Another chance for Barca's old guard to leave heavier stamp on Europe

Messi, who turns 32 in June, Busquets, who will be 31 in July, and Pique, already 32, have hung on, driving the club through fresh cycles of success.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2PEZwyL

Manchester United's Solskjaer must show authority by dropping De Gea - Wright

Solskjaer backed De Gea to shake off his poor form in their final two games against Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City but Wright believes the Norwegian has to take a different approach.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2vunGCY

Liverpool's flying full-backs ready for Barca test

Virgil van Dijk has hogged the spotlight among Liverpool’s defenders with a superb campaign that earned the Dutch centre-back the Professional Footballers’ Association player of the year award.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2LcJygA

IPL 2019: David Warner posts emotional message for Sunrisers Hyderabad after final...

The left-hander also said that the IPL was a stepping stone for the World Cup. His form leading into the marquee tournament is great news for Australia as he ended the IPL campaign with 692 runs.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2vvUmM4

Coutinho sale launched Liverpool European elite return

With the Spanish champions desperate for star power when Neymar walked out to join Paris Saint-Germain in August 2017, the Reds hierarchy dug their heels in and drove the price up for the Brazilian.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2PBfBpg

ICC World Cup 2019: Unfair to say I didn't perform - Umesh Yadav on World Cup s...

Since the last World Cup, Umesh has had a roller coaster ride, playing only 27 ODIs out of India’s 86. Despite being the highest wicket-taker among pacers in the home ODI series against New Zealand, with eight, he was given just a game or two in series that followed.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2VxTp4J

Rajasthan Royals predicted XI against RCB: Final match for Steve Smith, RR aim for...

Steve Smith will be playing his last IPL match against RCB this season before he leaves for Australia to prepare for the World Cup. The Rajasthan Royals are probably going to play an unchanged eleven.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2PBbfOW

Felt Ambati Rayudu had done everything to be in the World Cup squad: VVS Laxman

Laxman also spoke about the Indian team combination, the Dhoni factor, and why this World Cup will be a high-scoring affair.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2XUbXK0

IPL Points Table and updated Orange Cap & Purple Cap list

With the win over KXIP, SRH are now firmly on the fourth spot on the points table while Kings XI Punjab drop down to the 7th position.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2GSeuyB

'I am not gay': Australian cricketer James Faulkner clarifies sexuality after social...

Cricket Australia too confirmed that the posts, which sparked off the speculations, had been “misinterpreted” before the all-rounder posted again on Instagram on Tuesday morning to say he is not gay.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2XQWxGk

Hasan Ali's dubious catch in practice match against Kent sparks debate - Watch

Hasan Ali was at the centre of controversy after he claimed a catch despite apparently dropping the ball in their opening tour match against Kent.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2V3sRIZ

IPL 2019: Royal Challengers Bangalore bowlers under fire as another poor finish...

While Royals (10 points in 12 games) need to win their last two games by big margins and hope other results go their way to make it to the playoffs, RCB (8 points) face a more difficult situation.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2GPGQcS

SRH vs KXIP: David Warner recalls ball-tampering ban after win over Kings XI Pu...

Warner and Steve Smith were handed 12-month bans by Cricket Australia for their role in ball-tampering in South Africa last year, a punishment which both the player have already served.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2XYnyYD

IPL 2019 Highlights, SRH vs KXIP: Sunrisers Hyderabad win by 45 runs

SRH vs KXIP As It Happened, IPL 2019: Follow highlights from the Indian Premier League encounter between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab.

from Hindustan Times - cricket http://bit.ly/2DELzvZ

Scientists say they’re closer to possible blood test for chronic fatigue

LONDON: Scientists in the United States say they have taken a step towards developing a possible diagnostic test for chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition characterised by exhaustion and other debilitating symptoms.

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine said a pilot study of 40 people, half of whom were healthy and half of whom had the syndrome, showed their potential biomarker test correctly identified those who were ill.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME, is estimated to affect some 2.5 million people in the United States and as many as 17 million worldwide.

Symptoms include overwhelming fatigue, joint pain, headaches and sleep problems. No cause or diagnosis has yet been established and the condition can render patients bed- or house-bound for years.

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, analysed blood samples from trial volunteers using a “nanoelectronic assay” – a test that measures changes in tiny amounts of energy as a proxy for the health of immune cells and blood plasma.

The scientists “stressed” the blood samples using salt, and then compared the responses. The results, they said, showed that all the CFS patients’ blood samples creating a clear spike, while those from healthy controls remained relatively stable.

“We don’t know exactly why the cells and plasma are acting this way, or even what they’re doing,” said Ron Davis, a professor of biochemistry and of genetics who co-led the study.

“(But) we clearly see a difference in the way healthy and chronic fatigue syndrome immune cells process stress.”

Other experts not directly involved in this work cautioned, however, that its findings showed there is still a long way to go before a biomarker is found that can establish CFS diagnosis and distinguish it from other conditions with similar symptoms.

Simon Wessely, chair of psychiatry at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience, who has worked with CFS patients for many years, said the study was the latest of many attempts to find a biomarker for CFS but had not been able to solve two key issues:

“The (first) issue is, can any biomarker distinguish CFS patients from those with other fatiguing illnesses? And second, is it measuring the cause, and not the consequence, of illness?” he said in an emailed comment. “This study does not provide any evidence that either has finally been achieved.”

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2UOySEw

Bijay Yadav elected FSF-N Province 2 Chair

LAHAN: Bijay Yadav has been elected the chair of Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal (FSF-N) Province 2.

In a vote for its Province 2 working committee, FSF-N central treasurer and State Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning Bijay Yadav defeated former minister and FSFN vice-chair Renu Yadav by 37 votes.

According to the vote count results disclosed last night, Bijay Yadav mustered 184 votes against his arch-rival Renu Yadav’s 147. There were total 405 voters in the state committee.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2Wa7UsE

Blackwater founder’s latest sales pitch – mercenaries for Venezuela

WASHINGTON: Erik Prince – the founder of the controversial private security firm Blackwater and a prominent supporter of US President Donald Trump – has been pushing a plan to deploy a private army to help topple Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicholas Maduro, four sources with knowledge of the effort told Reuters.

Over the last several months, the sources said, Prince has sought investment and political support for such an operation from influential Trump supporters and wealthy Venezuelan exiles. In private meetings in the United States and Europe, Prince sketched out a plan to field up to 5,000 soldiers-for-hire on behalf of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, according to two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s pitch.

One source said Prince has conducted meetings about the issue as recently as mid-April.

White House National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis declined to comment when asked whether Prince had proposed his plan to the government and whether it would be considered. A person familiar with the administration’s thinking said the White House would not support such a plan.

Venezuela opposition officials have not discussed security operations with Prince, said Guaido spokesman Edward Rodriguez, who did not answer additional questions from Reuters. The Maduro government did not respond to a request for comment.

Some US and Venezuelan security experts, told of the plan by Reuters, called it politically far-fetched and potentially dangerous because it could set off a civil war. A Venezuelan exile close to the opposition agreed but said private contractors might prove useful, in the event Maduro’s government collapses, by providing security for a new administration in the aftermath.

A spokesman for Prince, Marc Cohen, said this month that Prince “has no plans to operate or implement an operation in Venezuela” and declined to answer further questions.

Lital Leshem – the director of investor relations at Prince’s private equity firm, Frontier Resource Group – earlier confirmed Prince’s interest in Venezuela security operations.

“He does have a solution for Venezuela, just as he has a solution for many other places,” she said, declining to elaborate on his proposal.

The two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s pitch said it calls for starting with intelligence operations and later deploying 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers-for-hire from Colombia and other Latin American nations to conduct combat and stabilization operations.

‘DYNAMIC EVENT’

For Prince, the unlikely gambit represents the latest effort in a long campaign to privatize warfare. The wealthy son of an auto-parts tycoon has fielded private security contractors in conflict zones from Central Asia to Africa to the Middle East.

One of Prince’s key arguments, one source said, is that Venezuela needs what Prince calls a “dynamic event” to break the stalemate that has existed since January, when Guaido – the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly – declared Maduro’s 2018 re-election illegitimate and invoked the constitution to assume the interim presidency.

Maduro has denounced Guaido, who has been backed by most western nations, as a US puppet who is seeking to foment a coup. Key government institutions – including the military – have not shifted their loyalty to Guaido despite increasing international pressure from sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.

Guaido has stressed that he wants a peaceful resolution, and Latin American governments recognizing his authority have urged against outside military action. Senior US officials, without ruling out armed intervention, have also emphasized economic and diplomatic measures to pressure Maduro.

CLOSE TIES TO TRUMP

Prince was a pioneer in private military contracting during the Iraq war, when the US government hired Blackwater primarily to provide security for State Department operations there.

In 2007, Blackwater employees shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians at Nisour Square in Baghdad, sparking international outrage. One of the Blackwater employees involved was convicted of murder in December and three others have been convicted of manslaughter.

Prince renamed the Blackwater security company and sold it in 2010, but he recently opened a company called Blackwater USA, which sells ammunition, silencers and knives. Over the past two years, he has led an unsuccessful campaign to convince the Trump administration to replace US soldiers in Afghanistan with security contractors.

Since 2014, Prince has run the Hong Kong-based Frontier Services Group, which has close ties to the state-owned Chinese investment company CITIC and helps Chinese firms operating in Africa with security, aviation and logistics services.

Prince donated $100,000 to a political action committee that supported Trump’s election. His sister, Betsy DeVos, is the administration’s education secretary.

Prince’s role in Trump’s campaign was highlighted in the report by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, released this month, on alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

The report outlined how Prince financed an effort to authenticate purported Hillary Clinton emails and how in 2016 he met in the Seychelles islands, off east Africa, with a wealthy Russian financial official on behalf of Trump’s presidential transition team.

Prince spokesman Cohen declined to comment on the Mueller report.

TARGETING FROZEN ASSETS

The two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s Venezuela plan said he is seeking $40 million from private investors. He also aims to get funding from the billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets that have been seized by governments around the world imposing sanctions on the OPEC nation, a major oil exporter.

It’s unclear, however, how the Venezuelan opposition could legally access those assets. Prince told people in pitch meetings, the sources said, that he believes that Guaido has the authority to form his own military force because he has been recognized internationally as Venezuela’s rightful leader.

Prince envisions a force made up of “Peruvians, Ecuadoreans, Colombians, Spanish speakers,” one of the sources said, adding that Prince argued that such soldiers would be more politically palatable than American contractors.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2ZGINjn

Report on national accounts shows bright future of country’s economic growth

The Central Bureau of Statistics recently published the National Labour Force Survey and Regional (Provincial) National Accounts 2019. In contrast with the government’s target of achieving eight per cent economic growth in this fiscal, the recent data have revealed that growth of only 6.8 per cent can be achieved. National accounts are considered to be the indicators of the country’s economic status. Umesh Poudel and Arpana Ale Magar of The Himalayan Times caught up with Suman Raj Aryal, director general of CBS, to learn about the current economic status of the country based on the national accounts. Excerpts:

As per your experience, what is the country’s current economic status based on the national accounts report?

National accounts are indicators that reflect the economic status of the country. Currently, Nepal’s economy is in a growing phase and the journey towards growth is satisfying. The country has been achieving economic growth rate of above six per cent for the last three years. And this growth has created a kind of hope among people for economic prosperity. Moreover, national accounts count the production level of the country. Based on the recent Regional (Provincial) National Accounts 2019 it has been gradually rising. Now, the government has to be focused on giving continuity to this growth to make it sustainable.

You mentioned that data shows good growth of economy, however, the unemployment rate is still high in the country. Even the Labour Force Survey 2019 shows that. What is your take on this?

The definition of unemployment is crucial while collecting data. According to the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) held in October, 2013, two major things are needed for a person to be defined as employed. First, if a person is getting paid for what she or he is doing, then the person is considered employed. Secondly, anyone who is involved in a business that generates jobs for others is also considered as employed. Thus, those people who are working or producing goods for their own use and only for their survival or involved only in their household works should be counted as unemployed. Hence, following the concept of ICLS, we have counted people who are getting paid for their jobs and people who have their own business as employed while others have been taken as unemployed. This situation has also showed high rate of unemployment in our report.

Does this imply that the unemployment rate is actually low in the country?

No, I don’t mean to say that. Since we are following ICLS, we have to abide by its concept. What we have to look at is the type of unemployment we have in our country. Sixty per cent of the population in our country is engaged in the agricultural sector only for their survival. Meanwhile, many people are dependent on seasonal agriculture and most of them find it difficult to make ends meet. Even though they possess their own land and are involved in farming, we have to consider them as unemployed if they are not earning any profit or creating jobs for others. Hence, all those marginalised farmers have been counted as unemployed in the report. Moreover, even those who are searching for jobs were counted as unemployed. However, I am optimistic that the unemployment rate will go down in the future. The government’s target to bring down the number of people dependent on agriculture to 20 per cent in the next 25 years by utilising modern technologies and equipment will also help improve the lives of marginalised farmers. Likewise, the government’s recent policies and programmes to create jobs may also help in reducing the jobless rate next year.

The government has a target to achieve eight per cent economic growth in the current fiscal, but the national accounts report shows that only 6.8 per cent growth can be achieved. What do you have to say on this contradiction?

It is not necessary that we always achieve the target that we set. It is more important to have a target. In whatever we do, we must first set a goal and strive for it. Even if we fail to achieve it today, we may be able to so in the long run. The government’s economic growth target was a genuine goal, but somehow we will not be able to achieve it in this fiscal. There are less than three months left for the fiscal year to end, so the current target will be missed.

Many times the data maintained on the same subject by different authorities contradict. Doesn’t this raise a question over the credibility of data in the country?

To be honest, this has become a major problem in the country and it is happening as specific areas have not been segregated for different authorities. As per the international practice of maintaining data, there should not be more than one body working on a similar issue. If there are multiple bodies involved in the same subject, there is high possibility that respondents may give different feedback to different organisations for the same query. Also, the government will be investing resources for the same work in various bodies. Moreover, the research methodology also plays a significant role. So, to avoid all these discrepancies, we are currently revising the guidelines through which statistics are collected and also some laws related to the Central Bureau of Statistics. The new act will separate the working area for every individual body, so that such conflicting data on the same subject can be curtailed.

Is CBS utilising the tools offered by information and communication technology to systematise the data collection method and keep the data safe?

Today, we are in a digital age and the use of ICT in any sector is imperative. We are making use of ICT tools in every aspect of life. At CBS too we have started using ICT, otherwise we will face difficulties in keeping such a huge amount of data updated. Earlier, we did not have access to ICT, so we used to maintain data in paper files. But now with the access to ICT, our work has become easier and secure too. For instance, we have now started collecting data on tablets to avoid paper work. Besides, we are now thinking of making public all the data we have and we are working on a data warehouse. With this data warehouse, the public can easily access data they require online. To provide this service, we are close to completing the data profile.

Can you please explain what data profile is?

Data profile is a data warehouse that will give 80 per cent of the reports and data that CBS has prepared till date. By logging on to our website, the public can go through the data free of cost and the data will also be secure. From mid-July, people can get any data they want from the data profile.

Are there any new projects that the CBS is working on at present?

At present, our major focus is on census. We are preparing questionnaires and other required documents along with technical aspects of the census. Besides that, we will soon begin Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey that will present the report of the current situation of women and children in the country. It will study various aspects of child health, reproductive health, child development, education and literacy, child protection, HIV and AIDS, attitude towards domestic violence, use of ICT and life satisfaction. This survey will be conducted in cooperation with UNICEF–Nepal. Likewise, we will be conducting the Nepal Lifestyle Survey in association with the World Bank. This survey will help us study the lifestyle of Nepalis. Basically it will focus on the people living in abject poverty.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2vrTmZw

CAAN revokes suspension order of Capt Lama

Kathmandu, April 29

Less than 24 hours after the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) suspended senior captain and spokesperson for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Vijay Lama from his post, barring him from conducting any international flights, the authority has lifted the ban on Lama.

Clarifying the decision to repeal the suspension order that barred Lama from conducting international flights, Sanjeev Gautam, director general of CAAN, said that Lama was under stress and suffering from anxiety and sleeplessness, as he was handling two jobs simultaneously.

“We had sought a clarification from him regarding the statements that he had made in the recent past in the media,” he said, adding that he had replied stating that he was under stress.

Gautam further informed that CAAN has asked Captain Lama not to conduct any flights at the moment, as aviation rules prohibits pilots from flying when in stress.

“Since he was delivering controversial statements to the media as spokesperson for NAC, we’d asked the airline to suspend him from the post, which the national flag carrier did,” he said. “As Captain Lama was also under stress while handling two jobs, we had asked NAC to remove him from the post.”

According to Gautam, Captain Lama will not be reinstated as spokesperson for NAC.

CAAN had taken the decision to suspend Lama on Sunday.

On April 17 too, the flight safety department of CAAN had sought a clarification from Lama as he had made controversial remarks related to flight safety and decided to ground him today.

A few days ago, Lama had given an interview where he had challenged CAAN to revoke his flying licence.

“As per law, pilots are prohibited from flying when there are under any stress or anxiety and Captain Lama will have to take classes on the flying rules once again,” Gautam added.

Captain Lama refused to comment on the matter.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2XVtfXi

Students deck out dome with Captain America shield

CAMBRIDGE: Student pranksters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have struck again, drawing inspiration from America’s hottest movie.

MIT students over the weekend draped the university’s signature Great Dome with a giant cloth version of Captain America’s red, white and blue shield.

Their efforts drew a Twitter “Very cool!” from actor Chris Evans, the Massachusetts native who plays Captain America in “Avengers: Endgame.”

The shield went up Saturday night and was taken down Monday morning.

MIT students have for generations centered similar pranks, which they call “hacks,” on the dome.

A realistic police cruiser was placed on the dome in 1994. In 1999, it was decked out to look like R2D2, the robot from “Star Wars.”

Raymond Huffman, a 20-year-old from New York’s Long Island, says he didn’t have anything to do with this year’s prank, but posted on YouTube aerial video he shot from his drone of the final product that’s since generated tens of thousands of views.

Huffman said a friend involved in the prank told him the group had spent about six months planning the effort.

The prank tradition isn’t an annual event at MIT and tends to happen spontaneously by groups of students that, for the most part, want to remain anonymous, he added.

“It’s kind of cool to see the hacking culture has been maintained,” Huffman said. “These are things you hear about when you first come to MIT.”

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2XWnp82

Government extends quantitative restriction on sugar import till mid-July

Kathmandu, April 29

Under pressure from sugar mill operators, the government has extended the quantitative restriction on sugar import by three months to the end of this fiscal year.

In a bid to limit excessive supply of cheaper foreign sugar in the domestic market, which had lowered the demand of comparatively costly Nepali sugar, the government had fixed a quota on sugar import in September last year till mid- April this year. Under the restriction, traders were allowed to import only around 100,000 tonnes of sugar during this fiscal year till mid-April.

However, a recent meeting of the Council of Ministers decided to continue the quantitative restriction on the sweetener till mid-July.

Meanwhile, the decision to continue quantitative import restriction on sugar has come at a time when Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has been saying that sugar mill operators had deceived the government and compelled it to impose such restriction earlier.

“We thought mill operators were sincere when they asked us to impose import restriction citing that a huge chunk of domestic sugar remained unsold due to excessive flow of cheaper sugar. However, mill operators started hoarding sugar and its price sky-rocketed as soon as the limitation on import was imposed,”

Oli had said at a public programme a few weeks ago.

Hence, the government’s decision to extend import restriction on sugar has reflected contradiction within the government towards sugar import issues.

Meanwhile, consumer rights activists have condemned the decision of the government to extend import restriction on sugar and cited that decisions made without proper study will only affect consumers.

“Statistics of the government show that the domestic market demands around 280,000 tonnes of sugar every year while domestic production of the product stands at around 120,000 tonnes. As statistics clearly show that sugar import is crucial to ensure uninterrupted supply-demand, the government should lift the import restriction on sugar,” said Prem Lal Maharjan, president of Consumers’ Right Forum.

As per him, import restriction on sugar will only promote sugar hoarding and encourage its black marketing.

Moreover, sugar mill operators are yet to clear millions of dues to sugarcane farmers though they had convinced the government that the import restriction on sugar would give space to domestic sugar in the market and help sugar mill operators clear farmers’ dues.

Sugar mill operators were reluctant to comment on this issue.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2ZI8wYy

Bhandari, Basnet off to India

Kathmandu, April 29

Nepali women footballers Sabitra Bhandari and Anita Basnet today left for India to play in Indian Women’s League from Sethu Football Club.

Nepal national team striker Bhandari and midfielder Basnet became the first women footballer from the Himalayan nation to get contracted in professional league. The duo impressed the Indian team officials with their performance in the Hero Gold Cup held in Guwahati and Women’s SAFF Championship played in Biratnagar. Nepal had defeated heavyweights India and Iran in the league round on their way to making it to the final of the Hero Gold Cup in February before losing to Myanmar in the championship match. In the SAFF Championship final in March, Nepal faced a 3-1 defeat at the hands of India.

Bhandari has been the key member of the Nepal national team since making her debut in 2014. She has scored 28 goals in 30 matches and is regarded as one of the best strikers of the South Asian region. Likewise, midfielder Basnet also put up impressive performances in both the tournaments. She scored her first international goal against Sri Lanka during the semi-final match against Sri Lanka in Biratnagar. Basnet, who made her national team debut in 2018, has earned 10 caps so far.

The Indian Women’s League is scheduled to kick off on May 5 at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana, Punjab.

The tournament features 14 teams and they are divided into two groups. After the round robin league, top two sides from both the groups will make it to the semi-finals.

Rising Student’s Club, Gokulam Kerala FC, FC Alakhpura, Hans Women’s FC, Central SSB Women’s Football Team, Panjim Footballers and Tripura Sports School are in Group A, while Sethu FC are in Group B along with Manipur Police Sports Club, Bangalore United FC, CRPF Women’s Football Team, SAI-STC Cuttack, FC Kolhapur City and Baroda Football Academy.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2XTRsx1

Tennis tourney begins

KATHMANDU: The seventh edition of the Citizens Bank Open Tennis Tournament began here on Monday.

A total of 142 players, including five foreigners, are taking part in the tournament that features 10 events and is being played at the Army Officers’ Club and Dasharath Stadium courts.

The annual tournament, sponsored by Citizens Bank International Limited, carries a total cash purse of Rs 498,500. Earlier, CEO of Citizens Bank Ganesh Raj Pokharel inaugurated the six-day tournament.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2VxXupI

Nepal, Japan technical teams to hold meet on labour agreement

Kathmandu, April 29

Though it has already been a month since Nepal and Japan signed an agreement to employ Nepali workers in Japan, the technical teams of both the countries will only be meeting next week for further negotiations on the agreement.

Officials of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) have said that the discussion will be related to the method of language test, skill test and fixing the date of the exam. According to them, Nepali job aspirants looking for employment in Japan will probably have to wait for some more time before everything is sorted out.

As per the bilateral labour agreement, the first step of the recruitment process will be a Japanese language test that will be conducted by the Japanese government.

However, the Japanese government is yet to finalise the modality of the test and other hiring procedures.

According to MoLESS, both governments will form a joint technical team that will finalise the number of workers to be recruited and the process of their recruitment.

It will also finalise the benefits to be granted to workers. However, the cost a worker needs to bear to go to Japan is still under discussion. As per ministry officials, the government has requested Japan to allow Nepali workers to enter its job market at zero cost.

“We will finalise the method in which the language and skill tests will be conducted and the tests will be prepared by the joint technical team,” said an official from the ministry, adding that the Japanese authorities have informed that they will finalise the remaining works before the meeting.

The Japanese government has informed Nepali authorities that they want to first conduct the language test in two other countries — the Philippines and Indonesia — before conducting it in Nepal.

In December, the Japanese government had approved a law whereby Japanese firms will be allowed to employ blue-collar workers from eight countries, including Nepal. Japan plans to employ 345,000 foreign workers in five years.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2vs9hHh

Army beat Police

KATHMANDU: Tribhuvan Army Club defeated Nepal Police Club 89-80 for their second straight victory in the Kwik’s Nepal Basketball League here on Monday.

TAC took the first quarter 30-22 and extended the lead to 10 points going into the half time. TAC netted 19 points each in the next two quarters, while NPC scored 20 apiece.

Robin Khatri of TAC top scored in the match with 29 points and he also made four assists and three steals. In another match, Times International Club beat BMC South Siders Basketball Club 78-47.

Times opened up with 22-11 lead and never looked back. Times netted 16, 12 and 28 points respectively in the next three quarters, while SSBC managed 14 each in second and fourth quarters and eight in third. Mabindra Bhandari of Times starred in the match with 15 points, three assists, 10 rebounds and seven turnovers.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2DCJJf0

Karnali-XI through

SURKHET: Karnali-XI advanced to the semi-finals of the third Wai Wai Karnali Premier League here on Monday.

Karnali defeated Tribhuvan Army Club by 11 runs for their third straight victory in Group A. Batting first, Karnali posted 156-7 in their allotted 20 overs before restricting TAC to 145-8.

Karnali skipper Rabindra Jung Shahi, who scored 23 runs and took three wickets, was named the man of the match. In another match, Mahendranagar Cricket Academy beat Himalayan Cricket Academy by five runs. Mahendranagar posted 151-5 in 20 overs, while Himalayan reached 146-7.

Kiran Thagunna of Mahendranagar was named the man of the match for his unbeaten 41 runs.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2V2c21f

APF beat Friends, enter semis

Players of Nepal APF Club and NIBL Friends Club (left) in action during their second Roj Bahini Chandragiri Gold Cup match in Kathmandu on Monday. Photo: THT

Kathmandu, April 29

Nepal APF Club defeated NIBL Friends Club 2-1 in extra time and advanced to the semi-finals of the second Roj Bahini Chandragiri Gold Cup Football Tournament here at the Naikap grounds today.

Ashish Lama scored the winning goal for APF in the injury time of the extra period.

At a time when the match was heading towards the penalty shootout, Lama found the back of the nets to seal the victory for the departmental side. The match was decided in extra time after both the teams were deadlocked at 1-1 in regulation period of 80 minutes.

Earlier, Prabin Syangtan put APF ahead in the 30th minute of the match when he scored from the edge of the penalty box. Ashish Lama levelled the scores for Friends three minutes later capitalizing on defensive error from Santosh Katuwal.

Friends were unlucky as Ram Kumar and Dhiraj Shrestha struck against the post in the second half.

Ashish Lama of APF was named the man of the match and he earned Rs 5,000. On Tuesday, hosts Deepshikha Youth Group will take on Saraswoti Youth Club. A total of eight teams are taking part in the tournament and the top two sides will receive Rs 600,000 and Rs 300,000 respectively.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2XOuQ0O

Violence mars voting in India’s eastern battleground state

A woman holds her baby as she leaves after casting her vote at a polling station at Sirohi district in the desert Indian state of Rajasthan, India April 29, 2019. Photo: Reuters

MUMBAI/KOLKATA: West Bengal state, crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hopes of retaining power, took centre stage in India’s staggered general election on Monday after clashes broke out between supporters of his party and a regional bloc.

Security forces chased away people wielding sticks after workers from Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took on those from regional Trinamool Congress in the city of Asansol, police said.

Modi is hoping to gain seats in West Bengal, a populous state in eastern India, to offset likely losses in the north of the country.

An Election Commission of India official said paramilitary forces fired a blank round inside a polling station in another constituency in the state after a scuffle between voters and troops, who were demanding that mobile phones be kept aside while voting, as rules state.

There were no immediate reports of any poll-related injuries in West Bengal, where at least one person was killed and three injured during the third phase of voting last week.

Monday’s was the fourth round in the country’s phased election, which involves some 900 million voters and which started on April 11 with Modi in the lead amid heightened tension with long-time rival Pakistan. The last phase is on May 19 and the results are expected four days later.

There are a total of 545 seats in parliament’s lower house.

The BJP is in a direct, and sometimes bloody, fight in West Bengal with Trinamool, whose chief, Mamata Banerjee, is one of Modi’s biggest critics and who is a possible candidate for prime minister.

The BJP currently holds only two of West Bengal’s 42 parliamentary seats.

“We have asked for central forces at all polling booths so that free and fair elections can be held in the state,” said Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a minister in Modi’s cabinet, referring to federal paramilitary police.

Modi told a rally in West Bengal that at least 40 Trinamool state lawmakers were in touch with him and would leave the party after votes are counted on May 23.

Trinamool accused Modi of attempting to horse-trade, telling him: “Nobody will go with you”.

The party also alleged that federal security forces were trying to influence voters to back the BJP wherever they were deployed.

Maidul Islam, a professor of political science at Kolkata’s Center for Studies in Social Sciences, said the stakes were high for both parties, with Trinamool hoping to be part of a federal government coalition.

JAMMU AND KASHMIR UNREST

In disputed Jammu and Kashmir state’s Anantnag constituency, which is voting in three phases due to security concerns, paramilitary forces fired teargas and pellets to disperse youth throwing stones at them, a police officer said.

Four persons suffered pellet injuries, of which two had been hospitalized in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir, the officer said, declining to be identified since he was not authorized to speak to the media.

More than 128 million people were eligible to vote in this round of the seven-phase election, held across 72 seats in nine states.

About 62.56 per cent of those eligible had voted by 8 p.m. (1430 GMT), according to interim figures from the election commission.

Modi’s coalition won more than 75 per cent of the seats in the nine states in the previous election, in 2014.

Many of the constituencies are in Uttar Pradesh state in the north and Maharashtra – where the financial capital Mumbai is located – in the west, both of which are ruled by the BJP and its allies. Uttar Pradesh elects the most lawmakers, with Maharashtra next and West Bengal third.

Political analysts say the BJP may struggle to repeat its strong showing this time due mainly to a jobs shortage and weak farm prices, issues that the main opposition Congress party has seized on.

First-time voter Ankita Bhavke, a college student in Mumbai, said she voted for economic development.

“I want the country to be at par with the best in the world,” she said. “There’s been some progress in the last five years.”

India’s financial markets were closed on Monday for the election.

Modi has played up his record on national security after he sent warplanes into Pakistan in late February in response to a suicide bomb attack by an Islamist militant group based there that killed 40 Indian police in the disputed Kashmir region.

In recent days, he has evoked the deadly Easter Sunday bombings in neighbouring Sri Lanka to remind voters of the dangers India faces.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2VzUMQo

A daunting task begins: Reducing lobster gear to save whales

PORTLAND: Fishing managers on the East Coast began the daunting process Monday of implementing new restrictions on lobster fishing that are designed to protect a vanishing species of whale.

A team organized by the federal government recommended last week that the number of vertical trap lines in the water be reduced by about half. The lines have entrapped and drowned the North Atlantic right whale, which number a little more than 400 and have declined by dozens this decade.

The interstate Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission met Monday outside Washington to discuss the implementation of the new rules, which are designed to reduce serious injuries and deaths among whales by 60 percent.

The rules will be developed in the coming months and could have a huge effect on the lucrative fishery. Some individual lobstermen place several miles of trap lines in the water, meaning hundreds of miles will have to be removed in total to meet the goal.

“States are committed to taking on the reductions,” said Toni Kerns, interstate fisheries management program director for the commission, after the meeting. “This is a very complex issue, and it will be challenging, but they will find a way to make it work.”

Exactly how long it will take to implement the new rules is unclear at the moment, Kerns said. It also remains to be seen whether the commission or states will take the lead in implementing the rules, she said.

Colleen Coogan, who coordinates the federal government team designed to protect the whales, said during the meeting that cooperating with Canadian authorities is also going to be very important. Canadian fishermen harvest the same species of lobster, and the endangered whales also swim in Canadian waters.

“We’ve set a pretty high bar,” Coogan said. “They’re going to have to show that their measures provide similar protections to right whales.”

The Atlantic States commission voted Monday in favor of letting lobster fishermen off Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire know that rule changes are on the way.

The effects of the rule changes are likely to be felt most heavily in Maine, which typically accounts for four-fifths of the total US lobster catch. The Maine fishery brought nearly 120 million pounds of lobsters to shore last year, and lobsters are an important part of the state’s tourism and economy.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2Wdiqzi

TAC earn maiden final berth

Kathmandu, April 29

Tribhuvan Army Club and Nepal APF Club advanced to the final of the fifth KNP National Women’s Volleyball Tournament here at the Nepali Army Sports Complex today.

TAC stunned Nepal Police Club 3-1 in the day’s second semi-final match to make it to their first final in national level tournaments. TAC lost the first set 21-25 before staging a comeback and levelled the scores at 1-1 by winning the second set 25-18. TAC then took the hard-fought third set 28-26 before sealing the famous victory with a 25-13 win in the fourth set.

TAC, coached by Kapil Shrestha for the last 16 months, has improved a lot in the recent tournaments and they also won two sets against women volleyball powerhouse, APF in the league round before going down in the fifth set despite having a 13-10 lead. TAC, however, had failed to make it to the knock out round in the fifth National Games in Nepalgunj earlier this month.

TAC will now face defending champions APF in Tuesday’s final.

APF registered a 3-0 victory over Hongwanji New Diamond Club in the first semi-final match. APF recorded a regular 25-16, 25-20, 25- 16 victory to make it to the final.

A total of six teams, divided into two pools, took part in the tournament organised by Sher Bahadur Khadka Memorial Foundation under the sponsorship of KNP Japan.

The winners will be richer by Rs 200,000, while the runners-up will receive Rs 100,000 and third-place team will get Rs 50,000.

Likewise, the best player of the tournament and Sher Bahadur Khadka Special Award winners will receive Rs 15,000 and Tissot watch worth Rs 30,000 each from Sulux Centre, while player-of-thematch will get Rs 5,000. Also, the best server, libero, quicker, defender, spiker and coach will earn Rs 7,000 apiece.

Apart from cash prizes, the organisers will also host a dinner party at Hotel Annapurna for the top three sides along with skippers and managers of other teams.

Also, the 15 members of the winning team will get a suit each from The Regal Inc, while the rising player and special award winners will receive mountain flight tickets from Buddha Air.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2Lf7Kz1

Google parent’s shares dive as YouTube changes, competition hurt revenue

Alphabet Inc’s Google on Monday saw its slowest revenue growth in three years from increased competition in advertising, stumbles in its smartphone business and disruptive changes at YouTube that left the leading internet ad company lagging rivals.

Shares of Alphabet dropped 7.5 percent after hours, setting them up for the biggest one-day drop since falling 8 percent in October 2012. They had closed Monday at a record-high of $1,296.20.

Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat attributed slower revenue growth to currency fluctuations, competition and unspecified product changes.

The company is facing continued pressure from advertisers to tighten controls on its fast-growing YouTube video service so that they not appear to be sponsoring adult or offensive content.

Google also is struggling to find the right mix of ad formats to use on mobile devices, voice assistant-enabled home speakers and in emerging markets.

Eight of the 11 analysts who questioned executives on a call on Monday asked about the revenue issues, an unusual level of shared interest. But the executives offered limited new details, prompting Barclays’ analyst Ross Sandler near the end to preface a question by saying he was just beating a dead horse.

Reflecting on the sales growth slowdown, Porat said unspecified changes at YouTube had boosted first-quarter revenue a year ago, with nothing delivering a comparable bump this year.

About 85 percent of Alphabet’s revenue comes from Google’s ad business, which sells links, banners and commercials across its own websites and apps and those of partners.

Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said revenue slowdowns should be expected as the company focuses on the long term.

“You are going to have quarter-to-quarter variations once in a while, but we remain confident about the opportunities we see,” he said on a conference call.

Major competitors for ad spending such as Facebook Inc, Snap Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Twitter Inc all reported last week quarterly revenue above or in line with analysts’ expectations.

Alphabet said its quarterly revenue rose 17 percent from a year ago to $36.3 billion, about $1 billion short of Wall Street’s average estimate, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

The company said it would have met expectations, adjusting for currency fluctuations.

The growth was the slowest since 17 percent in the first quarter of 2016 and compared with 26 percent for the same quarter in 2018.

Facebook, the Number 2 internet ad company, posted 26 percent growth to $15.1 billion in quarterly results last week.

“Google ad revenue growth has been slowing amid downward pressure on ad prices, especially for revenues coming from international markets,” Monica Peart, senior forecasting director for ad research firm eMarketer said in a statement.

RISING COSTS

Alphabet’s quarterly costs rose about the same as revenue, up 16.5 percent from last year to $29.7 billion.

Expenses have surged faster than revenue for much of the past two years as it adds data centres, offices and YouTube content licenses, concerning some investors amid increased scrutiny on the company’s privacy practices and the advertising restrictions at YouTube.

More advertising controls are coming to YouTube in the coming weeks that could affect sales, Pichai said.

In the first quarter, sales of Google’s Pixel phones also struggled from intense competition in the premium smartphone market, Porat said. The company is expected to introduce lower-priced Pixel devices next month.

Alphabet has yet to tout significant revenue from its spending on ventures such as self-driving cars and its AI helper Google Assistant.

Newer units that are producing noticeable revenue have lagged in market share, including Google’s consolidated hardware unit and Google Cloud, which sells computing and data storage services to businesses.

And Google’s costs could jump further if governments globally follow through on threats to rein in the ability of apps to track users for advertising purposes. Other regulators have discussed forcing companies to step up monitoring of user content. Cost will rise in the current quarter as Google resumes some marketing efforts, Porat said.

Shares of Alphabet have gained 23 percent this year as positive macroeconomic signals had given investors reason to bet on it. But it is the least growth among the so-called FAANG group, with Facebook at 48 percent, Netflix at 39 percent, Apple at 30 percent and Amazon at 29 percent.

EUROPEAN FINE

Alphabet’s expenses included a $1.7 billion fine from the European Commission for having placed anticompetitive advertising restrictions on websites using its searches.

Google’s 3 billion users help make it the world’s largest seller of internet ads, capturing nearly a third of all revenue, according to research firm eMarketer. Facebook is at about 20 percent.

Including the European fine, net income was $6.7 billion, or $9.50 per share, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $7.3 billion, or $10.48 per share. Earnings excluding the fine were $8.3 billion, or $11.90 per share, beating analysts’ estimates $10.61 per share for adjusted earnings.

Operating margin excluding the fine was 23 percent, up from 22 percent in the year-ago period.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2GN35Pi

Siddhicharan Highway in sorry state

Udayapur, April 29

Around 90 per cent of Katari-Ghurmi road section along the Siddhicharan Highway is in a dilapidated state barely one-and-a-half decade after it came into operation.

The road is losing its shape due to floods, landslides and rainfall, among other things. Travelling on the road has become risky as accidents along it have been claiming lives every year due to poor condition of the road.

Social activist Ram Kumar Rai of Katari blamed the division road office for the poor condition of the road. “A number of factors, including vehicles plying with excess load have damaged the road, but as the road division has failed to carry out effective repair work, the same has further degraded its condition,” said Rai. “Though the division office carries out repair every year, it’s just for name’s sake,” he added.

Bhim Pulami, a local of Katari Municipality, blamed vehicles plying with load in excess of 10 tonnes as the primary factor that has damaged the road. “Vehicles carrying load up to 10 tonnes are only theoretically allowed on the Katari-Ghurmi road stretch, but large lorries hauling more than 30 tonnes are plying the road freely and the same has laid waste to the road,” he said.

According to locals, some 46km of Katari-Ghurmi road section is very risky for travellers.

The road section was black-topped by the Nepali Army using an alternative technology. But, as the black-topping came off not long after construction of the road, travelling on the road has become difficult.

The condition of the road that directly links Solukhumbu, Okhaldhunga and Khotang to the Tarai has posed a great problem to the people. “We’d viewed Siddhicharan Highway as the backbone for development both of the Tarai and the hills but as the road is in sorry state it has affected everyone,” said Udayapur Chamber of Commerce and Industry Katari Chairperson Pushkar Khadka, who also lamented the impact of the dilapidated road on local trade and business.

Katari Municipality Mayor Gyanendra Shrestha also acknowledged the role of the road in the development of the municipality and demanded that it be upgraded as early as possible.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2GI5J98

Humla death toll reaches 10

This image shows Maila area in Tanjakot Rural Municipality of Humla district. Image: Google Maps screenshot

Surkhet, April 29

The death toll from the outbreak of an unknown disease that appeared in Tanjakot Rural Municipality of Humla about three weeks ago has reached 10 with one more fatality reported today, as health authorities scramble to identity and contain the outbreak.

Today, 62-year-old Pabitra Bohora of Bhadaura inTajakot succumbed to the disease.

In the wake of the outbreak, two separate teams of health workers including experts from Mugu and Surkhet had reached Tajakot yesterday.

While the provincial government, in coordination with the federal government, sent a team led by Dr KN Poudel with necessary medicines to the outbreak-hit village via a Nepal Army chopper, another team of health workers led by Dr Manoj Timalsina from Ratamata Primary Health Centre of Mugu reached the village yesterday on foot.

While the Dr Poudel-led team has been examining patients after setting up a camp at Bhaisamajh Community Health Unit; Dr Timilsina-led team is treating patients from Maila Health Post.  The teams are said to have examined more than 200 patients since yesterday in the village.

Though the doctors, on the basis of the symptoms, suspect the outbreak to be seasonal common cold and cough, they said they couldn’t say anything for sure until the test report.

“We can say for sure what the cause of deaths is only after we return to Surkhet with samples of patients’ spittle and test it in the laboratory,” said leader of the team Dr KN Poudel, adding that the spittle samples would be sent to Surkhet on Tuesday and it may take three to four days for the results to arrive.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2WbPkA5

HIV-infected avoid society fearing discrimination

Damauli, April 29

A report prepared by Support Group, Tanahun, shows that HIV-infected persons prefer not to socialise fearing discrimination in society.

Support Group, Tanahun, has been helping HIV-infected persons in the district.

Chair of the group Shreeram Kandel said HIV-infected persons mostly kept to themselves to escape negative stigma associated with being HIV-positive in the community. Kandel said the infected had to cope with social, psychological and medical conditions surrounding them, which also distanced them further from society.

An analysis of data and investigation of more than half of the infected persons in the district reveals that they either do not disclose their health condition or live in isolation in society. Kandel said, “There were around 445 HIV-infected persons in Tanahun, as per the health office statistics.” Of them only 228 infected are in contact with the group.

Support Group has been working for rehabilitation of HIV-infected persons into society. It also provides psychological and medical counselling for the infected, besides conducting various awareness programmes.

Kandel regrets that some infected persons die untimely deaths as they conceal their health condition and do not come in contact with doctors for medication. HIV infected persons can live longer if they take medicines on time. Kandel said spread of HIV infection could be curbed if rehabilitation and awareness programmes were effectively run in society.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2DDkF7O

Opposition parties flay government

Kathmandu, April 29

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba tore into the government for its alleged misrule, including its attempt to centralise powers in the Prime Minister’s Office and curtail press freedom.

While addressing the first meeting of the budget session today, Deuba criticised  the KP Sharma Oli-led government ‘for not doing any single work that could strike a chord with the public.’ The government drew flak not only from the main opposition party but also its coalition partner Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal.

Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, which withdrew support to the government a few weeks ago, threatened to launch street protest against the government if the constitution was not amended and other demands of the party were not met.

Reading out a written statement from the rostrum of the Parliament, Deuba said the government did not do enough to rehabilitate tornado-hit people in Bara and Parsa districts and to maintain law and order.

“The government failed to spend capital allocated for development work and it handed over Budi Gandaki Hydro project to a company without calling a tender,” he said and added that the government was trying to protect land mafia involved in the Baluwatar land-grab case. He also criticised the government for taking decisions through the Constitutional Council even in the absence of the leader of opposition.

Member of RJP-N presidium Anil Kumar Jha said if the government continued to ignore his party’s demands, then his party would launch street protest against the government.

“The government is neither positive about amending the  constitution, nor  is it willing to make the Girish Chandra Lal Commission’s  report public,” he said. Jha said many party leaders, including lawmaker Resham Chaudhary were victims of false indictment.

Rajendra Shrestha, co-chair of Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal and deputy parliamentary party leader, said if the government didn’t amend the constitution as per the two-point agreement, the party would quit the coalition government.

Former prime minister and Coordinator of Naya Shakti Party Baburam Bhattarai asked the government to investigate the Baluwatar land-grab cases and wide-body aircraft purchase deal. Bhattarai said the government should withdraw the newly registered National Human Rights Commission (Amendment) Bill that proposed to put the rights body under the purview of the Attorney General.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party lawmaker Rajendra Lingden, Rastriya Janamorcha Party lawmaker Durga Paudel and Nepal Workers and Presents Party leader Prem Suwal also criticised the government for not living up to people’s expectation.

However, NCP deputy parliamentary party leader Subas Chandra Nembang defended the government, saying the government was doing all it could to control corruption. He said the government also wanted to investigate the land-grab cases.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2DEtjTE

Five killed in jeep accident

Bhairahawa, April 29

Five persons lost their lives when a jeep met with accident in Palpa today.

According to SP Ganesh Chand of Province 5 Traffic Police Office in Butwal, the accident occurred when the jeep headed towards Jyamire Huwas from Nisdi Rural Municipality fell off the road at Bhiduri Bhir in Nisdi in the afternoon.

The deceased have been identified as Khadak Bahadur Somai, 45, Devi Bahadur Khangaha, 55, Lal Bahadur Saru, 45, and Santa Bahadur Saru, 57, of Nisdi Rural Municipality and jeep driver Buddhibal Swati, whose age and address are yet to be confirmed.  The accident site is some 60 km east from Palpa district headquarters Tansen.

Police said preparations were on to bring the bodies to Tansen.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2IPPIl3

Home ministry’s circular on citizenship protested

Cadres of political parties clashing with security personnel during a protest in Baneshwor, on Monday, April 29, 2019. Photo: Naresh Krishna Shrestha/THT

Kathmandu, April 29

Dozens of cadres of various fringe parties and organisations today demonstrated at Baneshwor against the recent circular issued by the Ministry of Home Affair’s to district administration offices ordering them to issue citizenship by descent to children of those who had acquired citizenship by birth.

The protest turned violent as the agitating participants tried to breach the prohibited zone at Baneshwor towards the federal Parliament hall.

Leaders of Rastriya Janamorcha, Communist Party of Nepal (Masal), CPN (ML), Jana Samajbadi Party and members of organisations such as Save Upper Karnali Campaign participated in the protest programme.

They had marched to Baneshwor from Maitighar. The agitating group also burned a copy of the circular that asked the authorities to issue citizenship of descent to children of citizenship by birth.

The Home Ministry had issued the circular on April 2.

The circular was then vacated by a single bench of Justice Purushottam Bhandari on April 8, acting on a writ petition filed by Senior Advocate Bal Krishna Neupane of the Supreme Court.

The interim order issued by Justice Bhandari, however, was again vacated on April 16 by a division bench of Justice Hari Krishna Karki and Bam Kumar Shrestha.

It is estimated that there are around 170,042 citizens by birth.

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2GSW1C0

Woman’s body found, murder suspected

Bhairahawa, April 29

The body of a woman was found on the banks of the Banganga River at Balapur of Banganga Municipality, Kapilvastu today.

Ward chair Guna Nidhi Bhusal identified the deceased as Sunita Tharu, 21. According to Bhusal, Tharu has received deep cuts on her head.

The kin of deceased Tharu suspect she might have been murdered by family members. Her husband Suresh Tharu had taken her to bathe in the Banganga River yesterday to beat the heat, said locals. Suresh had returned home alone and Sunita’s body was recovered today which has made the incident suspicious, said Kapilvastu District Police Office.

Police have arrested Suresh and two others and launched an investigation, said SP Acyutam Pudasaini. The body has been taken to District Hospital for post-mortem. “The probe will be easy once the post-mortem report comes,” said SP Pudasaini.

Sunita and Suresh had a love marriage. Her father Tulashi Tharu accused Sunita’s family of torturing and beating her to death. A case was filed against Sunita’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law for tormenting and thrashing her at Pipara Area Police Office a few days ago.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2J5YSsP

Plea seeking enforcement of free education rules filed

Kathmandu, April 29

Acting General Secretary of Nepal Student Union Kundan Raj Kafle today filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court demanding that education up to Grade XII should be fully free as per the spirit of the constitution.

The petitioner argued that as per Article 31 of the constitution, students had the right to attain education up to Grade XII free of cost but local levels across the country were imposing fees on students in violation of the constitutional provision. “At least 50 local levels, including metropolis and sub-metropolis have passed laws and regulations fixing fee structures for different levels,” Kafle told THT.

He said that Kathmandu metropolis also recently imposing fee structures for private schools which was also a violation of the constitutional provision.

“Education Rules state that private schools can run classes, but that does not mean private
schools should collect fees from pupils,” Kafle said.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2XUnF7o

EDITORIAL: No to pork barrel

The CISP has faced criticism in the past as it is largely geared towards giving the elected lawmakers an edge during the elections and purchase votes with patronage

The budget session of the Federal Parliament began at the International Convention Centre on Monday, which will debate the government’s policies and programmes for the next fiscal year before the  budget is presented at the House on May 29. Although the focus of the discussion in the Federal Parliament this session will be on the budget, yet some umbrella bills, crucial for implementing federalism, are expected to be debated and passed. There are at present 46 bills which are under consideration in the Parliament. While a healthy discussion on the pros and cons of the government policies and programmes is desired to ensure that the targeted growth rate for the next fiscal is achieved, there are fears that the lawmakers might be more absorbed in hiking their pork barrel. With the start of the budget session, lawmakers, especially those from the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), have been making a beeline to the corridors of power, seeking a hike in the Constituency Infrastructure Special Programme (CISP) to Rs 100 million from the current Rs 40 million.

The lawmakers had lobbied with the Prime Minister and Finance Minister last year too to increase the CISP fund to Rs 100 million, to be awarded to each of the 165 federal lawmakers elected through the first-past-the-post polls. The government had silenced the lawmakers by inflating the amount to Rs 40 million from Rs 30 million. Now the NCP has launched a signature campaign, for which more than two dozen signatures have already been collected. Lawmakers from the opposition, the Nepali Congress, are also for raising the CISP fund.

The pork barrel projects have proved ineffective in that the constituency budget is distributive in nature and finds its way mostly to the unproductive sectors, with no provision to hold the lawmakers accountable for the spending or service delivery. The finance minister’s quest last year to limit the expenditure on a handful of projects failed, and the lawmakers were allowed to spend in as many as 20 projects in their constituency. The CISP has faced criticism in the past as it is largely geared towards giving the elected lawmakers an edge during the elections and purchase votes with patronage, depriving the contestants outside the Parliament of a level playing field. Thus, it is not justifiable to increase the pork barrel regardless of the pressure this government is in from its own lawmakers. If possible, it should be scrapped for good. Allocating resources for pork barrel spending will only encourage others, such as National Assembly members and provincial lawmakers, to make similar demands. Earmarking large sums of money, worth billions of rupees, from the country’s scarce resources simply to please the lawmakers is bad politics.

This has never gone down well with the people, who elected them in the first place. Now that the country has gone for a federal set-up under a new constitution, it is only right that the selection and execution of small projects should be the prerogative of the provinces and local levels. The job of a federal lawmaker is to make laws, not to engage in petty development activities.

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Petro pipeline

The cost of transporting POL products will go down remarkably once the 69.3-km-long Motihari-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline comes into operation in the next two weeks as the pipe-laying process on both sides is almost complete. Proposed in 1996, an understanding to this effect was reached during Indian PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal in 2014, and the two governments reached an agreement on laying the oil pipeline in 2015. Only four kilometers of the section in Nepal remains to be completed.

It is hoped that the oil pipeline being built at a cost of INR 2.75 billion will help control pilferage and technical leakage of POL products. The transportation of petroleum products will be easier, safer and faster and will also ensure their regular supply in Nepal. The oil pipeline will have a capacity of supplying 200,000 litres of oil per hour. In the first phase, Nepal will import diesel through the pipeline. Plans are also afoot to expand the oil pipeline up to Chitwan, from where the petroleum products will be distributed across the country in oil tankers. Petroleum products imported from Indian Oil Corporation account for nearly 14 per cent of the country’s total import bill.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2GI0c2b

Grid-connected solar system: New step in Nepal’s energy mix

Proliferation of grid-connected solar PV solutions would mean that Nepal is able to attain a reliable, diversified energy system capable of providing power to even the remotest parts of the country

Illustration: Ratna Sagar Shrestha/THT

Nepal is rich in water, solar, wind and biomass resources, but the country is unable to utilise these resources in the absence of innovative technical knowledge and finance.

Given that solar is the second most abundant and preferred source of energy for Nepal after hydro, developing the solar PV industry is justifiable. As for the distributed solar home systems (SHSs) and solar micro-grids, Nepal has seen some development in those sub-sectors already, but their impact is limited. Distributed solar home systems took off in the last decade, but the model got limited to just powering a few bulbs in the rural households. Solar micro-grids turned out to be vastly expensive and unsustainable without at least 80 per cent of the total cost in grants. The only other model that can achieve large-scale solar PV development is utility-scale solar system, as in India today. However, as Nepal has significant transmission constraints, this solar system also becomes less feasible.

Proliferation of grid-connected solar PV solutions would mean that Nepal is able to attain a reliable, diversified energy system capable of providing power to even the remotest parts of the country. The government plans to achieve 99 per cent electrification rate by the year 2030, and it cannot achieve that by relying on hydro plants that take a minimum of five years to construct.

A grid-connected solar system mainly has two components: solar PV panels and an electronic device called an inverter. Apart from these components, there are other minor components, such as switches and fuses, which allow each of the two major components to be completely isolated when repairs are needed.

The system does not require any battery, making the cost of the system 60 per cent less compared to an ordinary solar-battery system. Electricity generated is directly utilised for load operation, and surplus energy is fed into the grid, which is eventually balanced through net metering and is paid back through the feed-in tariff (FIT) rate.

The technology holds tremendous potential at sites having day loads like hospitals, schools, colleges, hotels, industries/factories, offices, making them independent in energy use and thus lessening the burden on Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

There are many advantages to using a grid-connected solar system. This technology will give a boost to the total energy supply. Currently, we import almost half of the electricity from India, thereby implying major energy security risks. Large solar PV injection, therefore, has the power to minimise imports. Hydro, the major source of power for the country today, cannot be constructed immediately to offset imports. Supply diversification is another advantage. With climate change impacts getting more visible in the Himalayan region, relying on hydro alone is highly risky. Solar PV complements hydro generation, especially in the winter months when the rivers dry up.

Nepal suffers from a worsening trade balance due to high levels of power and fossil fuel imports. Nepal currently imports electricity of about Rs 20 billion, LPG gas of about Rs 30 billion and petroleum products of about Rs 100 billion annually. A stronger local energy generation, therefore, has the power to improve the trade balance significantly. In addition, the current national goal to make electricity the primary source of energy supports the need to develop solar PV industry in the country.

Nepal’s transmission network is outdated and is in no position to accommodate large power generation that the government plans to achieve in the next 10 years. On-site solar PV generation, therefore, has the capacity to not only reduce pressure on transmission and distribution but also reduce power losses that occur upon using the outdated infrastructure.

One major advantage is that there will be higher energy access for rural consumers. If big consumers consume less energy as a result of on-site solar PV, the rest of the country will have access to more power.

In Nepal, a grid-connected solar system is in its nascent phase. A few attempts have been made in this sector, such as a 1-MW system at Singha Durbar, 680 KW system at Sundharighat, 100 KW system at Kharipati, 65 KW at Nepal Telecom and a 1-KW test project at Pulchowk Engineering Campus. However, the technology is yet to gain momentum commercially. Hence, net metering and feed-in tariff (FIT) would be crucial policies. The government has already formulated these policies, but its unwillingness to implement them is causing delay in its commercialisation.

In India, in 2011, under the Jawaharlal Solar Mission policy (which is now renamed as National Solar Mission), the Indian government formulated policies to kick-start a grid-connected solar system. One important part was the feed-in tariff (FIT) rate. Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, offered IRs 15 per unit (kWh) for solar electricity. This policy attracted so many private investors in the sector that the government’s target to develop 22,000 MW from solar electricity by 2022 was met within 2017. They reformulated the target to 100,000 MW by 2022.

Feed-in tariff rate in Nepal is Rs 7.30 per unit (kWh). Economists say at this price, it is challenging for any private investor to invest in this sector. The government should come up with a policy similar to that of India to kick-start this sector in Nepal.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2V4dj89

NCP discusses Gen Secy Paudel’s land purchase deal

Kathmandu, April 29

A secretariat meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) held here today discussed the land grab allegation levelled against the  party’s General Secretary Bishnu Paudel.

Former prime minister Jhalanath  Khanal told THT that party leaders discussed the issue and agreed  that the party should study the case before clarifying its stance on the issue.

Media reports had stated that Paudel illegally purchased eight ana land in his son’s name in Baluwatar area. Paudel has, however, said that he and his family had done nothing wrong in the land purchase deal.

Khanal also said party leaders suggested that the government bring its policies and programmes in a way that would win people’s hearts and  minds and support the cause of socialism as envisioned by the  constitution.

NCP Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha said party leaders discussed Paudel’s issue in an informal meeting and told Paudel to present his side of the story with data to back his arguments.

Shrestha  said party leaders also decided to the tell the government to bring the  government’s policies and programmes in line with the party’s manifesto  and also incorporate new policies that could give people the feel of an  epochal political change.

Party leaders also told Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to include policies that could help the government effectively check corruption and increase the  government’s efficiency in spending the capital allocated for  development work.

“We want the government’s policies to match the spirit of the constitution that envisions socialism,” he said.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2PKQH6N

Pesticide use blamed for rising number of cancer patients

Dhankuta, April 29

Overuse of pesticides and harmful chemicals in fruits and vegetables has posed serious risk to health in Dhankuta.

Twelve persons were diagnosed with cancer at a five-day free health camp organised by Nepal Cancer Relief Society, Bhaktapur, in the district recently. Besides, around 100 others are suspected to be suffering from cancer.

The health camp was organised in coordination with Dhankuta District Hospital.

“Symptoms of cancer have been seen in around 100 persons, and we have called all of them for detailed check-up at Bhaktapur Cancer hospital,” said Dr Prabhu Shah, adding that the possible reason behind increasing number of cancer patients in the district was excessive use of pesticides in farm products.

According to NCRS Chief Administrative Officer Suresh Sapkota, a total of 1,650 people had undergone preliminary check-up at the camp.

NCRS Central Chair Ishwor Shrestha also attributed overuse of pesticides and chemicals in fruits and vegetables to increasing number of cancer patients in the districts.

“The government has categorised pesticides into three categories and banned some of them, but farmers are mostly found using the banned pesticides for quick results,” Shrestha said, adding that lack of awareness about proper use of pesticides also had something to do with such practice.

“The number of cancer patients might increase in the districts as many women hesitate to go for health check-up due to the perceived stigma related to the disease,” said Dr Ushabadhe Shrestha.

Meanwhile, the team from NCRS Bhaktapur  also conducted awareness programme against cancer and tobacco use. Some 1,150 persons, including army personnel from Salleri-based Nepali Army Barakh Battalion and students, participated in the programme.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2IPPGtr

Conflict victims demand amendment to Transitional Justice Act

Kathmandu, April 29

Conflict victims and civil society members today staged a demonstration at Maitighar Mandala, demanding amendment to the Transitional Justice Act.

The agitating conflict victims have demanded that the act be amended in line with the verdicts issued by the Supreme Court at different times. They have also urged the government to equip the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons with necessary resources — human and financial.

The Supreme Court has ruled that there should not be amnesty for grave human rights violations such as extra-judicial killing, enforced disappearance, torture, rape and other acts of sexual violence; the statute of limitations for grave offences must be removed; cases recommended by the TRC and the CIEDP must be prosecuted; torture and enforced disappearance must be criminalised through enactment of laws; cases before the court cannot be transferred to the TRC or the CIEDP; dignified and respectable reparation for victims; and no reconciliation without the consent of victims.

The conflict victims also demanded that the members and chairpersons of both transitional justice bodies be appointed only after amending the act.

The government has formed a five-member committee led by former chief justice Om Prakash Mishra to recommend members and chairpersons of both the transitional justice body.

Moreover, the victims have demanded their meaningful representation in both the transitional justice bodies.

Lamenting the prolonged transitional justice process in Nepal, civil society members and other participants said this would promote impunity in the country. The conflict victims further informed that they would continue the protest until their demands were met.

 

from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2vrkpEl