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With the aim of bringing Nepal’s air safety record up to the inter­national standards the ‘Helicopter Society of Nepal’ has been estab­lished under the chairmanship of Capt Rameshwar Thapa.

Thapa, who is the chairman of Simrik Air, is among Nepal’s most reputed rescue pilots. Before his latest appointment, he had twice served as the chairman of the Airlines Operators Association of Nepal.

Besides Thapa, tourism entrepre­neur and chairman of Dynasty Air Ang Tshering Sherpa and executive chairman of Manang Air Satish Prad­han have been chosen as vice-chair­men of the working committee. Likewise, the CEO of Heli Everest Yograj Sharma has been chosen as general secretary while Janak Thapa, also of Heli Everest, serves as the treasurer.

Likewise, Chairman of Altitude Air Nimanuru Sherpa, manag­ing director of Prabhu Helicopter Binod Thakali, managing director of Simrik Air Capt Siddhartha Jung Gurung and Shree Air’s corpo­rate director Anil Manandar have been chosen as member of the working committee.

The non-profit hopes to help improve Nepal’s aviation record, as well as to build safe helipads and increase the availability of trained manpower in the field.

The society will work for the devel­opment of aviation and tourism under the government’s remit and take the initiative to highlight the importance of helicopter companies for the country.

Also, it will reward those who have made significant contribution for the development of helicopter transport in Nepal. Towards this goal, different kinds of programs will be being organized right across the country. Moreover, the society will try to disseminate right information about the recently reported problem of ‘fake rescues’.

Whether the government of KP Sharma Oli has been able to deliver on its electoral promise of ‘prosperity’ in its eight months in office is questionable. Its other promise of ‘stability’, it appears, will also not be easy to keep. Set aside for a moment the implications of the ruling coa­lition’s failure to heed the demands of the Madhesi parties, which have given the government until the end of Chhat to amend the constitution. It looks like an even bigger danger lurks within the Nepal Communist Party itself. No, this threat does not come from senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, who has mounted a vigorous criticism of the government of his own party. Nepal is making his own political calculations ahead of the first general convention of the merged party. But he does not seem minded to topple the government, a move that could badly backfire on the veteran leader.

A more dangerous sign that not everything is well in the NCP came when sitting federal MPs were being put under pressure to resign and vacate their parliamentary seat for another senior leader Bamdev Gautam. It was hard to buy the prime minister’s argument, in what was a lame attempt to sidestep the issue, that Gautam’s loss in his Bardiya con­stituency in the federal election was somehow ‘unnatural’ and Gautam was thus looking for a restitution. Nor was it easy to believe that the presence of Gautam—who has had a checkered history in government—in the federal parliament is ‘indispensable’.

Some people close to the prime minister saw the attempt to elect Gautam to the federal parliament as ultimately aimed at unseating Oli. In their reading, it was part of a plot hatched by Gautam and party co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal—possibly with India’s backing. Apparently, India is none-too-pleased with Oli’s growing China tilt and Dahal has given the Indian establishment credible assurance that he will follow their playbook.

If Gautam wins the by-election, he would directly challenge Oli for government leadership; if he losses, he would mount a strong revolt against ‘in-party conspiracy’ to defeat him. Dis­sent will grow. One thing will lead to another and ultimately Gautam will find a way to unseat Oli and become the prime minister himself. Dahal would then lead the party. And both these developments will have New Delhi’s blessings.

Perhaps this is just another conspiracy theory and there is no more to it than Gautam’s desire to be MP again. But all these theories of sinister plots to destabilize the party and the country emanating from within the NCP circle suggest that Oli’s hold over his party is far from absolute and Nepalis should not take stability for granted.

Want to be a multi-million­aire? You would certainly be one if you give 15 correct answers in a row. With the slogan of Jaba gyaan jhalkinchha, taba bhagya talkinchha (‘When your knowledge shows, your luck improves’), the soon-to-be-broadcast show on AP1 HD Television, “Ko Bancha Crorepa­ti”, will give you this once-in-a-life­time opportunity.

After the scintillating success of singing reality show ‘Nepal Idol’ and dancing reality show ‘Boogie Woo­gie’ AP1 HD Television is starting, from the second week of Novem­ber, the Nepali version of the world famous television reality show ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’.

The show, with Coca Cola as its title sponsor, will be hosted by popular actor Rajesh Hamal. The banking sponsor is Civil Bank, with other sponsors being Hero, Indica Hair Color, Baltra Home Electron­ics, Suit That Fits, Education Park and Enchanteur. Actor Amitabh Bachchan, host of Indian version of the international franchise ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, sent a video mes­sage expressing his happiness at the show’s launch in Nepal.

Actor Hamal informed that as this is an international level show, specific criteria need to be met. He added that he will try hosting it in an original Nepali way. As he has to present for an audience with Nepali taste by adding some Nepali flavor, he said this would be both an oppor­tunity as well as a challenge. He also expressed his hope that the show would boost Nepalis unity and identity. Managing Director of Annapurna Media Network Laxmi Prasad Paudyal said that this show would not only be entertaining and knowledgeable for Nepali viewers but also offer a great chance to them to earn lucrative cash prizes.

CEO of SRBN Media, the pro­duction company of “Ko Bancha Crorepati”, Bipin Acharya, informed that the first question will be for Rs 1,000. The prize amount will keep increasing, leading to the last ques­tion worth Rs 10 million. According to him, the questions’ worth would increase in the manner: Rs 1,000, then Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 5,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 20,000, Rs 40,000, Rs 80,000 and then the prize mon­ey will keep doubling with succes­sive question leading to the last one worth Rs 10 million. There will be 14 steps to the last question and each participant will get three life-lines.

Program Director Suresh Paudel informed that the show will be broadcast every Saturday, Sunday and Monday between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm. He promised that the show would be made inclu­sive with respect to age, gender and geography.

 Q. Three most attractive qualities in a person?

A. A sparkling conversationalist, followed by the non-judgmental listening ability and lastly, anyone who can respond to a sarcasm with a higher level of sarcasm are the best kind of beings to walk on the face of this planet.

Q. The best piece of advice that you’ve received?

A. ‘Don't look back at things that remind you of grief. Don’t listen to judgements people have of you. Don’t bother talking to people you don’t like.’ A self-shaped advice I remind myself, every day.

Q. The weirdest compliment that you’ve received?

A. ‘You speak like Sushmita Sen.’ Well, I didn’t buy it but I won’t deny, it felt nice.

Q. A question you wish people would stop asking?

A. ‘Don’t you get nervous before going LIVE on TV?’ Trust me, it’s sometimes more annoying than people asking single people when they plan to get married.

Q. If you could go on a coffee date with a famous person, who would it be?

A. Vladimir Putin. Being in the media indus­try myself, I feel this leader has been scripted completely on the basis of per­sonal opinions. There’s more to Putin, I think! One cup of coffee wouldn’t be enough, for sure, to decipher this man.

Q. If you could have your three of your wishes granted what would they be?

A. Firstly, two-day weekends. A well-rested mind is likely to be happier and more productive. Second wish would be to be able to travel without the tedious process of applying for visa(s). And thirdly, better public toilets in this city. Perhaps, then I will not hesitate to drink enough water throughout the day. Just saying.

Q. Ideal vacation destination?

A. I’ve always wished to live with the Mentawi tribes (Indonesia) for a month or two. As constantly evolving humans, I believe we have forgotten our natural ability to connect with the things around us.

In a complicated world that we live in, living with the tribes shall be a lifetime experience (for me).

 Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy drama, ‘The Shape of Water’, emerged as the ultimate win­ner at the 2018 Academy Awards. It had been nominated for 13 Oscars and won four, including best director and best picture. Starring Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Octavia Spenser, and Richard Jenkins, the movie was a visual marvel, one that tugged at your heartstrings. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of its novel coun­terpart, the pace of which is a little sluggish and thus makes you want to skim through the pages halfway through. You already know the ending anyway.

For those of you who haven’t watched the movie yet, the basic premise is this: Set in America of the 1960s, Elisa, a mute janitor working at a government research center in Baltimore, falls in love with an imprisoned amphibi­ous man who is being tortured at the lab. The military responsi­ble for its capture then decide to kill the creature to dissect him for further research and Elisa, with a little help from her friends, plans a rescue operation.

The filmmaker Toro collabo­rated with author Daniel Kraus to bring the cinematic experience unto paper and the book was published a little less than two months after the movie’s release. The book was supposed to expand and enrich the story but what it does instead is make you feel like you are reading the first draft of the movie script.

The filmmaker and author both no doubt felt that a movie, at two hours, could only scratch the sur­face of human emotions and strug­gles. The novel thus takes its time to dra

w out the characters and delve deep into their minds. The result is a bit tedious. This is per­haps because you feel you know the characters and what they are thinking, having met them in the movie already.

That being said, The Shape of Water isn’t a bad book. Not by any means. It’s just that you have already watched (and loved) the movie, and seen the char­acters through their trails and tribulations that there’s no shaking off the feeling of déjà vu you inev­itably get. That is what takes away from the reading experience and makes the narrative seem long and stretched. You already know where it’s going yet you have to bear through pages of introspection and (oftentimes) pointless drama to get there. If you haven’t watched the movie, we recommend you read the book. If you have, you might be better off finding something else to read

Perhaps the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) leaders who had gone to meet Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Oct 8 were well aware that little gets done during the over a month-long holiday sea­son that starts with Dashain and ends with Chhath. That is why when Prime Minister Oli assured the RJPN leaders that their demands would be fulfilled by the end of Dashain the Madhesi leaders said they were happy to give him until the end of Chhath. Who knows, they too might have been in a festive spirit not to make a hard push. Dashain remains the most widely celebrated festival in Nepal, even though not everyone celebrating it is religious. They will go to different Shakti Peeths during the Navaratri, the ‘nine nights’ and 10 days of Dashain (See Sabhyata Jha’s sto­ry, Page 8-9), to imbibe the festive spirit if nothing else. There is also a growing trend of people leaving Nepal to visit other countries during Dashain, as they are unlikely to get another holiday nearly as long. This also signals the dwindling religious importance of Dashain even as its cultural and socio-economic signif­icance remains high.

For meat-eaters, this is the time to gorge on goat, a Dashain delicacy. But interestingly the trend of people becoming vegetarians, nay, even vegans, is rocketing as well, partly because of the violence associated with animal killings (See Main story, Page 7). Another popular pastime this Dashain, at least for those who remain in the country, will be play­ing cards, often with the involve­ment of huge sums, never mind that the government has banned any kind of gambling.

Many bemoan the days when the whole extended family used to get together to celebrate, often by vis­iting their ancestral homes. Now half the family is invariably abroad during Dashain, working there or on vacation. But it would be unreal­istic to expect the country’s biggest festival to remain static in a society that has been in a state of constant flux since the 1990 political change.

Rather than resist the inevita­ble change perhaps it is a better idea to gracefully accept it. Let us celebrate today and look for­ward to a better tomorrow. Happy Dashain, everyone.

Nepali politics tends to heat up after over a month-long festive season that starts with Dashain and ends with Chhath. This year it is the two largest Madhes-based parties that could cause the biggest ruction, and mount per­haps the first serious challenge to the mighty government of KP Sharma Oli. Numerically weak, they may not as yet be able to unseat Oli but they could make things rather dicey for him.PM Oli has time and again assured the Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN)—a part of the federal government Oli leads—and the Rastriya Janashakti Party Nepal (RJPN)—that supports the federal government but is not a part of it—that the constitution ‘should and will’ be amended as per their demands. He better do so, the two parties say, as only reason they supported his government was because of a credible assurance on amendment.

But seven-and-a-half months into Oli’s prime ministership there has been no headway on that front. Chief among the Madhesi parties’ demands are revision of provincial borders, amendment in citizenship clauses, proportional represen­tation of Madhesis in state organs, and release of Madhesi cadres arrested during various protests. They also want RJPN’s Resham Chaudhary—who was elected to the federal lower house from Kailali district, but was barred from taking office after being accused of masterminding the killings of eight police officers during protests in 2015—sworn-in as a lawmaker.

None of these demands will be easy to meet. The consti­tution makes redrawing provincial boundaries a herculean endeavor; most in the ruling NCP party deem even current citizenship provisions for Madhesis lax; on proportional representation, NCP is under tremendous pressure not to ‘dilute’ the rights of the Pahades in the name of empowering Madhesis; and the entire police apparatus will resist swear­ing-in Chaudhary.

With the growing appeal of secessionist forces in Madhes, especially among its youth, token concessions from the NCP-led government will not cut ice. The two mainstream Madhesi parties fear irrelevance if they can­not wring out substantive constitutional changes from the federal government. But if the stalemate persists even after Chhath, it is not farfetched to imagine the two par­ties making common cause with extremists like CK Raut. In fact, there have been plenty of hints that they are contem­plating this course.

As Oli strives to keep his own wrangling party in order he will have his task cut out managing the growing challenge from Tarai-Madhesh as well.

Electoral outcome and party leadership are closely tied in mature parliamentary democracies. If the party does well, the credit goes largely to the leader. If it does not, the leader assumes full responsibility and resigns. Perhaps there could be no better example of this than the case of the otherwise powerful British Prime Minister David Cameron resigning as the leader of the ruling Conservative Party after the Britons voted to leave the European Union (Cameron had made a strong pitch for staying.) In fact tradition dictates that among the two main British parties, the leader of the one that fares poorly in vital elections resigns. Not so in Nepal. It is hard to think of a single instance whereby the leader of Nepali Congress or the erstwhile CPN-UML, the country’s two main parties until recently, resigned after an electoral debacle. Most recently, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba refused to accept responsibil­ity for his party’s poor showing in the three tiers of elections in 2017, and sought to hang on through means fair and foul. This, coupled with the party’s failure as the main opposition and Deuba’s rule-by-fiat, has bolstered those in the party clamoring for change.

Those in the party calling on Deuba to make amends have gained a new voice ahead of the crucial meeting of NC Mahasamiti—the party’s second-most important deci­sion-making body after the national convention—slated for the end of November. President Deuba is said to have repeat­edly postponed the meeting as he feared his rivals would use the body to ‘gang up’ against him. He seems to have relented only after immense pressure from the party rank and file.

Deuba does not want to relinquish the top post. But at the next national convention in 2020 he is likely to get a tough competition from one of the scions of the powerful Koirala family, which has controlled the party for most of past 70 years. Also in the fray for party leadership will be veteran leaders like Ram Chandra Poudel and Krishna Prasad Sitaula. As much as Deuba hates having to step down—ever—the day of reckoning seems to be getting closer. In the meantime, at the upcoming Mahasamiti meet, he will try to tweak the party statute to further centralize decision-making. The goal is to amass enough pork to pass around for his future bid for another term as party president o