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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

SAPTARI: Chinese apples are being smuggled into India, via Bihar’s Kunauli bazaar located on Indo-Nepal border, appar­ently in collusion with the police and customs officers. The smuggling came to light after the Saptari District Police Office in eastern Nepal mount­ed a raid on the house of one Binod Raya, where the apples were being stored. The police team led by Inspector Heman­ta Bhandari seized 78 cartoons of apples and a bicycle used for smuggling.

The police admit that such smuggling of apples has been taking place for a long time. They said they learnt about Raya’s house after they caught four people red-hand­ed in no-man’s land as they were trying to smuggle apples. Those arrested have admitted to receiving Rs 20 for each cartoon smuggled across the border.

The law prohibits the export of Chinese apples via Nepal. According to the police, a criminal group of Indian nationals purchase apples in Nepal during the day, store them in border areas and smuggle them using bicycles in the thick of night.

By MANOHAR POKHAREL

A draft directive whereby citizens can directly petition the provincial parlia­ment has been endorsed by the Province 3 provincial assembly. The passage of the proposal marks the beginning of a new practice in Nepal’s parlia­mentary system.

Rajendra Pandey, chairperson of the Draft Committee of Provincial Assembly Directive 2074 BS, comprising members of seven political parties represented in the provincial assembly, had tabled the proposal last week.

The draft states: “If any Nepali citizen resid­ing in the concerned province feels aggrieved by a decision of the Cabinet, the government or a non-governmental entity, he or she can directly petition the parliament, pro­vided the petition is signed by 100 Nepali citizens and approved by three members of provincial parliament”.

“It is a new practice in Nepal,” said Pandey. “Earlier, a complaint submitted by a commoner was discussed in the [national] assembly only if the parliamentary committee it was submitted to deemed it important enough”.

It was a long process. But now, “ordinary citizens have a quicker way to have their concerns addressed.”

By Krishna Saru Magar | Hetauda

 FICTION

Home Fire

Kamila Shamsie

First Published: August, 2017

Language: English

Pages: 264, Hardcover

 ‘Home Fire’ is essentially a sto­ry about love and the lengths we go to for those we hold dear. A contemporary reimaging of Antigone, a tragedy written by Sophocles in or before 441 BC, Home Fire explores what happens when love and loyalty are pitted against each other. Shamsie, who has previously writ­ten six novels, has based Home Fire on two Pakistani emigrant families from completely different commu­nities in London. On one side of the spectrum is the devout Isma Pasha, daughter of a jihadi fighter, and then there’s Eamonn Lone, son of the British Home Secretary who is a secularized Muslim.

Eamonn’s family has the power to save Pasha’s family from a horrible fate and that’s what Aneeka, Isma’s sister, initially has in mind when she initiates a relationship with Eamonn. Aneeka wants Eamonn to help bring her twin, Parvaiz, back to London.

Narrated through the perspectives of five different people, Home Fire that tells the haunting tale of what happens when love and politics col­lide was longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize.

Review by APEX BUREAU

One of the most popular international franchises, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”, is making its debut on Nepali tele­vision, thanks to AP1 HD TV. At a press conference organized last week in Kathmandu, AP1 formally announced the Nepali version of the international franchise as “Ko Bancha Crorepati?”—to be aired on AP1 HD with the co-sponsorship of SRBD media.

The television game show, which is of British-origin and created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight, is one of the many international reality TV franchises AP1 is bringing to the Nepali market.

Participants will be selected on the basis of SMS and IVR. For each episode, ten participants will be selected who then will play the iconic “Fastest Finger First” to make it to the “Hot Seat” for the top prize of Rs 10 million.

The program, to be hosted by veteran Nepali actor Rajesh Hamal, also has a dedicated mobile app (QR codes above) where aspiring participants can practice for the show and win prizes in the process as well. APEX BUREAU  

Hotel Yak & Yeti celebrated the Chinese New Year, or China’s all-important Spring Festival, between February 15 and 17. According to the Chinese 12-year animal zodiac cycle, this is the Year of the Dog. Yak & Yeti was decked up for the Spring Festival and served special Chinese dishes in a three-day lunch and dinner buffet event at the Sunrise Restaurant.

The 'seven lucky dishes' served at the event are highly symbolic: Noodles sym­bolize happiness and longevity; dump­lings and spring rolls stand for wealth; tangyuan (sweet rice balls) are for family togetherness; tiangao (glutinous rice cake) for income or status; tangerines and oranges for fullness and wealth; and fish for increase in prosperity.

APEX BUREAU  

 Nepalese Young Entrepre­neurs’ Forum (NYEF) is set to host the sixth edition of the ‘Made in Nepal’ exhibition in the Capital from March 16.

Issuing a press statement last week, NYEF officials said that the three-day event aims to promote entrepreneurship and domestic goods and services. The event will display prod­ucts like garments, automo­biles, handicrafts, agriculture, leather, furniture, travel and tours, cottage industry, herbal products, fashion designing, music and movies.

With the slogan ‘Afno Bhanya Afnai Ho’, which is a repeat of last year’s edition, the idea, according to the organiz­ers, is to reinforce the percep­tion that Nepali products can also be on a par with interna­tional products.

Himalayan Bank Ltd (HBL), a leading commercial bank, has announced an attractive cash-back offer for its customers upon using a Visa card while shopping via an online portal or POS ter­minal within Nepal. HBL Visa cardholders will get the cash-back offer of up to 10 per cent when they use their Visa Debit, Visa Credit or Visa Prepaid cards, as per a press release.

According to the bank, a cus­tomer will get a five per cent monthly cash back across POS merchant terminals and 10 per cent monthly cash back on online shopping when they use their Visa Debit, Visa Credit and Visa Pre­paid cards within Nepal. Further, the customer’s account will be credited by equivalent cash at the end of the Nepali month.