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The pandemic in 2020 forced us to redefine our relationship with wellness. Suddenly, it wasn’t just about being disease free. We needed to up our immunity and be in good form. This process might have been impossible had it not been for a slew of professionals who turned to their social media accounts to bring us the resources we needed. Many of them had already been providing helpful content for years but the lockdowns allowed us to finally take notice and explore.

 Fast forward several years later and most of us have again gotten caught up in the daily grind. We rush through our mornings and are often sending emails late into the night. However, our health must be our priorities, else everything will eventually fall apart. There’s so much information on the internet now, on health and fitness (and everything else), that it’s often difficult to separate the good from the bad. So, to ease you into the world of wellness online, we are recommending three wellness experts who can guide you through your journey of becoming a fitter and better version of yourself.

 Satvic Movement

Satvic Movement is an online holistic health education platform. Founded in 2017, it has become a rapidly growing organization that has transformed the lives of millions of people. Subah Saraf and Harshvardhan Saraf are the people behind Satvic Movement. The co-founders battled chronic health conditions and overcame them through the Satvic way of life. Their healing journey influenced and inspired them to share what they learnt so that people could benefit from it.

 Subah and Harsh apparently controlled and reversed their thyroid and psoriasis through diet and lifestyle changes. When the couple began uploading videos of the ways in which they did it, they received millions of views. Today, their YouTube channel has over five million subscribers. They have 1.7m followers on Instagram. Subah and Harsh also recently wrote a book which was published by Harper Collins. Satvic Movement, on their Instagram page, provides bite sized content on ways in which you can improve your life. They also hold workshops that you can participate in for a nominal fee.

 Little Curves

Everybody wants to lose weight but not many of us know how we can do it without starving ourselves or denying ourselves the food our body craves. Dietician Khushboo Gupta who is a mindful eating coach can guide you through the process without making it seem like a herculean task. Gupta calls herself a food matchmaker, helping you attain the best relationship with food. Through her online platforms, she will guide you to make smart and healthy food choices.

Her Instagram page is filled with healthy meal recipes that you can make in minutes. There’s a no bread protein sandwich recipe that is delicious and filling. The no flour five-minute noodle recipe is so easy to replicate that you will not get packaged noodles ever again. There are many such useful eating tips and recipes for all kinds of health issues, from kidney stones and thyroid to constipation and diabetes. We recommend you go through the page to find the ones that suit you best.

Yogini Srishti

Srishti Kaushik is a yoga teacher whose Instagram page has 1.3m followers. Skilled in different styles of yoga including Hatha, Yin, Yang, Restorative, Vinyasa, and Ashtanga, Kaushik has been practicing yoga for the past 12 years. She started teaching yoga five years ago and has since then garnered a steady clientele. Her Instagram page is filled with useful tips and tricks to incorporate yoga asanas in your daily life no matter how busy you are.

She believes you can tackle all kinds of health issues with yoga and mindfulness and going by the testimonies of her clients who have reversed their thyroid issues and conceived naturally despite having reproductive health problems, it seems you can definitely put your faith in this cheerful teacher who always conducts classes with a smile on her face.

Balkrishna Basnet is the chairperson of the Press Council Nepal (PCN), an autonomous and independent media regulatory body set up by the Government of Nepal. PCN oversees the freedom of the press and advises the government on development of policies for the same. In recent times, the council has given hope to many in the media sector because of the work it has done in promoting professional journalism, strict implementation of journalistic code of conduct and  supporting journalists.

Basnet, who is from Dolakha, was always interested in the media sector. But he pursued a degree in law after high school. He is a licensed attorney who has handled many cases related to the media in his career. His foray into media happened as his interest in the field grew over time. He says he realized the media had the power to change our society and that was fascinating. “The media reflects the society and makes them aware of its issues. Sharing information and knowledge is only possible through media,” he says.

He is now actively contributing to the transformation of the Nepali journalism landscape. Since 2021, he has been in charge of the press council operations, including duties related to regulating and advancing the media in Nepal.

In his 25 years of experience at Chhalphal weekly, Kantipur Daily as well as its online counterpart, he has had the opportunity to deal with many reporters, editors, and publishers. After conducting extensive research and gaining more experience in the field, he became aware of the issues the media faces in Nepal. He also realized that the digital landscape was proving to be a challenge for mainstream media.

“I want to do what I can to address the problems journalism and journalists face in Nepal and make sure the media prospers in all its forms,” he says.

In the past six months, the council has implemented a new code of conduct for content creators on YouTube. Basnet saw there was a dire need for regulation on content on the online platform. It’s a relatively new project that the council has undertaken and it’s garnering a lot of national and international support. In the past month, 83 YouTube channels have been banned, with the channel operators being called in for an orientation class.

“Even in India, there’s no policy to manage YouTube content. So, I’d say what we’ve done is a bold step in ensuring the public only has access to authentic news,” says Basnet, adding that it’s not difficult to regulate online content but it does take time to implement the rules and regulations.

Basnet believes print media can thrive if they focus on innovative content, investigative reporting, and take some of their stories online. He says different media groups could join hands to provide authentic and impactful stories. This, he says, could increase their credibility and popularity.

The council has asked media houses in Nepal to make their own in-house rules and internal code of conduct. This, he says, will help create a strong sense of ethics within the publication houses and ultimately make journalism in Nepal stronger and better.

“I’m also aware about the importance of making journalists in different parts of Nepal more open to becoming digitally savvy. So, the council is conducting various programs for it,” he says. Apart from that, it’s also attempting to collect data on the history of journalism to have a better sense of what can be done to preserve it.

Basnet says the PCN is taking every aspect of journalism seriously, including journalistic integrity. If someone violates the journalistic rights or the code of conduct, they are subjected to an improvement class, their press permit is revoked, and they are placed on a blacklist. The council has been conducting orientation programs for new users of online media platforms, and people aren’t allowed to establish more than one media under the same name.

However, Basnet says that there isn’t a lot of support from the government and that it could do a lot more to ensure the media’s stability. There are many projects that the press council wants to implement and it would be helpful if the government would finalize the budget for those. “Government support is crucial to take the media forward. There is only so much the press council can do,” he says.

The media is an invaluable link between the public and the government. Its importance can’t be ignored, especially where dissemination of information is concerned. But journalism requires patience, dedication, and a genuine effort to stay updated. It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, he says. “Those who are doing it must be given the support s/he needs,” he says.

Basnet says the council has recently increased discussions and interactions focused on creative and solution-oriented journalism including editor dialogues and newsroom interactions. “It’s the media's responsibility to raise questions and give possible solutions and options. When the media does that instead of just highlighting the problems, it’s considered creative and solution-oriented journalism,” he says, adding there are various campaigns being held to help provide Nepali journalism the edge it needs to thrive.

Under Basnet’s leadership, significant initiatives are being taken to monitor and regulate social media, including YouTube. So far, YouTube has not been able to provide much information or news. Basnet says the council is working to look at YouTube differently and welcome it as a form of media. He clarifies that not all YouTubers are journalists, but all journalists can be good YouTubers. To address this, the council has established a different procedure, following decisions by the Supreme Court. Some controversial content from YouTube channels has been removed or edited.

“There is a lot of negative content along with the good on YouTube and other social networks. It should be separated and identified, like rice and chaff,” he says. “If creative and solution-oriented materials are introduced, some of the current wrong trends will end by themselves.”

The predicament of Bhutanese political prisoners raises profound questions about human dignity and the international community’s role in safeguarding human rights.What could be the primary need of these political prisoners: Food, clothing, shelter, or their very identity? How might people feel when they have no home to claim in the entire world? How would they feel when, after spending years in prison as criminals in their own country, they find they have no family to connect with and no place to call home? How might they feel upon discovering they have lost their family members while in prison, leaving them with no one to call their own? 

This is the reality of political prisoners in Bhutan.

Bhutan has declared itself the happiest nation on Earth on the basis of its Gross National Happiness index (GNH). What an irony: On the one hand, it has forcibly removed and is still expelling its political prisoners, while on the other, it uses GNH as a soft power to obscure its country's violations of human rights. Bhutan's 1992 National Security Act (NSA), which replaced the 1957 statute, is used to hold a large number of political prisoners. The Chamgang jail, for example, is intended to house political prisoners in accordance with Bhutan’s 2009 Jail Act. The political detainees, however, have been found in Rabuna and there may be more, as the Bhutanese government does not disclose the number of political prisoners.

Bhutan’s nation-building efforts in the late 1980s and early 1990s were dominated politically by the Buddhist ethnic majority, who enacted policies that disadvantaged the country’s largest minority, the Nepali-speaking Hindus. Accusing nonviolent political and anti-discrimination campaigners of violating national security laws, Bhutanese courts imposed lengthy sentences on them. Many of the defendants in these cases, which date back to when Bhutan changed from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy in 2008, are currently serving lengthy prison terms, some of which are life sentences. While some political prisoners have received amnesty, a large number are still behind bars and the number is unknown. Those who are freed confront enormous obstacles: They are driven into exile and are unable to reintegrate into their country; they have experienced physical and psychological anguish; they are also devoid of identity and possessions.
Among these political prisoners are Madhukar Magar, Ram Bahadur Rai and Man Bahadur Khaling Rai, who, after years in Bhutanese prisons, were released and entered Nepal via Mechipul after being left at the Indian border (Jaigaon). The Indian administration has facilitated Bhutan by transporting refugees to the eastern Nepal border. This situation aggravates the plight of these political prisoners, as Bhutan’s expulsion and denial of their citizenship contravenes Article 15 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “Everyone has the right to a nationality”.

Bhutan is subject to customary international human rights law, as embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, even though it is not a party to either the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. However, political prisoners were and are still forcibly removed from their homes, subjected to cruel trials, and tortured. So, is this the problem with the UDHR's non-binding nature? Or perhaps they ought to have been granted the rights in accordance with CIL?

From an early age, we are taught that human rights are universal, inalienable, and equal, inherent by virtue of our humanity. So why are Bhutanese political prisoners denied these rights? Is there a flaw in our understanding of human rights, or are they merely a constructive narrative? Why can't universally acknowledged human rights protect Bhutanese political prisoners, and who is responsible for their protection (R2P)?

When a state fails to safeguard its citizens, the international community is obligated by paragraph 139 of the Responsibility to Protect(R2P) to interfere through diplomatic and other peaceful measures. The United Nations, Freedom House, and Human Rights Watch have been exposing and denouncing Bhutan's abuses of human rights for years and the world is also aware of Bhutan's practice of forcibly transforming its Lhotsampa residents into illegal migrants and banishing them. Nepal has been housing hundreds of Bhutanese refugees for humanitarian reasons, as the nation is not a signatory to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Through the collaboration of UNHCR, IOM, and other agencies, over 100,000 refugees were resettled in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Roughly 7,000 refugees have remained in Nepal, notwithstanding the resettlement project.

The question of who will defend their rights  remains unanswered. According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the ICC only has jurisdiction over offenses committed after July 1, 2002. Bhutan is not a party to the Rome Statute, and the human rights abuses took place prior to the Court's current purview. Cases involving refugees, who have been living in exile for extended periods of time—such as the Bhutanese—would not qualify. Comparably, only a state party can file a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as the ICJ lacks personal jurisdiction, is unable to provide legal counsel and is unable to represent persons in court. 

Over the years, support for the Bhutanese refugees from international organizations like the ICRC, UNHCR has diminished. Despite the transition to democracy, the government of Bhutan still does not recognize the refugees as citizens and refuses to repatriate them.  The pursuit of justice in a domestic setting is impossible due to Bhutan's legal framework and its continuous reluctances. The international community must do every bit to secure the rights of Bhutanese political prisoners, who remain among the most exploited and forgotten victims of human rights violations.

Thousands of Bangladeshi protesters stormed the palace of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka Monday, with a source telling AFP she had fled mass demonstrations demanding she quit.

Bangladesh's Channel 24 broadcast images of crowds running into the premier's official residence in the capital, waving to the camera as they celebrated.

Visuals broadcast on Bangladeshi TV channels showed protesters storming Hasina's palace, overturning furniture, smashing glass door panels, and carrying off books and other items including a live chicken.

"I am inside the Ganabhaban Palace," Bangladeshi journalist Yeasir Arafat told AFP. "There are more than 1,500 people inside the palace. They are breaking furniture and glasses".

A source close to Hasina told AFP that the 76-year-old had left Dhaka with her sister for "a safer place", adding that she had "wanted to record a speech but she could not get an opportunity to do that."

The Prothom Alo daily also reported Hasina had fled the capital. AFP