Sandipa Amgai: The power of passion and perseverance
Sandipa Amgai, a 26-year-old taekwondo player from Chandragiri, Kathmandu, started training as an athlete at the age of 12, although her family was against it. Despite not having her family’s support, Amgai chose to remain persistent and is now one of the players representing Nepal in various international championships. Born and raised in Syuchatar, a village in Nagarjun Municipality, Kathmandu, Amgai’s fascination for taekwondo started after watching students from her village take classes every day, wearing ‘dobok’, the taekwondo uniform. “I always imagined myself wearing a dobok and practicing along with them,” she says. But her father, a retired army officer, never agreed to it. She says he was scared his daughter would get hurt. Amgai didn’t want to disobey her father, although she knew she wanted to become a taekwondo player. “I suppressed my feelings as a child and let myself believe that it was just a phase,” she says. However, the training took place near her house, and letting it go was easier said than done. She often daydreamed about becoming one of the trainees until one day she finally got a chance. In 2006, her father left for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and that, Amgai says, was an opportunity for her to secretly join a taekwondo class. “I had to convince my mother but it didn’t take very long and I began my training immediately,” she adds. She got enrolled in Kathmandu Taekwondo Dojang, a training institution in Bafal, Kalimati. “I attended classes early in the morning, and then I would go to school. I often missed the first period,” she says. Her instructors told her she was a quick learner. In a short period of time, Amgai made a lot of progress, and was also attending a closed training with the national team. The training went smoothly for one and a half years, until her father returned. “He eventually found out about my training and was furious,” she says. She was forced to quit her training mid-way. “I was devastated,” she says. She had to refrain from participating in several competitions. “Although he meant well and didn’t want to see me get hurt, a part of me was always disappointed,” she adds, “Because he never tried to understand my passion for taekwondo.” Amgai believed that to be the end, until her father went to Japan for work soon after his return from Dubai. “He knew I continued my training because I used to tell him about my achievements,” she says, “But he didn’t want to hear about it, let alone appreciate my efforts.” Soon after resuming her training, Amgai won a gold medal in the ‘First Youth Games’ that took place in 2008/09. That was the starting point, she says, because after that she got to participate in many national competitions. She came second in the Narayani Zonal Level Competition in 2009, bagged a gold medal in the Second Youth Games in 2010, and won first position in the first and second Nekos Taekwondo Championship organized by the Nepal Sports Federation. Although her father could never fully accept what she was doing, she says he eventually understood her love for taekwondo. He took her to Japan, hoping she would be able to participate in international championships. She completed high school, and also continued her training in King Bombs Dojang, a training institution in Tokyo, Japan. But it wasn’t until 2016 that she was able to compete internationally. She competed in the IFOTC Championship in Portland, USA and bagged a gold medal in 2016, won third place in the 20th Jordan Open Championship held in Barcelona, Spain in 2018, and a silver medal in the Sarawak Borneo Cup International Taekwondo Championship held in Malaysia in the same year. “During my first international competition in 2016, I was nervous and equally excited,” she says. “But I got used to the feeling after a few competitions.” During the lockdown, Amgai taught herself Pomsae, one of the techniques in taekwondo. “I watched several YouTube videos and mastered the trick,” she says. She won the gold medal in the Kathmandu Open Online Taekwondo Poomsae Championship held in 2020. Amgai also passed the International Online Referee Course in 2022 and was also one of the referees for the Virginia Cup held in the USA, and 3rd Mount Everest G-2 Taekwondo Championship held in Pokhara. She also passed the Level One Coaching Course from the USA the same year, and was the coach for the Nepalis team in the 11th Asian Junior Taekwondo Championship held in Vietnam, and a trainer at Everest Taekwondo Dojang and Sitapaila Taekwondo Dojang in Kathmandu. Currently, she is training in Japan, while preparing for a championship that is to be held in the USA. Besides Taekwondo, Amgai is also involved in social work. She has been supporting athletes from the Chepang Community in Chitwan, and has been providing financial assistance to several child care and old age homes in Nepal. In Oct 2022, she also gave self-defense training to the students of Rameshwari High School in Bungkot, Gorkha. She is also studying to become a software engineer, she confesses she has always wanted to hold a degree. “But I will not be leaving taekwondo,” she says. “Either as a player, a coach, or a referee, I will always be involved.”
Earthquake destroys three houses in Bajhang and Bajura
Three houses were destroyed in the earthquake in Bajhang and Bajura on Tuesday.
Two houses were destroyed in Badimalika Rural Municipality of Bajura.
DSP Surya Thapa said that the houses of Harka Gurung and Harichand Padhyay were destroyed in the earthquake.
He said that there were no human casualties.
DSP Thapa said that police have not been able to contact the locals of Bichchaya, the epicenter of the earthquake.
The snowfall coupled with rain has disrupted electricity and telephone service in Bajura since this morning.
Likewise, the earthquake also destroyed a building in Bajhang. The Armed Police Force had been using that building.
An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit Bajura district at 2:43 pm today, National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre said.
Youth attempts self-immolation in New Baneshwor
A youth attempted self-immolation in New Baneshwor on Tuesday. Prem Acharya of Panchakanya, Ilam set himself on fire and attempted suicide this afternoon, Kathmandu District Police Range spokesperson Dinesh Raj Mainali said. Mainali said that he was rescued immediately and rushed to the Burn Hospital in Kirtipur. He said that they are looking into the case.
US Ambassador pays courtesy call on Home Minister Lamichhane
US Ambassador to Nepal Dean R. Thompson paid a courtesy call on Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane on Tuesday. During the meeting held at the Home Ministry, the two exchanged views on further strengthening the bilateral relations and mutual cooperation, according to the Secretariat of the Home Minister. Matters relating to the US support to Nepal’s infrastructure development, increment of people’s access to education and health sectors, mitigation of climate change impact, energy development and technology handover and so on were also discussed on the occasion. US Embassy deputy chief of mission Jason P. Meeks and representatives, and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs were also present in the meeting.
Hyundai's All-New VENUE hits Nepali roads
Laxmi Intercontinental, the authorized distributor of Hyundai vehicles in Nepal, has launched the all-new Hyundai Venue in the Nepali market with a tagline- "New Style New Statement". The new Venue is among the first four-wheelers launched in the Nepali market after the government lifted import restrictions on automobiles in early December. "This brings lots of expectations and excitement in the Nepali auto sector and Hyundai Venue is sure to lead this journey," the company said in a press statement. The company said that after capturing the imagination of customers across Nepal with the earlier variants of Venue, it believes that the new and advanced All-New Hyundai Venue will set a new benchmark in the competitive compact SUV market. According to the statement, the new Venue has set new standards worldwide with its aesthetic design, features, performance and safety. The all-new Hyundai Venue is powered by a 1.2 L Petrol engine and 1.0 L Turbo engine that comes in 5-speed manual and 7-speed DCT respectively that carries a powerful punch. With a ground clearance of 195 mm, alloy wheels, puddle lamps & roof rail; the all-new Venue is perfectly suited for the city as well as adventurous drive. The redesigned parametric front chrome grille and The Shark Fin Antenna integrate well with the roof design and gives the all-new Venue a rich and sporty look that gives it a distinct edge over its competitors with its strong street presence. All-new Hyundai Venue comes equipped with an LED headlamp, an ergonomically designed driver seat, an 8’’ infotainment system, a cooled glove box, dual airbags, and a sunroof. The interior of the all-new Hyundai Venue feels luxurious and homely due to its spacious layout and two-tone Black Greige interiors. The compact SUV has alluring new features like a 60:40 split seat that expands the boot's space, a rear center armrest with a cup holder, two rear USB chargers, and a 2-step rear reclining seat that makes your driving experience more convenient and exhilarating. The all-new Venue also comes equipped with a rear parking assist camera, dual-zone climate control AC, a Tyre pressure monitoring system, electronic stability control, vehicle stability management, and hill assist control. The all-new Hyundai Venue comes in three variants E, S, and SX with the starting price set at Rs 3.996 million. The company said that Hyundai Venue is backed by excellent customer and after sales services. The company has a pan Nepal presence with 17 dealers and 19 Service Centres across the country for easy purchase as well as servicing of all Hyundai vehicles.
7 dead as California mourns 3rd mass killing in 8 days
Seven people were killed in two related shootings Monday at agricultural businesses in a Northern California community, marking the state’s third mass killing in eight days, including an attack at a dance hall that killed 11 during Lunar New Year celebrations, Associated Press reported.
Officers arrested a suspect in Monday’s shootings, 67-year-old Chunli Zhao, after they found him in his car in the parking lot of a sheriff’s substation, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said.
Four people were found dead and a fifth injured from gunshot wounds at a farm, and officers found three other people killed at another location several miles away, the Sheriff’s Office said. Officials believe Zhao is a worker at one of the facilities and that the victims were workers as well, Corpus said. Corpus said officials hadn’t determined a motive for the shooting.
The new year has brought a shocking string of mass killings in the U.S. — six in less than three weeks, accounting for 39 deaths. Three have occurred in California since Jan. 16, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. The database tracks every mass killing — defined as four dead not including the offender — committed in the U.S. since 2006.
The killings occurred on the outskirts of Half Moon Bay, a city about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of San Francisco, according to Associated Press.
Half Moon Bay Vice Mayor Joaquin Jimenez said the victims included Chinese and Latino farmworkers. Some workers at one facility lived on the premises and children may have witnessed the shooting, she said. Corpus it wasn’t immediately clear how the two locations were connected.
The Sheriff’s Office first received reports of a shooting just before 2:30 p.m. and found four people dead from gunshot wounds and a fifth person injured at the first scene. Shortly thereafter, officers found three more people dead from gunshot wounds at a second location nearby, Capt. Eamonn Allen said in a news release.
About two hours after first responding, a sheriff’s deputy noticed the suspect, Zhao, in his car parked outside a sheriff’s substation in a strip mall and arrested him, recognizing the car by its license plate.
A video of the arrest showed three officers approaching a parked car with drawn weapons. Zhao got out of the car, and the officers pulled him to the ground, put him in handcuffs, and led him away. A weapon was found in his vehicle, officials said. The video was captured by Kati McHugh, a Half Moon Bay resident who witnessed the arrest, Associated Press reported.The sheriff’s department believes Zhao acted alone.
“We’re still trying to understand exactly what happened and why, but it’s just incredibly, incredibly tragic,” said state Sen. Josh Becker, who represents the area and called it “a very close-knit” agricultural community.
Aerial television images showed police officers collecting evidence from a farm with dozens of greenhouses.
Half Moon Bay is a small coastal city with agricultural roots, home to about 12,000 people. The city and surrounding San Mateo County area is known for producing flowers as well as vegetables like brussels sprouts. The county allows cannabis farming in certain areas, according to Associated Press.
It’s a majority white community and about 5% of the population is Asian, according to Census data.
“We are sickened by today’s tragedy in Half Moon Bay,” Pine said. “We have not even had time to grieve for those lost in the terrible shooting in Monterey Park. Gun violence must stop.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted that he was “at the hospital meeting with victims of a mass shooting when I get pulled away to be briefed about another shooting. This time in Half Moon Bay. Tragedy upon tragedy.”
On Jan. 16, a teenage mother and her baby were among six people killed in a shooting at a home in California’s Central Valley.
‘Startup work procedures and project loans to be implemented soon’
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has said that the startup work procedures and provision on project loans would be implemented soon. Addressing the Small and Medium Enterprises Conference organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) in Lalitpur on Monday, Poudel assured that he would take the initiative for preparing the Startup Work Procedures which has been pending for a long. "It is our weakness that the startup work procedures could not be drafted until now. The work procedures would be passed immediately. The project loans that the private sector has been demanding will also be implemented soon," he said. DPM Paudel urged the private sector to provide clear suggestions to the government regarding the problems of SMEs. Stating that the government would take the initiative for identifying the problems of the small, cottage, micro, and medium-scale enterprises and for resolving them, he said a right conclusion would be derived on the matter only after taking suggestions from the related sectors. "The government moves ahead only after taking the suggestions from the related sector while drafting the plan and policy of any sector. It is necessary that the private sector points out and clarifies the policy-level ambiguities in a particular sector," said Poudel, adding that the government has expected concrete and clear suggestions on how the procedural hassles could be minimized and the service delivery made prompt and convenient. Poudel said the private sector should also give suggestions as to how access to the SMEs could be increased in the financial sector. Stating that the interest rate is linked with inflation, Poudel said that the government will take steps to stop interest rates from going higher. He made it clear that the government had no policy to intervene in the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) affairs as it is an autonomous body, but the government would cooperate with it to address the existing issues. FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha described small and middle-scale enterprises as the basis for the national economy, but these businesses are surrounded by various issues. “The prices of raw materials have skyrocketed. The bank interest rate is high. Small entrepreneurs face challenges to get loans,” he said. According to Golchha, 309 large industries were registered in the last fiscal year whereas 65,069 SMEs were also registered. "This number can increase even more, and their production capacity can increase even more," he said, adding, "The capacity of all small and large industries has now decreased by about 60 percent. Expensive interest rates have not only made expansion of investment a challenge, but it has also become a challenge to sustain the enterprise. Our demand is that project-based loans should be provided to such entrepreneurs."
21-member Parliament Regulations Drafting Committee formed
The House of Representatives on Tuesday formed a 21-member committee to draft the Parliament regulations. During a meeting of the House of Representatives today, lawmaker Devendra Paudel floated a proposal to form a 21-member to draft the Parliament regulations. This committee will formulate regulations needed to operate the Parliament within 15 days. The proposal to form the Parliament Regulations Drafting Committee was endorsed unanimously after lawmakers Ram Krishna Yadav and Rishikesh Pokharel seconded the proposal.
