.
Toward the end of the book, Muni seems frustrated with the chaos that has engulfed South Asian politics. In particular, he laments that in Nepal, to which he says he is most attached, the camaraderie amongst the leaders and the political parties that made the second people’s movement successful has utterly collapsed from greed, corruption and a scramble for power.
Drama, violence, negotiations, peace and lessons learned, have all been the hallmark of the professor’s life. ‘Dabbling in Democracy’ is an adrenaline rush for those who are fascinated by Asia’s charged politics.

Dabbling in Diplomacy
Author: SD Muni
Year: 2024
Publisher: Konark Publishers

Koirala is a retired geotechnical engineer and political observer.

Samir Shrestha Live in Biratnagar
Samir Shrestha is performing live in Biratnagar on Saturday. His set includes most of his hits—songs like ‘Timiley’, ‘Hera Na’, ‘Mero Manma’ and more.

Where: Singhasan, Airport Road, Biratnagar, Morang
When: April 27
Time: 6:00 pm onwards
Tickets: Rs400

6th Street Games 2024
Nepali Youth Fitness and Calisthenics (NYFC) is organising the sixth edition of the Street Games this Saturday. As one of the biggest fitness events in Nepal, athletes and players from all over Nepal will participate in the competition.

Where: Bagmati Nagar Park, Bauddha, Kathmandu
When: April 27
Time: 9:00 am onwards
Entry: Free

Godavari Musical Fest
Godavari Musical Fest, happening this Sunday, will have musical performances by popular Nepali artists like The Elements, Aayush Shrestha and Prajina Lamichhane, fun games and multiple avenues for entertainment.

Where: Sunrise Hall, Godavari, Lalitpur
When: April 28
Time: 3:00 pm onwards
Tickets: Rs1,000 to Rs2,000

‘Baakhaamma’ Play
‘Baakhaamma’ is being shown at Mandala Theater from Friday. The play is written by Rajan Mukarung and directed by Kiran Chamling Rai.

Where: Mandala Theatre, Thapagaun, Kathmandu
When: Til May 26
Time: 5:30 pm everyday except Monday, extra 1:00 pm shows on Friday and Saturday
Tickets: Rs500 (regular), Rs300 (for students), Rs1,000 (premium)

Art Workshop
Lavie Garden is organising an art workshop on Saturday. Painting equipment will be provided by the restaurant and a seasoned artists will guide the attendees with their art piece.

Where: Lavie Garden, Bauddha, Kathmandu
When: April 27
Time: 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Participation: Rs1,000 to Rs1,500

Eco Bazar
Le Patio Restaurant is organising an Eco Bazar on Sunday. The event will have sustainable items and eco-friendly treasures to inspire a greener lifestyle.

Where: Le Patio, Dhumbarahi, Kathmandu
When: April 27
Time: 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Entry: Free

Autism, Sport and Physical Activity
Autism Care Nepal Society is collaborating with Ncell for an event to raise awareness on autism through sports and physical activity.

Where: Ncell Ground, Lainchaur, Kathmandu
When: April 30
Time: 11:00 am onwards
Entry: Free

Start To Tell Open Mic
Start To Tell is an open mic platform, happening every Wednesday. Participants can recite their works in both English and Nepali.

Where: Bravo Cafe and Bar, Mid-Baneshwar, Kathmandu
When: May 1
Time: 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Entry: Free

Seminar at Prime College
A seminar titled, ‘Embracing Change for Educational Advancement’ is happening at Prime College. Narottam Aryal, president of Kings College, and politician Manushi Yami Bhattarai are among the speakers at the event.

Where: Prime College, Khusibun, Kathmandu
When: April 27
Time: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Entry: Free, pre-registration required

Kathmandu,
Celeus Baral exudes a serene aura when you meet her and when she tells you she bakes, it makes sense. Even during a brief encounter, you can tell she has the patience needed to be a baker.
“You can eyeball cooking, but baking is chemistry. You have to be meticulous. You cannot rush it, or it does not turn out as expected,” says the 21-year-old environment science student. She also runs the online baking shop Bakeleus. Recently, she has started selling her baked goods at The Yellow House’s Night Market.
Bakeleus’s menu lists a variety of offerings, including jams, granola, tarts, cakes, cookies, cupcakes and brownies. Baral began baking in 2020, during the lockdown, and launched her online shop last year.
She grows much of the produce she incorporates into her baking, and believes we should all understand the origins of our food. “This connection fosters gratitude and a deeper appreciation for nature,” she says. Her background in environmental science, coupled with her affinity for the natural world, imbues her creations with a unique artistic sensibility. Each item she bakes is a testament to her creativity and experimentation, as she believes consistent practice is the key to mastery.
Despite the demands of being a full-time student, Baral strives to accommodate orders, typically requiring a minimum of 72 hours’ notice for delivery. She is a passionate and discerning individual, evident in the palpable love she infuses into her baking. Additionally, Baral advocates for a zero-waste policy at home, ensuring that every scrap of food and all household items are recycled.


Three easy-to-bake recipes you can try at home

Mini carrot cakes   

Ingredients
    38 g milk or yoghurt
    35 g all-purpose flour
    1/4 tea spoon ground cinnamon
    1/8 tea spoon ground ginger
    A pinch of cardamom
    1 tea spoon baking powder
    ½ tea spoon fine sea salt
    2 large eggs, at room temperature
    27 g granulated sugar
    13 g brown sugar (or 39 g of regular granulated sugar)
    1 tea spoon vanilla extract
    27 g extra virgin olive oil
    33 g carrots, peeled and shredded
    Chopped walnuts
    Candied lemon or orange slices (optional for garnish)
    Cream cheese frosting
    56.5 g unsalted butter, softened
    113.5 g cream cheese, softened
    1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    A pinch of salt
    250 g powdered sugar

Directions

For the cake
    Preheat the oven to 195°C. Line and grease a 6-inch square pan.
    Whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, spices, baking powder and salt.
    Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually mix in oil and milk. Then add the flour mixture and fold in the carrots, and walnuts.
    Bake for 15 to 20 minutes and let it cool down. Then cut out circles.
For the cream cheese frosting
    Beat softened butter, then mix in powdered sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and cream cheese until smooth.
    Chill the frosting for 30 minutes before using.
    Frost mini cakes and top then with candied lemon slices.

Instructions for frosting
    In a mixing bowl, beat softened butter until smooth.
    Add cream cheese, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Beat until well combined.
    Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until creamy and smooth.
    Use it to frost the carrot cakes however you desire.

Mulberry fudge cake

Ingredients
    2 eggs
    100 g of sugar
    50 g of butter
    40 g of chocolate
    120 ml of plain yogurt
    60 g of flour
    22.5 g of cocoa powder
    1.25 g of baking powder
    120 ml of frozen or fresh mulberries

Directions
    Preheat the oven at 180°C and start by creaming together the eggs and half of the sugar until frothy.
    Melt the butter and chocolate together and add into the egg mixture (only after the butter and chocolate mixture have reached room temperature). Mix this well.
    Add the yogurt and mix.
    Add the cocoa powder and mix.
    Add in the flour and baking powder and beat until you see no lumps.
    Add in half of the mulberries and chopped walnuts and mix.
    Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
    Bake until you can insert a thin stick into the cake and it comes out clean.
    Top it with vanilla ice cream and more fresh mulberries.
    Serve it hot.



Strawberry casserole

Ingredients
    125 g greek yogurt (or any full-fat yogurt)
    125 g cream cheese
    60 ml full-fat milk
    3 table spoons honey
    1 tea spoon vanilla extract
    80 g all-purpose flour
    40 g granulated sugar
    A pinch of salt
    Freshly cut strawberries (could be frozen)
    Almond flakes (optional)

Directions
    Preheat the oven to 180°C.
    Blend together greek yogurt, cream cheese, milk, honey, vanilla extract, flour, sugar and salt until smooth.
    Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
    Pour the blended mixture into the lined baking pan.
    Top the mixture with freshly cut strawberries and sprinkle almond flakes on top.
    Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the casserole is completely cooked and slightly brown on top.
    Serve hot, optionally with cold ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Challengers’ is a bit of a tease. That’s what makes it fun.
There is plenty of skin, sweat, close-ups of muscly thighs and smoldering looks of lust and hate in this deliriously over-the-top psychodrama. But get that image of Josh O’Connor, Zendaya and Mike Faist sitting together on the bed out of your mind. Most of this action takes place on the tennis court.
It’s still a sexy tennis movie about friendship, love, competition and sport set to a synth-y score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—it just might not contain exactly what you think it does. But remember, Luca Guadagnino is the one who filmed Timothée Chalamet with that peach, perhaps more memorable than any actual sex scene from the past decade. Manage expectations, but also trust.
And like ‘Call Me By Your Name’ did for Chalamet, ‘Challengers’ is one of those rare original big-screen delights that firmly announces the arrival of a new generation of movie stars. Zendaya and Faist already had a bit of a leg up. She has played significant supporting roles in some of the biggest movies of the past few years, from ‘Spider-Man’ to ‘Dune’, and he had had his big cinematic breakthrough as Riff in Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’.
But it’s O’Connor who really comes out on top, effectively shedding any lingering image of him as a whiny, dweeby Prince Charles in seasons three and four of ‘The Crown’. In ‘Challengers’, his Patrick Zweig is the cocky, flirty, slightly mean, slightly dirty and slightly broken bad boyfriend of our fictional dreams.
Written by playwright Justin Kuritzkes (who is married to ‘Past Lives’ filmmaker Celine Song) ‘Challengers’ is a prickly treat, about fractured relationships, egos, infidelity and ambition. Set during a qualifying match at the New Rochelle Tennis Club, outside New York City, the intricately woven story reveals itself through flashbacks that build to a crescendo in the present-day match.
Tashi, in high school, is well on her way to becoming the next big tennis superstar. Art and Patrick watch her play, mouths agape at her technical form and physical beauty. Later, they both ask for her number, leading to a revealing night in a grungy hotel room. She promises her number to the one who wins the singles match the next day. Tashi just wants to see some good tennis, she says, but she also knows how to motivate and manipulate.
Because of the fractured timeline, we know that Tashi in the present day does not play tennis anymore. She was injured at some point and never recovered, unlike her husband, Art, who is now one of the most famous players in the world. The two of them are wildly wealthy, living in a ritzy hotel and fronting Aston Martin ad campaigns.
At night, Tashi uses Augustinus Bader cream to moisturise her legs. Guadagnino, who likes to wink at and luxuriate in wealth signifiers, enlisted JW Anderson designer Jonathan Anderson to do the costumes, which will surely populate summer style inspiration boards the way his ‘A Bigger Splash’ and ‘Call Me By Your Name’ have in the past.
But while they are technically at the top, Art is also on a losing streak, so Tashi sends him to a low-stakes tournament where he can get his confidence back. That’s where they encounter Patrick, who has not been so fortunate over the years and who has fallen out with his old friends. Of course, it’s all building to Patrick and Art playing one another in the final match, a part of which is so wildly and comically drawn out that you can almost envision the ‘Saturday Night Live’ spoof.
‘Challengers’ is a drama, but a funny and self-aware one. It doesn’t take itself very seriously and has a lot of fun with its characters, all three of which are anti-heroes in a way. You might have a favorite, but you’re probably not rooting for anyone exactly—just glued to the screen to see how it all plays out on and off the court.
‘Challengers’, an MGM release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “language throughout, some sexual content and graphic nudity.” Running time: 131 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

Challengers
Director:     Luca Guadagnino
Cast:     Zendaya, Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor
Language:     English
Duration:     2 hours 11 mins

– Associated Press