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Located on the hilltop of Kirtipur, the Newa Lah­ana (‘Newa Civilization’) is one place where you can find authentic Newari cuisine at prices that will leave you pleasantly surprised. The Newari restaurant and museum run by the inhabitants of the Tambahal tole is a popular desti­nation for locals and tourists alike for its traditional floor seating and a mouthwatering list of Newari dishes and drinks, all served with pleasant smiles from the ladies attired in traditional haku patashi, a Newari dress.

Newa Lahana is among the very few restaurants in Kathmandu valley that offer exclusively Newari cuisines with a Newari menu. There is Nepali and English translations of the dish names for a varied group of customers.

The government has identified five criteria for the identification and development of 100 new tourist destinations in the country. The criteria were selected following a discussion among representatives of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the Nepal Tourism Board and other tourism stakeholders, says Ghanshyam Upad­hyaya, joint-secretary at the ministry. In selecting the tourist destinations, heritage sites that are at least 100 years old will be prioritized as the ministry believes that these sites will have an easier time getting global recognition. “Nepal is known across the world for its heritage and cultural sites and the government plans to preserve and pro­mote these places,” says Upadhyaya. Similarly, another criteria is presence of lakes, ponds or water bodies spread over five square kilometers.

Further, popular tourist destinations which lack physical infrastructure will also be promoted. At present, the Khap­tad and Bardiya national reserves are popular tourist destinations that none­theless are short of physical infrastruc­tures like good hotels and lodges.

Tourist destinations for which devel­opment plans and blueprints are ready will also identified in the list of 100, according to Upadhyaya. The govern­ment will use the Public Private Partner­ship (PPP) model to develop infrastruc­tures of select destinations and to link different tourist spots.

The central government will be coor­dinating with the local and provincial bodies for the job. From among the tour­ist spots identified by the government as well as by the private stakeholders, 100 will be selected and developed. The gov­ernment has allocated Rs 500 million in 2018-2019 for the effort. The current plan is a part of the government’s ambi­tious project of attracting two million tourists in 2020. The government also plans to make tourism industry capable of contributing 25 percent of the GDP by 2025. Right now tourism makes up for 9 percent of the GDP.

Blood is dripping from their pierced nose through which ropes have been inserted and tied. Their tears are mixed with blood; and their tails are firmly tied to the truck. Even their mouths are tied so that they cannot scream through the pain. This is how 35-40 buffa­los a truck are transported to Kathmandu every day.Several animal rights activ­ists were present when Sneha Shrestha, founder of Sneha’s Care that works for animal rights, talked about the brutal treatment of these animals at a public event in Lalitpur. Many got emotional when they saw a video on it.

Shrestha informed that the animal welfare guidelines were first drafted in 1999 and later amended in 2007. “But why are they not being imple­mented?” she asked.

She painted a picture of the buffalos transported via trucks to Kathmandu. There are many obstacles to trans­porting buffalos from the Indian border. A truck driver spends Rs 28,000 when transporting a truckload of these animals from Sarlahi district to Kathmandu in var­ious legal and illegal levies. Likewise, according to truck drivers, they have to pay Rs 100,000 to Rs 150,000 for a truck of goats. There is thus great incentive to cut costs.

The guidelines state that the animals should be fed properly, given enough space to move and physically unharmed while they are transported; they should have a comfort­able journey. However, “every day, 500-600 buffalos enter Kathmandu and each of them has the same horrific ride,” Shrestha added.

The Director General of the Department of Livestock Services Bimal Kumar Nir­mal said that despite efforts to bring a law on animal welfare, they had been unable to do so. Nonetheless, he com­mitted to tirelessly working to end cruelty against animals. “We had a provision in the proposed law that outlawed such,” he said.

“If a goat is found dead while it is being transported, we can charge no more than Rs 5,000 in fines,” said Modnath Gau­tam of Central Animal Quaran­tine department. Because of such paltry fines people who transport animals are careless. In Gautam’s opinion, the laws should be stricter.

The police do not bat an eye when they see the bru­tal way in which the animals are transported. “There are also cases where drivers have presented signed papers from quarantine officers even though the mentioned officers were absent from their posts,” Shrestha revealed.

The registrar of the Nepal Veterinary Council Narayan Prasad Ghimire said that state and local governments are better placed to deal with these problems. The local governments have the powers to punish the rule-breakers, he said, “and even to send them to jail.”

By Nitu Ghale | Lalitpur

Kathmandu:The Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee will meet on Monday to decide whether to endorse the recommendation made by the Constitutional Council to appoint Dipak Raj Joshi as the new Chief Justice. 

The committee was scheduled to meet this morning but failed to do so in absence of members Pushpa Bhusal and Jitendra Dev and also since more time was required to discuss some issues, committee member Niru Pal said. 

Joshi, who is currently serving as the Acting CJ, had appeared before the committee on Thursday. The committee had received complaints about some distortion in Joshi's academic certificates as well as against some of the decisions he took in the past. 

The post of CJ lies vacant since March 15, 2018 after then Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli resigned. The Chief Justice will be appointed by the President after the PHSC endorses the recommendation by the Constitutional Council. RSS

The fires killed six people and are rapidly gaining ground in California, where a partial state of emergency has been declared and thousands have been evacuated, while a suspected arsonist has been arrested.

According to the California Governor's Emergency Department (Cal OES), some 63,000 hectares have burned in the 14 fires underway throughout California, and 10,000 firefighters are mobilized to fight them.

The fire called "Carr" north of the city of Redding (northern California), which caused the death of two firefighters on Thursday, has consumed 32,700 hectares since Monday, destroyed 500 buildings and damaged 75 others, indicated Saturday the Calfire fire department. Friday night, the area burned was 20,000 hectares.

It is limited to 5% and, in the night, "has progressed in all directions with significant advances," according to firefighters.

Two young children and their 70-year-old great-grandmother, Melodie Bledsoe, were killed in the "Carr" fire, their family told a US media outlet on Saturday.

In total, 38,000 people were evacuated to Shasta County because of what California governor Jerry Brown called "uncontrollable" focus.

President Donald Trump signed a decree on Saturday ordering the Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to support the county authorities.

In Southern California, "more than 1,300 firefighters are fighting the fire + Cranston +, which destroyed five houses and resulted in the closure of roads and the evacuation of about 7,000 people," said the National Forest Service .

The fire that has been raging since Wednesday in the San Bernardino National Forest, nearly 150 kilometers southeast of Los Angeles, has reduced to ashes nearly 5,300 hectares and was limited to 17%, according to a report. 17:00 GMT Saturday. It threatens about 4,900 buildings and three firefighters were injured.

A 32-year-old man, Brandon McGlover, was arrested shortly after the fire started. He is believed to have fired nine fires in southwestern Riverside County and was charged with arson charges on Friday morning for which he pleaded not guilty.

Governor Brown has declared a state of emergency in this county - which allows to unblock additional resources - affected by power cuts due to the damage caused by the flames on several kilometers of the distribution network.

Further north, the "Ferguson" light continued to grow near Yosemite National Park, which had to close in part, notably the Yosemite Valley, which should not be reopened to the public until August 3 at the end of the day.

Check the full story here on AFP

Fiction

A MAN CALLED OVE

Fredrik Backman

Published: 2012 (first edition) 2015 (paperback)

Publisher: Sceptre

Pages: 295, Paperback

Every once in a while you come across a book that just simply bowls you over. ‘A Man Called Ove’ does that and you want to reread it as soon as you turn the final page because Ove, despite being a cranky 59-year-old Swedish widower who tries and fails to kills himself, leaves you charmed. You have to admit you are a little bit in love with this oddball and actually find his grumpiness endearing. The book by Swedish author Fredrick Backman became an instant bestseller in Sweden, selling more than 840,000 copies. The translation rights have been sold in 38 languages, including Arabic, Turkish, Thai, and Japanese. It was also adapted into a successful stage production and the movie went on to get the Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. Moreover, an English adaption of the film starring Tom Hanks is scheduled for release in 2019.

The book is one of Sweden’s most popular literary exports since Stieg Larsson’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. However, A Man Called Ove flew under the radar when the English translation first came out in 2013. It was only after the paperback was released in May 2015 that the novel became wildly popular, and it was mostly because of word-of-mouth recommendations.

In the book, you will meet Ove six months after his wife’s death, and he is planning to commit suicide. He’s all set for it too. He has switched off the radiators, canceled the newspaper subscription, and drilled a sturdy hook into the ceiling from where he plans to hang him­self. But his plans are foiled by prying neighbors every single time he thinks he will finally be able to join his wife wherever she is. In between attempts to end his life, he visits his wife’s grave and takes her favorite flowers and tells her he misses her. He manages to take his pregnant neighbor, with whom he has unwittingly struck up a friend­ship of sorts, to the hospital, babysit her kids, and give shelter to a home­less cat too. You get the sense that beneath the cranky façade is a kind and generous heart.

In A Man Called Ove, you also get a taste of urban Swedish life. You see how knowing your neighbor and cultivating a strong community are valued a lot but you also get the sense that immigration is slowly changing the landscape. This part of the story, if you let it, will also leave you contemplating about life and its many complexities. But that takes the backseat as Ove tugs at your heartstrings. There is no surprise element in the book. You can always guess what is going to happen but you will still enjoy slowly peeling off the layers of Ove’s life.

Backman, with his wit and lyri­cal language, tells a touching story that’s both sardonic and hopeful. It’s laugh out loud funny and it’s tragic. The best part about it is that each chapter reads like a per­fectly crafted short story and all the chapters come together beauti­fully to bring to you an uplifting and life-affirming tale of how there’s a lot more to life than you think, and that love and kindness lie at the crux of it. It’s an important book because Ove teaches you to love your life and the people in it despite their many imperfections.

Kathamndu: Six people were killed and 22 injured when a bus bound for Pokhara from Kathmandu was hit by a truck at Chitwan’s Icchakamana rural municipality on Friday. Following the hit, the bus plunged 100 meters down into Trishuli river, said Chitwan police spokesperson Prabhu Prasad Dhakal. APEX BUREAU  

The manifest lack of cooperation between the federal and provincial governments is a cause for concern for the future the nascent federal republic. The seven provincial gov­ernments think the center, which gets 71 percent of all revenues, is trying to deliberately weaken the prov­inces. In the absence of laws to properly divide taxing rights between the federal and provincial govern­ments, many provinces have imposed their own taxes to fund themselves.

The federal government says that such arbitrary taxing is ‘unconstitutional’. It has written to provincial governments to roll back new taxes. For instance it had to ask provinces 1, 3 and 4 to discontinue their ‘District Export Tax’ levied on movement of forest, agro and mine products. Province 5 has passed a mandate to impose a tax of between Rs 160 to Rs 320 on Indian vehicles, again by stepping on dicey legal grounds.

While the provinces have in some cases agreed not to impose these taxes, in other cases they have refused to back down. Province 2 Minister for Physical Infra­structure Jitendra Prasad Sonal recently accused the central government of trying to dismantle the federal setup by taking away all the important rights from the provinces. Taxes are in fact just a part of the broader dispute between the different tiers of government.

Province 2 Internal Affairs Minister Gyanendra Kumar Yadav has instructed the chief district offi­cers of the eight districts in the province to issue lin­eage-based citizenship certificates to those eligible under the Nepal Citizenship Act 2006. But the CDOs could not obey him as there are no requisite laws. No doubt these laws should have been drafted on time by the federal legislature. But it was also wrong of a pro­vincial minister to issue such a directive on citizenship, which falls under the ambit of the federal government.

The transfer of staff is another sticking point. Many civil servants used to serving in Kathmandu are reluc­tant to go work in provinces. Yet the provincial gov­ernments still complain that they cannot choose their own employees. Local governments, too, are forever complaining about lack of laws, manpower and money.

Whatever the filings of the local and provincial gov­ernments, the federal-level ministers and bureaucrats are clearly uncomfortable with the idea of decentral­ization of power and resources away from Kathman­du. This unitary mindset must change, and soon, if the federal formula in Nepal is to succeed.