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Following the bank’s dispute with the Nepal Banker’s Associ­ation, Laxman Risal’s resigna­tion as has been approved by NIC Asia Bank. Roshan Kumar Neupane has been appointed the acting CEO. The 345th board meeting of the bank approved Risal’s resignation. The same board meeting also appointed Neupane as the acting CEO. NIC Asia has a customer base of one million across the country and has been providing services through its 184 branches and 187 ATMs outlets.

Hansraj Hulaschand & Co, the sole authorized distribu­tor of Bajaj motorcycles, has announced its New Year cam­paign ‘Bajaj Yugarambh’ with the tagline ‘Naya Nepal ko Naya Subharambh’. As per a media release, the special cam­paign titled ‘Bajaj Yugarambh’ indicates a new era where the youth is responsible for nation building and shaping its future.

Every customer buying a Bajaj motorcycle from an autho­rized dealer will get a sure-shot discount of Rs 7,500. The buyer will be further booked for a lucky draw to win an exciting prize of Rs 75,000 every day.  

Targeting the upcoming Nepali New Year in mid-April, Jagdamba Motors, the sole authorized distributor of TVS Motors in Nepal, has launched a new scheme for its custom­ers. The company has launched ‘Naya Barsha ko Shuruwat Jiwan Bhar ko Saath’ campaign for its new customers in which customers will receive Rs 8,001 instant cash back on every pur­chase of a TVS motorcycle or scooter. The offer, which will be valid for the next few months, is applicable to all TVS authorized distributors and showrooms across the country.  

Tea is produced in over 26,000 hectares of land, mostly in the eastern districts like Ilam, Jhapa, Panchthar, Dhankuta, Sankhu­wasabha and Terathum.

Production is growing even in Terai districts. Yet the country’s exports worth some Rs 2.5 bil­lion is miniscule given that Nepal produces 24 million kg of tea every year.

In order to boost exports, the third edition of the International Tea Festival is being held in Kathmandu from April 6-8. The event, being organized by Nepal Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB), aims to better market and promote Nepali tea abroad.

It will feature 25 globally recognized tea traders from 13 countries. On the occasion, var­ious tea-related events will also be organized in different parts of the country. The icing on the cake? A tea tasting ceremony at the Mount Everest base camp on April 6.

Nepal Tea trademark will also be formally launched at the fes­tival. This is expected to help the export of orthodox tea, which is gaining popularity across the world as it contains antioxidants and low caffeine.  

A total of 485,586 students are appearing in the secondary education examinations (SEE), which started on March 22. The exams are being held simultane­ously at 1,956 exam centers across the country.

The exams, which are held at the end of grade 10, span 13 days, start­ing with the English paper on the first day. Arrangements have also been made for practical examina­tions in all compulsory subjects except mathematics.

Following the eighth amendment to the Education Act-1972, the erst­while School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations, were scrapped and replaced by the SEE last year.

To conduct the SEE examina­tions, some 64,762 people are being deployed this year. AGENCIES

PAV’s Sindhuli district chief Ramala Bhandari said that Rs 517 million has been invested via the revolving fund and another Rs 256 million on infrastructure develop­ment. Under the latter category, there have been invest­ments in micro-hydro plants, schools, farmers’ markets, farm product storage centers, irrigation channels, etc, all of which contribute to income generation and capacity building of low-income families.

According to Bhandari, the PAV has completed 12 income generation projects and 242 infrastructure proj­ects in the district by collaborating with 10 local partner organizations. She said that all such projects will soon be handed over to the newly elected local bodies.  

By RAJAN GAUNLE | SINDHULI

Speaking at the event, Subedi praised Shah’s writing as a lively portrayal of characters from all over the world, which are in turn inspired by his many trips abroad during his Nepal Police days. Bhuinkhaat is a compilation of eight stories.

“Mahesh Bikram is one writer who makes me jealous,” Nayan Raj Pandey, another renowned author, said at the event. “His writings envision an inclusive society that is also diverse. From stories of Mad­hes to those related to the country’s political developments, Bhuinkhaat has it all.”

Author Shah, a retired police officer, is also an established name in Nepali literature. “For an author, the release of one of his creations is a cause of great celebration,” he said at the event. “My parents have always been my biggest inspiration and I would like to thank especially my father for encouraging me to write from an early age. He used to correct the letters I wrote to him when I was abroad.”

Before Bhuinkhaat, Shah had released “Satahaa”, “Sipahiki Swasni”, “Chapamaar ko Cho­ro”, “African Amigo”, “Jackson Height” and “Kathmanduma Com­rade”. APEX BUREAU  

It comes as a shock that wom­en can be depressed when one would assume the new mother is joyous. As a mother of a one-year-old I have experienced my share of postpartum blues. The crippling mood swings I felt were so confusing and complicated, I thought some­thing was terribly wrong with me. I kept it all to myself as I feared being judged. All because no one had dis­cussed or warned me about it.

When I later met my high-school girlfriends for dinner, it was a refreshing break for me. My daugh­ter was nine months old and I had not discussed what I had gone through with anyone. I was the last one to have a baby in this group so I gathered the courage to open up. To my surprise each one of them had the same experience! One of them, whose child is almost eight years old, said she couldn’t imagine having another baby: she had been trauma­tized by her postpartum experience.

According to the American Psy­chological Association, 80 percent of women get ‘postpartum blues’ and 10-20 percent new mothers are affected by postpartum depression. Some women experience minor adjustment issues, and others experience a grave and debilitating mood disorder. It is usually detected between 2-6 weeks postpartum and can last up to two years.

Becoming a mother is an identity shift and one of the most significant physical and psychological changes for a woman. Considering that 80 percent new mothers have postpar­tum blues, it's surprising how little we talk about it. It is common to discuss morning sickness and chang­ing bodies, exhaustion, the benefits of nursing or bottle feeding and the dilemma of returning to work. And yet we can be strangely mute about the dramatic and often overwhelm­ing changes in our inner self.

In a society like ours where mental health is spoken about in hushed tones, new mothers are affected more than ever. They are confused, and scared of being judged for not being good mothers. Their fear of being labeled a ‘non-perfect’ mother creates the silence. We fail to under­stand that just as the baby develops physically in utero and after birth so a mother is reborn psychologically in months preceding the birth of her child.

Maternal mental health has been largely unexplored in the medical community. A woman’s identity transition is completely ignored and the whole focus is on how the baby turns out, and its subsequent development. Sadly new mothers feel lonely and struggle with this transition. What no one tells them is that the transition to motherhood is not instant, easy, glamorous or graceful. It is exhausting and chal­lenging. But it’s also important to understand what you are going through is normal.

Greater understanding of the psy­chology of postpartum women helps promote healthier parenting. The childbirth education should include the postpartum period as well as newborn and infant care. Health­care professionals should educate couples about postpartum disor­ders and symptoms such as postpar­tum blues, postpartum depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, pan­ic disorder, etc. Partners and family members should also be made aware of the signs and symptoms. Help and support in any form will help the new mothers feel better.

The veil of the stigma associat­ed with postpartum disorders will slowly lift as more women find their voice. We need to empower new mothers by educating them in their prenatal and postnatal phases. For a child doesn’t so much need a perfect mother as much as a happy mother.

BY Dr MINANI GURUNG

The author is a medical doctor