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Advanced Automobiles, the authorized distributor of Renault vehicles in Nepal, has opened pre-book­ings of the Renault CAPTUR, a premium SUV with class leading features. According to the company, the upcoming CAPTUR embodies their new global design language with exclusive fashion-inspired dual tone body colors. Renault Captur is loaded with pre­mium features—innovative lighting systems (ILS), ergo design, leather seats and one integration concept.

Renault’s design approach seamlessly connects car and driver through a plethora of innovations. The premium SUV also comes fully loaded with projec­tor headlamps, C-shaped sapphire LED DRLs, fully automatic temperature control with rear cooling vents, integrated audio system with USB and aux-in with Bluetooth, steering wheel controls and push button start with remote central locking as well as dual airbags.

Learn how to start your own business at the RSTCA Global Entrepreneurs Boot-camp 2018. Entrepreneurship can be a myth. Break down the myth from management and entrepreneur­ship consultants from RSTCA. Learn from your favorite mentors and connect with RSTCA club of around 15,000 members. Mentors from across the globe will attend. You will get to tie up with major funders, think tanks, business houses, gurus and others. The boot-camp will cover vari­ous topics like Legal Aspects, Financial Planning, Fund Raising, Product Development, Marketing, Branding, Business Development, Scalability and Various other things that will make you a perfect entrepreneur.

The competition winner will be eligible for three-month-long Accelerator and Mini MBA in CEO Skills Program. Charges: Rs 25,000 for seven days including food, lodging, travel, materials, template, training and other accessories

For registration: Visit at https://rstca.com.np/ funding-request-form-entrepreneurs/

Nepali art is famous the world over for its traditional forms like Paubha and Thanka. Iron­ically, the artists are rarely known. It was to provide exposure to these obscure Nepali artists that Tilicho Kala, which works to promote Nepali art, organized the second edition of Synthesis Art Exhibition this week by. The exhibit of traditional and contemporary paintings, photogra­phy and sculptures at the Siddhartha Art Gallery in Babarmahal ran from May 2 to 5.

“Our aim was to bring together the who’s who of Nepali art under a roof and provide them with a common platform to interact and appreciate each other’s works,” says Ujen Nor­bu Gurung, the event organizer and founder of Tilicho Kala.

The event, as its name suggests, was a synthesis of traditional and contemporary arts. Indeed, the rich display symbolized the evolution of Nepali art from its traditional form to its more modern expressions, accord­ing to Gurung.

Some of the notable works on display were Erina Tamrakar’s ‘The Third Eye’, The Bajracharya Fam­ily’s ‘Wooden Sculptures’ and Lok Chitrakar’s ‘Pancha Buddha’. The exhibition also featured live band performances and poetry recitations.

Punya R Bajracharya, Samundra MS Shrestha, Kichaa M Chitrakar, Prem Chitrakar, Yanik Shrestha, Samir Maharjan, Aakash Pradhan, Pratham R Bajracharya, Sapta R Bajracharya, Amir Shakya, Pradip Shakya, Rashana Bajracharya, and Michelle LL, were other artists featured. APEX BUREAU

Without any investigation, the Depart­ment of Immigration (DOI) on May 6 released 11 North Koreans—10 women and one man—who were arrested on charges of working illegally in Nepal. The Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) had arrested the North Koreans during a raid at the Pyongyang Arirang Restaurant in Durbar Marg on May 4. Nepali law bars foreigners from working in the country without a permit issued by the Department of Labor. The metropolitan police had handed the North Koreans over to the DOI on May 6 for further investigation. But the DOI turned them over to the North Korean Embassy in Kathmandu the same day, after the North Koreans promised, in writing, that they would not abuse their visa provisions again.

The DOI, which was making preparations to deport the North Koreans, reportedly backed down after Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa stood firm against their deportation. The minis­try spokesperson Ram Krishna Subedi claimed that the arrestees would face action in accor­dance with the law. Meanwhile, Director Gen­eral of DOI Dipak Kafle refused to comment.

In their statement to the DOI, the North Kore­ans said that they were in Nepal as tourists and not as workers and that they would return to their homeland in a few days. Of the 11 arrest­ees, two have business visas while the rest have tourist visas. Three are employees at the North Korean Embassy. Four have initiated a process with the Department of Industry to change the restaurant’s ownership.

In its letter to the DOI, the metropolitan police mentioned that the arrestees were found to have abused their visa by working in the country. Dhiraj Pratap Singh, Superintendent of Police at the MPCD, said, “Our investigation revealed that they had violated the country’s immigration laws, so we handed them over to the DOI for further inquiry and action.”

Officials at the DOI said there was no conclu­sive evidence that the North Koreans had been working in violation of the law.

Apart from violating immigration laws, the North Koreans were also charged with evading taxes. The restaurant they were working in, by cooking the books and claiming that it is always in the red, has not paid any taxes to Nepal government.

Most functions organized by the North Korean Embassy are held at Pyongyang Arirang Restaurant, which is apparently run under the embassy’s direct supervision. It employs some Nepali cooks but most of its workers are North Korean citizens. Some of the restaurant’s employees were also found to be working at a Chinese restaurant at the nearby Rising Mall.

It has also come to light that some North Korean doctors with business visas have been working at Ne Koryo, a hospital run by North Koreans in Damauli, the headquarters of the central hill district of Tanahun. Such employ­ment is also in violation of their business visas.

The metropolitan police had conducted a secret investigation after it was tipped off that some North Koreans were working without per­mits and that they could be involved in other illicit activities.

By Shambhu Kattel | Kathmandu

Symbolism counts for a lot in diplomacy, and few leaders understand this better than Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his Indian counterpart Narendra Damodardas Modi. PM Modi’s projection of raw confidence during his electrifying speech in the Nepali parliament in 2014, when he mesmerized Nepali MPs and common folks alike, will never be forgotten. But nor will the souring of his tone during his second official visit, also in 2014, which in some ways presaged the nearly five months of border blockade.

Or take Oli’s first India visit as government head, right after the end of the blockade. During that trip, Oli stood up to the Indian pressure and refused to toe its line. Oli and his left alliance, it can be argued, rode on the anti-blockade popularity wave to secure a thumping victory in subsequent federal and provincial elections. On becoming prime minister for the second time, Oli went to India again, and the confidence he projected in New Delhi, and his treatment of Modi as his equal in every respect, were just as remarkable.

The focus of Modi’s third Nepal visit is on religious places like Janakpur, Pashupatinath and Muktinath. Besides that, his 36-hour Nepal stay will be peppered with meetings with leaders from across the political spectrum. Keenly aware of the inclinations of his core constituencies back home, Modi apparently wants to show them that he is still close to his Hindu roots, which will come in handy during the 2019 Indian gen­eral elections. Some view his visit to Muktinath in Mus­tang on the northern border as an indirect signal to China to keep a safe distance from Nepal.

Whatever the motive for his visit, Nepalis, who have traditionally treated their guests as no less than gods, should continue the tradition. There is no point harping on past Indian injustices or, on India’s part, bemoaning the unreliability of Nepali political actors. Modi seems keen to forget past bitterness and reestab­lish bilateral ties on a more equal footing. Ditto with PM Oli. That course of action is also in Nepal’s interest. There is really no gainsaying the importance of nor­malizing relations with India.

Whether one likes PM Oli or not, a Nepali leader has after a long time shown himself to be capable of holding his own against any foreign counterpart. Perhaps Oli has a long-term foreign policy strategy up his sleeve. He deserves some time to prove his diplomatic credentials.

FICTION/MURDER MYSTERY

All By Myself, Alone

Mary Higgins Clark

Published: 2017

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Language: English

Pages: 321, paperback

When you have read too many thrillers, you begin to understand how writers of the genre tend to think and, as a result, you can sort of figure out (with 100 percent accuracy, 99 per­cent of the times) who the killer is after reading about a 100 pages. And that sucks. That’s when you turn to Mary Higgins Clark. Reading her is perhaps that one percent of time you can’t make a correct guess. And that more than makes up for all the times you picked up a murder mys­tery and shoved it back in the book­shelf halfway through, disappointed by the writer and vowing to give up on the genre altogether. The thing with Mary Higgins Clark is that she tells you a story where every character comes to life. She’s not just trying to thrill you with moments and incidents, though there will be plenty of that too.

Take for instance ‘All By Myself, Alone’, where she brings back two of her characters Alvirah and Willy Meehan, last seen in 2016’s ‘As Time Goes By’. Here it almost feels like they continue where they left off as they celebrate their 45th wed­ding anniversary by taking a luxury cruise aboard the Queen Charlotte, which is making its maiden voyage from New York, USA, to Southamp­ton, England. In a myriad of char­acters and their own stories, Clark then injects theft and murder.

Lovers of Agatha Christie can rejoice because reading this latest installment by Clark will bring back fond memories of those days when reading Christie was an unmatched pleasure. The plot feels somewhat similar to Christie’s 1934 master­piece, ‘Murder on Orient Express’, featuring the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, which was recently adapted for the big screen as well. But the sense of familiarity is because of the fact that Christie’s novel took place on a train and Clark’s tale of suspense unfolds aboard a ship.

The language is simple and the chapters short. And though Clark simply lets the plot play out till the culprit makes a mistake and gets caught—unlike in her previous works where each suspect would be put under the spyglass, interrogated, and then carefully dismissed—the intrigue quotient is still high in All By Myself, Alone, and Clark, now 90, proves once again that she’s at the top of her game.

‘Andheri Nagari Chaupat Raja’, a drama produced by CAP motion Pictures & Kalaasi Production, which had previously been making movies and music videos, is being staged at Kunja Theater till May 11. The show time is 5:30 pm every day of the week except Wednesday. There is an extra show on Saturday at 1 pm. ‘Andheri Nagari Chaupat Raja’ is one of the most pop­ular dramas of Bhartendu Harishchandra, the father of modern Hindi literature. Directors Sangeet Sapkota and Ashish Ghimire have adapted the drama to local taste. The play is a satire on an unscru­pulous and autocratic mon­arch and reveals how a ruler’s misguided actions can lead to his downfall. “This drama is a reflection of the society we live in,” say the director duo.

The drama’s music is directed by Sangit Sap­kota and Monish Niroula. The cast includes Jiban Bhatta­rai, Shravan Singh Rana, San­jeet Pratap Malla and Peter Prince. APEX BUREAU

Places Restaurant & Bar at Saathghumti, Thamel is one of the very few dedicated vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Kathmandu. Menu consists of exquisite vegan and vegetarian dishes, from breakfasts to starters to main courses, all with a Mediterranean touch, making it a favorite dining spot for locals and tourists alike.

The restaurant, with a cozy ambience, with options for both floor and table seating, and for smoking and non-smoking sections, is also pop­ular for its tasteful musical events. To maintain quality, Places only features the best of jazz, blues, funk and reggae musicians on weekly basis. The restaurant also has regular events like quiz nights and movie screenings.

THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

Pumpkin Momo

Spinach Pie

Vegan Pancake with Fruit and Home Made Almond/ Coconut Butter

Opening hours: 9 am-11 pm

Cards: Not Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 2,000