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Can the Nepali Congress hold its 14th general convention on the scheduled 19-22 Feb 2021 dates in the middle of a pandemic? Perhaps not. And can the Grand Old Party elect a young leadership? This is even more doubtful. The young leadership referred to here is not just in terms of their age but also in terms of their ideas. As Nepali Congress gears up for the convention, vying for party president will once again be the incumbent, Sher Bahadur Deuba (73), his chief rival Ram Chandra Poudel (75), and/or an aging scion of the Koirala family. Most of the voting public has little appetite for the first two and very limited appetite for the third.

It is a common consensus, both in and outside the Nepali Congress, that the party leadership must go to a third-generation leader like Gagan Thapa or Biswa Prakash Sharma if the party is to be electorally competitive against the Nepal Communist Party. The likes of Deuba and Poudel, we are sorry to say, just don’t inspire hope. They have been repeatedly tested and found wanting. Deuba is standing for president again, despite his party’s 2017 electoral drubbing. Poudel, meanwhile, thinks he “deserves” to lead the party once. 

This, we hear, will be the last time one of the old leaders is elected, and the subsequent general conventions will be contested strictly between third-generation leaders. But can Nepali Congress afford to wait for five more years? What will be the cost to the party of conceding consecutive national elections to the communists? In the current state of constant political flux in the country, five years is a long time. 

The old leaders claim to have repeatedly ‘sacrificed’ their comforts for the cause of democracy and say they still have a lot to contribute to the country. Unfortunately, that is not how the voting public sees things. If they really cared about the democratic system they helped establish, they would know that periodic churning of political leadership is vital for its health. The best they could do right now is leave the scene for the third-generation leaders. These new-generation leaders, meanwhile, could conceivably turf out the old brigade if they could present a more united front. Yet they are as badly divided between different factions as their older colleagues. This again leaves the fate of Nepali Congress as an electoral force contingent on the performance (or lack thereof) of its communist opponents. This is no winning strategy.

PUBG Mobile this week rolled out ‘Royal Pass Season 14: Spark the Flame’. Players can now have access to newly-themed multi-form gear skins, rich level rewards, and more. The new Royale Pass Season 14 brings back the Roaring Dragon sets and Dragon-themed rewards that were launched in Royale Pass Season 5. This in celebration of the Royal Pass’ two-year anniversary.

More features in Royale Pass Season 14 include the Royal Pass Benefits Page where players can instantly view consecutive perks and preview other exclusive benefits. There’s also the Royal Pass Lobby Announcement for such announcements to appear more prominently in the lobby.

Royale Pass Season 14 can be availed through the Royal Pass Prime Subscription service for Android users. Here, players get two levels of membership: Prime and Prime Plus. There are monthly, quarterly, and yearly subscription options as well.

Other perks for the Royale Pass Prime Subscription include 300 or 900 Royal Pass vouchers awarded each month, access to Prime-exclusive Airplane Ranking display perks, and miscellaneous ongoing redemption discounts. PUBG Mobile is planning a similar collaboration with Apple for its iOS users.

Royale Pass Season 14 is part of the PUBG Mobile 0.19.0 update rolled out last week. This update arrived with the new and exclusive Livik map. It’s the smallest map in PUBG Mobile so far spanning 2 km x 2 km, and with matches lasting for 15 minutes. It can accommodate up to 52 players at once in a single match. The Nordic-style map has rich visuals with waterfalls, fields and more.

(Agencies)

The most productive thing you did during the lockdown?

Learnt to edit videos and then made the lyrics video of JATC's latest song, “Malai Kehi Audaina”.

One Nepali artist you’d love to collaborate with?

I just got introduced to Prohdeen’s music and I think it’s really cool.

The biggest career faux pas you’ve committed?

My career just started. So, none so far. (laughs)

What musical instrument would you give up your guitar for?

Drums

If you could be from any other decade (or era), which would it be?

Sometime in the future. Maybe 3020.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how “cool” are you?

3.14

Describe yourself as a teenager in three words.

Confused, lazy, and bored                                                                                                                              

Have you ever had stage anxiety?

Yes, when I was reciting a poem in school, back in the fifth grade.

What is one thing that annoys you the most about the Nepali music scene?

Lack of venues that promote original music and let original artists perform.

What is your least favorite type of music?

80's Rock Ballads

In a recent online announcement, smartphone giant Samsung has announced that its mid-range Samsung Galaxy A51 and Samsung Galaxy A71 Samsung would get some features from the premium Samsung Galaxy S20. In a blog post, Samsung stated it has started rolling out the latest software update which carries the “leading Galaxy S20” features to the Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71.

These features include Single Take, My filters, Pro Mode functionalities, Night Hyperlapse, Quick Share, and more. Samsung is yet to share more details about the software update. The South Korean tech company has also announced a new color variant for both Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71.

Among the new features derived from the S20, the Manual Focus and Shutter Speed Control with Pro Mode could be the most useful for those who use several camera modes simultaneously. With Night Hyperlapse, users can capture “creative” sunset photos and even create their own filters with My Filters.

Users can share photos, music, and videos in no time using Quick Share that is similar to Apple's AirDrop. Other features for the Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71 include Clean View, Quick Crop, enhanced Keyboard and Gallery, and Quick Panel.

Additionally, the Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71 are getting a new color model called Haze Crush Silver. The global availability details are yet to be announced.

Multiple community-level transmissions of Covid-19 virus in Nepal are now a real possibility. With the nationwide lockdown all but lifted and most carriers of the virus showing no symptoms, epidemiologists fear the worst. Demanding more government accountability and reliable and widespread testing, three ‘Enough is Enough’ campaigners even sat on a fast-unto-death, which they ended on June 7 after an agreement with the government. But based on its track record so far, the government will struggle to follow through on its commitments.

If things were not bad enough, the ill-timed power games in the ruling Nepal Communist Party could make them worse. The country could have done without this distraction. Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the pandemic at this point is a shortage of reliable testing. Recent studies suggest the virus may be airborne, and if so, a stricter lockdown is in order. Yet people are fed up with the idea of locking themselves up in their homes for months on end while the government cannot do even the bare minimum to widen the scope of testing. Many people are venturing out without masks, have ditched hand sanitizers, and are visiting restaurants and malls. Others have given up all preventive measures as they think they are destined to get the virus. Accompanying this is the belief that they will not be among the tiny minority of those infected who show serious complications. 

Examples from abroad suggest caution. The countries that initially witnessed few cases have seen infections suddenly shoot up; the same with those that eased their lockdowns prematurely. The WHO continues to warn that Nepal remains in grave danger. As the number of asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19 increases, so does the risk of the elderly and others with compromised immune systems getting serious complications. 

As we have repeatedly noted in this space, the government has done a poor job of taking people into confidence. They trust it with little these days. And when there is no trust, people are also unlikely to heed official advice on masks and social distancing. With so much about the virus still unknown, the best strategy is to minimize its spread. People should not be lulled into a false sense of security that just because they don’t see it it’s not there. Or that it’s innocuous enough not to affect them too much. 

Around this time in the previous years, residents of Karnali province would be in the highlands collecting yarshagumba (caterpillar-fungus or Cordyceps sinensis). Their houses back in the villages would be padlocked. Even schools would be closed, and teachers and children together pick this high-value Himalayan herb.

But this year the government has not allowed locals to pick this symbiotic larva-fungus owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The time between the first week of May and the first week of July is considered the best season to hunt for this treasured herb that is famously used as an aphrodisiac and neural stimulant. It has other medicinal benefits as well.  

Many locals who ran their households from this trade are now facing a livelihood crisis. “I relied on yarshagumba to cover my household expenses,” says Mun Bahadur Nepali of Bareykot Rural Municipality-3 of Jajarkot. “As I don’t have a farm of my own, how do I look after my kids now?”

Residents of Dolpa, Mugu, Jajarkot, Jumla, Humla, and Rukum sell yarshagumba, often regarded as ‘mountain jewel’, to domestic traders who charter helicopters to get the delivery. They in turn export it to China, Hong Kong, and India at significant mark-ups.

This time, the federal government is holding off permission for the locals due to coronavirus fears. On June 7, the provincial government had written to the federal government seeking permission, as the high Himalayan areas are less affected by the pandemic. The federal government declined.

Lives at stake

Local families are now worried. “Our ‘jewel’ is lost in the highlands. And I don’t have any other job,” rues Indra Bahadur Bitalu of Thuli Bheri Municipality of Dolpa. “How am I to look after my six-member family now?” He used to earn about Rs 200,000 per season picking the larva-fungus.

Chhiring Tamang from Mugumakarmarong-8 of Mugu district says his major income source was yarshagumba too. “Due to corona, we couldn’t go to pick yarsha. If the government does not help us, we will die of hunger.” Such is also the condition of Chyawa Tamang, who also earned Rs 200,000 this season last year.

Pushpa Basnet of Bareykot Rural Municipality-4 of Jajarkot, an undergraduate at a local college, has also been reliant on this income for her studies since her school days. “I made around Rs 50,000 each season in the previous years. That was my money for studies, which is now gone,” she laments. Raju Nepali, a grade 11 student from Limsa-11, has similar concerns.

The yarshagumba collected from Karnali is mostly exported. According to Prem Bohora, a yarsha trader, the annual yarsha business amounts to over Rs 1 billion. A piece of the fungus is sold anywhere between Rs 500 to Rs 2,000. A kilogram of it would sell for Rs 1.5 million. From Jajarkot district alone, traders would make Rs 100 million annually. On an average, about two quintals of this medicinal herb is exported every year, according to the data provided by the Division Forest Office.

With the ban, the government has lost millions in revenue. Traders pay export duties, and the locals too pay taxes. Revenue losses in Dolpa district alone are estimated at Rs 50 million. Mugumakarmarong Rural Municipality of Mugu had earned Rs 99 million in yarshagumba revenues last year. It was expecting to raise Rs 100 million this year.

Your personality in three words.

Extrovert, sarcastic, straight-forward

A common misconception about you.

That I am a very difficult person.

What one thing annoys you the most?

‘Tomorrowism’ (Procrastination). I will do it tomorrow. I will send it tomorrow. Your payment will be deposited tomorrow.

Do you have a song that reminds you of a relationship?

“Bol Do Naa Jaraa” from the movie ‘Azhar’. And it’d have been even more suitable if it had a female version. My husband Rajiv is the quiet type and I sing this to him. And he has to sing, “Nita jaile risaune, Nita jaile risaune,” time and again.

Have you ever tried something you knew you were really bad at?

Singing!

One fashion trend you just don’t get.

Those ‘extremely grunge’ jeans.

What’s the coolest thing you remember learning, and how did you learn it?

Whistling. I used to volunteer at a school and a kid from the fifth grade taught me. 

What’s the first trend you remember loving?

I remember I was in the seventh grade and the latest trend was wearing box pants with tight t-shirts. I still love wearing box pants.

What job would you least want to have?

A chef’s job because I am a good eater, and not a cook.

If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?

“51st date.” I just love how Adam Sandler tries so hard to make Drew Barrymore fall for him everyday. I want my Rajiv to try to do just 1 percent of that.

The much-anticipated OnePlus “affordable smartphone product line” has been announced. The budget-smartphone, which is expected to cost under $500 but still have specifications and features of expensive range phones, will be called the OnePlus Nord, according to sources.

The latest in the OnePlus line, the Nord is expected to come out in July and improve OnePlus’ market position by reaching new users. Despite being the first product under $500 in recent years for OnePlus, the Nord will have triple rear cameras (with a 64-megapixel primary sensor) and dual selfie cameras along with Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G SoC, plus a 6.55-inch Super AMOLED display.

Much about the OnePlus Nord remains a secret. But speculators and market watchers have rummaged through any data they could find as well as substantial social media leaks to be able to give tentative details.

The phone’s size is expected to be closer to the OnePlus 7T in terms of height and width, although a little thicker. The rear panel is glass, with curved edges towards the sides, but with the front display being flat overall, using 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5. A USB-C port sits at the bottom, but there’s no sign of a 3.5mm headphone socket, otherwise common on more affordable devices. The storage is expected to be around 8/128 GB or 12/256GB, which is highly impressive for the price.

The OnePlus Nord will initially be exclusive to India and Europe. However, OnePlus says select users in the US would also get a chance to experience the new model “through a highly limited beta program after launch.”