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With the growing popularity of Tibetian laphing in Kathmandu, quite a few places have opened in town to serve this spicy and cold mung bean noodle dish. Cool Brother’s Laphing, located in Ekantakuna Chowk, is one of those hidden gems for laphing lovers looking for an authentic taste.

The eatery was started by eight brothers nearly 17 years ago. The laphing here is spicy and tingles all your tastebuds. A quick stop by after a long day into this peaceful neighborhood to grab a plate of laphing will surely relax you no end.

Cool Brother’s Laphing

Special Dishes:

Chips/Chau chau laphing
Chicken keema noodles       
Buff keema noodles

Opening time: 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Location: Ekantakuna
Meal for 2: Rs 400

Nepali movie ‘Ma Yesto Geet Gauchu 2’ is scheduled for release on 4 January 2022, according to director Sudarshan Thapa. The movie had originally been lined up for a pre-pandemic release.

Making public the new poster of the film on Facebook, Thapa said this is the time to restart the entire Nepali film industry.

Actors Pooja Sharma and Pal Shah play the lead roles while Thapa, Sharma, and Janmajay Sampang Rai are the movie’s producers.

‘Classic wheels Export and Import’, the official importer of Crossfire Motorcycles in Nepal, has finally launched the new version of the Tracker 250 motorcycle today. Crossfire is all set to revolutionize the dual-sport motorcycle segment in Nepal with it’s new and updated Tracker 250 edition.

Back in August, the newly launched Tracker 250 was a game changer. Now the newly launched Tracker 250 edition is enhanced to ensure even greater performance with refined power, greater efficiency, improved mileage, superior handling, and a touch of modern look to add to its retro beauty.

The new Tracker 250 edition is now available for booking. You can receive a free helmet along with Rs. 5,000 cash discount for every booking or purchase made before 28 November 2021.

For more information: 01-4016070/01-4016062, www.crossfirenepal.com.

Nepal SBI Bank continues to deduct salaries of employees to contribute to the Social Security Fund without their consent, its employees inform. ApEx had first reported on this on September 30.

Following protests by various employees of various banks against the SSF and a writ filed in the Supreme Court, the court had issued a stay on the government decision making it mandatory for all banks to participate in the SSF program. Other banks then refrained from sending their employee’s money to the SSF—but not Nepal SBI Bank.

Nepal SBI management had then agreed to refund the employees’ money it had deposited with the SSF, but now the bank has reneged on its promise. It continues to deduct employees’ salary and deposit the amount in the SSF, against the court order, an employee tells ApEx.

The bank has pressed ahead with its decision to take part in the fund’s programs in the last month of the previous fiscal, even as a petition filed by employees of various banks remains under consideration at the court.

Also read: Central bank flags NCC Bank’s wrongdoing 

Before the government rolled out the SSF, Nepal SBI employees had their own Employees’ Provident Fund. But the bank has also stopped sending money to the fund.

For the first few weeks of protests, employees worked with a black band on their arms to express their displeasure. 

They stopped doing so as the employees’ union got increasingly worried about the bank’s public image. “The bank management seems to have seen our restraint as a weakness and still refuses to hear us out,” says another disappointed employee who is also a member of the union.

The union has also leveled other charges against the bank. It has accused the bank of not maintaining accurate records of money sent to the Employees’ Provident Fund, not transferring employees working in rural areas to urban areas for a long time, and cutting down on different perks.

Mahalakshmi Municipality-6 Siddhipur and Legend Futsal in collaboration with Guna Airlines organized the “First Girl’s Legend Cup” at Tikathali-5, Thatikot on October 31 and November 1.

A total of seven schools participated in the competition. Shree Siddhi Mangal Secondary School won the title of the school level “First Girl Legend Cup Futsal”. Mount Olive School came second and Bhanodaya Secondary School third. Ritisa Shrestha, a student of Kopila English Secondary School, became the top scorer of the competition.

Mayor of Mahalakshmi Municipality Rameshwar Shrestha, Chairman of Mahalakshmi Municipality Ward No. 6 Vasudev Maharjan, and Managing Director of Guna Airlines Diprash Shakya presented trophies, medals and cash prizes to the winning schools and participating players on the occasion.

Breaking the norms that set young girls behind from the early years, and such tournaments aim to bring a revolution in our community. All participants showed utmost team spirit and has proved sports sees no gender, acknowledged Diprash Shakya.

Federalism is not supposed to function like this. In the federal system Nepal has adopted, each of the three tiers of government—federal, provincial and local—is autonomous, free to exercise a range of rights except in a few constitutionally-defined domains. The three tiers are independently elected as well. But what we see is the heads of major national parties chopping and changing not just the federal but also provincial governments at their will.

The chief ministers of five of the seven provinces have changed following the ouster of the KP Oli government in Kathmandu and the elevation of Sher Bahadur Deuba as the new prime minister. And the ceremonial heads of all seven provinces have also been changed—and repeatedly—well before the expiry of their five-year term. The party heads clearly see the provincial governments as no more than extensions of the government in Kathmandu, making Nepal a unitary state in all but name. It also boosts those who have always argued that the federal system is unsuited for Nepal.

Also read: Editorial: Remove Rana 

But we would know about the desirability of the federal system only after it comes into operation. The leaders of major parties seem determined not to devolve powers and to continue to be kingmakers at the provincial level as well. This not only makes the federal system unstable. It also lessens the salience of regional issues. If the provincial chief ministers and governors have to spend most of their time keeping their bosses in Kathmandu happy, they will be able to do little meaningful work in the provinces. They will also tend to ignore provincial issues that aren’t directly tied to national politics.

One could treat all these as teething problems of the new federal republic and hope they are resolved as federalism in Nepal matures. But how can it mature if its progenitors are determined to keep it in infancy? Things in fact will get worse unless our top leaders internalize the importance of federalism for Nepal.  

Producers of the third installment of Chapali Height starring Swastima Khadka, have announced the movie will be released on December 17.

They had planned to release the trailer of the movie on April 10, but it was delayed due to the second wave of Covid-19. Producer Arjun Kumar announced that a new trailer for the film will be released this coming week. The film, directed by Nikesh Khadka, also features Arpan Thapa, Supushpa Bhatt, Mahesh Tripathi and Pratikman Shrestha.

The sizzling sound of melting cheese greets you as you enter the Rodeos Café. Inspired by the culture of the wild West, this rustic cafe offers a unique experience, especially for pizza lovers, in its two-floor dining area with a bar lounge on the second floor as well as outdoor patio seating.

Located at Kaaldhara Chowk, Rodeos is the perfect spot to spend your evening with your friends, thanks to an eclectic mix of western and Nepali menus. Multiple options of pizza and pasta stand out, as do its Nepali offerings. Plus, there is also a good range of Thai food.

Rodeos Café

Chef’s Special Dishes:

Meatlovers pizza
Rodeos special Pasta
Pad Thai

Opening time: 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Location: Kaaldhara chowk, 100 to 200 meters sorhakhutte (west)
Meal for 2: 1200
Card/Phone pay: Yes
Reservation: 9861747756