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A six-year-old boy died after being struck by lightning at Melkatiya in Ramaroshan Rural Municipality-7 of Achham on Monday.

The deceased has been identified as Gaurab Bhandari, son of Kamal Bhandari, according to Kadka Bahadur Bhandari, former ward chairman.

Meanwhile, three persons of a single family were injured while their house was damaged in a lightning strike in Dadeldhura district on Monday evening.

Devaki Pandeya, his spouse Chandrawati Devi and son Dipesh from Koteuda of Amargadhi Municipality-3 were injured in the incident.

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has informed that some parts in Bagmati and Koshi provinces are witnessing light rainfall now due to the low-pressure system generated in the vicinity of Bihar, India along with the westerly and local winds.

Similarly, the Department forecast that some parts of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini Provinces will see moderate rainfall along with lightning, thunder and storm in the day and heavy rainfall in some parts of Gandaki, Lumbini and Karnali Provinces.

Few places in the upper hilly and mountainous region of the country will have light snowfall.

The Department has requested the concerned sides for precaution in the wake of changes in weather.

Pokhara, as the second-largest city in the country, bears the responsibility of uplifting the country by contributing to the overall development of the nation. Comparatively, after Kathmandu, Pokhara has the best infrastructure for development. However, on the education front, Pokhara still struggles to lay a strong foundation, as many students from Pokhara are forced to leave for the capital to pursue higher studies. Ironically, students in Pokhara don’t show faith in the largest college in the city, named Prithvi Narayan Shah Campus. The campus offers diverse programs, drawing students mostly from neighboring districts. Founded in 1960, PN Campus has been a steadfast contributor to developing Nepal, as alumni of this grand institution are scattered throughout the country in different job positions. Affiliated with Tribhuvan University, PN Campus is the first choice for students from hilly areas such as Baglung, Syangja, Parbat, and likewise. To put it sharply, what makes them choose PN Campus is not its quality but its cheaper tuition fees. The results of the majority of faculties at PN Campus have been unarguably dismal, while only a few faculties produce good human resources capable of serving the job market.

The excellence of an academic institution is mostly measured by its academic results and enrollment rate. If we delve into the reasons for the low performances of students, the negligence of campus administration coupled with the political involvement of stakeholders come into the spotlight. PN Campus is one of the many colleges in the country grappled by politics. Just outside the main entrance gate of PN Campus, groupism between students of different political parties could be spotted. The political culture in educational institutes and its significance call for a huge debate; in recent times, experts have argued that healthy political practices in campuses do good to national politics while serving the students simultaneously. However, PN Campus is plagued by a harrowing political culture, as news of feuds and clashes surface every so often.

Let’s delve into how private colleges administer—they never allow students to form unions, thus keeping away the tussle and providing a healthy environment for learning. It is only in government colleges like PN Campus that student blockades transpire in the name of protest against various causes. And the spearheads behind such acts are partisan students who overlook the majority of the population attending college solely to study and march ahead in their pursuits. Not only students but teachers and others are found to be involved in politics, polluting the process of teaching and learning. Recently, the Education Minister, Sumana Shrestha, has put forward the statement that she is committed to removing politics from educational spaces.

It must be noted that the primary reason for establishing campuses is to impart quality education in an inclusive environment. Politics and other unions shouldn’t penetrate educational bodies to impair the learning process. It’s high time that largely populated colleges like PN Campus started focusing on education rather than on politics. Nepalese higher education is undergoing an imbroglio, severely impacted by the mass exodus of promising human resources. In such crises, colleges should regulate the activities going on inside the closed gates to gain the credibility of the general people and students especially. 

Sabitri Bhatta of Dhangadhi was elated to participate in a ‘Kumbhaa Snan’ in Barahakshetra of Sunsari. Bhatta, who hails from Dhangadhi, had been participating in ‘Kumba Snan’ in India. 

“I got to take a holy dip in the Kumbha Mela in Nepal itself,” Bhatta said, after taking a bath in the Kaushiki River on the  Barahakshetra. “After listening to the discourse of Jagadguru Balsanta in Chatara, I understood the importance of this place and holy dip.”

The ‘Maha Kumbha Mela’, which is observed every 12 years, is currently underway in Kaushiki (Koka) River in Barahakshetra Municipality. The month-long event concludes on May 10. 

According to Chandra Magar, the secretary of the main organizing committee, nearly 4 million people from Nepal and India have already participated in the Mela.

Minbahadur Khadka from Birtamod, Jhapa, has been continuously participating in both the half and full Kumbha Melas since they started in the early 2002s. “I have had the opportunity to take a holy dip in every Kumbha Mela held in Nepal since it started,” the 55-year-old, who came to Chatara for the Kumbha Mela with his family, said. According to Khadka, he has learnt from different scriptures that the main portion of the elixir dropped from heaven here and only a few drops in places like Haridwar, Ujjain and Prayag in INdia.

The organizing committee has set up five areas for the devotees coming to the Maha Kumbha Mela for the holy dip. The organizers claim that arrangements have been made for more than 5,000 people to take a dip in the Saptakoshi River at once. Accommodation and food arrangements have been made for the devotees. The Marwari communities of Dharan and Biratnagar have arranged free food distribution. Likewise, medical teams are on standby to respond to any emergencies.

The Maha Kumbha Mela is organized with the belief that taking a holy dip in the Kaushiki (Saptakoshi) River at Pindeshwar, where the elixir is said to have dropped from the heavens, will free one from sins and fulfill their wishes. According to the scriptures, the Kumbha Mela originated from the struggle between the Devas (deities) and Asuras (demons)  to possess the celestial pot of elixir that emerged after the churning of the cosmic ocean. The elixir got spilled at various places during this tussle, giving rise to the Kumbha Mela at those locations. 

President Ram Chandra Paudel inaugurated the 12-year event. Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, he emphasized the need for all three tiers of government to prepare a long-term development plan for the Baraha Kshetra and contribute to its development through their annual policies and programs. He expressed confidence that the Kumbha Mela would help develop the Baraha Kshetra as a religious and tourist destination while promoting goodwill among all castes, religions, sects, and linguistic groups.

The first Kumbha Mela in Nepal was held in Barahakshetra in 2002. 

“According to religious scriptures, the Barahakshetra, on the banks of the Koka-Kaushiki River is where Lord Bishnu incarnated as the first avatar, Baraha, to rescue the Earth from the clutches of the demon Hiranyaksha. This is why the area is called Barahakshetra,” explained Bihari Sharan Upadhyay, the manager of the Jagadguru Peeth. “The Maha Kumbha Mela is held on the banks of the Kaushiki River in Chatara Dham, Sunsari.”