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Whether or not the government labels it as such, the double whammy of Covid-19 and air pollution, both worsening by the day, has already created a national health emergency. Covid-19 infections are spiking in India, and we are importing them via the porous border. The number of those rendered gravely ill by the virus has shot up, as Nepali hospitals again run out of beds for new corona patients. Worryingly, health experts say the number of serious Covid-19 cases is higher this time compared to during the previous peaks. 

Compounding the crisis, the quality of air has plummeted, with Kathmandu now consistently ranking as the city with the foulest air in the world. Every resident of Kathmandu is, in effect, smoking nearly 70 cigarettes sticks every single day. Nearly everyone has itchy eyes. Head and body aches have become as common. Even some of the fittest folks are having difficulty breathing. It’s worse for the elderly and infirm. Meanwhile, air pollution has worsened the health effects of Covid-19, increasing mortality rates among the elderly. And everyone’s lives are being cut short.

The biggest problem right now is that people have zero faith in their government. Last year, the lockdowns were arbitrarily imposed and as arbitrarily lifted. Corruption and delays have marred the import of Covid-19 gears and vaccines. Ill-prepared governments, at all three tiers, appear helpless in dousing the forest fires that have sprung up right around the country. At this time of a health crisis, the country does not even have a stable government. 

Hopelessness is a dangerous thing and can easily morph into anger. The public, repeatedly lied to, is in a mood to defy the government should it declare another lockdown, or even impose much-less restrictive measures to limit the damages of the twin health crisis. The already troubling situation could get much worse. This is why it is important for the government to commit to measures to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic and clean the foul air, lay out a workable plan, and to keep the public informed every step of the way. This isn’t something the government can solve on its own. It will have to be a collective effort. But for that the government must first be perceived as working in public interest. Failure to do so will cost lives.  

Kathmandu Metropolitan Round Table 4 (KMRT 4) is hosting a fundraising art exhibition at the Windhorse Gallery, Lalitpur from March 13 to April 3.

The art fundraiser is being headlined by the world-renowned artist Tsherin Sherpa and is adorned by the work of various upcoming local artists including Tulku Jamyang, Manish Lal Shrestha, Kapil Mani Dixit, Bharat Rai, Tashi Sangpo, Dawa Thulong, Sodhon, Dorje Karmarong, Diki Yuthok, and NB Gurung.

“As these artists take their path of intrinsic creative redemption, Round Table Nepal has come to aid in the process through their communal approach,” a press statement issued by KMRT reads. With the funds raised, Round Table Nepal aims at engaging in community service, with their major focus on building a greenhouse project at Cunina School in Sekha, providing physiotherapy equipment for Muscular Dystrophy Foundation Nepal, and supporting children’s education and school infrastructure.

Earth Hour Nepal held

The annual event of Earth Hour Nepal 2021, a global environment movement, was held digitally on March 27 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The event aimed at inspiring and empowering individuals, businesses, civil society organizations, and governments to take tangible actions for the planet.

The event had participation from a record-breaking 190 countries and territories marking Earth Hour online, generating over 3 billion social media impressions with #EarthHour and related hashtags trending across 37 countries on Twitter and Google search.

This year, Earth Hour Nepal focused on providing a key moment for people to unite and speak up for nature, showing how small acts can power big changes. During the event, Ani Choying Drolma was announced as WWF Nepal’s Goodwill Ambassador.

During the event, Shree Terse Secondary School from Sindhupalchowk was announced as the winner of the “Earth Hour School Innovation Challenge” for its work on renewable energy.

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has approved the frequency ranges for Fixed Satellite Service within the Ka band segment (19.7-21.2 Ghz Downlink, paired with 29.5-31 Ghz Uplink) for use in Nepal.

With the approval of the Ka band segment, which was recommended by the NTA to the government in January, all regions in the country are expected to benefit from faster internet at affordable rates. The approval means that businesses, communities and government agencies within Nepal will soon access services from one of Asia’s latest, state-of-the-art satellites: Kacific 1.

The Kacific 1 satellite, owned by Kacific Broadband Satellites Group, uses Ka band technology designed specifically to provide reliable, high-speed broadband internet to rural and remote populations through concentrated spot beams and simple easy-to-install onsite 1.2m antennas. This technology, although new in Nepal, has been successfully used in other countries in Asia, including ones with similar mountainous geographies.

Nepal’s mountainous terrains make it difficult for ground-based technologies to provide widespread and reliable coverage, and a large swath of the country cannot be connected with cable-based technologies. This means that for the 22.8 million citizens living in rural areas—around 80 percent of our 28.6 million population—satellite technology is the only way for individuals and organizations to access broadband. All they would need is a small, easy-to-transport and rapidly deployable satellite dish.

People of Kathmandu khaldo are often accused of thinking about the rest of the country only when events outside the valley inconvenience them individually. During last year’s Covid lockdown, we were livid with the hordes of people crossing over into Nepal from India without screening for the dreaded virus. At election-time, we worry about the prospect of the ‘lesser educated’ folks from the outskirts electing the wrong people to govern us. Now, we are blaming all the ‘bumpkins’ who left their fires unattended and had the valley-denizens choking for air. 

But accusing the folks of Gorkha or Gaur of carelessness is a touch rich. Of all the big and small places in the country, the valley emits by far most carbon-di-oxide and other noxious gases that contribute to air pollution and are thus responsible for the current haze over Kathmandu. That the country has received a quarter of the volume of rain it normally does this time of the year is also not their fault. Nor is lack of preparation at any level of government to handle these perennial forest fires. 

More likely, saving the country’s forests and mitigating climate change has not been high on the priority of the administrators in Kathmandu, as they don’t suffer its worst effects (until they do). This is perhaps why there is no mechanism to tackle these summer- and winter-time fires that destroy hundreds of thousands of Nepal’s green cover every year. Nor do those running the national capital seem keen on limiting the emission of harmful gases from vehicles. Despite strict regulations against it, there is no shortage of vehicles here belching thick plumes of smoke.

We also hear of plans to make the valley cleaner and greener, say, in a decade. But how do we believe these planners when not even the bare minimum is being done to cut greenhouse-gas emissions? Whatever little good we see—cycle lanes in Lalitpur, for instance—has come at the initiative of common folks determined to improve the health of the community they call home. We can now complain about stingy eyes and heavy heads all we like, but things will not change without sustained pressure from below. Otherwise, why doesn’t this potentially life-and-death issue ever become an electoral agenda? Only when the citizens push will their representatives make and implement the right agenda. 

Birth: 14 October 1932, Kathmandu

Death: 16 March 2021, Gangalal Hospital, Kathmandu

Maniklal Shrestha, a leader of the Newari language movement, analyst of left politics, and respected academic, died aged 89 in Kathmandu.

A mentor for most of Nepal’s current and ex-communist leaders, Shrestha had for long been fighting kidney and heart ailments and was hospitalized a few weeks ago after falling unconscious.

Shrestha first started reading extensively as a student of Tri-Chandra Campus in Kathmandu, where he also came across the works of Marx and Engels. Deeply inspired by Marxist philosophy, he cultivated a close-knit network with Nepali left-leaning intellectuals and communist leaders.

A good friend of late Pushpa Lal Shrestha, founder of the Communist Party of Nepal, he helped draft the young party’s manifesto. Later, the royal regime arrested him for his involvement in the communist movement. 

The man behind the establishment of Nepal Sambat and Kirat Sambat (calendars based on the history of Newar and Kirat communities), Shrestha also helped establish Nepal Bhasa (Newari language) as one of the country’s official languages. A sharp historian, learner, and mother-tongue activist, Shrestha was known for his uncanny ability to explain difficult ideas in simple, everyday terms. He had an extraordinary memory and often mentioned exact historical dates, time, and even page numbers of books while giving talks. He was a walking encyclopedia for fellow researchers and students.

Shrestha had an MA in English and an LLB, both from Kolkata University, India, before returning home to start teaching at Tribhuvan University. He was the first Nepali to graduate in Constitutional Law.

Elected ward-chairperson of Kathmandu-9 (now Kathmandu-17) in 1958, Shrestha in his lifetime never visited any temple or performed religious rites. He was a women’s rights activist and, unknown to many, was the first to lobby for and ensure women’s voting rights in his electoral constituency, even before Switzerland did so in 1974.

He was also a journalist and wrote articles for Nepal Bhasa daily and various other national and international newspapers. He wrote and translated extensively, and authored acclaimed books like Historical Development of Juche Cause (in English), Manab Samaj ko Bikash Bare Marxbadi distrikon (in Nepali), and Samalochanayam Siddhanta (in Newari).

Shrestha was married to late Sushila Singh, the first female judge of Nepal’s Supreme Court, who passed away almost a year ago on 22 May 2020. He is survived by two sons: senior cardiologist Dr. Malakhlal Shrestha and physician Dr. Situlal Shrestha.

Communist leaders and intellectuals have expressed sorrow over Shrestha’s demise. Posting a picture of himself with hospitalized Shrestha, former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said on Twitter: “The country has lost an extraordinary intellectual figure.” Political analyst Shyam Shrestha remembered his senior colleague Maniklal Shrestha as “a very down-to-earth, helpful, easily accessible, and welcoming man”. Chairman of CPN (Maoist Center) and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said: “The demise of Prof. Shrestha is a blow to the whole progressive-communist movement of Nepal.”

Never had we thought that we’d be writing about a restaurant with live music at Kalopul, but here it goes. Haasaa at Kalopul, on the right towards Shifal just after the bridge, is a family-style restaurant that has been serving delicious Newari cuisine with live music on weekends for a couple of years now.

Parking might be bit of a hassle for this restaurant right by the road but we are sure our readers will find a place to park their vehicles and enter the restaurant’s traditional-themed premises. Also serving a few continental dishes as well as pizzas, the indoor restaurant has live unplugged music by various artists at weekends.

Opening hours: 9 am to 10 pm

Chef’s Special:

BBQ Korean Momo

Momo Chopsuey

 Buff Khaja Set

Reservations: 9841460459

Cards: Not accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 1,000