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Nepal achieved a historic milestone in T20 international cricket during their match against Mongolia at the Asian Games on Wednesday, becoming the first men’s team to surpass 300 runs. They made this record-breaking score by accumulating 314-3 in their allotted 20 overs in Hangzhou.

This performance surpassed the previous highest score of 278-3 set by Afghanistan against Ireland in 2019.

The attack was led by teenager Kushal Malla, who batted at number three and smashed the quickest T20 international century, achieving it in just 34 balls. This remarkable feat surpassed the previous record jointly held by South Africa’s David Miller, India’s Rohit Sharma, and the Czech Republic’s Sudesh Wickramasekara, all achieved in 35 balls. 

Malla, a left-hander, made his Nepal debut at the age of 15 and concluded the innings with an unbeaten 137 off only 50 balls, marking his first T20 international century. He hit an impressive 12 sixes and eight fours. 

Nepal’s batsmen displayed their dominance on a sunny morning at the Zhejiang University for Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field. Captain Rohit Paudel contributed 61 runs off 27 balls, with six sixes. 

But it was Dipendra Singh Airee who concluded the innings in an extraordinary manner against the Mongolian bowlers, smashing an unbelievable eight sixes and an unbeaten 52 off 10 balls. The 23-year-old powerhouse achieved 50 runs in just nine balls, setting yet another T20 world record. His astonishing performance broke the previous record of 12 balls set by India’s Yuvraj Singh against England in 2007, where the all-rounder hit six sixes off the final over bowled by Stuart Broad.

Nepal’s innings of 26 sixes set a new record, surpassing Afghanistan’s 22 against Ireland. Mongolia, on the other hand, were dismissed for 41 in 13.1 overs.
Nepal’s winning margin of 273 runs was the largest ever in a men’s T20 international in terms of runs, surpassing the Czech Republic’s 257-run margin against Turkey in 2019.

Mongolia’s cricket team faced a tough initiation in their first Asian Games. They will need to regroup quickly to face the Maldives as the men’s preliminary rounds continue on Thursday. Nepal, on the other hand, will go up against the Maldives on Saturday.

In the upcoming quarter-final stage of the Asian Games, the preliminary group winners will be joined by cricket giant India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

Records

• Highest score: 314/3 (20 overs)
• Highest run rate: 15.7
• Most sixes: 26
• Fastest century: 100 of 34 balls (Kushal Malla)
• Fastest half century: 50 of 9 balls (Dipendra Singh Airee)
• Highest strike rate: 520 (Dipendra Singh Airee)
• Wide margin victory: Defeated by 273 runs

Doctors across the nation have risen in protest against the alarming surge in violence targeting medical professionals and healthcare workers. 

Most recently, an angry mob vandalized property and assaulted a doctor at Manipal Teaching Hospital in Pokhara. The incident followed the death of one Sukmaya Dura (57) from Lamjung in the course of treatment at the hospital. 

Enraged by Dura’s death, an agitated crowd resorted to violence. Their accusations centered on the alleged concealment of the Dura’s condition and suspicions of medical negligence, as they questioned how a seemingly stable patient could pass away so suddenly.

This disturbing trend of violence against medical practitioners has rippled across various parts of the country, with reports of two doctors being assaulted in Hetauda, and another doctor in District Hospital Lamjung suffering a similar fate, all amid accusations of inadequate medical care. Incidents of violence against doctors and medical professionals have also been reported in Butwal, Biratnagar, Chitwan, and Patan, leaving health workers across the country fearing for their lives.

In solidarity with their fellow healthcare professionals and to demand enhanced security measures, doctors in white coats gathered in Kathmandu’s Maitighar Mandala on Tuesday, brandishing placards bearing messages like “Don’t come to the hospital, save the lives of both doctors and patients,” and “Stop violence against health workers.” They demanded swift action against the perpetrators and an end to this vicious cycle.

Meanwhile, the Nepal Medical Association, in a strongly worded statement signed by General Secretary Dr Sanjay Tiwari, condemned these repeated attacks on doctors. The NMA stressed that without justice for these assaults, healthcare providers are left vulnerable and fearful, which imperils the delivery of essential medical services.

To address this crisis, the association has urgently called for a meeting involving hospital directors, resident association officials, and representatives from various specialty societies. Dr Sandip Okheda, president of the National Resident Doctors’ Association, Kathmandu, lamented the demoralization of health practitioners and emphasized that effective implementation of the Security of Health Workers and Health Organizations Act 2010 is vital to curb such violence.

The act stipulates severe penalties for attacks on health workers and health institutions, with those responsible facing imprisonment of up to three years or fines of Rs 300,000, or both. Vandalism of health institutions is equally punishable, with penalties ranging from two to five years in prison or fines of Rs 200,000 to Rs 500,000, or both. Furthermore, the act ensures compensation for health workers and organizations suffering losses due to such offenses.

An amendment to the act introduced in 2022 also bans picketing, assaulting health workers, obstructing healthcare services, and damaging health institutions. Under the act, health workers and institutions can request immediate security from local authorities in response to threats or violence.

Dr Okheda underscored the urgent need for action against these perpetrators, echoing the growing chorus for justice and safety for those who dedicate their lives to saving others.

When the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) was under the management of the government, conservation efforts weren’t very effective. Cases of poaching and felling of trees used to come to the police very often.

The situation has changed after the local community took over the management of KCA. The local people keep vigil on the forest, arrest poachers, and hand out punishments to them. This has resulted in a better forest and environment, and an increase in wildlife numbers, according to Khagendra Limbu, chairman of KCA Management Council.

“This is all because the local people themselves are the forest guards. People who used to poach wild animals in the past themselves are protecting the forests now. This is because people have realized that they will be safe as long as forests are safe,” he added. “Had this conservation area been under the management of the government, forests would have been destroyed, and wild animals poached.”

KCA was handed to the local community in Sept 2006, marking the first occasion when the local community was entrusted with the management of a protected area.

Surya Limbu, a local of Phaktanglung Rural Municipality within KCA, said local people have taken ownership of the forests and are protecting them. “Earlier, we used to fell trees for firewood and other purposes. Now, we are protecting the forests,” he added.

Chairman Limbu informed that it took a lot of time to educate the local people that they can become prosperous only by saving forests. “We formed different groups to educate local people on how they can benefit by protecting forests,” he added. “Now, they have realized the importance of forests and are working to protect this natural resource.”

Rabin Samra Limbu, the vice chairperson of Phaktanglung Rural Municipality, said local people now know that conservation efforts will become effective if the local community is involved. “Now people take care of forests because they have realized that they stand to benefit more by protecting forests,” he added. “When we were small, we saw the local people cutting trees. Today, they are protecting the forest as well as the wildlife.”

The creation of local units, however, has created some problems in conservation. “Some problems have been seen due to overlapping of the laws of the local unit and the management council. The government should look into this,” Samra Limbu added.

Conservation Office Ramesh Kumar Yadav said the conservation success of KCA has shown that the local community can be mobilized for the protection of forests in hilly areas. “The number of households in this region is very low, while the forest area is larger. The success in KCA has shown that the local community can be used for conservation,” said Yadav, who worked in KCA for over a year.

Lessons Learned 

Studies conducted prior to the handover of KCA to the local community indicated that conservation efforts would be more successful if the local community were involved. That’s why the government decided to pilot this approach by handing over KCA to the local community. However, KCA’s experience has not been replicated in other areas of the country yet.

Chairman Limbu suggested that the government can reduce its expenses on the protection of national parks, conservation areas, and other projects by entrusting them to the local community. “The government should learn from KCA how to protect natural resources. We have seen significant changes here in the past 17 years. People have realized that forests and natural resources are their own. This is a significant achievement,” he added.

The government has been allocating a budget of Rs 2.5m for conservation efforts in KCA. According to Chairman Limbu, the total budget of KCA, including the salary of government staff, is only around Rs 6-7m. “But the government is spending tens of millions of rupees on national parks and other conservation areas,” he said, adding, “If they could also be handed over to the local community, the government could save money, and conservation efforts would be more effective.”

No human-wildlife conflict

Incidents of human-wildlife conflict are often reported in other places. However, the situation is different in KCA. Locals here are not scared of wildlife, and vice versa. 

Chairman Limbu claims that KCA serves as an example of human-wildlife harmony. “There is no concern of wild animals being chased or killed here. Even when locals and tourists arrive, wildlife graze without any fear. This means that wild animals feel safe,” Limbu added.

Tashi Sherpa of Ghunsa village said poachers have stopped entering the forests after the local community took over the management of KCA. “Earlier, wild animals like blue sheep and deer used to run when they saw humans. Now, they don’t seem to be scared,” he added.

KCA is home to endangered wildlife species like snow leopards, musk deer, and red pandas, as well as hundreds of medicinal herbs. The KCA is home to Mt Kanchanjunga, the third highest peak in the world, as well as tens of other peaks and places of religious importance.

Yuval Noah Harari, in one of the episodes of his popular show, argues that mechanized Artificial Intelligence (AI) will ruin the operating system of human civilization. The AI era—1990s and after—is making the human mind wonder if Harari is indeed right. Harari labels AI as a mechanized matter and trailblazers need to hold on to it for some time.

As the world keeps its fingers ahead for globalization, another non-estimated phenomenon has stepped in the form of artificial intelligence. The cognition power of chips triples in a short span of time while human intelligence continues to wane. Even AI developers make a similar adjustment with this idea of diminishing logical capacity of themselves. Still the cognitive power of humans always stands superior to the cognition of mechanized AI, because of the infinite omniscience of human beings.

It was Alan Turing, who first portrayed the concept of AI with a special linkage to medical science in 1950. Soon after, John McCarthy tried to use AI in science and engineering. The Turing Test, named after Alan Turing, pits the machines against human intelligence, capability and cognition. In this phase of rational advancement and development, pioneers are taking this step for the expansion of AI. 

Looking back, all this was a far cry in the 1970s as the US Congress had imposed a restriction on the development and research of AI and more.

Human rationality

In an adjacent perspective, humans are born rational—they exhibit rationality in their real life and absurdity over synergistic machines. This fact seems to be realistic nowadays because rampant development of AI is causing massive unemployment. While human beings are trapped up by bounded rationality, human-developed tools like AI are free from it.

The tale of human rationality doesn’t end here, though. Eastern scriptures also seem to ‘bestow’ supernatural abilities on humans, endowing Ram—the protagonist in Ramayana—for example, with this special ability to get his arrow back to his quiver after striking a specific person. 

Media capabilities, synergistic work value, optimal internal and external resource utilization are the predominant and key aspects of modern AI. In general, developed AI always yields some sort of limitations. So, the pioneer humans need to be vigilant for alleviating the risks invited in the long run via AI-based robotics and more. 

Emergent perils

AI has some lethal perils and the whole of mankind may have to repent because of it in the long run. But defenestration is not the only way out. As per a BBC report, AI could replace the equivalent of 300m full-time jobs. 

It could replace a quarter of work tasks in the US and Europe but may also mean new jobs and a productivity boom.

These job losses are likely to raise depression and anxiety levels of peoples of developed and underdeveloped nations. Because of this replacement, the overall productivity is likely to rise by 7-8 percent in a synergistic manner. Another standing challenge is the gradual erosion of AI and lower wages. Decrease in the spending power of humans leads to higher levels of relative inflation. 

A rapid development of AI is likely to lead to an ensuing decline in human creativity. This may invite stagnation in any field requiring human expertise. 

Neuralink, a digital chip developed by Elon Musk, is expected to be of great help in the treatment of disabilities, including the restoration of eyesight. Fresh hopes have arisen after the conduct of a successful trial on monkeys. Delays in decision-making can also be minimized by using such AI tools. 

Speed accuracy and diligence are also elements of AI that can simultaneously execute millions and trillions of activities. Significant reduction in costs means huge economic relief for organizations and firms. The possibility of optimum use of resources is feasible when such AI models are used in defined working environments.

The author is a lecturer at Sindhuli Multiple Campus