Submit your Article

Long Night of Storm, a collection of short stories by the renowned Indian writer of Nepali descent, Indra Bahadur Rai, and translated from Nepali into English by Prawin Adhikari, was launched in Kathman­du this week. The book is published by Speaking Tiger, New Delhi.Adhikari is also the writer of the short story collections ‘The Vanish­ing Act’ and ‘Folk Gods’.

Writers and translators Khagen­dra Sangroula and Muna Gurung spoke about the book at the event and about Rai’s contributions to Nepali literature. Following their speeches, Adhikari shared his experiences of meeting Rai and translating his stories.

The event was jointly organized by Quixote’s Cove, Speaking Tiger and Station 5 Café.

Long Night of Storm contains 16 stories picked from Rai’s two short story collections: ‘Bipana Katipaya’ and ‘Kathastha’. APEX BUREAU

Kathmandu: A nine-day Asia Pacific Internet Summit this week discussed a range of issues including the latest developments in internet and network engineering and future innovations in the field.

The Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies (APRICOT) 2018 brought together around 900 internet technologists from 50 countries to discuss advanced networking topics during the 10-day jamboree held from February 19 to 28.

At the event, internet and wireless networking campaigner Mahabir Pun talked about smart cities of the future and his latest project, the Nepal Innovation Center. He shared that the center has been working on a medical drone, on water processing technology and on e-rickshaw and tempo batteries.

During the conference, the renowned Cloudflare Company announced the beginning of its Data Centre in Nepal. This is the company’s second such center in South Asia. The new center is expected to make internet browsing more efficient and reduce the cost of internet bandwith. RSS

JITPUR, KAPILVASTU: The Jagadish­pur Tal, which figures on the list of major wetlands of the world, is gradually developing into a tourism attraction. Jagadishpur Tal is located at Kapilvastu-9, some 11 km north of Taulihawa, the headquarters of Kapilvastu district in central Nepal.

This lake has become a new des­tination for the tourists visiting Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha, which is also in Kapilvastu. Although there is no exact data on their number, foreign visitors com­ing to Lumbini these days have been regularly visiting the Jagadishpur Tal for sight-seeing.

The many species of birds that inhabit the Jagadishpur wetland area are the primary source of attraction for visitors. Most foreign tourists to Jagadishpur Lake are from Britain and Australia.

“One can see the water birds that have migrated from Siberia and Tibet, and inhabit, breed and hatch in this area during the winter. The indigenous birds join them, which is really very enjoyable to see,” says senior ornithologist Hem Sagar Baral. According to Baral, migratory birds from as far as Siberia, China, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan come to this wetland area. A total 22,491 water birds were counted in the Jaga­dishpur wetland this year, according to Baral.

“Although birds are having prob­lems with their habitat and feeding due to climate change effects, Jaga­dishpur wetland still offers a good environment for them. It’s a big lake and the birds can freely roam and play around in and around the lake,” says Baral, while underlining the need to protect the wetland area. RSS

Darchula: India has construct­ed four wooden bridges over the Mahakali River without the consent of Nepal. The Mahakali River forms the westernmost international border between Nepal and India. India had sent a letter to the District Adminis­tration Office, Darchula a cou­ple months ago seeking Nepal’s agreement for that connection. It started building the four bridges before Nepal gave its consent. The Indian side has constructed the wooden bridg­es at Najangkhola, Lakhanpur, Dopakhe and Kauthala, which are all close to the tri-junction border area of Nepal, India and China. RSS

Kathmandu: Preparations are almost complete for the first historic session of Nepal’s federal parliament formed following the completion of House of Representatives and Prov­ince Assembly elections last year. The session is scheduled to take place at the International Conven­tion Center, New Baneshwor at 4.00 pm on March 5. Earlier, on February 20, the President, on the recom­mendation of (new) Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, had summoned the parliament session on March 5 in accordance with the Nepal’s Consti­tution Article 93 (10).

Nepal’s federal parliament is bicameral and the upper house con­sists of 59 members (56 elected from the February 7 National Assembly election and three nominated by the President) while the lower house has 275 members (165 elected from first-past-the-post system and remaining 110 from proportional representa­tion system). RSS

Yubaraj Khatiwada is the right man to lead the Ministry of Finance. Not just because he has a Phd in monetary economics from the pres­tigious Delhi School of Economics—although that is no small consideration in a country where this vital portfolio has time and again gone to those with limited economic nous. The new finance minister has a record of helping steady the economy through diffi­cult times, particularly during his previous stint as the central bank governor.

Khatiwada takes over as finance minister when the economy is again hitting turbulence. Over the past one decade, the country’s trade deficit has declined by a yearly average of 21.9 percent. It has notched up over Rs 90 billion of deficit in the first five months of the current fiscal alone.

Foreign remittance, Nepal’s one sure source of steady income, is drying up. In the five months of the current fiscal, remittance is down 0.8 percent compared to the same period last year—the first negative remittance growth rate in over a decade. Recurrent expenditures are shooting up, productive spending is stagnant, and another real estate bubble is building. Even someone with Khatiwada’s stellar credentials could struggle to bring the twisted economy in shape.

But Khatiwada seems to be in a mood to make a good fist of it. In his first declaration as finance minister, he vowed to bring all government transactions online from the upcoming Nepali New Year. This, if can be done, could make a significant dent on bureaucratic corruption and reduce money-laundering, a growing problem. As a representative of the unified left gov­ernment, Khatiwada added, he is as committed to the left alliance’s electoral commitment of common pros­perity. Moreover, he said he was determined to bring Nepal’s economy back on track. But therein also lies the problem.

CPN-UML, the senior partner in the recent merger with CPN (Maoist Center), has long been seen as a par­ty that protects cartels and syndicates. It also has a vast patronage network to look after. This raises a legitimate fear: Will the new finance minister be allowed to work freely? Or will he be used primarily as a smokescreen behind which the various vested interests of the new communist juggernaut can hide?

Having shown the courage to sideline his cronies who were all angling for the finance ministry, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli would do well to give his cho­sen one enough room to work in the country’s interest.

TOYANATH BHATTARAI | ILAM

The number of heart, kidney and cancer patients in Ilam district of eastern Nepal has shot up due to the regular consumption of food grown by using excessive pesticides. According to the District Public Health Office, excessive use of car­cinogenic pesticides has turned Ilam into a district with a disproportion­ately high number of cancer patients relative to its population.

In the fiscal 2015-16, 73 cancer patients had sought government help for treatment. In the last fiscal year, 152 cancer patients were rec­ommended for government help. Similarly, in the same year, 89 heart patients, 29 kidney patients and two patients with spinal injury had been the beneficiaries of govern­ment assistance.

This year, with still a few more months to go before the fiscal ends, 134 cancer patients have already been recommended, according to Jeevan Kumar Malla, head of the District Public Health Office, Ilam. He adds that these figures only include those who request the Rs 100,000 government aid for cancer treatment, and that the number of people who don’t seek government help is also high.

Malla has no doubts that the pes­ticides are to be blamed. The prev­alence of cancer, as well as of other diseases, is particularly high in four local units: Suryodaya municipality, Ilam municipality, Mai municipality and Chulachuli rural municipality. These are areas that engage in exten­sive commercial vegetable farming.

Suryodaya is a pocket area for vegetable cultivation where most pesticides consumed in the district goes, while pesticide use is also high in Mai and Chulachuli.

Kathmandu: The Second South Asian Yoga Sports Competition is being organized in Pokhara. The various Yoga Sports Associations from around Asia, including one in Nepal, are jointly organizing the competition in May 2018.

Yoga Sports Association Nepal’s treasurer and coordinator of the publicity committee, Maniraj Kun­war ‘Yogi Shantidoot’ informed that the competition was being orga­nized to create public awareness of yoga as a sport.

The competition will see repre­sentation from Nepal, India, Bangla­desh and Pakistan.

At the meet, various yoga rules would be explained and put into practice. The organizing committee has further said that as the yoga is recognized by the World Health Organization and the UN, its pro­motion as a healthy life choice is important in Nepal as well.

It is believed that the principles of yoga were propounded by Lord Shiva and gradually transferred to the hermits and sages and, finally, to the common folks. RSS