PRITHVI MAN SHRESTHAKATHMANDU, AUG 9

For decades, Nepal has been touted as a water-resource rich country with an immense potential to generate hydro-electricity—up to 83 giga-watts—at least on paper. But Nepal lived in the dark ages for more than a decade—from 2006 to mid-2017, with power outages lasting up to 18 hours a day.

No major hydropower plants were developed during the decade-long Maoist insurgency, which ended in 2006. During the revolt, Maoist insur-gents attacked infrastructure scaring investors away.

With improved management, leak-age control and more power genera-tion, ‘load-shedding’ now has become a thing of the past, and the country now has surplus energy, technically, mainly during the wet season.

And with a view to selling electricity, the Nepal Electricity Authority in May this year par-ticipated in a bid, seeking to export 40MW to the Punjab state of India.

“We participated in an auction called by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited to supply electricity to Punjab for the peri-od from July to October,” said Hitendra Dev Shakya, managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority. “We are one of the

suppliers chosen by Punjab’s power utility body to potentially supply elec-tricity .”

This is the first-ever effort by Nepal to export electricity to the Indian mar-ket through a competitive bidding pro-cess, even though certain power is being exchanged through the cross-bor-der transmission line currently.

The state-owned power utility, how-ever, is yet to get a response from the power body of Punjab whether it would procure electricity from Nepal.

“We have not received a Letter of Intent from Punjab’s electricity utility body to supply electricity. Even though we are chosen as a potential supplier, it is up to the Punjab State Power Corporation to decide whether to pur-chase from us or not,” said Shakya. “If things materialise, we will have the first experience of exporting power to India through the exchange market and also pave the way for selling more power.”

If the Punjab power utility agrees to buy electricity from Nepal, it will be sent via Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 KV interstate transmission line.

In April, India officially allowed Nepal entry to its power exchange market. The Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) announced the “commencement of the Cross Border Electricity Trade” on its platform, allowing Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan to participate in power trading.

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Once power-starved, Nepal now aims to export electricityThe country now is energy surplus after an increase in total installed capacity, and the realisation of the plan to sell power to India would mark a milestone.

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A police officer puts a mask on an elderly woman at Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu on Monday. The government started Nepal Mask Campaign on Saturday, a day after the Covid-19 death toll crossed the 10,000 mark.

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BINOD GHIMIREKATHMANDU, AUG 9

When the Secondary Education Exam results were out on Saturday, some questions were raised–that schools sent the grades for their students per their will and the National Examinations Board has been reduced to an agency whose job is just to rub-ber stamp the results sent from schools and publish them. Similar questions had been raised last year too. But one important point is miss-ing in all this process–whether Nepal has been able to upgrade the educa-tion system in the changed context.

Experts say to effect a change in school education, local governments should be handed over the authority to manage schools, as laid down by the constitution. As per the constitution, local governments hold the authority to oversee school operations as well as to prepare the curriculum and con-duct examinations.

Even more than five years after the promulgation of the constitution, sec-ondary school education continues to function under the centralised sys-tem. And Secondary Education Examination is just an example.

Many say the whole idea of Secondary Education Exam, a new name given to the erstwhile School Leaving Certificate, conducted for Grade 10 students itself is flawed, as the education up to Grade 12 is consid-ered secondary-level education.

Until 2015, 10th graders used to take the School Leaving Certificate exams, conducted nationwide by the Office of the Controller of Examinations. It

was also dubbed the “iron gate”. It was considered the exit point of school education, but following the amend-ment to the Education Act in 2016 that included grades 11 and 12 as part of secondary education, grade 12 was considered the exit point.

Experts say the hangover of the School Leaving Certificate exams, however, continue even at present.

“This has led to an unhealthy com-petition among schools. They are unnecessarily inflating the marks, which does not help the students in the long run,” said Susan Acharya, a professor of Education at the Tribhuvan University. “Neither Nepal’s bureaucracy nor the political leadership is interested in reforming the school sector. That the authority has not yet been delegated to the local level is a clear example of a lack of attention to reforms in the education sector.”

Schedule 8 of the constitution gives local governments authority to man-age school education and take neces-sary measures to manage school-level education within their jurisdictions. They are free to hire teachers, conduct tests and even develop curricula based on the national framework prepared by the Curriculum Development Centre.

After the pandemic began in the country last year, and the Secondary Education Examination was called off a day before it was supposed to start in March, the federal government decid-ed to let the respective schools send the marks of their students to the National Examinations Board.

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SEE results once again show effect of centralised education systemFederal authorities say local units lack competency to oversee school education as prescribed by the constitution, but experts argue that has to be tested first.

Post fILE Photo

Experts say the hangover of the School Leaving Certificate exams continue even at present.

Over a year since Covid-19, government still assessing medical supply needsKATHMANDU: After Nepal was hit by the first wave of the Covid-19 pan-demic in April last year, the Health Ministry, based on the number of hospitalisations, started estimating the amount of medical supplies the country would need in the event of a second wave. This was a joint project between the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) and the ministry. “It was agreed that 50 per-cent of the supplies would remain in stock, while the rest would be distributed as per the need to different hospitals,” states a govern-ment document titled Responding to Covid-19: Health Sector Preparedness, Response and Lessons Learnt, which was released early this year. (Details on Pg 2)

One man’s quest to prove he is alive and to undo his death on government recordsBIRATNAGAR: Subhash Tamang, aged 39, has been running from pillar to post for the past three years to prove that he is alive and not dead as declared by the registration of death certificate he holds. Subhash, a native of Shadananda Municipality in Bhojpur, lives in Belbari Municipality, Morang with his wife and two children. He had gone to Saudi Arabia in 2003 on foreign employment. He was declared dead in 2015 while in Saudi Arabia after he and his three friends had a car acci-dent on July 10 of the same year. Two of his friends were pronounced dead while Subhash and Tejendra Bhandari of Dhorpatan in Baglung were airlifted to Abdul Aziz Hospital for treatment. Bhandari died the next day at the hospital while Subhash went into a coma. (Details on Pg 3)

Shyam Kakshapati, pioneer of cafe culture in Nepal, dies at 70KATHMANDU: Shyam Sundar Lal Kakshapati, the architect of famed Nanglo Restaurants and one of the pioneers of cafe culture in Nepal, has died. He was 70. According to family sources, Shyam died in Bangkok on Monday while undergoing treatment. “He had been suffering from cancer for the last four years,” Gopal Sundar, Shyam’s younger brother, told the Post. Shyam started Sam’s Grocery Shop at Ratna Park at the age of 19 after his father’s death. The shop was popular among all groups, particularly young men and women of Kathmandu as it was the best candy shop in the Kathmandu Valley then. His business was flourishing. But he wanted to scale up. So he decided to run Café de Park in the Ratna Park area. The Nanglo restaurant was then born in 1976 with the joint effort of Kakshapati brothers [Shyam and Gopal], which soon became a famous rendezvous. (Details on Pg 5)

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>> Continued from page 1Compared to previous years, the

number of students scoring 4.0 Grade Point Average shot up in 2020 and 2021. Of the total examinees last year 1.9 percent and this year 1.7 percent scored 4.0 GPA. In contrast, in 2019 when students took the nationwide examination, 0.o2 percent had scored a 4.0 GPA.

There are allegations that schools, mostly the private ones, sent inflated marks to the National Examination Board, whose role has, for the last two years, been reduced to issuing stu-dents’ mark sheets rather than con-ducting the examinations.

Experts say the National Examination Board is to blame for creating an environment for schools to send inflated marks without conducting proper assessments of students.

The federal government has been reluctant to implement the constitu-tional provisions of delegating authority to the local level to manage school education. Repeated directives from parliamentary committees too have been ignored.

The Parliamentary Committee on Education last year and even this year asked the government to delegate authority to local governments to con-duct Grade 10 final exams.

The federal government, however, has been saying that the Education Act 1971 allows just regional authori-ties, not the local governments, to conduct exams. The eighth amend-ment to the Act in 2016 says the Secondary Education Examination would be held at the regional level.

The provinces have replaced the regions after the promulgation of the new constitution.

Education experts say the authori-ties are citing an act that was promul-gated during the pre-1990 Panchayat era. According to them, a Federal Education Act is a must for the imple-mentation of the constitutional provi-sions. The Education Ministry, howev-er, is yet to finalise its draft.

“The bill on the education act hasn’t been prepared because it will take the

federal government’s authority to the provincial and local levels,” said Dhananjaya Sharma, a former princi-pal at Gyanodaya School, Bafal. “There is a mala-fide intention behind the delay.”

Sharma says school education in Nepal needs an overhaul–from man-agement to learning environment to evaluation process.

While bureaucrats and politicians at the federal level say the local gov-ernments aren’t competent to take charge of school education, local gov-ernments must get the responsibility so that their competency can be tested, according to Sharma.

Sharma also finds fault in the pres-ent letter grading system–the GPA and letter grading the students are given accordingly. Currently, the marks obtained by students in three-hour tests are converted into grades.

“The yearlong performance of a student should be the basis for giving them grades,” said Sharma. “You can-not adopt the grading system when the basis of evaluating students’ over-all performance round the year is measured in a three-hour test.”

The government adopted the letter grading system in 2016, arguing that students’ performance was dwindling over the years and they were securing “less” marks.

But experts say just by changing the system of marking without working to step up efforts to improve the quali-ty of school education cannot bring about the desired change.

Basudev Kafle, a professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Tribhuvan University, said it is surprising that the examination board is happy to issue certificates based on marks sent by respective schools rather than abiding by the constitutional authori-ty to make the local governments responsible.

“The federal government must immediately bring the Federal Education Act,” he said, “and delegate authority to local and provincial governments to manage school education.”

SEE results once again show effect of centralised ...

Over a year since Covid-19, government still assessing medical supply needsPRITHVI MAN SHRESTHAKATHMANDU, AUG 9

After Nepal was hit by the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in April last year, the Health Ministry, based on the number of hospitalisations, started estimating the amount of medical supplies the country would need in the event of a second wave.

This was a joint project between the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) and the ministry.

“It was agreed that 50 percent of the supplies would remain in stock, while the rest would be distributed as per the need to different hospitals,” states a government document titled Responding to Covid-19: Health Sector Preparedness, Response and Lessons Learnt, which was released early this year.

Even though it was agreed long ago between the ministry and the CCMC that the country needs to maintain a good stock of medical supplies to tack-le the pandemic, the government’s failure to stock up on such crucial supplies resulted in a massive shortage of oxygen, ventilators and hospital beds, among other things, during the second wave of the pandemic this April.

But, on July 30, the Covid-19 Management Directive Committee headed by the Prime Minister instruct-ed the Health Ministry and the CCMC to do the needful to ensure a reserve of enough medical equipment, goods and human resources to tackle the pandemic.

“We are preparing a plan on how to maintain a reserve of medical sup-plies in line with the discussions held at the CCMC,” said Upendra Dhuganana, a senior official at the Department of Health Services. “We have yet to determine the quantity of medical supplies we would need, how long they would last and the place for storage.”

Although he did not give details of the existing stock of medical supplies, he claimed that the stock is enough for at least a month. The government’s document says one of the lessons learnt from the first wave of the pan-demic is that the clinical management of cases needs to be effective, with a focus on hospital beds, ICU beds, ven-tilators, and other medical supplies, especially medical oxygen.

But, to meet the urgent need for medical supplies, especially oxy-gen-related, during the second wave of the pandemic, the government almost fully relied on foreign governments, donor agencies, domestic and interna-tional non-governmental organisa-tions and the private sector donations.

According to Dr Bhim Sing Tinkari, director at the management division under the Department of Health Services, the department procured 1,000 oxygen cylinders and 50 ventila-tors after the country was hit by the second wave of the pandemic. The ventilators arrived in early July after Covid-19 cases had come down significantly.

In contrast, the department’s data show that the country received 4,126 oxygen concentrators, 6,945 oxygen cylinders, 13,820 body bags and 218 ventilators, among other things, from different foreign governments and domestic and international agencies during the period from April 14 to July 4.

But after a year, things appear to be back to square one.

“There has been discussion on the need to maintain a strategic reserve of medical goods and equipment. The CCMC Directive Committee has directed the Health Ministry and CCMC on the matter,” said Nurahari Khatiwada, spokesperson at the CCMC. “But I don’t know whether there has been any assessment of the available medical goods and equip-ment and how long the existing stock would last.”

He said that the required stock of medical goods should be evaluated based on potential Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations.

“If the assessment is for maintain-ing the stock of medical goods for six months, we have to work accordingly,” he said.

Khatiwada, quoting Health Ministry officials, said the country has the stock of personal protective equipment and face masks for a month.

“We have learnt that there is a huge shortage of human resources in the areas of critical care with many types of equipment having remained idle at hospitals in lack of human resources to operate them.”

With the country seeing a rise in Covid-19 cases, Health Ministry offi-cials say the shortage of human resources has emerged as one of the biggest challenges for tackling the

looming third wave of the pandemic.“We need an additional 20,000 per-

sonnel, including doctors and nurses, to make our health system more resil-ient against a health crisis,” Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari, joint spokesperson for the Health Ministry, told the Post in late July. “There is a huge need for specialist doctors and medical officers.”

As of mid-July 2020, Nepal had 90,946 health personnel, including doc-tors, specialist doctors and health workers. But the number decreased to 90,369 by mid-March of 2021, accord-ing to the Economic Survey 2020-21.

Dr Baburam Marasini, former director of the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Department of Health Services, said that the country lacks both medical equipment and human resources to tackle pandemics like the current one.

“Even in normal times, the govern-ment lacks medical equipment and human resources in the health sec-tor,” he told the Post.

According to him, internationally accepted norms are that there should be a medical officer per five ICU beds and each bed should have a designated nurse.

“But this has not happened in the case of Nepal,” said Marasini. “There should be 44.5 health workers per 10,000 population to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. But we are far behind.”

Government’s failure to stock up on supplies resulted in shortage of oxygen, ventilators and hospital beds this April.

Post file Photo

Officials say the required stock of medical goods should be evaluated based on potential Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations.

>> Continued from page 1This was a first-of-its-kind initiative for the exchanges to expand their power markets beyond India to the South Asia region towards building an integrated South Asian regional power market.

After the opening of the power exchange market for Nepal, the authority has been purchasing elec-tricity from India through competitive bidding along with the traditional method of purchasing power through bilateral agreements with Indian com-panies.

According to Shakya, Nepal has offered different prices for the elec-tricity to be exported to Punjab. But the average price stands at INR3.5 (Rs5.6) per unit. With Punjab’s power authority delaying its decision, it is not sure whether the Nepal Electricity Authority will be able to sell its elec-tricity this summer.

“We also need to take approval from the Power Ministry of India to be able to sell electricity,” said Shakya. “We are hopeful that the Indian govern-ment will provide us with a permit.”

Exporting electricity to India is important for Nepal as there are already concerns that the country’s potential surplus of energy, after all power generated by the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project is connected to the national grid, could be wasted. The project located on the Tamakoshi River in Dolakha district in north-central Nepal, approximately 200km from Kathmandu, was inaugu-rated on July 6.

The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, Nepal’s largest so far, has started evacuating 304MW of electric-ity from four of its six 76-megawatt units to the national grid, earning a status as a power surplus country dur-ing the wet season.

“In the next two weeks, the remain-ing two units will begin producing an additional 152 MW of electricity,” said Bigyan Prasad Shrestha, chief of the project.

Nepal, currently, has an installed capacity of 1,385MW. With the addi-tion of power from Upper Tamakoshi, the installed capacity is over 1,800MW. According to Shakya, the country’s peak demand currently stands at 1,550MW. This means, when all units of Upper Tamakoshi start production, the country will have nearly 300MW of surplus energy in the wet season.

For the run-of-river hydropower project, which will have little or no storage capacity, winter [December-February] is the dry season when

Nepal’s Himalayan peaks do not melt and the low water flows lead to lower energy availability.

“All power from Upper Tamakoshi is yet to be evacuated to the national grid. Once all turbines of the project start producing electricity, we will have surplus energy,” said Shakya. “There is the possibility of power spilling in mid-September when demand decreases along with cooling of temperature, particularly from the Tarai region.”

As the country struggles to increase the consumption of electricity sub-stantially, officials at the authority say that there is risk of power wastage.

Besides, many power projects from the private sector are also in the pro-duction lineup.

Private producers say there is a possibility that electricity worth bil-lions will go to waste in the near future without a solid energy trade plan, as Nepal aspires to produce 10,000MW by 2026.

According to Shailendra Guragain, former president of Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal, power generation capacity has already exceeded the peak demand of electricity in the country, requiring an increase in consumption within and outside the country.

“As about 4000MW of power pro-jects are scheduled to be connected to the national grid in the next 3-4 years, Nepal needs the external market to sell excess power in the short-term as domestic demand has not been grow-ing to consume all upcoming power,” Guragain said.

If the electricity that Nepal produc-es goes to waste it would affect the income of Nepal Electricity Authority, which has agreed to buy electricity generated by private producers, and in turn theirs, according to them.

“If a large chunk of electricity is wasted, it raises the question about the sustainability of the authority,” said Sudhir Prasad Timilsina, manag-ing director of United Modi Hydropower Project. “In such a situa-tion, it will affect the authority’s abili-ty to buy electricity from the private sector.”

According to him, it would be better for the authority to sell the electricity at a cheaper rate particularly at night time than allowing the electricity to be spilled.

“If you make the electricity cheaper and increase the reliability of power supply, it will also increase adoption of electricity by households increas-ing consumption,” he added.

The auditor general’s report of last year noted that private-sector power producers had been incurring losses amounting to more than Rs382 million annually.

The report said that 95.61 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity produced by 18 private hydropower companies had gone to waste due to the inefficiency of the government to improve, renovate and build new transmission lines.

Nepal’s electricity authority, howev-er, has been importing Rs734.7 million worth of power annually from India by paying Rs8 per kilowatt per hour, or per unit, while private producers receive Rs4 per unit on average.

“In total, it has inflicted losses amounting to Rs1.14 billion to the country in the fiscal year 2018-19,” said the report.

And with more power projects from the private producers in the pipeline, the country is in greater need of an electricity market within the country and outside, to prevent wastage.

Madan Timsina, spokesperson for the authority, said there is possibility of power wastage if domestic con-sumption does not go up or power cannot be traded this rainy season.

“Particularly, power may go to waste in the nighttime when demand is low,” Timsina told the Post.

According to Timsina, the authori-ty expects the addition of 1,400-1,500MW of electricity in the national grid this fiscal year, particularly from private producers.

“The Indian exchange market has given us an important avenue to pre-vent the electricity from being wast-ed,” said Timsina. “We also have to increase domestic consumption by promoting the use of electricity in our kitchens and other sectors.”

In a recent interview with the Post, Kul Man Ghising, former managing director of the authority, said that lowering prices could be one of the ways to increase consumption of elec-tricity in the domestic market.

At present, the Nepal Electricity Authority pays hydropower projects Rs8.4 per unit during the dry season and Rs4.8 per unit during the wet sea-son for their electricity. It sells the electricity at an average rate of Rs10.62 per unit to households and industries.

“We can promote the use of electric ovens in our kitchen. There is also a lot of scope for boosting industrial demand by increasing the capacity of substations,” said Ghising, “and reducing nighttime prices of electrici-ty to support irrigation projects.”

Once power-starved, Nepal now aims ...

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Post Photo: DeePak kc

A Buddhist monk performs a prayer ritual at a shrine at Swayambhu, Kathmandu on Monday.

Election Commission updates central executive committee of Samajbadi PartyIn the new body, party chair Mahantha Thakur and his 15 supporters have not been included, pushing the party towards a split. TIKA R PRADHANKATHMANDU, AUG 9

With the decision of the Election Commission to update the central executive committee of the Janata Samajbadi Party by including only the leaders of the Upendra Yadav-led group, Mahantha Thakur, who used to claim to be its first chair, has been stripped of party chairmanship.

“The Election Commission has updated the central executive committee of the Janata Samajbadi Party today,” said Raj Kumar Shrestha, spokesperson of the Election Commission. “The 51-strong cen-tral executive committee is now reduced to 35 members.”

With the decision of the Election Commission, the 16 members of the execu-tive committee close to Thakur have been reduced to the party’s ordinary members, further marginalising the faction with the possibility of their quitting the party.

After the Election Commission’s decision on July 26 to award the party reins to the faction led by its other chair Yadav after he garnered the support of 34 members, the Thakur-led faction has been seeking a legal solution from the Supreme Court.

Resham Chaudhary, who is in Dillibazar prison on charges of murder, had remained neutral during the head count at the Election Commission on July 26 but has now sided

with Yadav and the Commission has accord-ingly updated the list of 35 central executive committee members.

Thakur went to the Supreme Court on July 30 for the second time demanding that the decision of the Election Commission to authenticate Yadav faction be halted until the final decision of the apex court.

The Thakur-led group with 16 members in the 51-strong central executive committee is busy with the cadres’ gatherings in different parts of the country with focus on Province 2, the stronghold of the party.

“Most of the cadres have suggested that they cannot trust Upendra Yadav and there-fore a new party should be formed at the earliest,” said Sarbendra Nath Shukla, one of the senior leaders and a member of the central executive committee close to Thakur. “Now with the Election Commission’s deci-sion the deck has cleared for us to form a new party.”

The Thakur faction has been waiting for the two decisions: the majority’s decision of the Janata Samajbadi Party ousting them from it and the Supreme Court’s final deci-sion on the two petitions filed by Thakur which is yet to be made.

The Supreme Court on August 4 had refused to issue an interim order on Mahantha Thakur’s first petition against the Election Commission but has ordered the defendants-- the Election Commission

and Upendra Yadav--to furnish a written response to the petitioner’s demand within 15 days.

A single bench of Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut had ordered that both the writ petitions of Thakur be presented together but the date for the next hearing has not been announced.

“Actually we have been waiting for them

[Upendra Yadav led group] to make a majority decision so that there wouldn’t be any blame on us for splitting the party,” Shukla said. “Now we will make a decision within the next two weeks as our leaders and cadres have been demanding that we finalise the name and election symbol of our new party right away.”

In a bid to test the ground the Thakur-led group has been organising gatherings of its cadres which will conclude by August 20.

“We will take the next move on forming another party after the Supreme Court’s final decision,” said Keshav Jha, a leader from the Thakur faction. “Actually we wanted to be clear on the status of our peo-ple’s representatives.”

There is confusion whether the people’s representatives of the Thakur led faction would keep their lawmaker positions if they formed another party without having 40 percent support in the central committee and the parliamentary party as required by the Political Parties Act-2017.

Meanwhile, Yadav has called a meeting of its executive committee for August 17 and 18 to take more decisions for the party including its plan to strengthen the party structures throughout the nation. Though Thakur has been stripped of his chairmanship, the provision of two chairs in the party statute has yet to be amended.

One man’s quest to prove he is alive and to undo his death on recordsSubhash Tamang has been running around from one government office to another to reclaim his citizenship and his identity after he was pronounced dead in Saudi Arabia.BINOD BHANDARIBIRATNAGAR, AUG 9

Subhash Tamang, aged 39, has been running from pillar to post for the past three years to prove that he is alive and not dead as declared by the registration of death certificate he holds.

Subhash, a native of Shadananda Municipality in Bhojpur, lives in Belbari Municipality, Morang with his wife and two children.

He had gone to Saudi Arabia in 2003 on for-eign employment.

He was declared dead in 2015 while in Saudi Arabia after he and his three friends had a car accident on July 10 of the same year.

Two of his friends were pronounced dead while Subhash and Tejendra Bhandari of Dhorpatan in Baglung were airlifted to Abdul Aziz Hospital for treatment.

Bhandari died the next day at the hospital while Subhash went into a coma.

However, a representative of Hyundai, the company Subhash and his friends were employed with, identified a body at the hospi-tal as that of Subhash’s. The hospital prepared his death certificate with the company’s repre-sentative as a witness.

The body was sent to Nepal 28 days after its identification.

“I was called to claim the body after it was sent to Nepal,” Subhash’s wife, Santoshi Tamang, told the Post. “We took the death reg-istration certificate issued by the local author-ities in Bhojpur to collect my husband’s body. We conducted his final rites at Laxmimarga in Belbari.”

Three months after the family received the body and conducted his funeral rites, Subhash, who was still at the hospital in a comatose state, regained his consciousness.

According to his nephew Bhupal Tamang and brothers Bhawindra and Amar Tamang, who were also in Saudi Arabia in 2015, they were called to the hospital to see their relative.

“Subhash’s face was bandaged but when the doctors removed his bandages, we recognised him immediately,” Bhawindra told the Post.

“That’s when we realised that the body sent to Nepal three months ago was not my broth-er’s,” he said. “I called back home and told our family that Subhash was alive. It was later established that it was Bhandari’s body that was sent to Nepal.”

After a year and a half of treatment for his injuries, Subhash was sent back to Nepal by his employer.

“Since then I have been telling the govern-ment authorities in Nepal that I am alive and that it was a mistake to have declared me a dead man,” said Subhash.

“I went to the Home Ministry after the rural municipalities and district authorities turned me away citing their inability to rectify the error in the official documents since it was out of their jurisdiction,” he said.

The Home Ministry directed him to the Chief District Officer of Morang Koshhari Niraula.

“The Chief District Officer sent me back last week saying that my documents are not in order,” said Subhash. “I am alive and right here, what more proof do the authorities need?”

His previous citizenship certificate was issued by then Kudakaule VDC in Bhojpur on 12 June 2003.

Subhash says he has been living in limbo since his return to Nepal with no citizenship certificate or any other national identification

that can prove him alive.According to the District Administration

Office, the absence of legal recourse to issue citizenship to someone in Subhash’s situation has led to a stalemate.

“There is no legal provision that allows us to re-issue citizenship to someone who has been declared deceased on government records,” said Koshhari Niraula, chief district officer of Morang.

“However, we have informed the Department of National ID and Civil Registration about Subhash’s quandary,” said Niraula. “Hopefully, they will be able to annul his registration of death and re-issue his citizenship certificate soon.”

Meanwhile, Shadananda Municipality in Bhojpur and Belbari Municipality in Morang have issued certificates to Subhash stating that he is alive.

Subhash now wants to start anew and move on in life. He wants to go abroad to earn some money but without his paperwork, he hasn’t been able to apply for jobs.

After his original citizenship and passport became null and void with the registration of his death, Subhash now awaits the reversal of his fate.

“I came back to Nepal and followed up with all my rituals associated with new births and I had a naming ceremony in Bhojpur at my parents’ house to undo my death. I even went to Laxmimarga to bring back my wife and remarried her,” said Subhash. “I want to move on and be able to live my life as any living Nepali citizen but the government authorities are not doing any-thing to help me.”

1,400 traffic police are on the Valley streets to enforce the mask mandateThe mask up campaign should not be limited to a few days or weeks, Dr Sher Bahadur Pun says.ANUP OJHAKATHMANDU, AUG 9

It’s morning rush hour at the Chabahil crossroads on Monday. There is a traffic jam, and dozens of vehicles are inching forward at a snail’s pace when a traffic con-stable stops a motorcyclist. He does not ask the motorcyclist to produce a driver’s license or the vehicle registration papers but asks why he isn’t wearing a face mask. The motorcyclist rummages through his back-pack, pulls out a mask and wears it. Then the constable lets him go.

“Along with checking the driver’s license and vehicle registration papers, we are here also to ensure that all motorists are wearing face masks. A part of our job now is also to enforce Covid safety measures,” said Yam Bahadur Chhahari, a traffic police constable deployed at Chabahil crossroads.

“Earlier public bus drivers wouldn’t wear masks, but now they have started wearing after we started check-ing,” said Chhahari, who is holding a placard that reads, ‘Where’s your mask?’ He is one of the traffic police con-stables among half a dozen deployed at the crossroads.

Just by his side, a voice over the loudspeaker is urging people to wear masks, maintain social distance and keep Covid at bay.

On Saturday, a day after the country’s Coronavirus death toll crossed the 10,000 mark, the government launched a mask up campaign and traffic police have been asked to ensure that the public complies with the mask regime on the street. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba launched the campaign.

“We have instructed all our 38 traffic units in Kathmandu Valley to ensure that all motorists and mem-bers of the public wear masks in public,” said Sanjib Sharma Das, superintendent of police and also a spokes-person at the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division.

With the daily virus infection rate standing at around 3,000, health experts have been warning that a third wave of the pandemic could hit the country soon if pre-ventive measures are not taken to stem the spread of the virus. Doctors say the national positivity rate is around 25 percent.

According to the Division, 1,400 traffic police have been deployed in the Valley to enforce the mask man-date. “Besides controlling vehicular traffic, they are now looking for people who do not wear masks in public,” said Das.

Every day the Division deploys 700 traffic police each in two shifts -- 6am to 2 pm, and 2pm to 7pm.

Although the Covid-19 prohibitory orders imposed since April 29 have not been fully lifted with some restrictions still in place, a semblance of pre-Covid nor-malcy has returned to the country. Public movement has increased and most businesses have reopened but health safety protocols including mask-wearing and social dis-tancing are being largely ignored. As a result Covid-19 cases have been gradually climbing.

“Although more people are wearing masks since the launching of the #MaskUpNepal campaign, many peo-ple are wearing them around the chin while exposing their nose and mouth. So traffic police also ask such people to wear masks properly,” said Das.

Doctors have welcomed the campaign and called for strict enforcement of the mask rule.

“Ever since the first wave hit the country we have been asking the public to wear masks, but that didn’t work,” said Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku, adding, “It is good that the traffic police have been enforcing the rule. But the campaign should not be limited to a few days or weeks.”

He said the government should work to procure more vaccines at the earliest so that everyone is vaccinated at the earliest. “Besides this the government should run an effective awareness programme so that the public fol-lows the Covid safety measures religiously,” said Pun.

Nepal on Monday reported 2,609 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours with 22 Covid-19 related fatalities.

The Health Ministry’s data shows that the Kathmandu Valley recorded 959 new infections in the past 24 hours. Of these, 624 cases were confirmed in Kathmandu, 165 in Lalitpur and 170 in Bhaktapur districts.

Post Photo: BINoD BhaNDaRI

Tamang holds his death certificate issued by a government office.

Post fIle Photo

Mahantha Thakur

C M Y K

TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2021 | 04

OpiniOn

For those Nepalis who like to compare their country with Bhutan, the Olympics this time was an apt opportu-nity. Nepal, a country of 28 million people, sent five athletes and 21 offi-cials whereas Bhutan, with a popula-tion of 800,000 people, sent four athletes and five officials. In Nepal, the Olympics have been a junket for near and dear ones of authorities since the monarchical days. Therefore, the wife of Bamdev Gautam being singled out for criticism this time is not fair. People who have generally nothing to do with the sports have been part of the delega-tion each time.

Like in many fields of our life (apart from selling momos), there is an associ-ation or a cartel for everything. And, of course, there is a cartel of people who control the games. The only difference

here is that the cartel members may not even know the rules of the game they are associated with. But in a coun-try where seniority, ethnicity and gen-der can decide what one can lead, it is not surprising to see this happen when it comes to sports. However, we need to continue to be activists of change and recognise some of the transformations that are taking place and hope we can build on them.

The potentialI have been continuously writing about this issue as I see hope. When the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) was held in 2013, the gate money from matches did provide lots of “party” funds of both kinds—lots of parties and money for political parties! In leveraging sports we discussed how it is possible to bring about a com-mercial scale to activities. Perhaps, this led to some entrepreneurial pursuits around the cricket and foot-ball leagues in different parts of Nepal, some of them without the toll tax and blessing to the syndicates. After the South Asian Games in 2019, we made calls again for trans-formation and learning from other countries.

Building a world class facility using the abandoned Mahendranagar Airport with private or international government efforts still makes sense. Let us look at the big medal baggers—can we ask China, Japan or the United States to help build academy and sports

facilities that can sustain through host-ing tournaments? The key issue remains getting the games to be man-aged by people who know the game rather than political appointees, spous-es or relatives of politicians. Perhaps Paras Khadka, the just retired Nepal cricket captain, can show the way by leading the transformations of institu-tions as he has led the transformation of Nepali cricket.

Much has been written about the training regimes of swimmer Gaurika Singh and the dedication of family members for her to get this far. As The Nepali diaspora of knowledge workers and entrepreneurs grow, we will see more parents putting efforts behind their children to get the foundations right. This surely requires not only financial resources but dedication. With more Nepali companies in the day and age of social media and online plat-forms finding newer ways of seeing the association of brands with individuals, we may see more firms willing to pro-vide their support. So it could be Goldstar shoes finding enough reasons to get associated with the teams like many global brands. The growth and aspiration of Nepali brands going global can fill the much needed resource gap.

The inspirationIt is heartening to see Nepali film mak-ing getting away from the shackles of all sorts of associations, and now a YouTube show like Blind Date can gar-

ner close to a million views. Music making and sharing has changed. Instagram stars can give everyone else a run for their money. With Nepalis in 180 plus countries connected by the internet, there is a huge market for products and services along with con-necting with the Nepali identity. Like we see in the arts, music and entertainment, there are many global Nepalis coming out to help, we will see similar activities. We can imagine football teams and cricket teams that are backed by Nepali corpo-rate houses from different parts of the world, there can be no limit to imagination.

While it is easy to blame politics and syndicates in the garb of associations, they stem from how our society is structured and how we define culture—be it of caste or ethnicity based superi-ority, caste hierarchies within ethnic groups, gender and our quest for push-ing seniority over meritocracy. We are a country where 50 percent of the pop-ulation is under 25, and they are grow-ing up seeing in real time what is hap-pening around the world. When they see that countries with a smaller popu-lation than Nepal produce so many world class athletes and sports people, they will start wondering why they can’t do it. They will challenge the sta-tus quo and unshackle the potential. Hopefully, by the Olympics 2028, we will see Nepal in the tally of medals. For that, there are many things that need to start today.

“There’s famine now in Tigray.” That 10 June 2021 declaration by the UN’s most senior humanitarian official was the clearest indication yet that embat-tled Tigray faced a severe food emer-gency. Close to five million Tigrayans were subsequently placed under watch for what constitutes emergency level conditions.

The affected population now falls under emergency (phase four) and famine (phase five) of the Famine Early Warning System Network clas-sification. A famine is declared when households have an extreme lack of food even after they’ve used all availa-ble coping strategies. It’s when starva-tion, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident.

The purposes of this article are threefold. First, I will provide a brief insight into the food security situation in Tigray. For this I rely on recent reports from the World Peace Foundation and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Given that the Ethiopian gov-ernment has imposed a complete com-munication blackout in Tigray, these reports serve as benchmarks for eval-uating the true magnitude of the humanitarian crisis.

Second, I reflect on gains made on mostly public led land rehabilitation and restoration efforts to place the current scale of destruction into per-spective. And address the long-term consequences of the looming famine on land use and ecosystems in Tigray.

Lastly, I look at recommendations from the World Peace Foundation to help avert the impending humanitari-an crisis.

Man-made faminesResearch into the global history of famines highlights dual causality. Famines occur as a consequence of natural disasters, such as droughts. They can also be man-made, such as through armed conflict.

Man-made famine accounts for nearly all documented cases of famine since the late 1960s. Research shows famines triggered by natural disasters have seen a sharp decline in recent times. The few exceptions in which natural and man-made causes were both to blame include the famine that devastated Tigray and environs dur-ing the early 1980s.

More often than not, man-made famines involve human agents wreak-ing havoc on the processes of food production. This includes inten-tional destruction of crops and seeds, agricultural equipment and supplies, such as fertilisers. Human agency can also induce market collapse and restrict exchange of produce between farmers and consumers. However, such acts are not isolated but usually occur within the context of a deeper strategy of the political-mili-tary organs to use starvation as a means of war. This has been the case in Tigray.

The population of Tigray, nearly 80% of which depends on subsistence farming, is intentionally being made to starve for the second time in 40 years as a means to win a war.

By early August it was estimated that 4.5 million people in Tigray were in need of emergency food aid. Multiple pieces of evidence suggest that Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers and forces from the neighbouring Amhara region have engaged in the collective destruction of farming equipment and assets. They have also stolen crops and livestock, and engaged in activities to stop farmers from harvesting or ploughing farm lands.

These actions will have long lasting consequences.

Land restorationArchaeological records show inten-sive agricultural activities in the Tigray region since at least 3,000 years ago. Centuries of continuous exploita-tion of land to meet food production needs, coupled with a clear drying trend in the region over the past 2,500 years, are thought to have led to large-scale land degradation in Tigray.

Earlier estimates put the size of degraded land in Tigray at 50%. Land degradation refers to the consistent loss of productive capacity of the soils. In Tigray, land degradation along with frequently failing rains has led to recurrent food insecurity. In

many cases this has led to famine or near-famine conditions.

During the last three decades, fol-lowing the end of the civil war of the 1970s and 1980s, largely public-led land restoration programmes were given due policy attention and implemented at a scale to tackle land degradation. These were supported by well-planned and well-executed safety net pro-grammes.

Research shows that these interven-tions have met a great deal of success in restoring large swaths of rural land in Tigray. Soil fertility has been signif-icantly improved, and by extension food production capacity.

But there is one important caveat. The kinds of interventions put into place in Tigray should be continuous and sustained. They also require farming activities to be carefully planned ahead of time to make use of the fluctuating rainy season, to allow land preparation just before the start of the rainy season, and sowing at the beginning of the rainy season.

Interruption of these activities—as has happened this year due to the war—will have got in the way of farm-ers producing food.

And over the long term, interrup-tion of the public-led land rehabilita-tion activities will lead to further loss

of the productive capacity of the region.

The details of the destruction on the environmental front are still murky. But there are some indications that the scale of destruction may pose a threat to rural livelihoods long after the end of the war.

For example, interruption of farm-ing activities on the land that was tilled regularly is certain to reduce water and nutrient mobility and con-servation capacity of the soil. If this is allowed to continue it would turn fer-tile ground into “abandoned land”. Agricultural land abandonment is becoming a common problem globally, with serious implications for the envi-ronment including biodiversity loss and the reduction of landscape diver-sity.

Averting a crisisThe World Peace Foundation has issued a series of recommendations to avert the looming famine in Tigray. These include a cessation of hostili-ties, unimpeded humanitarian access and freedom of movement, and free-dom of communication.

But major emphasis is placed on ending active hostilities and targeting activities critical for the survival of the civilian population.

The government of Ethiopia is, therefore, obliged to provide humanitarian assistance. It should facilitate access to areas under the control of the Tigray government in accordance with international humanitarian law. This obligation also extends to the government of Eritrea, which is also a major player in the war on Tigray.

First and foremost, averting the looming famine requires a ceasefire arrangement and unconditional with-drawal of Eritrean and Amhara forces from Tigray.

And to avoid a full recurrence of one of the worst humanitarian crises of recent times at the very least an all-inclusive national dialogue with all relevant political actors needs to be initiated without further delay.

The author is a climate scientist at Georgia State University.

The war in Tigray

Since the monarchical days, the Olympics have been a junket for near and dear ones.

SUJEEV SHAKYA

Unleashing the potential of Nepali sportsEDiTORiAL

It was a moment of relief as people aged 65 and above were escorted by their family members to vaccination centres on Monday for their second dose of the Covishield/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. The vulnerable age group has waited five months with fear and uncertainties about whether the gov-ernment can procure or receive the vaccines under a grant. The lifesaving doses have finally reached their arms, but only after Bhutan delivered 230,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vac-cine under a reciprocity condition and an additional 1.6 mil-lion AstraZeneca doses donated by Japan through the vac-cine sharing scheme, COVAX.

For over 1.4 million senior citizens who had received their first jab in March, their second shots couldn’t have arrived at a better time. More than half of the confirmed 10,093 Covid-19 related deaths as of Sunday have been dominated by the age group 60 and above, followed by the age group 40-59. The availability of vaccines is thus an essential breakthrough amid the recent surge in new infections and deaths following the Health Ministry’s warning of more contagious Delta var-iants driving the third wave of the pandemic. But does the government plan to study the effectiveness of the second dose that has come after such a long gap? Will the antibodies gen-erated by the booster shot offer enough and longer protection to the vulnerable population and prevent breakthrough infec-tions? What about the rest of the people who have received the VeroCell or Janssen vaccine?

The government needs to be answerable. It must keep abreast of the evolving knowledge on vaccine efficacy and coronavirus mutations causing breakthrough infections, and make sense of nations hurrying to offer vaccine cocktails or a third booster shot to the public despite appeals from the World Health Organisation. The leadership needs to embrace its primary and most important responsibility of managing the pandemic, which has already killed thousands of people and flipped the economy. The country urgently needs a full retrospect of the Covid-19 situation, and a practical strategy to steer our way out of the pandemic. A half-hearted attempt like a mask-up campaign, 16 months into the pandemic and over 10,000 deaths later, won’t cut it.

Last week, the government unveiled a plan to procure 42 million Covid-19 vaccines by February next year, targeting to inoculate all eligible citizens above 12 by mid-April. While it’s a positive development, the Deuba administration needs to understand that vaccination alone will not be enough to con-tain the pandemic. The past few months have seen the world fighting to secure vaccines as scientists study vaccine effec-tiveness and emerging variants of the coronavirus that may resist vaccines and drive future waves, with one key concern that the vaccinated may spread the virus.

The number of confirmed cases in Nepal has doubled in the last 96 days, and the Health Ministry is currently report-ing 2,501 new infections on average each day. Communicating developing insights and crucial information on the pandemic will be essential to reduce infection rates and respond to a prolonged downturn that can have long-lasting socio-econom-ic and unfavourable public health implications if not addressed up front.

The government must take the public into confidence and amplify public messaging beyond a few media platforms where it issues warnings and generic posts calling for Covid-appropriate behaviour. It must review its communications strategy, which has failed to engage the citizens or instil behaviour change.

Public messagingThe government must review its Covid-19

communication strategy.

ShutterStock

The makings of a man-made famine, and what can be done.

ShutterStock

DAniEl GEbrEGiorGiS

THE OTHER

ViEW

C M Y K

05 | TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2021

MonEY

GASolinE wATch

FoREX

US Dollar 119.12

Euro 140.02

Pound Sterling 165.41

Japanese Yen 10.81

Chinese Yuan 18.39

Qatari Riyal 32.72

Australian Dollar 87.46

Malaysian Ringit 28.17

Saudi Arab Riyal 31.76

Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank

bUllionPRicE PER TolA

SoURCE: FENEGoSIDA

Fine Gold Rs 89,000

Silver Rs 1,215

nepse3,109.66pts

0.05%

NGPL ULI HURJA UMHL BARUN NHPC9.99% 9.98% 9.67% 9.67% 8.48% 8.27%

NHDL ICFC HPPL CORBL JBLB UNHPL10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10%

hiGhEST GAinERS

SDLBSL NABBC NFS ACLBSL SLBS FMDBL-2.18% -2.33% -2.55% -2.71% -2.75% -2.78%

CGH NLBBL SNLB KRBL MBLD2085 SBLD83-2.83% -3.02% -3.37% -3.89% -3.92% -3.96%

hiGhEST loSERS

MoDERATE loSERS

MoDERATE GAinERS

Shares

Nepal GovernmentMinistry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation

Department of Water Resources and IrrigationBabai Irrigation Project

Bardiya

Invitation for Online Bids(First date of Publication: 10th August 2021 (2078-04-26)

This is to notify that following online Invitation for Bids (IFB) is published for different construction works asdescribed in the table below on 10th of August, 2021 (2078/04/26 B.S.) in e-GP system (http://bolpatra.gov.np/egp) of Government of Nepal. Bidders can only bid electronically. Electronic bids must be submitted to theoffice of Babai Irrigation Project, Baidi, Bardiya through PPMO’s website: http://www.bolpatra.gov.np/egpon or before 09th September, 2021 (2078/05/24 B.S.) before 12:00 hours. Pre-Bid Meeting shall be held atBabai Irrigation Project, Baidi Bardiya on 30th August, 2021 (2078/05/14) at 11:00 hours. For further details,bidders are requested to visit Babai Irrigation Project Office at Baidi, Bardiya or PPMO’swebsite: http://bolpatra.gov.np/egp.

Description of Works

S.N. Contract ID /IFBNo.

Description ofworks & Address

Cost of biddocument

(NRs.)

ContractPeriod

Bid SecurityAmount(NRs.)

Minimum Workexperience of

similar size andnature (NRs.)

1. BIP/NCB/P103/078/79

Construction of WUABuilding at Baidi,

Bardiya.(EstimatedCost Without VAT, PS

and Contingency-NRs.1,09,59,007.69)

3000 12 months 3,43,000.00 8,812,000.00

2. BIP/NCB/P104/078/79

Command AreaDevelopment Worksof S2 Canal System

at BarabardiyaNagarpalika.

5000 12 months 22,90,000.00 58,987,000.00

3. BIP/NCB/P105/078/79

Command AreaDevelopment Worksof S3 Canal System

at BarabardiyaNagarpalika.

5000 12 months 24,44,000.00 62,947,000.00

4. BIP/NCB/P106/078/79

Command AreaDevelopment

Works of S4 CanalSystem at

BarabardiyaNagarpalika.

5000 12 months 18,25,000.00 47,010,000.00

PROJECT DIRECTOR

Chiraito traders clearing out stocks as Tibet market remains closedANANDA GAUTAMTAPLEJUNG, AUG 9

Traders in the eastern Himalayan dis-trict of Taplejung have started clear-ing out their Chiraito inventory after finding out that they will remain locked out of the Chinese market for some time.

Tibet is the largest buyer of the highly profitable medicinal plant (Swertia chirayita), but Chinese authorities do not plan to reopen the border anytime soon due to Covid-19, insiders said.

At this time of the year in the past, yak caravans would be hauling pack loads of the herb through Olangchung Gola to Tibet. Exports stopped since 2020 when the pandemic broke out, and the border with the northern neighbour was closed.

Chiraito prices have been fluctuat-ing as per demand in China and India. Traders ship their products to either market whichever offers a higher price. Chiraito is an integral part of Ayurveda, Yunani, Chinese and Tibetan medication systems, and is also used in herbal medication sys-tems in the United States and United Kingdom, according to a report. The whole plant is intensely bitter in taste.

With no sign of the border being reopened immediately by Chinese authorities, traders are bringing their products to the border markets of India to sell them.

Sabin Baniya of Sidingwa Rural Municipality, Sablakhu had gone to Olangchung Gola to sell Chiraito but had to return as there was no business to be done. He has been hoarding the herb at his house for two years to sell them in Tibet as he can get a better price there than in India.

A worried Baniya now plans to take his Chiraito to Kakarbhitta, adjacent to the Indian border town of Panitanki. He is studying the market price in India before making a final sales deal.

Other countries like Germany, Sweden, Italy, Holland and the United States also import the plant, but in small quantities.

Chiraito, also known as Chireeta, is a perennial wild herb which is now commercially cultivated in the high Himalayan ranges of Nepal, especial-ly in the eastern part of the country.

Dried Chiraito is packed into 1 kg bundles of about 1 metre in length. According to a report, it is used as a tonic, febrifuge and antidiarrhetic, and also as a cure for various liver problems. The plant is used to control the blood sugar level. The plant shows antipyretic, sudorific, antiperiodic, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective actions, and is used in urinary and liver disorders

Rudra Adhikari, a trader from Panchthar district bordering Taplejung, has dispatched his Chiraito to Birtamod, Jhapa, the major market for mountain and hill districts like Taplejung, Panchthar and Ilam.

Adhikari has sold around 4,000 kg of Chiraito this year, and plans to sell another 4,000 kg. He is also buying the herb from other villagers.

According to Adhikari, Chiraito was mainly exported to India until a decade ago. At that time, growers used to get a maximum price of Rs200 per kg. Nepali traders turned their atten-tion to China after Chinese traders started paying them more.

Traders then started exporting

Chiraito to Tibet in large quantities, according to Baniya. The number of commercial growers also increased in the eastern mountain and hilly dis-tricts. Demand for Chiraito increased so sharply that some traders were even shipping the herb by chartering helicopters from Sankhuwasabha. Chiraito grown in Taplejung and Ilam was carried to Sankhuwasabha, and then flown to Tibet by helicopter.

By 2015, the price had soared to Rs800 per kg. According to Hari Mishra, a trader from Birtamod who exports the herb to India, the price of Chiraito this year is Rs750 per kg. Adhikari said that he buys the plant at Rs600 per kg from Taplejung and Panchthar.

The freight charge from Taplejung to Birtamod is Rs50,000 per vehicle, traders said. A vehicle can carry 2,400 kg. Traders pay Rs5 per kg as export tax. Another tax of Rs15 per kg is imposed by the Division Forest Office.

Traders say that Chiraito has a huge export potential, but complain that the export process is more cum-bersome than that of large cardamom.

The Division Forest Office issued permits to harvest 16,334 kg of Chiraito this year.

Sita Yogi, an official at the forest office, said that they had so far collect-ed Rs245,000 in royalty. The herbs that grow wild for two years become ready for collection only in four years. In the first year, the stem does not grow and remains like a radish, but in the sec-ond year, the stem develops on the ground and it grows leaves and flow-ers and bears seedlings.

Farmers say that the plant grows up to 1.5 metres high in two years. Chiraito that grows with branches become ready to be harvested in four years as it also produces seeds.

Birendra Sah, a divisional forest officer, said that there are 27 species of Chiraito which are also divided into male and female. The highest con-sumption of Chiraito is in Mumbai and Patna of India, said trader Mishra. Chiraito of Taplejung was once considered to be of high quality, but lost its brand image due to mixing of male and female Chiraito along with other substances.

Tibet is the largest buyer of the herb, but Chinese authorities do not plan to reopen the border soon, insiders say.

Vivo launches V21e in NepalKATHMANDU: Vivo has launched the much-awaited V21e smart-phone in Nepal to make pro-fessional smartphone imagery accessible to all users. It is the latest addition to Vivo’s inno-vative V-series, which is wide-ly known for its fashion-for-ward, advanced camera smart-phones at a competitive price, reads the press release issued by the company. The V21e features a 44MP Eye Autofocus Camera in the front, combined with AI Night Portrait, for a stunning photography and videography expe-rience designed to enhance everyday life. Vivo also announced that all customers who purchase the smart-phone between August 8 to August 10 will stand a chance to win free Earbuds as part of the launch offer. The newly launched V21e is priced at Rs39,999.

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यस प्रयोगशालाबाट मिमि 2078/04/25 को 'The Kathmandu Post' राष्ट्रिय दैमिक पमिकािा प्रकाशशि ठेक्का NIRTTP/PCO/MOALD/G/NCB-(132.1 to 132.10) को बोलपि स्वीकृि गिे आसयको सूचिािा Slice No. 10 हिुपुिेिा भलुबस Slice No. 8 लेशिएकोले सच्याईएको ब्यहोरा सम्वशधिि सबैलाई जािकारी गराईधछ ।

India’s sunflower oil imports could jump to record as prices dip below soyoilREUTERSMUMBAI, AUG 9

India’s imports of sunflower oil could rise to a record in 2021/22 as potential bumper crops in Russia and Ukraine pull prices below rival soyoil, making it lucrative for price-sensitive buyers from the subcontinent, indus-try officials said.

India is the world’s biggest importer of edible oils and higher purchases of sunflower oil could help exporters such as Argentina, Russia and Ukraine to dispose of surplus output.

Higher sunflower oil imports could cap India’s purchases of soyoil and palm oil, however, and weigh on pric-es, of those commodities.

“Sunflower has become very com-petitive due to expectations of a bump-er new crop,” said Sandeep Bajoria, the president of trade body the International Sunflower Oil Association. “India’s imports will increase in coming months.”

Crude sunflower oil is being offered at about $1,280 a tonne, including cost, insurance and freight (CIF) for ship-ments in the December quarter to India, lower than the $1,330 cost of degummed soybean oil, traders said.

A year ago, sunflower oil was fetching a premium of up to $100 over soyoil, which led to lower sunoil consumption.

As sunflower oil is now trading at discount to soyoil, imports will rise and consumption could rebound in southern and western India, said Sudhakar Desai, president of the Indian Vegetable Oil Producers’ Association (IVPA).

PoST PHoTo: ANANDA GAUTAM

Chiraito is an integral part of Ayurveda, Yunani, Chinese and Tibetan medication systems.

Shyam Kakshapati, pioneer of cafe culture in Nepal, dies at 70

POST REPORTKATHMANDU, AUG 9

Shyam Sundar Lal Kakshapati, the architect of famed Nanglo Restaurants and one of the pioneers of cafe culture in Nepal, has died. He was 70.

According to family sources, Shyam died in Bangkok on Monday while undergoing treatment.

“He had been suffering from cancer for the last four years,” Gopal Sundar, Shyam’s younger brother, told the Post.

Shyam was admitted to a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand four months ago.

Shyam was a successful business leader. He started Sam’s Grocery Shop at Ratna Park at the age of 19 after his father’s death. The shop was popular as it was the best candy shop in the Kathmandu Valley then. The business was flourishing but he wanted to scale up. So he decided to run Café de Park in the Ratna Park area.

The Nanglo restaurant was born in 1976 with the joint effort of Kakshapati brothers [Shyam and Gopal], which soon became a famous rendezvous. Nanglo is considered to be a trendsetter in the restaurant culture in Nepal. The Nanglo chain currently has over a dozen restaurants across the country.

His business expansion drive continued with another venture—River Side Spring Resort which he developed in 1996 at Kurintar.

Another is the story about Nanglo Bazaar. It was in the late 1980s that he did an experiment by setting up Nanglo Bazaar at Putali Sadak as one of the first supermarkets in Nepal. But the business did not last long.

Shyam is also known for trying a taxi service in Kathmandu. In 1994, he and his partners launched the ser-vice that was called Kathmandu Yellow Cab. Kathmandu, which was used to seeing old Japanese cars as taxis, for the first time saw Hyundai cars as taxis, all painted yellow. But this venture of his too failed.

His success story, however, is the Bakery cafe that he started in 1997 at New Baneshwor. This cafe also earned fame for being the first in the country to employ the hear-ing-impaired as its staff.

Shyam was elected the president of the Hotel Association of Nepal in 2012. He was also the chairman of Shuvatara School in Lamatar, Lalitpur which shut down this May due to the financial crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

PoST FIlE PHoTo

Shyam Sundar Lal Kakshapati

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At least 51 killed in Mali village raids, district official saysMALI: At least 51 people were killed when Islamist militants raided three villages in central Mali near the bor-der with Niger, a district administra-tor said on Monday. The towns of Ouatagouna, Karou and Deouteguef were simultaneously attacked around 6 p.m. on Sunday, according to a note from the Asongo district administra-tor to the governor of Gao region. Houses were ransacked and burned to the ground and herds of livestock carried away, said the note, which was seen by Reuters. “Provisional toll is 51 killed, several other injured,” it said.

Lukashenko denies repression a year after disputed voteKYIV: Belarus’ authoritarian leader on Monday denied that his government unleashed harsh repression of dis-sent after his reelection a year ago triggered a months-long wave of mass protests, and he promised to step down “very soon” but wouldn’t say when exactly. President Alexander Lukashenko held his annual press conference on the one-year anniversa-ry of the vote that handed him a sixth term in office but was denounced by the opposition and the West as rigged. In his opening remarks, Lukashenko defended the election and accused the opposition of preparing a coup. “We back then carried out preparation for the election and the election itself in the conditions of total transparency and democratisation of political life,” Lukashenko said.

California wildfire grows to near 500,000 acresCALIFORNIA: A raging wildfire in northern California, now the sec-ond-largest recorded in state history, expanded to nearly 500,000 acres late on Sunday and has left three firefight-ers injured. The Dixie Fire, burning northeast of San Francisco, had grown to 489,287 acres or 764.5 square miles (1,980 square kilometres) from about 274,000 acres in the middle of last week, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on Twitter. The blaze has been active for 26 days and is 21 percent con-tained, the department said. The burned area is about the size of Cancun in Mexico, and larger than the city of Houston in Texas. (AGENCIES)

UN sounds warning on climate change

REUTERSNEW YORK, AUG 9

The United Nations panel on climate change told the world on Monday that global warming was dangerously close to being out of control—and that humans were “unequivocally” to blame.

Already, greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere are high enough to guarantee climate disruption for dec-ades if not centuries, the report from the scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned.

In other words, the deadly heat waves, gargantuan hurricanes and other weather extremes that are already happening will only become more severe.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the report as a “code red for humanity”.

“The alarm bells are deafening,” he said in a statement. “This report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet.”

In three months’ time, the UN COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, will try to wring much more ambitious climate action out of the nations of the world, and the money to go with it.

Drawing on more than 14,000 scien-tific studies, the IPCC report gives the most comprehensive and detailed pic-ture yet of how climate change is altering the natural world—and what could still be ahead.

Unless immediate, rapid and large-scale action is taken to reduce emis-sions, the report says, the average global temperature is likely to reach or cross the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warming thresh-old within 20 years.

The pledges to cut emissions made so far are nowhere near enough to start reducing level of greenhouse gases—mostly carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fossil fuels—accumulat-ed in the atmosphere.

Governments and campaigners reacted to the findings with alarm.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped the report would be “a wake-up call for the world to take action now, before we meet in Glasgow”.

The report says emissions “une-quivocally caused by human activi-

ties” have already pushed the average global temperature up 1.1C from its pre-industrial average—and would have raised it 0.5C further without the tempering effect of pollution in the atmosphere.

That means that, even as societies move away from fossil fuels, tempera-tures will be pushed up again by the loss of the airborne pollutants that come with them and currently reflect away some of the sun’s heat.

A rise of 1.5C is generally seen as the most that humanity could cope with without suffering widespread economic and social upheaval.

The 1.1C warming already recorded has been enough to unleash disastrous weather. This year, heat waves killed hundreds in the Pacific Northwest and smashed records around the world. Wildfires fuelled by heat and drought are sweeping away entire towns in the US West, releasing record carbon dioxide emissions from Siberian forests, and driving Greeks

to flee their homes by ferry.Further warming could mean that

in some places, people could die just from going outside.

“The more we push the climate sys-tem ... the greater the odds we cross thresholds that we can only poorly project,” said IPCC co-author Bob Kopp, a climate scientist at Rutgers University.

Some changes are already “locked in”. Greenland’s sheet of land-ice is “virtually certain” to continue melt-ing, and raising the sea level, which will continue to rise for centuries to come as the oceans warm and expand.

“We are now committed to some aspects of climate change, some of which are irreversible for hundreds to thousands of years,” said IPCC co-author Tamsin Edwards, a climate scientist at King’s College London. “But the more we limit warming, the more we can avoid or slow down those changes.”

But even to slow climate change, the

report says, the world is running out of time.

If emissions are slashed in the next decade, average temperatures could still be up 1.5C by 2040 and possibly 1.6C by 2060 before stabilising.

And if, instead the world continues on its the current trajectory, the rise could be 2.0C by 2060 and 2.7C by the century’s end.

The Earth has not been that warm since the Pliocene Epoch roughly 3 million years ago—when humanity’s first ancestors were appearing, and the oceans were 25 metres (82 feet) higher than they are today.

It could get even worse, if warming triggers feedback loops that release even more climate-warming carbon emissions—such as the melting of Arctic permafrost or the dieback of global forests.

Under these high-emissions scenar-ios, Earth could broil at temperatures 4.4C above the preindustrial average by the last two decades of this century.

Sri Lanka cremates Covid victims in massAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSECOLOMBO, AUG 9

Sri Lanka has begun mass cremations to clear a backlog of dead bodies from Covid-19 as cases surge across the island, officials said on Monday.

Daily virus infections in the coun-try have doubled in a month to more than 2,500 with nearly 100 deaths, put-ting huge strain on hospitals.

On Sunday evening Colombo Municipality began mass cremations, disposing of 15 corpses at the Colombo General Cemetery after the island’s main hospital said it had no more freezer space.

It was the first mass cremation since December when the government overruled religious objections and cremated 15 members of the Muslim minority, including a 20-day-old baby.

Following local and international protests, the government then allowed Muslims to be buried in a remote cor-ner of the island’s east, in accordance with Islamic traditions.

The Public Health Inspectors (PHI)

union said bodies of Covid-19 patients piled up at hospitals over the weekend as crematoriums working round the clock were unable to cope with a rapid rise in deaths.

“At this rate, we may have to build new crematoriums,” PHI union chief Upul Rohana told reporters in Colombo. At the Colombo North hos-pital there were 20 bodies without refrigeration while the number at the Panadura hospital south of the capital was over 50.

At the Colombo National hospital’s mortuary, all 66 freezers were filled and bodies were piling up on trollies and tables, hospital sources said.

Throughout the pandemic the state has disposed of bodies and not released them to families.

Rohana said the surge in infections also meant contact tracing of patients was no longer practical.

Coronavirus restrictions were tightened on Friday as reports emerged of Covid-19 patients dying while awaiting admission to over-crowded hospitals.

Taliban militants press on, take another Afghan provincial capitalASSOCIATED PRESSKABUL,AUG 9

The Taliban on Monday took control of another provincial capital in Afghanistan, an official said. The city’s fall was the latest in a week-slong, relentless Taliban offensive as American and NATO forces finalise their pullout from the war-torn country.

The militants have ramped up their push across much of Afghanistan, turning their guns on provincial capi-tals after taking large swaths of land in the mostly rural countryside. At the same time, they have been wag-ing an assassination campaign target-ing senior government officials in the capital, Kabul.

The sweep comes despite condem-nations by the international commu-nity and warnings from the United Nations that a military victory and takeover by the Taliban would not be recognised. The Taliban have also not heeded appeals to return to the negotiating table and continue long-stalled peace talks with the Afghan government.

According to Mohammad Noor Rahmani, the council chief of north-ern Sar-e Pul province, the Taliban overran the provincial capital after

over a week of resistance by the Afghan security forces, after which the city of Sar-e Pul collapsed. The government forces have now com-pletely withdrawn from the province, he said.

Several pro-government local mili-tia commanders also surrendered to the Taliban without a fight, allowing the insurgents to gain control of the entire province, Rahmani added.

The city of Sar-e Pul joins three other provincial capitals now fully under Taliban control: Zaranj, the capital of western Nimroz province, the city of Shibirghan, the capital of northern Zawzjan province, and Taleqan, the capital of another north-ern province with the same name.

The Taliban are also fighting on for control of the city of Kunduz, the cap-ital of northern Kunduz province. On Sunday, they planted their flag in the city’s main square, where it was seen flying atop a traffic police booth, a video obtained by The Associated Press showed.

Kunduz’s capture would be a signif-icant gain for the Taliban and a test of their ability to take and retain territo-ry in their campaign against the Western-backed government. It is one of the country’s larger cities with a population of more than 340,000, and

was a key area defended against Taliban takeovers by Western troops over the years.

After billions of dollars spent in aiding, training and shoring up Afghan forces, many are at odds how to explain the surprising Taliban blitz that has threatened—and by now taken—several of the country’s 34 pro-vincial capitals.

Rahmani, the council chief in Sar-e Pul, said the provincial capital had been under siege by the militants for weeks, with no reinforcements being sent to the overstretched Afghan forc-es. A video circulating on social media on Monday shows a number of Taliban fighters, standing in front of the Sar-e Pul governor’s office and congratulat-ing each other for the victory.

The country-wide Taliban offensive intensified as US and NATO troops began to wrap up their withdrawal from Afghanistan this summer. With Taliban attacks increasing, Afghan security forces and government troops have retaliated with airstrikes aided by the United States. The fighting has also raised growing concerns about civilian casualties.

On Monday, UNICEF said it was shocked by the increasing number of casualties among children amid the escalating violence in Afghanistan.

Over the past three days, at least 27 children have been killed in various provinces, including 20 in Kandahar, it said.

“These atrocities are also evidence of the brutal nature and scale of vio-lence in Afghanistan which preys on

already vulnerable children,” the agency said. It did not identify the side responsible for the killings. UNICEF also raised the alarm over what it said was increased recruitment of chil-dren by armed groups.

The Taliban have also taken most of

Lashkar Gah, the capital of southern Helmand province, where they took nine of the 10 police districts in the city last week. Heavy fighting there continues, as do US and Afghan gov-ernment airstrikes, one of which dam-aged a health clinic and a high school.

The Defence Ministry confirmed airstrikes occurred but said they tar-geted Taliban positions, killing 54 fighters and wounding 23. Its state-ment made no mention of a clinic or school being bombed. Deputy pro-vincial council chairman Majid Akhund said the facilities had been under Taliban control when they were struck.

On Saturday, Taliban fighters entered the capital of the northern Jawzjan province after sweeping through nine of 10 districts in the province. And the city of Kandahar, the provincial capital of Kandahar, also remains under siege.

As they rolled through provincial capitals, the Taliban issued an English language statement on Sunday saying that residents, government employ-ees, and security officials had nothing to fear from them.

However, revenge attacks and repressive treatment of women have been reported in areas now under Taliban control.

Unless immediate, rapid and large-scale action is taken to reduce emissions, the report says, the average global temperature is likely to reach or cross the 1.5-degree Celsiu warming threshold within 20 years.

REUTERS

A firefighter tries to extinguish a wildfire near Marmaris, Turkey on August 1.

AP/RSS

An Afghan family flees fighting as Afghan security personnel took back control of parts of the city of Herat, 640 kilometres west of Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday.

Sichuan rain forces evacuation of 80,000 peopleREUTERSSHANGHAI, AUG 9

More than 80,000 people have been evacuated because of heavy rains and floods in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, state media reported on Monday.

Water levels at major rivers in the province were above warning levels following heavy rainfall from Friday to Sunday. One reservoir in the city of Dazhou exceeded its flood limit by 2.2 metres, according to the official China News Service.

It said more than 440,000 people have now been affected by floods in six cities across the province.

State broadcaster CCTV said on Saturday that heavy rain had already caused 250 million yuan ($38.57 mil-lion) in economic losses in Sichuan with 45 houses destroyed and 118 severely damaged.

China is routinely hit by heavy rainfall during the summer, but experts have warned it must now improve the resilience of its cities as extreme weather becomes more frequent.

Chinese weather officials told reporters last week that rising tem-peratures had increased the likelihood of heavy rainfall across the globe, and the impact in China was likely to get worse in coming years.

“Extreme events such as high temperatures and heavy rainfall have increased and the level of climate risk in China is on the rise,” said Chao Qingchen, vice-director of the National Climate Centre, a state think tank. She said higher temperatures and rainfall were making China’s water resources more vulnerable, and warned that extreme weather was also posing a bigger threat to economic development.

Last month, the central Chinese province of Henan suffered its worst rainstorms in recorded history.

Extreme weather is posing a threat to China’s economic development.

REUTERS

People walk in a flooded St Mark’s Square during an exceptional high water in Venice, Italy on Sunday.

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After Tokyo, Olympians yearn for 2024 GamesAssociAted PressTOKYO, Aug 9

They’ll always have Paris.That thought, full of promise, has

been a lifebuoy for athletes to cling to as they coped, as best they could, with thickets of restrictions at the pandem-ic-hit Tokyo Games that severely crimped their Olympic experience—and left some hungry for more.

Barred from bringing family and friends with them to Japan, playing in empty arenas and not allowed to sight-see in Tokyo, some athletes found themselves day-dreaming about the French capital’s Olympic rendezvous in 2024. If the coronavirus is tamed by then, the Paris Games could quickly become the party games. Already, there is palpable pent-up eagerness among athletes to make up for Tokyo and its disappointments.

“When Paris happens, I’ll be like, ’OK, wow, like this is a whole new energy. This is it,’” said US skateboarder Mariah Duran. “Maybe I had to have the appetiser before the whole meal.”

For now, Paris officials say they’re betting that the pandemic will be over when their turn comes. “Normally, we’ll be able to party,” the city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, said Sunday on French TV when Tokyo passed the baton.

But if the coronavirus is still ruining the best-laid plans, then Tokyo has served up a model of how to hold an Olympics even as infections are surging. It pared the games down to their most essential ingredient: com-petition. No spectators. No city-wide partying. Very little mingling between Olympians and their hosts. Paris offi-cials were watching closely and say that while they hope for the best, they’ll also plan for the worst.

Toughest for many Tokyo Olympians was not being accompa-nied to Japan by loved ones who had no choice but to watch them compete on TV. American surfer Carissa Moore said it was “a huge challenge” being separated from her husband and his “strong constant voice.”

Moore ultimately found her footing to win gold in surfing’s debut as an Olympic sport. As painful as separa-tion was, Tokyo was also a learning experience for the Hawaiian. “I’m very proud of myself, to be here and stand on my own two feet,” she said.

Travelling without her parents for the first time at age 17, US skateboard-

er Brighton Zeuner compensated by staying closely connected even during her competition, video-calling her father from the Olympic skate bowl “between every single run I did.”

To limit infection risks, organisers also asked athletes to arrive in Tokyo no earlier than five days before com-peting and leave within 48 hours of being done—a rapid turnaround that further truncated the Olympic experience.

Belgian skateboarder Axel Cruysberghs, who competed in week one, and his skateboarding wife Lizzie Armanto, who competed in week two, passed each other like ships in the night. As she took off for Tokyo, his flight back to their home was 20 min-utes from landing.

“It worked out for our puppy,” she joked. But it wasn’t the fairy-tale Olympics they’d planned before the

pandemic. We’d hoped to like be here for a month together and, you know, I could see his event and he could stay for mine,” Armanto said. “But because of Covid and everything ...”

Armanto came away from Tokyo having not made up her mind about whether she wants to go again in Paris. In an Instagram livestream from the Olympic residential com-pound where athletes were largely confined when not training or compet-ing, she was wrestling with cabin fever, complaining of rooms that “feel a little prison-like” and wishing that organisers hadn’t barred athletes from going to watch sports other than their own in their downtime.

“I’ve circled the perimetre quite a few times because what else do you do here?” Armanto asked.

Not being able to pass the time at sports venues was a common

complaint.“That’s something I would have

liked to have experienced as an Olympian, to go watch my other team-mates, other than wrestlers, compete,” said Elias Kuosmanen of Finland, who wrestled in the Greco-Roman heavyweight class.

At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Canadian volleyball player Nicholas Hoag took in gymnastics and track and field on off days, went out for drinks with teammates and otherwise absorbed the Olympic experience. But on days with no matches in Tokyo, “I was watching TV pretty much all day, watching all the sports.”

Another Canadian volleyballer, Ryan Sclater, said the pandemic games were “a real mix of amazing things and weird things” and somewhat blunted by social distancing and mask

wearing. Athletes were asked not to mingle outside their teams and avoid “unnecessary” hugs, high-fives and handshakes—guidance they frequent-ly ignored in the heat and joy of com-petition.

“We are not quite connecting in the same way that we normally could,” Sclater said. “It’s funny being so close to all these amazing people who are here to compete but then not quite getting to know them in the same way as you might at a different Olympics.”

But because the pandemic delayed Tokyo by a year, Paris is now only a three-year wait instead of the usual four.

“That is exciting, yes, to think about being able to do this again,” Sclater said. “To see even more of the beauty and coolness of people coming together and being able to really connect to the Olympics.”

With thickets of restrictions that severely crimped their Olympic experience, athletes are eager to make up for Tokyo and its disappointments in Paris.

AP/RSS

A man unfurls a French flag at the Olympics fan zone at Trocadero Gardens in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Sunday. The French capital will be the next Summer Games host in 2024.

AP/RSS

Japan’s prime minister Yoshihide Suga

AP/RSS

Virat Kohli’s India were frustrated in their bid to go 1-0 up in the five-match Test series after rain washed the whole of last day at Trent Bridge.

Japan’s PM thanks people for safe Olympics

AssociAted PressTOKYO, Aug 9

Japan’s prime minister thanked peo-ple for helping the country safely hold the Olympics despite the difficulties of the coronavirus pandemic.

He noted the Games were delayed by a year and held under tight restrictions, but “I believe we were able to fulfill our responsibility as the host nation,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said, thanking the people for their understanding and cooperation.

The 17-day Summer Olympics were played mostly without spectators. Athletes stayed in an isolation bubble, quickly donned masks off their field of play and had to leave Japan soon after their competitions ended.

But the Games were a testament to perseverance, and as Suga noted in praising Japanese athletes for the nation’s record 58 medals, “Some won medals and others didn’t, but all their performances were moving.”

Suga spoke about the Olympics at a ceremony in Nagasaki on Monday that marked the 76th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the Japanese city.

Suga has been criticised as forcing the Games on a Japanese public that didn’t want them to be held during the pandemic.

Japan has counted 1 million infections and more than 15,700 deaths from Covid-19, faring better than many countries, but the delta variant is causing many recent cases and accelerating the spread of the virus.

Tokyo’s new daily cases have more than doubled during the Olympics, with 2,884 recorded Monday for a prefectural total of 252,169 cases. With Tokyo hospitals filling up with serious cases, nearly 18,000 people with mild cases are isolating at home.

India captain Kohli confident for remainder of England Test series

Agence FrAnce-PresseNOTTINgHAM, Aug 9

India captain Virat Kohli said his side had the “right template” for the remainder of their “blockbuster” series against England after enjoying the better of a rain-marred draw in the first Test.

The tourists were frustrated in their bid to go 1-0 up in a five-match contest when rain washed out the whole of Sunday’s last day at Trent Bridge, with India stranded on 52-1 in pursuit of a victory target of 209.

By that stage, however, they had already dismissed the hosts for just 183 after England captain Joe Root won the toss. And but for Root making 64 in that lowly first-innings total and 109 in England’s second innings 303, India might well have won a match where more than two days’ play was lost to bad weather.

Jasprit Bumrah led an impressive display by India’s four-man pace attack, with a match haul of 9-110 while recalled opener KL Rahul (84) and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, whose first-innings 56 came after he had been preferred as a specialist spinner after Ravichandran Ashwin, was dropped

made valuable runs.“Most likely it will be a template

going ahead in the series,” Kohli, speaking at the presentation ceremo-ny, said of an XI that featured an extra seamer compared to the two spinners India deployed in a World Test Championship final loss to New Zealand at Southampton in June.

“But again adaptability has been a strength of ours as well,” added the star batsman, out for a golden duck to James Anderson in Nottingham, ahead of the second Test at Lord’s starting on Thursday. “This looks like the right template for us moving forward.”

Kohli, whose side beat Root’s men 3-1 in India earlier this year, insisted: “It is going to be an exciting series to watch and be part of. India-England is always a blockbuster so expect a lot of exciting cricket.”

Reflecting on events at Trent Bridge, the 32-year-old Kohli, looking to lead India to just their fourth series win in England, said: “We thought we were in a good position to have a crack at the target. And would have been a really nice, interesting day of Test cricket, would have been enjoyable to watch and certainly enjoyable to be part of. So, yeah, it’s a shame that weather

prevailed in the end.”“This is exactly what we wanted to

do: we wanted to start strong. Heading to day five we had our chances right in front of us. We certainly felt like we were on top of the game. We bowled well enough and batted well enough to stay in the contest and then getting that lead (India were 95 runs ahead on first innings) was crucial which kept us on top throughout the game,” he added

England, without Ben Stokes to bail them out now the star all-rounder is taking an indefinite break from crick-et, endured more top-order misery barely disguised by player of the match Root’s two innings. The England skipper’s 21st Test hundred came after he walked into bat at 46-2—the 14th time in 18 innings this year they had failed to reach 50 before los-ing their second wicket, with the team’s fallible close catching another ongoing concern.

“There are still certain areas we want to get better at,” said Root. “Obviously, we want to score more runs at the top of the order and take all the chances we create. But Test cricket challenges you, you’ve got to keep a strong character and keep turn-ing up every day trying to get better.”

Yakin named new Switzerland coachAgence FrAnce-PressegENEVA, Aug 9

Murat Yakin was appointed Monday as the new boss of the Swiss national football team, with an eye on greater success after their impressive run to the Euro 2020 quarter-finals.

Yakin, 46, takes over from Vladimir Petkovic, who stepped down after seven years in charge of the “Nati” to take over at French Ligue 1 team Bordeaux.

Yakin, who played 49 times for Switzerland, leaves his post as the manager of Swiss second-tier side Schaffhausen.

“Murat Yakin is the new coach of the Nati,” the Swiss Football Association (SFA) announced. “Welcome back, Murat!”

Yakin’s contract runs until the end of the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with an option for an extension.

“The Nati was already an affair of the heart for me as a player. It is a great honour and a pleasure for me to be able to represent our country as a coach,” he said. “I have no doubts that we will qualify for the World Cup with this great team.”

Petkovic had been in charge of the national team since 2014. Under his leadership, Switzerland pulled off one of their best-ever performances at a major international tournament, reaching the European Championships quarter-finals, where they were elimi-nated by Spain on penalties in Saint Petersburg on July 2.

Along the way, Switzerland knocked out reigning world champions France in the last 16, triggering wild celebra-tions throughout the country.

Previously, Switzerland’s best inter-national performances had been reaching the World Cup quarter-finals in 1934, 1938 and 1954.

Now the onus is on Yakin to main-tain the momentum.

A defender in his playing days, the former centre-half won the Swiss title twice with Grasshoppers and three times with his hometown club, Basel.

Since entering management, Yakin has had spells with several Swiss sides and a season at Spartak Moscow. He guided Basel to two Swiss titles and also took them to the Europa League semi-finals.

His first match in charge of Switzerland will be a friendly against Greece in Basel on September 1.

The warm-up match will be fol-lowed by World Cup qualifiers against the new European champions Italy in Basel on September 5, and away to Northern Ireland in Belfast on September 8.

Sinner outclasses McDonald to claim ATP Washington titleAgence FrAnce-PresseWASHINgTON, Aug 9

Italy’s Jannik Sinner, the ATP’s top-ranked teen, captured his third career title on Sunday, outlasting American Mackenzie McDonald 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in the Citi Open final.

World number 24 Sinner, a 19-year-old who won at Sofia last year and Melbourne in January, took the top prize of $350,755 on the Washington hardcourts.

“I’m very happy about this tourna-ment and win,” Sinner said.

McDonald, ranked 107th and play-ing in his first ATP final, denied Sinner on 16 of 21 break chances, 10 in the first set, and battled from 5-2 down to level the final set before falling.

“A big fight... in every single part of the game,” Sinner said. “I tried to stay calm and work for my chances.”

Sinner became the youngest ATP 500-level champion in 146 events since the category was created in 2009, breaking the mark 20-year-old Alexander Zverev set at Washington in 2017.

“I don’t put much weight on that,” Sinner said. “There are a lot of play-ers who have done much better than me. It’s not about the youngest. I just want to work hard and play good matches.”

Eight days shy of his 20th birthday, Sinner became the third-youngest Washington champion after 18-year-old Andy Roddick in 2001 and 19-year-old Juan Martin del Potro in 2008.

“I’m not looking if I’m the youngest because the road is long,” he said. “There’s still much work to do. I’m already focusing on next week.”

Sinner, who made the last eight at the 2020 French Open, was the first Italian finalist in the US capital event’s 52-year history.

Sinner will jump to a career-high 15th in Monday’s rankings while McDonald will rise to 64th.

In the third set, Sinner broke for a 2-0 edge, saved three break points to hold for a 4-1 lead and held again to 5-2.

Sinner dropped two match points in the eighth game—the Italian netting a forehand and McDonald hitting a fore-hand winner—and made four unforced errors in the ninth, allowing McDonald to break back and hold again to reach 5-5.

Sinner held at love on his ninth ace and broke to claim the match after two hours and 53 minutes when McDonald

netted a backhand.“In the third set, I tried to get a little

bit up with the rhythm, go faster, tried to serve it out,” Sinner said. “We were both there trying to stay mentally strong.”

- ‘A roller coaster’ -Sinner, broken only three times in

his first four matches, was broken three times in the first two sets by the 26-year-old American.

“It was physical but also mental,” Sinner said. “I had a lot of chances. First he was playing better in crucial moments. I tried to work for one more chance and one more chance. It was a little bit of a roller coaster.”

After breaking at love in the sixth game, Sinner served for the first set in the ninth, but McDonald broke again on a forehand winner.

McDonald saved six break points in a tense 10-minute 10th game before holding to pull level and, after Sinner held at love to 6-5, saved four more break points in the 12th game before netting a backhand to finally surren-der the set.

In the second set, McDonald saved two break points to hold for 3-3, then broke when Sinner netted a backhand and held twice to force a third.

AFP/RSS

Jack Sinner became the youngest ATP 500-level champion, breaking the mark 20-year-old Alexander Zverev set in 2017.

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Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry president and Hansaraj Hulaschand and Company managing director Shekhar Golchha unveils the Everest Premier League trophy.

09 | TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2021

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Aguero ruled out for 10 weeksBARCELONA: Barcelona striker Sergio Aguero has been ruled out of action for 10 weeks, the club said on Monday, deepening the Catalans’ troubles ahead of the new season following Lionel Messi’s shock departure. Aguero joined Barca as a free agent in June after 10 years with Manchester City. Barca’s statement said Aguero, 33, had injured a tendon in his right calf muscle and would be out for around 10 weeks, meaning he will not make his debut until October 17 at the earliest. Aguero’s problem comes after a final season with City blighted by injuries, limiting him to only seven Premier League starts.

Frankfurt out of German CupBERLIN: Two coaches had debuts to forget in Germany on Sunday with Oliver Glasner watching Eintracht Frankfurt lose to a third-tier team, and Mark van Bommel winning with Wolfsburg. Frankfurt were knocked out in the first round of the German Cup by Waldhof Mannheim. Wolfsburg needed extra time to beat fourth-division side Preußen Münster 3-1. Both Cologne and Mainz required penalty shootouts to get past fourth-tier oppositions. Cologne won 4-2 at Carl Zeiss Jena, and Mainz prevailed 8-7 over Elversberg. Hertha Berlin beat third-division Meppen1-0, Union Berlin saw off third-division Turkgucu Munich 1-0, Freiburg overcame third-tier Wurzburger Kickers 1-0 and Hamburger won 2-1 at Eintracht Braunschweig. Hansa Rostock beat Heidenheim 3-2 and Schalke thrashed Villingen 4-1, Fortuna Düsseldorf beat Oldenburg 5-0, Jahn Regensburg won 3-0 against Rot-Weiß Koblenz. Defending champi-ons Dortmund also progressed with a 3-0 win at Wehen Wiesbaden.

Bencic up to 11 in rankingsPARIS: Olympic champion Belinda Bencic climbed one place in the latest WTA rankings released on Monday but the Swiss remains one place outside the top 10. The Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who collected silver, remains at 42 while bronze medallist Elina Svitolina of Ukraine also moved up one place to number five. The biggest faller was the Canadian Bianca Andreescu, who slipped three places from fifth to eighth. Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty continues to dominate at the top even though she has not played since her early elimination in Tokyo at the end of July. Serena Williams dropped four places to number 20. Fellow-American Danielle Collins moved up eight spots to 28th follow-ing her win in San Jose on Sunday while Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, who picked up her first WTA title since 2015 in Cluj, jumped 23 places to 68th. Losing finalist, Egyptian Mayar Sherif, gained 22 places and entered the top 100 for the first time at 97. (AGENCIES)

YESTErDAY’S SolUTion

CroSSworD

HoroSCopE

SUDokU

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19) ****Important conversations loom on the horizon under Monday’s skies, Capricorn. Expressive Mercury locks into a perspective-widening opposition with expansive Jupiter, helping you explore sensitive relationship content and the capacity for further growth in your current union.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18) ***

Your relationships are on the receiving end of a wake-up call today, Aquarius. Turn to these close commitments to see new developments emerging, as messenger Mercury opposes abundance-bringing Jupiter

PISCES (February 19-March 20) ***As a Pisces, you receive cosmic guidance from the ever-expansive and optimistic planet, Jupiter. Monday’s skies find Jupiter receiving a visit from messenger Mercury, which brings important conver-sations, news, or revelations to your doorstep.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) ****Pour yourself into your craft today, Aries. You’re looking to hone your skills and bring a fresh, innova-tive eye to your work, as the hard-working Virgo moon links up with originality-craving Uranus.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) ***

Let yourself lean into the vision for the future of your career, Taurus. Tuesday’s skies are likely to have you envisioning new plans and embracing fresh inspirations, as mental Mercury opposes grandiose Jupiter.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21) ****

The universe is pushing you to go big or go home today, Gemini. Your ruling planet, messenger Mercury, locks into an expansive opposition with growth-bringing Jupiter.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) ***Tuesday’s skies are bound to keep you busy and on your toes, Cancer. The hardworking Virgo moon links up with electrically energized Uranus—push-ing you to cover local ground and cross things off your to-do list.

LEO (July 23-August 22) ***

Your relationships are getting a welcome wake-up call today, Leo. Communicator Mercury, currently in your sign, finds itself in an eye-opening opposition with growth-giving Jupiter.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22) ****Today’s cosmic landscape widens the scope of your world, Virgo. Your ruling planet, expressive Mercury, clicks into a growth-giving opposition with abun-dant Jupiter.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22) ***As a Libra, you come equipped with a natural apprecia-tion for aesthetics and a sharp skill with artistic endeav-ors. Tuesday’s skies work to remind you of these abili-ties and encourage you to engage in long-term creative plans, as thoughtful Mercury opposes visionary Jupiter.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) ***

Spend some time with your people today, Scorpio. The moon’s presence in down to earth Virgo encour-ages you to embrace community connections and talk through career blockages among friends.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21) ***The universe is delivering some critical insights to your doorstep today, Sagittarius. Messenger Mercury locks into an eye-opening opposition with your rul-ing planet, jovial Jupiter.

Messi signing would give Pochettino tactical headacheAssociAted PressPARIS, Aug 9

If Lionel Messi does become the latest star to help Paris Saint-Germain’s quest to win the elusive Champions League, coach Mauricio Pochettino must work out the best way to accommodate him in a top-heavy attack.

Messi bid a tearful farewell to Barcelona on Sunday. At the same time, PSG were in talks with his team trying to finalise a deal to sign him amid reports Messi had flown to Paris on Sunday for a meeting.

Talk of Messi’s imminent arrival led sever-al hundred PSG fans to wait outside Le Bourget airport, to the north of Paris, which is often used by PSG and the national team.

Messi would become the biggest star to arrive at Parc des Princes since cash-rich Qatari owners QSI took over the club 10 years ago.

Messi’s arrival would surpass even the fanfare of Neymar’s world-record signing for 222 million euros ($261 million) from Barcelona in 2017, or Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s brazenly self-promoting presentation by the Eiffel Tower in 2012.

They never won a Ballon d’Or, let alone the record six Messi has.

The football great’s staggering tally of 672 goals for Barca includes an extraordinary 50-goal season in 2012; 96 league goals and a remarkable 133 overall across 2012 and 2013; eight Spanish league and six Champions League scoring titles.

Not to mention four Champions League tro-phies with Barcelona, a record 91 goals in a calendar year for club and country, and a Copa America title with Argentina.

Even Messi’s age—he’s 34—will have little impact on the huge anticipation that his arriv-al would generate within French football and beyond.

But where is Pochettino, a fellow Argentine, going to play him in attack which includes Neymar, France’s World Cup star Kylian Mbappe, Copa America match-winner Angel Di Maria and sharpshooter Mauro Icardi?

Mbappe cost 180 million euros ($212 million)

and netted a career-high 42 goals last season. The club paid 50 million euros ($59 million) for Icardi. He showed his finishing skills on Saturday night in PSG’s league-opener—a 2-1 win at Troyes—and has 34 goals in 64 games for PSG.

Icardi looks certain to fall behind in the pecking order and could even be sold or loaned to take some weight off the club’s huge wage bill.

Pochettino needs to decide whether to use Di Maria in a four-man attack at the risk of unbalancing midfield. PSG showed last sea-son—and in the way it conceded a soft goal from a corner against Troyes—that it needs protection at the back.

Here’s a look at possible PSG tactical forma-tions with Messi in the side:

4-3-3: Messi on the right of attack, Neymar on the left and Mbappe playing through the middle in his preferred centre forward’s role. Messi has played in this role many times at Barca. But while the 4-3-3 also offers greater security in midfield, there’s no place for Di Maria.

4-2-3-1: This time Di Maria takes his place on the right flank with Messi playing behind Mbappe in a playmaker’s role and Neymar again attacking from the left side. Great on the eye but a two-man midfield—likely Marco Verratti and new signing Georginio Wijnaldum—would make PSG vulnerable to counterattacks.

3-5-2: Possibly the best option with Messi pushing up front alongside Mbappe, and Neymar using his slick probing and passing playing behind them.

Verratti and Wijnaldum would get welcome support in the middle. But this formation would once again be at the expense of Di Maria, who was arguably PSG’s best player last season along with Mbappe and goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Everest Premier League T20 cricket trophy unveiledsPorts BUreAUKATHMANDu, Aug 9

Everest Premier League (EPL), a franchise Twenty20 cricket tourna-ment starting from September 25, has unveiled the winners’ trophy amidst a sponsorship signing ceremony in Kathmandu on Monday.

Shekhar Golchha, the president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, unveiled a replica of the trophy. EPL managing director Amir Akhtar claimed that the trophy was designed by the company that manufactures the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy. He however, declined to name the manufacturer.

EPL also announced two-wheeler Bajaj Pulsar as the title sponsor for the upcoming edition of the tour-nament. Golchha, also the managing director of the Hansaraj Hulaschand and Company, the authorised distributor and producer of Bajaj

motorbikes in Nepal, exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EPL managing director Amir Akhtar.

The sponsorship amount, howev-er, was not disclosed.

“We have been associated with the prestigious Sports Award for almost two decades and the Bajaj Pulsar stands for sports. We also have asso-ciations with football and cricket in the past. We are delighted to be asso-ciated with the biggest sports event of the country,” said Golchha.

“Some have even questioned if it was the right decision to be the sponsor during the Covid-19 pan-demic. But everyone is affected by the pandemic and the show must go on. We must continue sports to bring positivity and growth,” he added.

The last edition of the tourna-ment was cancelled owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. Akhtar said that they would follow all the guidelines set by the Government and the

Ministry of Health and Population while conducting the event. “The entry of spectators and their num-bers will depend upon the situation and we will follow all the protocols set by authorities,” said Akthar.

The six-team franchise tourna-ment to take place at the TU grounds in Kirtipur has attracted some of the big names of international cricket including former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi and Danish Aziz. While Afridi will play for Kathmandu Kings XI, Aziz will be featuring for Chitwan Tigers. EPL also announced that Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik and West Indies’ Carlos Braithwaite will be the other international stars in the tourna-ment in the 14-day event.

West Indies’ batsman Chrish Gayle and South African Hashim Amla had confirmed participation in the last edition of the tournament but it was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Complaints filed aiming to block Messi’s movePARIS: An FC Barcelona member has filed complaints with a French court and with the European Union Commission with the aim of blocking any move by Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain football club, according to documents seen by Reuters on Monday.

In the complaints, shared by the fan’s lawyer Juan Branco, the Barca member claims that French football authorities have failed to enforce their own financial fair play (FFP) rules in order to help PSG become a force in European football.

Barcelona, like its main La Liga rival Real Madrid, is fully owned by its subscription-paying members known as “socios”. The FFP rules notably forbid top European football clubs to pay their playing squads an excessive share of their total revenues, according to the member’s complaints, which also state that the transfer of Messi to PSG would breach the code.

PSG, France’s professional football league LFP and the EU Commission didn’t immediately reply to requests seeking comment.

Sam Boor, a senior manager in Deloitte’s sports busi-ness group, told Reuters in April that European football’s governing body UEFA has historically said a 70% wage-to-revenue ratio should be the upper limit for clubs to target. But he added that a number of large clubs may go past that figure and possibly even breach 100% in the short term. Any transfer of Messi from Barcelona to Paris would constitute a distortion of competition with other national leagues, the complaints claim, and would be detrimental to FC Barcelona fans.

This distortion would affect the football market compe-tition within the European Union, according to the com-plaint filed with the EU’s executive body, and thus consti-tutes unlawful state aid. (REutERS)

Where will coach Mauricio Pochettino play the Argentine forward in the attack which includes Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria and Mauro Icardi?

afP/rss

Lionel Messi, 34, is seen by the French giants’ Qatari owners as the vital missing piece of their frustrating Champions League puzzle.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2021 | 10

CUlTUrE & lifESTYlE

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Prajesh sjB rana

W

ith Windows 11 just around the corner, many tech enthusi-asts are looking for-ward to tinkering with a brand new

operating system. While Microsoft’s new iteration of their popular operating sys-tem comes with major user-interface (UI) and system upgrades, its system require-ments have created a bit of confusion over the internet. Windows 11 will only work on CPUs with 8th Generation Intel and higher or AMD Zen 2 and up. A TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module) is also nec-essary for an upgrade, making many older CPUs incompatible with the upgrade. In what feels like a corporate money grab scheme to sell newer hard-ware during a global chip shortage, Microsoft will be leaving behind many laptops a few generations old with Windows 11. While Windows 11 might actually be good (not considering Microsoft’s track record with subsequent releases), supporting such a blatant push for new hardware when older hardware runs Windows 10 well feels wrong; which is why I’m going to make a case for Linux once again. For anyone looking to upgrade their operating system with Windows 11-incompatible hardware, Linux may be worth revisiting in 2021 since the operating system has evolved significantly over the years.

Okay, yes! Windows 11 does look sweet. The UI upgrades are quite significant, and the rounded corners make the operat-ing system look modern, closer to Apple’s macOS design language. Linux has also grown in aesthetics over the years, with releases like Pop!_OS, ZorinOS, Linux Mint, and Elementary OS flaunting some great looking desktop environments. But the beauty of Linux is that you can tweak and modify almost everything about your UI experience; you can install a complete-ly new desktop environment altogether. They come with themes and many UI tweaking tools that let you adjust and customise your operating system to your heart’s content.

The beauty of Linux also lies in its customisability. While the GUI has improved to the extent where most modi-fications can be performed easily through a graphical interface, you will need to use the command line from time to time to update your existing apps or grab new apps from their respective repositories. On Linux, the command line is a powerful tool that provides an infinite

amount of control over your computer if you know how to script on it. It might actually be a good time to learn these scripting languages too while we’re all working from home since Linux has seen heavy implementation outside in digital infrastructures outside of personal com-puting.

Many internet and networking servers run on Linux; Microsoft’s own Azure Cloud Service runs on Linux. Android and Chrome OS are all based on Linux, and, I believe, many IoT devices of the future will run custom Linux operating systems as well. A majority of the inter-net infrastructure is based on Linux because of its stability and its customisa-bility. Linux is extremely stable; this is because it usually doesn’t come with bloatware like telemetry and tracking systems native to both Apple and Microsoft operating systems. It also works really well on older and weaker hardware which makes it ideal for server usage. It also helps that Linux is free while networking alternatives from enterprises are expensive.

Linux is also extremely scalable, mak-

ing it apt for use on smart devices and IoT devices. It is also already being imple-mented in single-board computers as con-trollers for many DIY projects. For the software side of things, developers usual-ly choose a scaled-down version of Linux like Puppy Linux (300MB) and Porteus (300MB), or for even smaller deployment like Tiny Core Linux that comes at 11MB for the command line version and a mere 16MB for the graphical user interface. Because these distros(Linux distribution operating systems) are so small, they can also run on very low memory chips: Tiny Core Linux works flawlessly on 64MB of RAM. This scalability makes it excellent

for deployment in a variety of different products.

On the desktop side of things, a lot has changed as well. Both AMD and Nvidia have officially supported Linux for quite some time now, opening up hardware acceleration for demanding Linux appli-cations. We still don’t see support from big companies like Microsoft and Adobe for Linux. They can be run through emu-lation, which might be complicated to set up but works well enough. Gaming, on the other hand, has seen significant strides. Valve’s StreamOS is also based on Linux, and to ensure that games work on Linux, they developed Proton, a compatibility layer for Linux that runs Windows games. Proton initially launched with 27 games on its whitelist, which has grown signifi-cantly since it was released with ProtonDB reporting 15,636 working titles as of today.

On Microsoft’s side of things, they’ve also integrated the Linux kernel into their Windows operating system. For Windows 10 version 2004, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) available for download. You will

need to turn this feature on and download the required files from Microsoft to be able to use this subsystem, but this fea-ture lets users use the Linux terminal from within Windows. And with the newer WSL 2.0, Linux-based GUI applica-tions can also be run within Windows using Hyper-V virtualisation. Hardware acceleration, audio, and video support have also been made available for Linux apps through this service.

Linux is still the underdog when it comes to operating systems. At a mere 1.97 percent market share, Linux is even behind Google’s relatively new Chrome OS (2.09 percent). Linux has received great support from other companies and communities over the years, and it has matured into a viable alternative to Windows or macOS. And with the way things are going, it might be better to hop on the bandwagon and learn Linux for the penguin future that is to come!

Rana is a Kathmandu-based tech writer who has been covering all things tech for the past decade.

A case for Linux in 2021A majority of the internet infrastructure is based on Linux because of its stability and its customisability.

Linux may be worth revisiting in 2021 since the OS has evolved significantly over the years.

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