POST PHOTO: ANGAD DHAKAL Nepal seeks support in virus

Everest saw its first Covid-19 case last week and this week all-time high number of permits

SANGAM PRASAINKATHMANDU, APRIL 23

On April 15, a few days after reaching the Everest base camp, Norwegian climber Erlend Ness suddenly felt sick.

The adventurer from Trondheim had to give up on his dream to reach the highest point on the planet at 5,500 metres, the base camp of the 8,848.86-metre Everest.

He eventually had to be evacuated to Kathmandu and was later diag-

nosed with Covid-19, becoming the first recorded Covid-19 case at Everest.

Despite the pandemic having come to Everest and Nepal wit-nessing a second wave of infec-tions, aspiring summiteers have not been deterred.

By Friday, 394 climbing per-mits had been issued to climb Everest, an all-time high beating the earlier record of 381 permits in the spring of 2019.

On Friday, Nepal recorded

2,449 new cases, a sharp rise from 490 on April 15.

Ness is one of the 394, but he will not be climbing the mountain. He has called off the expedition and is leav-ing home next week, his campaign outfitter said.

Ness and seven others in his group had flown to Lukla, the gateway to the Everest region, on April 4. They were happy sharing photos and videos of crossing the gushing Dudh Koshi river, encountering yaks and ponies with their bells jangling, as they car-ried loads up to the mountain and porters lugging expedition equipment.

But at Kala Patthar (5,600 metres), the point that provides the best view of the Everest summit, his problems started.

“I was drained of energy and thought I had drunk too little [fluids]. After three days of climbing the Kala Patthar mountain at 5,600 metres, I only got worse and worse,” Ness told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

>> Continued on page 2

C M Y K

PHOTO COURTESY: DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM

The Department of Tourism has told expeditions on the mountain not to mix with each other.

POST PHOTO: ANGAD DHAKAL

Snow-capped mountains were clearly visible above Swayambhu stupa in the north-western rim of Kathmandu Valley on Friday. Rains in the last few days have come as a respite for Valley residents reeling under severe air pollution.

W I T H O U T F E A R O R F A V O U RNepal’s largest selling English dailyPrinted simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj

Vol XXIX No. 65 | 8 pages | Rs.5Saturday, April 24, 2021 | 11-01-2078

38.3 C 2.5 CBhairahawa Jumla

O O

ANUP OJHAKATHMANDU, APRIL 23

On Thursday, Eliza Bagale along with her two kids and mother-in-law, left Kathmandu for her village in Lamjung fearing the new variant of the corona-virus that has been spreading in Kathmandu Valley.

“My son’s school has been closed since Monday, and, of course, my vil-lage is much safer than Kathmandu,” said the mother of six-year-old Elite, who is in kindergarten, and a 10-month-old daughter before she left.

“I heard that the new virus is more fatal for kids, and it would be hard for us to live here if the government announces yet another lockdown,” said Bagale, 29, who used to run a cos-metic shop and also made dolls.

According to the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, the UK vari-ant of the coronavirus, known as B.1.1.7, has been infecting a signifi-cant number of children.

Bagale, who gave birth to her daugh-ter on June 28 amid the lockdown last year, still remembers the nightmare she had to go through.

“I could not go to my village as my daughter was in my womb,” she said. “Even after I gave birth to my baby girl, my mother and close relatives could not come to meet me as there was total restriction on mobility.”

“If only I had been back in my vil-lage during the lockdown, things would have been easier,” she said.

There are others too leaving Kathmandu Valley with the second wave of infections here and fearing a lockdown.

Durga Singh Thakuri and his wife also left their rented room at Bakhundol, Lalitpur on Thursday for their village in Kalikot.

“Last year I was stuck here for four months due to the nationwide lock-down. Many people walked to their homes on foot, but my village is too far and it’s not possible to walk there,” said Thakuri, 24, who worked as a security guard at a private firm.

He said one of the reasons for leav-ing Kathmandu is to take his wife back to his village, as he has recently been recruited in the Nepal Army.

“I am taking all my belongings to my village because if another lock-down is imposed, I can’t pay the room rent here,” said Thakuri.

Last year, the government had announced a nationwide lockdown for four months starting from March 24 after the country reported only two cases of Covid-19.

Immediately after the lockdown was imposed, thousands as a last resort took arduous journeys of hun-dreds of kilometres long on foot to their homes with no bus services available.

>> Continued on page 2

A second wave prompting a new exodusFearing lockdown, people are moving out to avoid the trouble they faced last year.

Nepal seeks support in virus fight from crisis-hit IndiaANIL GIRIKATHMANDU, APRIL 23

The government has sought assis-tance from India for the supply of oxygen, antiviral drugs and intensive care unit beds, as the country’s health-care system is cracking under the pressure of rising coronavirus cases.

According to officials, a request to that effect was made to New Delhi by the Ministry of Health through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Nepali embassy in New Delhi has already started taking up the matter with concerned Indian government

agencies, officials said.“We have received a list of require-

ments from the government and have forwarded them to relevant [Indian] government agencies,” a senior Nepali diplomat at the Nepali embassy in Delhi told the Post over the phone.

The list of requirements includes oxygen, Remdesivir and intensive care unit beds.

The request, however, has come at a time when India itself is struggling to contain the lethal second wave of the coronavirus, with the daily count of infections soaring over 300,000 and the number of daily deaths hitting a

record 2,263. Public health experts say the request to India at this time exposes the government’s lack of pre-paredness against the looming second wave about which they had consist-ently warned.

That the second wave of the corona-virus was going to strike was evident when India, after a decline in the num-ber of infections, which many termed “miraculous”, started reporting a sudden resurgence of the virus. The daily count started to shoot up at an exponential rate. Concerns had grown in Nepal, but authorities by and large made no moves, while governance

took a backseat as politicians, includ-ing Prime MInister KP Sharma Oli, engaged in a bitter political fight.

Nepal too had seen a sudden decline in the number of cases after the daily count hit the highest ever on October 21 last year at 3,439. But from less than 100 new infections on March 12, the country on Thursday reported 2,365 new cases.

The Health Ministry said on Friday the number of new cases in the past 24 hours hit 2,449, with five deaths. Officials say the country’s health facil-ities are already overwhelmed, with hospitals running out of intensive

care beds, oxygen and Remdesivir.About a few weeks ago, when

India decided to impose a ban on exports of Remdesivir, Nepali officials said Nepal won’t be impacted much by the decision, and it was importing the antiviral drug from Bangladesh as well.

Public health experts, doctors and analysts say India is no doubt a friend-ly country but extending a begging bowl at a time when the neighbour itself is struggling to deal with one of the biggest humanitarian crises of its own just does not make sense. >> Continued on page 2

The request for oxygen, antiviral drug and intensive care beds exposes the government’s inaction despite warnings of a looming crisis, experts say.

394 Everest permits have been issued to climbers even as Nepal has been reporting a steady rise in new coronavirus infections over the last two weeks.

C M Y K

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2021 | 02

NATIONAL

>> Continued from page 1“Why not procure some items like

Remdesivir from Bangladesh, as it is manufactured there as well,” said Dr Baburam Marasini, former director of the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division. “The government can purchase small oxygen concentra-tions also from East Asian countries like Thailand and Malaysia.”

As the coronavirus cases are swell-ing, there are concerns about hospi-tals running out of oxygen. Out of 185 hospitals across the country, only 26 have oxygen plants and not all of them are in operation.

As far as intensive care unit beds are concerned, their number current-ly stands at 1,486 throughout the coun-try. The number of general beds which can be allocated for coronavirus patients stands at 18,917.

“Until now, as far as I understand, we have a fairly good stock of oxygen, but we might need more. However, there is a need to preserve what we have, as there are chances oxygen, which is in high demand in India, could be smuggled out.”

According to Marasini, the govern-ment must be careful about any possi-

ble hoarding and blackmarketing of medicines and oxygen.

“The government must explore multiple options to meet the demand for necessary items instead of looking to just India,” said Marasini.

Media reports suggest that amid the sharp rise in the number of cases, India is badly gasping for oxygen. On Wednesday, Delhi High Court told the Indian government to “beg, borrow or steal” and arrange oxygen.

“It’s your job to get oxygen,” the court ordered the Indian government, according to media reports in India.

Some reports suggest that India’s oxygen crisis is graver than it is thought.

An investigation by scroll.in, an Indian news portal, on Thursday sug-gested that India’s oxygen reserves are fast depleting.

“Based on current demand, it may run out of stocks in a few weeks even if all oxygen is diverted to medical use,” the portal said.

In such a scenario, whether India will be able to fulfil Nepal’s oxygen request is not certain. The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, has

yet to supply 1 million doses of vac-cine for which Nepal paid for in February. Though the Nepal govern-ment had signed a direct deal with the Serum Institute to procure 2 million doses, the private manufacturer has expressed its inability to supply the remaining 1 million doses after the Indian government put a ban on exports of the vaccine.

There are concerns if the Indian government will address Nepal’s request for the supply of oxygen and other items like intensive care unit beds for which it itself is struggling at a time when it has not delivered the vaccine doses.

The government’s move to seek assistance from India is reactive, say foreign policy watchers. The pandem-ic has brought the world down to its knees and it’s not good to seek support from the neighbours all the time when they themselves are under immense pressure, according to them.

“India itself is struggling to cope with the pandemic and we do not know what is happening inside China, as mobility with China has been restricted,” said Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, a former foreign minister and

ambassador. “Our government should have been proactive in dealing with the pandemic.”

According to Thapa, Nepali system has been historically lethargic and slow.

“Everyone knows that this pandem-ic is a global crisis and every country has been hit hard. There was denial that the second wave was coming,” said Thapa. “Seeking support at the last moment when the crisis is just about to overwhelm us does not help.”

Nepal has received the support of both of its giant neighbours—India and China—recently in its fight against the virus.

Earlier in May and August last year, China had donated medical supplies to Nepal besides 800,000 doses of Covid vaccines to Nepal as a grant. India too has provided different materials and equipment to support Nepal in its fight against the pandemic.

In January, Nepal became one of the first countries in the world to launch its vaccination drive with the 1 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India under the brand name of Covishield, the Indian

government had provided under grant assistance.

Nepal so far has inoculated around 1.9 million people against Covid-19. It currently has a little less than 300,000 doses of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, of the 800,000 doses that China provid-ed under grants.

Nepal needs to inoculate 72 percent of the 30 million population, but there is no certainty when the government could acquire new consignments of vaccine. The Health Ministry says it has approached most of the countries manufacturing the coronavirus vaccine, but no countries and compa-nies have responded in an affirmative manner.

Nepal so far has granted emergency use authorisation to four vaccines—Oxford-AstraZeneca, China’s Sinopharm, Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN and the Russian Sputnik V.

Dr Roshan Pokhrel, chief specialist at the Health Ministry, said private firms have been allowed to import the Russian vaccine but so far no one has applied.

According to him, the supplier of the Russian vaccine has quoted Rs2,600 for two doses and Bharat

Biotec’s COVAXIN has proposed Rs1,800 for one dose of vaccine.

Besides, the Health Ministry has also approached a South Korean com-pany, via diplomatic channels, which produces the Oxford-AstraZeneca vac-cine, to sell the jabs to Nepal.

“We need vaccines and we have a budget as well,” said Pokhrel. “The problem is there is no availability of vaccines.”

The Health Ministry expects around 1.6 million doses of AstraZeneca vac-cine under the World Health Organisation-backed COVAX facility within May.

Authorities plan to use the 1 million doses that the Serum Institute is yet to supply to administer the booster shots to those who took the first dose in March in the second phase of the campaign.

“If we get 1.6 million doses under the COVAX facility, we can also admin-ister the first dose to people between 60 and 65 years of age,” Dr Shyam Raj Upreti, coordinator of the Covid-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee, told the Post.

(Arjun Poudel contributed reporting)

Nepal seeks support in virus fight from crisis-hit India

>> Continued from page 1His health started to deteriorate

further.“After reaching the base camp, Ness

didn’t eat for four days. We were wor-ried,” his guide Pasang Norbu Sherpa told the Post. “We thought it was altitude sickness. He was kept in his tent at the base camp for three days and given bottled oxygen. But that didn’t help.”

He was taken to the medical clinic, a seasonal health aid post run in a tent every year at the Everest base camp during the spring climbing season by the Himalayan Rescue Association.

“The doctors informed us that Ness had some fluid in his lungs, making it difficult for him to breathe,” said Pasang Norbu, the director of Himalayan Trailblazer Trekking and Expedition, the expedition outfitter that is taking care of eight mountain-eers in Ness’s group.

The diagnosis meant Ness was suf-fering from high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), a life-threatening form of non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema [fluid accumulation in the lungs] that occurs at altitudes typical-ly above 2,500 metres.

Ness’s guide immediately informed his insurance company. The company dispatched a chopper to airlift him to Kathmandu. He was admitted to CIWEC Clinic Travel Medicine Center, also known as CIWEC Hospital, in Kathmandu which specialises in trav-el-related illnesses.

“The hospital conducted a polymer-ase chain reaction (PCR) test which initially came out negative on April 15,” said Pasang Norbu, who accompa-nied him to the hospital. “Another PCR test was conducted in the evening the same day. The report came the next morning and it was positive.”

Ness was unsure for a while if it was altitude sickness or Covid-19, or both, that he was suffering from.

Ness says that in his eight years of climbing mountains around the world, he never had problems with altitude.

“I don’t know if I have HAPE or Covid-19,” he told NKN from the hos-pital. Ness had another problem—that of finances.

“He immediately called me and said he has no money to pay for his treat-ment as the hospital charge was outra-geous,” said Pasang Norbu. “It would cost him $1,500 a day and he would have to stay for a minimum of 10 days.”

His insurance covered the rescue but not the hospital stay.

Pasang Norbu looked for a hospital that would take him and shifted him to Karuna Hospital in Kapan on April 16.

“It cost him Rs25,000 a day,” said Pasang Norbu.

Another PCR test was conducted on April 17 and that too returned a posi-tive result.

The final PCR test on April 22 came out negative. Since discharge, he has been staying in home isolation in Kathmandu.

“Ness has dropped his plan to climb Everest as a patient of pneumonia should not be exposed to cold and high altitude,” Pasang Norbu said. “He will leave for his country next week.”

Those who came in close contact with Ness have tested negative.

“All the members including the chopper pilot, who was in close con-tact with Ness, his guide, had PCR tests done and all came out negative,” said Mira Acharya, director of the Department of Tourism.

Pasang Norbu who spent more than two weeks with Ness said his report was negative.

But government officials were not told that Ness had tested positive despite rules that hospitals must inform the government of positive cases they come across.

“Ness was evacuated on April 15 and we were informed that he was suffering from pneumonia. That is all the information we have received,” Acharya said. “It was a lax on part of the hospital not to inform us about the Covid-19 case.”

But Dr Prativa Pandey, medical director of CIWEC Hospital, where the Norwegian climber was first admitted, told the Post that the hospi-tal had alerted the concerned authori-ties about the infection on people who

are in Nepal to climb Everest.The Health Ministry, however, said

it is also unaware of any foreigners infected with Covid-19.

“We do not have any information regarding infection of foreigners who are in Nepal for mountaineering expe-ditions,” Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari, joint spokesperson for the Health Ministry, told the Post.

“Representatives of other national and international media have been inquiring about the latest situation on the Everest base camp, but we [minis-try] don’t have any information to comment on.”

There are concerns among the mountaineering community at Everest as expressed on social media that the coronavirus has made it to Everest base camp. There are at pres-ent around 2,000 people there.

When news of the Covid-19 case on Everest first came out on Wednesday, the Department of Tourism issued a circular to all expedition outfitters, asking groups not to mix with each other.

Boundary ropes have been fixed to separate one tent from another.

With the first case, people started saying on social media platforms that the situation is getting out of control at the base camp. But Acharya was quick to dismiss the claim saying it was just a rumor.

What has been concerning doctors at the base camp is that symptoms of Covid-19 are similar to those of high altitude sickness.

“There have generally been many altitude cases this season, which have symptoms similar to coronavirus infection,” Dr Prakash Kharel, sta-tioned at the Everest base camp, told the Post over the phone. “We don’t test Covid-19 here and we don’t know about coronavirus cases.”

He said that climbers should none-theless take necessary precautions.

“We generally have been suggesting the climbers’ guides that if there are symptoms of altitude sickness lasting for five days, climbers should be evac-uated,” said Kharel.

According to him, after the first Covid-19 case last week, there has been a restriction on people’s move-ment at the base camp but other than that everything is normal.

But one official at the Everest base camp, who spoke to the Post on condi-tion of anonymity, said at least four people who were evacuated last week have been diagnosed with Covid-19, citing reports of different hospitals in Kathmandu.

“That was last week’s case. This week, so far, everything is looking good,” said the official who did not wish to be named.

Meanwhile, given the record num-ber of permits issued so far this sea-son and worries about a traffic jam-like situation near the summit as in 2019, when 381 Everest climbing per-mits had been issued, Nepal has intro-duced a quota system for climbers who will be permitted to make a sum-mit attempt on Everest in any given good weather window.

In the 2019 spring season, 10 people died on the Nepal side of the mountain, the highest death toll in four years.

Although the Department of Tourism has not specified the number of climbers that can make a summit push on a particular good weather window that usually lasts a day or two, it has mentioned who can attempt the summit in one window depending on their permit numbers.

If this plan does not work, expedi-tion outfitters will have to coordinate among themselves and organise climbing, limiting numbers to a maxi-mum of 170 individuals in one weath-er window, according to the depart-ment’s directive.

There are just a few weather win-dows to reach the top of the mountain.

According to the Guinness World Records, which lists ultimate record-breaking facts and achieve-ments, the most number of people to reach the peak of Everest on a single day is 354, with 212 climbers from the Nepal side, as recorded on May 23, 2019.

The previous record of 266 people was set on May 19, 2013.

Everest saw its first ...

>> Continued from page 1According to the Metropolitan

Traffic Police Division, over 465,972 people left the Valley last year after the government enforced the lockdown while hundreds others were forced to walk to their hometowns on foot.

“As the number of cases is growing rapidly in Kathmandu, sooner or later the government will impose another lockdown,” said Bagale, whose hus-band recently sold her cosmetic shop that remained closed for nearly a year as she had had a child and sales were poor. Her husband works in a private company that designs homes and she fears that if the lockdown persists, he will lose his job.

After the government announced the closure of academic institutions in Kathmandu Valley and a slew of restrictions on Monday, students in the Valley too have started leaving for their hometowns, as the second wave grips the country.

Sugam Shrestha, an undergraduate student at a private college in Kathmandu, is planning to leave Kathmandu on Sunday for his home-town in Birendranagar Municipality, Surkhet.

“My college is closed for two more weeks and I am afraid that if the gov-ernment imposes a lockdown I will be stuck here,” said Shrestha, 19, who stays in a hostel in New Baneshwor.

He said some of his friends from college have already left for home.

“It’s safe in my hometown because here in Kathmandu, the number of Covid-19 cases has been increasing every day,” said Shrestha.

However, according to the traffic police, the number of people leaving the Valley is not significant so far.

“We have seen some people leaving the Valley with their kids but not many,” said Superintendent of Police Shyam Krishna Adhikari, also the spokesperson of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division. “But more will leave in the coming days as the num-ber of infections is rising every day in the Valley.”

On Friday, the country reported five Covid-19-related fatalities with 2,449 new cases and 110 positive antigen tests. Of these, Kathmandu Valley alone reported 940 new infections in the past 24 hours.

Even as the number of cases in Kathmandu continues to rise, traffic

data shows more people are entering the Valley than leaving it. On Thursday, 39,088 people left the Valley while the number of new arrivals was 41,686.

Virologists say the situation is get-ting out of hand as it is grim in border cities like Nepaljung and Birgunj.

“The government needs to be extra alert,” said Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit at the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital.

People are leaving the city because at least in their hometowns, they will not die of hunger in case there is another lockdown and their memories of last year are troubling, Pun said.

One thing that the pandemic has exposed is the economic divide in soci-ety, economists say.

“Poor people need to go to the field for work and they are exposed to great-er risk of infection,” said Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, an economist and former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission. “But well-to-do people can stay home as they can store food, and can take all precautions against the disease.”

With the pandemic not going away

soon, the government needs to learn lessons from the past but it does not seem to have done that, according to Suresh Dhakal an anthropologist.

“Last year, the civil society was more proactive in serving the poor than the government that did nothing for the poor and the marginalised community,” Dhakal said.

But neither the federal government nor local governments have data on the poor and the marginalised and there seems to be no political will to gather such data.

“Many local level governments do not have the data, that’s why they can’t reach out to the poor and eco-nomically marginalised communities, and still we do not see the willingness of the government to reach out to them,” added Pokharel.

This is not lost on Bagale. “My husband is managing the

things here but he will also come to the village soon,” said Bagale. “We are planning to stay in the village. At least there we will not die of hunger and need not think about paying rent. It is certain that the government won’t give us food in case there is a lock-down.”

A second wave prompting a new exodus

Hospitals across Lumbini overwhelmed with increasing Covid-19 caseloadIll-equipped hospitals with limited staff are unable to handle the rising number of coronavirus cases, health workers say.MADHU SHAHI & THAKUR SINGH THARU BANKE, APRIL 23

On Friday, Geeta Chand from Nepalgunj was at a restaurant outside Bheri Hospital, placing an order for a bowl of lentil soup for her husband who is admitted at the hospital for Covid-19 treatment. She has been stay-ing by her husband’s side for the past few days as his attendant.

“I share the sleeping space on the floor of the Covid-19 ward with other patients. I may be infected too. I don’t know,” said Chand. “But I’ve decided to stay here with my husband because there is no one else at the hospital to look after him.”

Nepalgunj-based Bheri Hospital is one of the designated corona treat-ment centres in Banke. With the num-ber of Covid-19 cases on the rise in the district, the hospital is bursting at the seams.

Chand says the staff at the hospital has not been particularly proactive in providing medical attention to Covid-19 patients.

“Staff nurses at the hospital rarely come to the ward to check on patients. That’s why most patients here are accompanied by their family mem-bers,” she said. “On Tuesday, one of the patients was asking for water. He didn’t have any attendant to look after him. He died the same day. The past few days have been heartbreaking for me.”

Dirgha Bahadur Tiruwa, the atten-dant of another Covid-19 patient at the hospital, says he too has been sleeping on the floor at the Covid-19 ward. His brother is currently admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

“We have to request the doctors to come for medical rounds. It’s chaos here,” he said.

Dr Rajan Pandey, one of the doctors at Bheri Hospital, says the hospital is at a breaking point with a limited num-ber of medical staff, affecting their response time to individual patients. “We have one nurse assigned to more than 60 patients. We are stretched thin,” he said. “The situation in Nepalgunj has gone out of control.”

The hospital currently has the capacity to supply oxygen to just six patients while there are more than 100 patients who need to be placed in immediate ventilator support, says Pandey.

The hospital needs an additional 10 nursing staff, 10 anaesthetists and 20 helpers immediately.

“We have been requesting the pro-vincial and federal governments to manage human resources for the hos-pital but no arrangements have been made so far,” Pandey said.

On Thursday, two health workers, who were deployed at the Covid-19 ward of Bheri Hospital, tested positive for the virus but the hospital adminis-tration could not make arrangements for their treatment either.

“We should’ve been able to help frontline workers but we are helpless. I can understand the frustration of patients and their family members but there is very little we can do unless the authorities step in,” he said.

Bheri Hospital has a total of 142 isolation beds, 35 ICU beds and seven ventilators. “All of those beds and ven-tilators are occupied,” said Pandey.

According to him, over 80 percent of people who underwent Covid-19 tests in the last few days have tested positive for the virus.

The overwhelming percentage of patients seeking admission at the hos-pital has crippled the medical infra-structure. People have to wait long for their chance at securing a bed in the hospital’s Covid-19 ward. A new patient is admitted only after the recovery and discharge of another Covid-19 patient.

On Thursday night, a woman from Barbardiya in Bardiya had to wait for five hours to get admitted to the Covid-19 ward. “I had no option but to wait. Thankfully, one patient got discharged and I was admitted,” she said.

“Around a 100 people are testing positive for Covid-19 on a daily basis. All 142 isolation beds at the Covid-19 ward are occupied. The situation is beyond control. There isn’t much we can do until we get help from all quar-ters,” said Dr Prakash Thapa, the medical superintendent at the Bheri Hospital. “We feel helpless for being unable to treat every patient who comes to the hospital.”

On Thursday, 388 people tested posi-tive for Covid-19 in Banke district. Ranjha-based White House Hotel building was converted into an isola-tion centre the previous day.

According to the District Health Office in Banke, over 1,000 Covid-19 patients are staying in home isolation. Bheri Hospital and Nepalgunj Medical College Teaching Hospital are the only two Covid-19 designated hospi-tals in the district as of now.

“There have been demands from all quarters to rope in other hospitals to accommodate the growing number of Covid-19 patients in the district,” said Pramod Dhital, chairman of Bheri Hospital Development

Committee. “That would come as a huge relief for the medical fraternity and for the public.”

A similar scenario is playing out in another district of Lumbini Province. At the Corona Special Hospital in Beljhundi, Dang, 42 Covid-19 patients are receiving treatment at the 35-bed hospital.

According to Dorna Oli, manager of the hospital, the hospital administra-tion has been turning away Covid-19 patients for a lack of beds and other necessary medical equipment. “Five patients are admitted to the ICU while the remaining 37 have been adminis-tered with medical oxygen,” said Oli. “We cannot take in any more patients.”

Around 17 to 20 Covid-19 cases are being reported in Dang on a daily basis.

Currently, Bhim Hospital in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi, is also filled to the brim. The 25-bed hospital is unable to admit new patients. On Friday, 227 individuals tested positive for Covid-19 in the district.

“All 13 ICU beds and four ventilators at our hospital are occupied. There are seven other patients in the fever clinic as well. The Covid-19 caseload is increasing by the day across the prov-ince. We need immediate support from all quarters before the medical infra-structure comes crashing down,” said Dr Sudarshan Thapa, a physician at the Corona Special Hospital in Butwal.

(With inputs from local correspondents in Lumbini Province)

Hospitals say they received no support from federal and local governments.

POST PHOTO

Hospitals in the province are filled to the brim and cannot accommodate any more patients.

C M Y K

03 | SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2021

NATIONAL

POST PHOTO: ELITE JOSHI

Muslim people maintain distance as they attend a prayer amid a resurgence in Covid-19 cases, at Kashmiri Masjid in Kathmandu on Friday. Muslim people around the world are currently observing the holy month of Ramadan.

Most handwash stands installed in Valley last year are not in working condition

ANUP OJHAKATHMANDU, APRIL 23

Maya Shrestha, 53, leaves her rented room at Kalanki early in the morning to sell flowers at Bhadrakali temple. Fearing the second wave of Covid-19, she always wears a mask throughout the day but as the ringtone of her cell phone or the media appeals she can’t wash her hands frequently.

“I am very aware that I have to wash my hands with soap after touching something, but where is the water and the soap?” questioned Shrestha, who has been selling flowers at Bhadrakali for over two decades. She says she can’t afford to buy hand sanitizer.

Just to the right of her flower stall, which is located beside the main entrance to the Bhadrakali shrine,

there is a yellow water tank with a capacity to hold 1,500 litres of water, but it stands empty. The water tank sitting on a stand has a liquid soap holder to its left and there is a water and soap dispenser with a foot pedal, but these do not work. The white sink has cracked and is filled with dirt.

“This water tank was installed by the Nepal Army last year when the Covid-19 pandemic was peaking. But now although we hear the pandemic is getting worse again, neither there is water nor any soap, and the Army is indifferent towards it,” said Shrestha. She showed a Coca-Cola jumbo bottle which she refills from the tap on the premises of the Bhadrakali temple and washes her hands. “But I don’t use soap here,” said Shrestha.

This is not an isolated case. Last year just before and after the govern-ment announced a nationwide lock-down on March 24, several organisa-tions including governmental and non-governmental ones, clubs, local wards and private companies had installed hand washing stations all

across the Valley, but now as the coun-try is on the brink of a second wave of Covid-19, most of these handwashing stations have either vanished or are defunct.

Nepal Army spokesperson Brigadier General Santosh Ballav Paudel, meanwhile, said his office was not aware that the handwashing sta-tion at the entrance to the Bhadrakali shrine was broken. “We will definitely repair it and make it workable,” he said thanking the Post for the notifica-tion.

He said this on Tuesday. Even by Friday morning the tank had no water.

Nepal on Friday reported 5 Covid-19-related fatalities with 2,449 new cases. The Health Ministry’s report shows that in the past 24 hours the

Kathmandu Valley recorded 940 new infections; of which 760 cases in Kathmandu, 106 in Lalitpur and 74 in Bhaktapur.

Although the World Health Organisation and public health experts have emphasised handwash-ing as a way to prevent virus infec-tion, and the public have been request-ed to wear facemasks and maintain physical distance, these measures have evidently been neglected.

Ashok Bajracharya, administrative official at the Sankata Club, said the club in collaboration with the Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s Ward No 22 had last year installed 35 hand-washing stations in the ward. “But now we see many tanks have been stolen, and the remaining are in a sorry state. If the city is ready to col-laborate again, we will repair the bro-ken ones and install new ones where they have been stolen,” said Bajracharya.

“Although the risk of disease trans-mission is increasing by the day, peo-ple have stopped wearing masks and

maintaining social distancing. So I don’t think they will start washing hands again after we fix the broken hand-washing stations,” said Bajracharya.

Last year, in the second week of August, the Post had published a story on handwashing stations that didn’t have any water. For the story, the Post had visited Jawalakhel, Lagankhel, Teku, Tripureshwar, New Road and Basantapur. But this time, except for Jawalakhel, the handwashing stations in other places had either disappeared or were defunct.

Last year, after the imposition of the nationwide lockdown, Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited had installed 80 handwashing stations in different parts of the Valley in part-nership with the local councils, but within a year most of the stations had vanished and a few remaining were in a sorry state.

When the Post contacted Milan Kumar Shakya, acting manager at the KUKL, on Monday to inquire about the sorry state of the remaining hand-washing stations, he said his office would repair the stations within a week

“We know that the second wave of the pandemic is already here, so we will start repairing and installing washing stations within this week,” said Shakya.

As per the KUKL’s estimates, each hand washing station with a plastic tank, an iron stand, and a steel sink with a faucet and pipes costs around Rs 30,000. So installing 80 such sta-tions will cost around Rs 2.4 million.

Narayan Thapa, 39, a pedestrian whom the Post met at New Road, had his own view about the broken hand washing stations. “The authorities make a one-time investment on amen-ities and doesn’t care about their maintenance, that’s why no hand-washing station is functional.”

“The problem lies with the citizens also, because they think public prop-erty is nobody’s property that’s why most of the washing stations are defunct. People do not have civic sense,” said Thapa, a resident of Bagdole, Lalitpur.

Even virologists and doctors say, handwashing stations play a vital role in slowing down the spread of the virus.

“Not everyone can afford to buy sanitizers. If handwashing stations are installed, such people can wash their hands with soap,” said Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital.

“Besides, many people especially those who are travelling may not have easy access to soap and water. Such people would find these public hand-washing stations useful,” said Pun.

Meanwhile, Hari Kunwar, the chief of the Health Division at the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, said his office is working to dispatch soap and water at 19 various hand washing centers in the city, but the City had not started any work on this till Friday.

After Nepal Communist Party (NCP), now UML headed for vertical split

TIKA R PRADHANKATHMANDU, APRIL 23

After what looked like their last-ditch effort to read each other’s mind and demonstrate that they made genuine efforts to patch up differences, KP Sharma Oli and Madhav Kumar Nepal, who are leading separate factions in the CPN-UML, are back to reg-ular business–attacking each other.

As things stand now, it looks like the party is headed for a split.

Oli, who chairs the party, on Friday took yet another drastic step. He constituted a 19-member Standing Committee. Not even a single leader from the Nepal faction was accommodated. Oli, however, has appointed four former Maoist leaders–Ram Bahadur Thapa, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Lekhraj Bhatta and Mani Thapa–to the Standing Committee. Party Vice-chair Bamdev Gautam and Oli’s lieuten-ants are members.

Oli’s move follows his two back-to-back meetings with Nepal at an upscale hotel in Kathmandu on Wednesday and Thursday. Both leaders refused to budge from their stances.

Oli has already suspended Nepal and leaders like Bhim Rawal, Surendra Pandey and Ghanashyam Bhusal as general members of the party for six months. He has now entrusted the newly constitut-ed Standing Committee to initiate “necessary action” against as many as 27 lawmakers from the Nepal faction.

“It is evident now that Oli is employing a strate-gy to push the Nepal faction out of the UML,” said a Standing Committee member close to Nepal. “He will try to cultivate leaders from our faction. Through recent meetings [at a hotel], he just want-ed to show that he had made attempts to mend fences.”

Oli used the 10th national convention organising committee meeting on Friday to constitute the new Standing Committee.

Friday’s meeting also removed four leaders who had defied the party whip last week in Karnali as party members and members of the Karnali Provincial Assembly. All these leaders are also from the Nepal faction.

On April 16, four UML leaders and members of the Karnali Provincial Assembly, Prakash Jwala, Kurma Raj Shahi, Ammar Bahadur Thapa and Nanda Singh Budha, had crossed the floor to save Maoist Centre’s Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi.

Pradeep Gyawali, party’s spokesperson who is a

close confidante of Oli, said Friday’s move is an indication of what the party leaders could face if they violate party’s orders.

“Those who return to the party will get appropri-ate responsibility and respectable treatment,” said Gyawali after Friday’s meeting.

Gyawali has indicated further action against leaders close to Nepal if they refuse to return to the party’s meetings and continued with formation of parallel committees.

On Friday, Nepal hit out at Oli, saying he is the cause of all the crisis in the party.

“Oli does not want unity in the party,” said Nepal in Janakpur. “Yes, our party is going through a serious crisis, but it’s because of Oli.”

With the new developments in UML, leaders close to Nepal have said now they have no option ahead to form a new party but they have not said anything about the possible timeframe.

“Oli had already split the party through his March 12 and 20 decisions,” said Beduram Bhusal, a Standing Committee member close to Nepal. “When he has already split the party will the lead-ers who spent all their lives in politics will stay idle?”

As part of the preparations, Bhusal added a nationwide organisational structure has already been formed which won’t surrender to Oli.

The Nepal faction has not yet decided when to register their party at the Election Commission but they are mentally prepared for it. Some leaders have already started to say that they could even have a different party name and elec-tion symbol.

“We can participate in the by-elections with independent candidates but by the time another election is announced a new party will be regis-tered,” said Bhusal, who is also a member of the National Assembly. “We have already developed a new force and it is stronger than Oli’s party.”

The leaders from the Nepal faction have taken Oli’s move of seeking clarification from 27 lawmak-ers and five members of the Karnali province as an attempt to push the party towards a split.

Asked about the possible loss of their leaders as more and more leaders have joined Oli each pass-ing day, another Standing Committee member Ghanashyam Bhusal said that it won’t matter much as there are many people who keep on chang-ing sides for power.

“Once Oli falls from the government, everyone will join us. So we are not concerned about it,” Bhusal told the Post.

Oli constitutes a 19-member Standing Committee excluding leaders close to Nepal—an indication the two leaders are prepared to go their separate ways.

Authorities say they are working to repair and restore the handwashing stations but even after four days since the commitment, the situation remains the same.

POST PHOTO: ELITE JOSHI

A handwash stand set up by the Nepal Army at Bhadrakali, Kathmandu has fallen into disuse.

C M Y K

BRIEFING


WORLD

UK MPs anger Beijing by declaring ‘genocide’ in XinjiangLONDON: Beijing on Friday criticised British MPs after they approved a symbolic parliamentary motion declaring that Uyghur Muslims in China were “suffering crimes against humanity and genocide”, calling the accusations a “big lie”. Although the motion, approved on late Thursday, is non-binding and does not require the government to act, it is a further indi-cation of the hardening stance of Britain’s parliament towards China over the treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. The Chinese government responded by saying that “the so-called genocide in Xinjiang is a big lie concocted by international anti-China forces.

Time running out for missing Indonesian submarineBANYUWANGI: Rescue teams from sev-eral countries were battling against time on Friday to find a missing Indonesian Navy submarine lost in the Bali Sea with 53 crew, which would be rapidly running out of oxygen if not already crushed by water pressure. Search helicopters and more ships left Bali and a naval base in Java heading to the area where contact was lost with the 44-year-old KRI Nanggala-402 on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill, with the head of the Indonesian submarine fleet aboard. If the submarine was still intact, officials said it would only have enough air to last until around dawn on Saturday. “

Navalny to end hunger strikeMOSCOW: Imprisoned opposition lead-er Alexei Navalny says he is ending his hunger strike after getting medi-cal attention and being warned by his doctors that continuing it would be life-threatening. In an Instagram post on Friday afternoon, the 24th day of his hunger strike, Navalny said he will continue to demand a visit from his doctor to address a loss of sensa-tion in his legs and arms—the main demand the politician announced when launched his hunger strike. But he said he would stop refusing food after getting examined by non-prison doctors. “Thanks to the huge support of good people across the country and around the world, we have made huge progress,” Navalny said in his message. (AGENCIES)

Indian coronavirus cases surge to new record as health system staggers

REUTERSMUMBAI, APRIL 23

India reported the world’s highest daily tally of coronavirus infections for a second day on Friday, surpassing 330,000 new cases, as it struggles with a health system overwhelmed by patients and plagued by accidents.

Deaths in the past 24 hours also jumped to a record 2,263, the health ministry said, while officials across northern and western India, includ-ing the capital, New Delhi, warned most hospitals were full and running out of oxygen.

The surge in cases came as a fire in a hospital in a suburb of Mumbai treating COVID-19 patients killed 13 people, the latest accident to hit a facility crowded with virus sufferers.

On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a public hospital in the western state of Maharashtra when their oxygen supply ran out due to a leaking tank,

after at least nine had died in a hospi-tal fire last month in the state’s capital of Mumbai.

“It is grim. It is grave ... there is an extreme shortage of ICU beds,” T.S. Singh Deo, health minister of the eastern state of Chhattisgarh, told Reuters.

“We’ll need to be very careful in the rural areas. If it spreads there, then it will be out of control.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose government has been criti-cised for relaxing virus curbs too quickly, met chief ministers of the worst-affected states.

Later he said the government was making a “continuous effort” to increase oxygen supplies, including steps to divert industrial oxygen.

Modi asked states to work together to meet the needs for medicine and oxygen, and stop hoarding and black marketeering.

“Every state should ensure that no

oxygen tanker, whether it is meant for any state, is stopped or gets stranded,” he was quoted as saying in a statement.

Daily infections hit 332,730, up from 314,835 the previous day, when India set a record that surpassed a U.S. fig-ure of 297,430 new cases set in January. The U.S. tally has since fallen.

Delhi reported more than 26,000 new cases and 306 deaths, or about one fatality every five minutes, the fastest since the pandemic began.

Medical oxygen and beds have become scarce, with major hospitals putting up notices saying they have no room for any more patients and police fanning out to secure oxygen supplies.

“We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admis-sions in all our hospitals in Delhi ... till oxygen supplies stabilise,” Max Healthcare, which runs a network of hospitals, said on Twitter as it appealed for oxygen.

Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan in the United States, said it seemed as if there was no social safety net for Indians.

“Everyone is fighting for their own survival and trying to protect their loved ones. This is hard to watch,” he said.

In New Delhi, people losing loved ones are turning to makeshift facili-ties for mass burials and cremations as funeral services get swamped.

Amid the despair, recriminations have begun.

Health experts say India got com-placent in the winter, when new cases were running at about 10,000 a day and seemed to be under control, and lifted restrictions to allow big gatherings.

“Indians let down their collective guard,” Zarir Udwadia, a pulmonolo-gist on Maharashtra’s task force, wrote in the Times of India newspaper.

“We heard self-congratulatory dec-larations of victory from our leaders, now cruelly exposed as mere self-as-sured hubris.”

The government ordered an exten-sive lockdown last year in the early stages of the pandemic, but it has been wary of the economic costs and upheaval to the lives of legions of poor migrant workers after any tight reimposition of curbs.

Modi has said another lockdown would be a last resort.

A more infectious variant of the virus that originated in India may have helped accelerate the surge, experts said.

Britain, Canada, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates have banned flights from India.

India, a major vaccine producer, has begun a vaccination campaign but only a tiny fraction of its popula-tion of 1.39 billion has received a dose, with experts saying supplies are scarce.

“It is tragic, the mismanagement,” Kaushik Basu, a professor at Cornell University and a former economic adviser to the Indian government, said on Twitter.

“For a country known to be the pharmacy of the world, to have less than 1.5 percent of the population vaccinated is a failure difficult to fathom.”

Yangon protests press ASEAN ahead of summit with junta leaderAGENCE FRANCE-PERSSEYANGON, APRIL 23

Protesters marched through down-town Yangon on Friday to demand that regional leaders “stand with Myanmar people”, ahead of a week-end ASEAN summit attended by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.

The country has been in turmoil since February 1, when the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a lightning coup.

Using violence and lethal force to quell a nationwide uprising, security forces have killed at least 739 people in near-daily crackdowns, according to a local monitoring group.

Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing is set to take part Saturday in a summit of regional leaders—as part of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—to address Myanmar’s mounting crisis.

The meeting of ASEAN leaders and foreign ministers has drawn wide-spread criticism from activists, human rights groups and protesters for including the military regime.

In commercial hub Yangon—where the anti-coup movement had laid low

in recent weeks due to fear of crack-downs—protesters returned to the streets, flashing three-finger salutes of resistance.

“Mother Suu and leaders—release them immediately!” they shouted as they marched quickly past the Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon. “What do we want? Democracy!”

The protesters came from different Yangon townships, some carrying signs that read “ASEAN please stand with Myanmar people” and “ASEAN do you need more blood... to make the right decision?”

Also angered by the bloc’s invita-tion to Min Aung Hlaing was the so-called National Unity Government—a group of ousted

Myanmar lawmakers attempting to run a shadow administration.

On Thursday, they called on Interpol to arrest the senior general—the same day Myanmar state media announced the lawmakers in hiding were wanted for high treason.

Amnesty International’s Emerlynne Gil called ASEAN’s handling of Myanmar the “biggest test in its history”.

“The Indonesian authorities and other ASEAN member states cannot ignore the fact Min Aung Hlaing is suspected of the most serious crimes of concern to the international com-munity as a whole,” she said.

The junta has justified the putsch by alleging electoral fraud in November’s elections—which Suu Kyi’s party had won in a landslide.

The US, EU and Britain have already imposed sanctions on top mil-itary brass, as well as on some army-linked businesses. Before the coup, Min Aung Hlaing was already facing international sanctions over his army’s role in the Rohingya crisis.

About 750,000 of the Muslim minor-ity group fled Myanmar in 2017 follow-ing a brutal military crackdown.

SpaceX rocketship launches four astronauts on NASA mission to space stationREUTERSLOS ANGELES, APRIL 23

NASA and Elon Musk’s commercial rocket company SpaceX launched a new four-astronaut team on a flight to the International Space Station on Friday, the first crew ever propelled into orbit by a rocket booster recycled from a previous spaceflight.

The company’s Crew Dragon cap-sule, Endeavour, streaked into the darkened pre-dawn sky atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as its nine Merlin engines roared to life at 5:49 am (0949 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The crew is due to arrive at the space station, which orbits some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, early on Saturday following a flight of about 23 hours.

Within 10 minutes of launch, the rocket’s second stage had delivered the crew capsule to Earth orbit, trave-ling at nearly 17,000 miles per hour, according to launch commentators.

The rocket’s first stage, meanwhile,

descended back to Earth and touched down safely on a landing platform floating in the Atlantic on a drone ship affectionately named Of Course I Still Love You.

The mission marks the second “operational” space station team to be launched by NASA aboard a Dragon Crew capsule since the United States resumed flying astronauts into space from US soil last year, following a nine-year hiatus at the end of the US space shuttle programme in 2011.

It is also the third crewed flight launched into orbit under NASA’s fledgling public-private partnership with SpaceX, the rocket company founded and owned by Musk.

The first was an out-and-back test mission carrying just two astronauts into orbit last May, fol-lowed by SpaceX’s first full-fledged four-member crew in November.

Friday’s Crew 2 team consists of two NASA astronauts—mission com-mander Shane Kimbrough, 53, and pilot Megan McArthur, 49—along with Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, 52, and fellow mission specialist

Thomas Pesquet, 43, a French engi-neer from the European Space Agency.

The four helmeted crew members, dressed in their white flight suits and black boots, were briefly glimpsed seated side by side in the capsule just after reaching orbit in a video clip captured by an onboard camera.

They are expected to spend about six months aboard the orbiting research platform conducting science experiments and maintenance before returning to Earth.

The four members of Crew 1, sent to the space station in November, are slated to fly home on April 28.

The Crew 2 mission made a bit of spaceflight history due to the fact that its Falcon 9 rocket blasted off with the same first-stage booster that lofted Crew 1 into orbit five months ago, marking the first time a previously flown booster has ever been re-used in a crewed launch.

Reusable booster vehicles, designed to fly themselves back to Earth and land safely once they separate from the rest of the rocket minutes after launch, are at the heart of a re-usable

rocket strategy that SpaceX helped pioneer to make spaceflight more eco-nomical. SpaceX has logged dozens of successful Falcon 9 booster return landings, and the company has refur-bished and re-used most of them, some for multiple flights. But all of those flights, until Friday’s mission, only carried cargo.

Crew 2’s pilot, McArthur, made a bit of history herself as the first female pilot of the Crew Dragon and the sec-ond person from her family to ride aboard the SpaceX capsule. She is married to NASA astronaut Bob Behnken, who flew the SpaceX demonstration flight with fellow astronaut Doug Hurley last year. The same Crew Dragon was used for that flight as well.

If all goes well, McArthur and her three crewmates will be welcomed aboard the space station Saturday by the four Crew 1 astronauts—three from NASA and one from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA. Two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut who shared a Soyuz flight to the space station are also aboard.

At least 130 migrants feared drowned in MediterraneanREUTERSMILAN, APRIL 23

Merchant vessels and a charity ship searching the Mediterranean for boats carrying migrants has found 10 bodies floating near a capsized rubber boat believed to have had 130 people on board, French humanitarian organi-sation SOS Mediterranee said.

Another wooden boat was still missing with about 40 migrants aboard, a spokesman for the group said on Friday.

The civil hotline Alarm Phone had reported three boats were in distress on Wednesday, prompting SOS Mediterranee to launch a search “in very rough seas, with up to 6-metre waves”, the non-governmental organisation said in a news release issued earlier.

Three merchant vessels helped the charity’s own rescue ship Ocean Viking search for the boats in interna-tional waters northeast of the Libyan city of Tripoli.

SOS Mediterranee said merchant ship MY ROSE found three bodies in the water and an airplane from EU border agency Frontex spotted the rubber boat soon after.

When Ocean Viking arrived on the scene it did not find any survivors but there were ten bodies in the water nearby. The statement issued on Twitter carried a photograph of a capsized black rubber boat.

A spokesman for the NGO said he had no information on the third boat that Alarm Phone had said was in distress.

Libya, divided by civil conflict for years, is a major route for migrants seeking to reach Europe.

The UN’s International Organization for Migration said that the latest deaths would bring the tally for the central Mediterranean route to close to 500 people this year.

Health experts say India got complacent in the winter, when new cases seemed under control, and lifted restrictions.

REUTERS

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched carrying four astronauts on a NASA commercial crew mission to the International Space Station.

Libya is a major route for migrants seeking to reach Europe.

ASEAN’s handling of Myanmar the ‘biggest test in its history’, Amnesty International says.

REUTERS

People shop at a crowded marketplace amidst the spread of Covid-19 in Mumbai, India on April 21.

AP/RSS

Handlers control the giant puppet MOCCO during a special training session in Takamori, Nagano prefecture, on Friday. Tokyo 2020 organisers created about 10 meter-tall puppet, which will travel from Tohoku to Tokyo in May to be in place for the games scheduled to open in July.

C M Y K


MONEY

GASOLINE WATCH

FOREX

US Dollar 120.32

Euro 145.07

Pound Sterling 167.04

Japanese Yen 11.15

Chinese Yuan 18.53

Qatari Riyal 33.05

Australian Dollar 93.06

Malaysian Ringit 29.27

Saudi Arab Riyal 32.08

Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank

BULLIONPRICE PER TOLA

SOURCE: FENEGOSIDA

Fine Gold Rs 91,700

Silver Rs 1,320

Retailers urge government to probe rising food pricesKRISHANA PRASAINKATHMANDU, APRIL 23

Retailers have urged the government to probe rising food prices as essential goods have become costlier in the past few days despite sufficient stocks and regular supply.

They said dearer gasoline may have contributed to the price rise besides concerns over possible supply chain disruptions due to the lockdowns in various Indian states.

“The private sector holds an inven-tory of essential food items enough for up to six months as shipments are regular. So there is no reason for the price hike in the market. It might have been caused by fuel prices that have been rising continuously in recent times. The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection should conduct an inspection and find out the truth,” Raj Kumar Shrestha, president of the Nepal Retailers Association, told the Post.

Shrestha said that the price of a bag of rice surged by Rs50 in the past few days. Lentils and legumes have become dearer by Rs5-7 per kg, and sugar now costs Rs4-5 more per kg.

“As the Indian government has imposed restrictions on movement and lockdowns in different states to control the spread of the virus, many fear that this might impact the supply chain and cause hardships in Nepal,” said Shrestha.

“The government is aware of the price hike amid an uncertain situation, and there will be no restric-tions on shipments of essential food items,” said Narayan Regmi, joint sec-retary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies. He added that there was no problem in supply and that it was regular.

The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protections, however, seems to be unaware that food prices have gone up of late.

“We are currently inspecting the vegetable market and chicken stores,” said Prakash Poudel, director general of the department. “The department only checks that the prices customers are charged match the listed prices, and that goods past their expiration dates are not sold.”

According to the food supply situa-tion report of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies as of April 13, there are 10,332 tonnes of rice, 145,215.38 tonnes of salt, 75,156 tonnes

of sugar, and 760.87 quintals of wheat stored in warehouses.

Food Management and Trading Company has issued a tender to pro-cure 50,000 quintals of rice from the market, and has started the process to purchase 30,000 quintals of wheat at the minimum support price fixed by the government.

The company’s rural depots hold 32,845.22 quintals of rice.

The ministry said that it was trying to speed up its market inspec-tion so that shortages are not created and prices are not jacked up under some pretext.

Shrestha said that wholesalers have

blamed higher prices at the source for food becoming costlier. The govern-ment should provide information about market prices by conducting inspections effectively, he added.

Nepal imports most of its food requirement, mainly from India. According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre, the country import-ed cereals worth Rs54.69 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, a sharp rise of 47.8 percent year-on-year. During the same period in fiscal 2019-20, cereals valued at Rs37 billion entered the country.

Archana Prajapati of Sukedhara used to buy groceries every week, but

terrified by reports of rising infec-tions amid the second wave of Covid-19, she has bought a month’s supply of groceries.

“Going to grocery stores is full of risk in recent times, so I purchased essential items at once so that they will last at least for a month,” said the 49-year-old housewife.

Considering the uncertain situation with daily spikes in Covid-19 cases in the Kathmandu Valley, and the gov-ernment placing restrictions on dif-ferent public places, and urging peo-ple to stay home and not go out unless absolutely necessary, people are stock-piling essential goods, retailers said.

“There is no panic buying, but in the past few days people have started buying more than they need immedi-ately,” said Sabindra Beyanjankar, sales manager at the Tripureshwor outlet of Bhat Bhateni Supermarket.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal had recorded 2,449 new cases and 110 antigen posi-tives as of Friday. The overall infec-tion tally has reached 294,601 with 14,724 active cases. The Kathmandu Valley recorded 940 new infections in the past 24 hours. Of them, 760 cases were confirmed in Kathmandu, 106 in Lalitpur and 74 in Bhaktapur.

Nepal Rastra Bank figures show that consumer price inflation stood at 3.02 percent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year 2020-21, com-pared to 6.70 percent during the same period in the last fiscal year.

The price of ghee and oil increased by 19.97 percent year-on-year while the price of fruits rose by 13.67 percent, tobacco products by 10.41 percent and pulses and legumes by 10.17 percent. The wholesale price of consumption goods increased by 8.45 percent in the review month.

Essential goods have become costlier in the past few days despite sufficient stocks and regular supply.

POST FILE PHOTO

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies is trying to speed up market inspection to check against shortages and price hikes.

��

��

��

� ��

��

��

��

��

Indian rupee’s fortunes depend on RBI’s aim to prevent further weaknessREUTERSMUMBAI, APRIL 23

The Indian rupee’s near-term fortunes may directly be influenced by the Reserve Bank of India’s intent on pre-venting any further depreciation in the currency as the surge in Covid-19 cases hits jobs and growth, econo-mists and traders said.

The rupee has already lost 2.6 per-cent against the dollar so far this month, putting it on the cusp of marking its worst month, since the pandemic hit the country early last year.

“INR is likely to trade with a depre-ciating bias on the back of a stronger dollar, relatively weaker EM curren-cies, muted EM inflows and rising Covid-19 cases in India,” said Sameer Narang, chief economist at state-run Bank of Baroda. A fortnightly Reuters poll showed bearish bets on the rupee climbed to their highest since last April, as the surge in infec-tions has halted what had been seen as a promising growth story in the region.

The rupee closed at 75.01 to the dol-lar, and traders say they expect it to stay in the 74.50 to 76.00 range against the greenback in the near-term.

India reported 332,730 new daily cases on Friday, the highest single-day tally anywhere globally.

Rising cases have been one of the main factors behind the recent fall in the rupee, but the RBI’s deci-sion to commit to large bond purchas-

US seeks to conserve more farmland as crop prices riseREUTERSCHICAGO, APRIL 23

The Biden administration hopes to convince farmers to set aside four million more of acres of land for con-servation this year by raising pay-ment rates in an environmental pro-gramme, but farmers said surging crop prices make it a tougher sell.

The push to enroll more land into the 36-year-old Conservation Reserve Programme is a part of the administration’s campaign to counter climate change.

In the voluntary programme, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) pays farmers a yearly rent not to grow crops on environmentally sensitive land for 10-15 years as a way to prevent soil erosion, sequester carbon, reduce nitrogen runoff and provide habitats for wildlife.

About 21 million acres are enrolled in the programme, below the Congress-set limit of 25 million acres. The cap will gradually increase to 27 million acres by 2023. To entice farmers to add 20 percent more acres in 2021, the USDA is expanding the number of incentivized environmental prac-tices allowed under the programme, along with raising payment rates, the agency said.

“There’s always a balance, but it’s critically important that we continue to create a multitude of ways for land to be productively used,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Thursday. Apart from environmental goals, conservation land can also gen-erate rural jobs in outdoor recreation or construction, he said.

“It gives farmers choices and I think that’s important,” he said.

Still, farmers said the potential for big profits from crop production will make them reluctant to take land out of production. US corn and soy futures notched fresh multi-year highs on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday.

“Unless you’ve got some really tough soil like in southern Illinois—roll-y, rocky ground—you’re going to have a hard time getting anybody to sign up anything for CRP,” said Dave Kestel, who grows corn and soybeans in Manhattan, Illinois.

The National Grain & Feed Association, which represents grain processors and exporters, warned the USDA not to try to enroll large tracts of productive farmland into the con-servation programme because the voracious international demand for commodities would simply lead farm-ers in competing exporting countries to increase plantings.

“Programmes that drastically increase acreage idling in the United States send market signals to competi-tors to plant more acres, resulting in negative climate and environmental impacts,” President Mike Seyfert said.

Brexit fishing tensions flareAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE PARIS, APRIL 23

The French government called on Friday for a quick implementation of a post-Brexit accord on mutual access to fish-ing waters, after French fisherman blocked trucks trying to bring in catches from Britain overnight.

“We’re acting within the spirit of

European solidarity and cooperation with the UK, but the urgency demands an accel-eration of our collective efforts,” Europe Minister Clement Beaune and Maritime Minister Annick Girardin said in a state-ment. More than a hundred fisherman launched the blockade on Thursday at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France’s busiest fishing hub, to protest a “sham” deal on access in place since Britain left the bloc.

es has added to downside momentum.

The RBI has committed to buying 1 trillion rupees worth bonds in the April-June period in its effort to temper the rise in bond yields to help the govern-ment borrow its budgeted 12.06 trillion rupees from the market at low interest rates.

It said it would do more going forward, and this would be alongside its regu-lar open market bond pur-chases and special OMOs—the simultaneous sale and purchase of government securities over different ten-ors—the equivalent of the US Operation Twist.

“We also believe the RBI’s policy priority of keeping a lid on G-sec (government bond) yields is more press-ing than arresting INR depreciation,” economists at ANZ wrote. The road ahead for the rupee is likely to be complicated by rising infla-tion and faltering economic fundamentals.

The RBI has stressed it intervenes to smooth vola-tility in the forex market and does not target any level on the currency. It aggres-sively bought dollars last year as foreign investors flocked to India but econo-mists are unsure if the intervention on the down-side will be as strong.

The move is a part of the Biden administration’s campaign to counter climate change.

C M Y K

BRIEFING

Brazil wants Neymar at TokyoSAO PAULO: Brazil’s Olympic football coach, Andre Jardine, said on Thursday he wants to pick star for-ward Neymar for the Games in Tokyo later this year, but admitted it would be “difficult.” Neymar inspired Brazil to their first Olympic gold medal in football on home soil in 2016, ending a six-decade odyssey. “Given we want to take the strongest possible squad, Neymar is our main player,” Jardine said in an interview published on the Globo Esporte website. Any potential participation for Neymar would need his French club Paris Saint Germain’s agreement since they are under no obligation to release players for competitions not organized by football’s main governing bodies, such as FIFA. The chances of Neymar, 29, taking part are slim as he is due to play in the Copa America in Argentina and Colombia from June 13 to July 11. The Olympic football tournament begins just 10 days later and is due to finish on August 8, two days after the start of the French Ligue 1 season.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic extends AC Milan contract until 2022MILAN: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the ‘Benjamin Button’ of Serie A, on Thursday extended his contract with AC Milan until 2022 which will take him past his 40th birthday. The Sweden striker, who turns 40 in October, has been credited with trans-forming Milan into title contenders again since his return in January last year. “AC Milan is the club for which Zlatan has played the most in Italy,” the Serie A side said in a statement. “After scoring 84 goals in 130 appear-ances with the Rossoneri, the Swedish striker will continue to be wearing the red and black jersey next season.” “The Saga Continues @acmi-lan,” Ibrahimovic posted on social media. Milan are in the running for a return to the Champions League for the first time since 2014.

UEFA drops Dublin, Bilbao as Euro hosts, Munich confirmed LAUSANNE: UEFA on Friday dropped Dublin and Bilbao as Euro 2020 hosts over a failure to guarantee fans’ attendance, with matches destined for the Irish capital switched to St Petersburg and London while Seville steps in for the Basque town. Munich was confirmed as a venue at the elev-enth hour, the German city joining Budapest, Baku, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Glasgow, Copenhagen and Rome. Held over from 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the European Championship will now be held in 11 different countries from June 11-July 11. Dublin and Bilbao lost out after the Irish government and Basque region officials were una-ble to assure UEFA of fans despite the pandemic. (AGENCIES)

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION

CROSSWORD

HOROSCOPE

SUDOKU

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19) ****Saturday’s skies have a somber feel to them, Capricorn. Your ruling planet, steady Saturn, locks into a difficult aspect with magnetic Venus today—potentially bringing a hard reality check to your finances and creative passion projects.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18) ***

You’ve got so much on your plate this year, Aquarius. It’s valid if the changes feel overwhelming from time to time. Today, reevaluate what elements of your past, family, or home life are standing in the way of your independent growth.

PISCES (February 19-March 20) ***Like it or not, you’re dealing head-on with some ancient baggage this year, Pisces. But it’s critical for your forward movement, however uncomfortable it may feel at the time. Today’s skies may highlight that very discomfort.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) ****Saturday’s skies are contentious at best, Aries. Today, the moon slides from productive Virgo into relationship-oriented Libra. Luna’s square to hot-headed Mars can intensify partnership talks.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) ***

Your ruling planet, serenity-seeking Venus, finds herself locked in a difficult connection with reali-ty-check Saturn. This aspect is an uncomfortable, isolating one that can make for heavy moods and overly serious attitudes.

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

Saturday’s cosmic landscape is likely to throw some turbulence your way, Gemini. It’s an ideal time for a reality check around partnership matters. Luna’s square to temperamental Mars can further stoke tensions.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) ***It’s easy to get worked up under Saturday’s skies, Cancer. The moon transitions from expressive Virgo into relationship-oriented Libra mid-day, summon-ing you to spruce up your nest and stay close to home.

LEO (July 23-August 22) ***

Tensions abound beneath Saturday’s cosmic land-scape, Leo. The moon’s disagreement with irritable Mars can stoke unaddressed grievances. Today you will need reality checks between career and relation-ship matters.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22) ****It’s important to keep your expectations realistic, Virgo. Saturday’s skies help you to do just that, but not in a way that’s fully comfortable. Take a moment to see what needs correcting instead of beating your-self up.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22) ***Saturday’s skies have a definite bite to them, Libra. Your ruling planet, lover Venus, finds herself ensnared in a stifling square with limit-setting Saturn. This aspect is likely to make you feel melan-cholic, withdrawn, and overly serious.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) ***

Serious questions stir beneath Saturday’s skies, Scorpio. Lover Venus locks into a tense square with wall-building Saturn, highlighting any latent ten-sions that exist between your intimate relationships and your home life.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21) ***It’s easy to feel discouraged under Saturday’s cosmic landscape, Sagittarius. Don’t let a melancholic mood skew the perspective of your real progress! Use your energy to check your workflow.


SPORTS | MEDLEY

Nepal meet the Netherlands in final todaySPORTS BUREAUKATHMANDU, APRIL 23

Hosts Nepal face an acid test when they take on the Netherlands in the final match of the Tri-Nation T20I Series on Saturday.

The Netherlands are a boosted side after they shadowed Nepal’s second highest T20I total in their second meeting chasing down a target of 207 and inflicted the hosts their first defeat.

It was also the Netherlands’ highest successful T20I run chase in their cricket history, who had previously managed 193 while chasing a 189-run target against Ireland in 2014. Nepal’s previous biggest total of 236 runs came against Bhutan in the 2019 South Asian Games.

The group winners thrashed the Dutch side by nine wickets in their first meeting, followed by another comprehensive nine wicket victory over Malaysia. But their one-sided reign in the tournament—their first international cricket match after more than a year due to Covid-19 pan-demic—came to a crashing end despite a big total after succumbing to a three wicket defeat.

The shock defeat was a wake-up call to the hosts, who welcome the same opponents at the TU cricket ground in the decider. Malaysia bowed out of the Series without a win.

Nepal conceded 47 runs against the Netherlands in the last fifteen balls in the innings Sandeep Lamichhane chucked 48 runs in overall while Karan KC bowled too many back of a

length deliveries even in the last over. Abinash Bohara conceded 19 runs in the 19th over.

The leg-spinner Lamichhane, who is playing his first T20I in the country, has 11 wickets in his name this series.

Skipper Gyanendra Malla feels that the hosts definitely need to improve in that department and avoid such give-aways if they are to win the trophy.

“We have to minimise damage con-

trol in the wicket. We have to stop boundaries,” he said. “But our field-ing is strong.”

For the two consecutive matches, the hosts’ openers never left too much for the middle order batsmen thanks to an indisputable partnership between debutants Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh who shared a record 119-run between them for the first wicket against the Netherlands and a

century-stand against Malaysia next.Bhurtel’s 62 runs in the defeat

against the Netherlands was his third straight half-century. Sheikh was out for duck but shared a 73-run partner-ship with Malla for the second wicket in the final group match.

However, Nepal lacked aggression in the batting line-up in the final overs.

“The bowlers come with a plan in the final overs. But boundaries and sixes always remain a target of the last two strikes. We are well aware of that and will try to score more than 10 runs in the last over,” said Malla.

“For that, we need to avoid back-to-back fall of wickets especially in the middle order and keep more batsmen for the final three overs. We need to finish strong in the final overs,” he added.

“It is always good to be the winning side, and land an international trophy.”

The Netherlands batsmen are also in top form. Five top Dutch batsmen could turn the match in their favour.

Bas de Leede led the fierce fightback against Nepal with his three fours and two sixes coming in the final nine balls. His unbeaten 81 was supported by Ben Cooper, who shared a 68-run stand for the third wicket with de Leede in their historic chase.

The final overs drama was given a boost by the Dutch captain Pieter Seelaar hitting three sixes in a row in the 18th over.

Opener Max O’Dowd is another player to watch. He was not out 133 in their 15-run win over Malaysia.

The hosts beat the Dutch by nine wickets in the Tri-Nation T20I Series opener but lost the second match by three wickets.

POST PHOTO: HEMANTA SHRESTHA

Nepal and the Netherlands skippers, Gyanendra Malla and Peiter Seelaar, with the trophy.

Napoli crush Lazio to boost Champions League hopesAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSEMILAN, APRIL 23

Ten-man Atalanta missed the chance to move second in Serie A on Thursday with a 1-1 draw against Roma. But Napoli thrashed Champions League rivals Lazio 5-2 to boost their hopes of a return to elite European football next season.

Bryan Cristante rifled in a long-dis-tance equaliser to rescue a point for Roma in a game where both teams finished with 10 men.

The visitors had dominated taking the lead after 25 minutes through Ruslan Malinovskiy in the Stadio Olimpico. But the Bergamo side played the final 20 minutes a man down after Robin Gosens was sent off for a second yellow card. Cristante put his name on the scoresheet with quar-ter of an hour to go.

Atalanta missed the chance to over-take AC Milan who lost at home to Sassuolo midweek, but move third ahead of champions Juventus on goal difference.

Napoli move just three points behind second-placed Milan. Lazio dropped to five points behind Napoli in sixth. Roma are a further three points behind in seventh with their Champions League hopes dwindling.

Atalanta had dominated but were unable to take advantage of their many scoring chances.

Malinovskyi latched onto a Gosens cross to fire into the roof of the net. Pau Lopez proved decisive in the Roma goal denying Duvan Zapata and Josip Ilicic with Luis Muriel missing a chance to score a second before Gosens’ sending off. Roma piled forward with Lorenzo Pellegrini send-ing through for Edin Dzeko but Pierluigi Gollini was solid in the Atalanta goal.

Roma also finished the game a man down with Roger Ibanez sent off deep into injury time.

In Naples, Lazio’s five-match win-ning streak ended but they are still not out of the Champions League running with a game in hand.

Napoli took the lead through a Lorenzo Insigne penalty on seven min-utes awarded following a VAR review, the first of a brace on the night for the team skipper. Matteo Politano added a second after 12 minutes with Insigne lobbing in a third eight minutes after the break.

Joaquin Correa was unlucky not to pull Lazio back after 19 minutes, hit-ting the post. Piotr Zielinski set up Dries Mertens for Napoli’s fourth after 65 minutes.

Lazio launched a fightback with Ciro Immobile pulling a goal back after 70 minutes with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic grabbing a second with a free-kick four minutes later. But substitute Victor Osimhen snuffed out a revival with Napoli’s fifth with 10 minutes to go.

Messi double keeps Barcelona in La Liga title huntAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSEMADRID, APRIL 23

Lionel Messi gave up the chance for a hat-trick on Thursday as Barcelona held off a late fightback from Getafe to win 5-2 and stay in the race at the top of La Liga.

Messi scored twice and could have had a third in injury-time at Camp Nou but deferred a penalty to Antoine Griezmann, who completed what was in the end a comfortable victory.

“He’s the best in the world, he never lets up,” said Barca coach Ronald Koeman. “If he lowers his con-centration you never notice. Hopefully he stays for many more years.”

After beating Athletic Bilbao to lift the Copa del Rey last weekend, Barca are now in the hunt for the double, sitting five points behind Atletico Madrid but still with a game in hand.

Atletico had earlier brushed aside Huesca 2-0 to register back-to-back victories for the first time since January and with Real Madrid also seeing off Cadiz on Wednesday, there is no margin for error now in a thrilling battle for the title.

None of Spain’s leading trio appear to have been affected by an incredible few days off the pitch, which saw Real Madrid, Atletico and Barcelona all sign up for the hugely controversial European Super

League on Sunday.Atletico withdrew from the breakaway competi-

tion on Wednesday but Barca and and Real Madrid remain part of a project that would transform the fabric of European football.

Getafe were wearing t-shirts in protest against the European Super League, even as they gave

Barcelona a guard of honour to mark the Catalans’ cup success.

Messi now has 33 goals in all competitions and 25 in the league, one more than the total scored by the whole Getafe team. Getafe are not safe yet, four points the gap above the bottom three.

Messi got to work in the eighth minute, slid through by a piercing pass by Sergio Busquets and sending a shot into the far top corner, despite a touch by Getafe goalkeeper David Soria. Yet Getafe were level four minutes later as Angel met Marc Cucurella’s cross and the ball cannoned off the unsuspecting Clement Lenglet and flew in.

Another own-goal restored Barca’s lead, this one more avoidable, with Sofian Chakla failing to spot Soria coming out before passing the ball beyond the goalkeeper and into his own net.

The game looked secure when Messi made it three. Lenglet’s looping header gave him the chance to vol-ley left-footed against the far post but the ball arrowed back to the striker, who finished from the

angle with his right.Getafe teed up a nervy last 20 minutes when

Ronald Araujo, on as a substitute, trod on the ankle of Enes Unal, who scored the penalty to give the vis-itors hope.

But Barcelona pulled away with two late goals, Araujo heading in a corner from Messi, who then passed up the chance to score his third by giving Griezmann his first.

Atletico Madrid had earlier moved back to the top of the table thanks to goals from Angel Correa and Yannick Carrasco.

After managing only four wins in 13 games in all competitions, Atleti have now struck two in two, fol-lowing up last weekend’s thrashing of Eibar to sug-gest their slump may be over.

With Luis Suarez out injured, Correa has filled the void. He scored twice against Eibar on Sunday and put Atletico ahead again after 39 minutes.

Koke freed Kieran Trippier down the right before Marcos Llorente worked the ball into Correa, who rolled inside onto his left foot and pulled his finish back into the corner.

Atletico were in charge but it took them until the 80th minute to make sure of victory, Carrasco divert-ing in after the tireless Llorente robbed the ball back on the edge of the area and gave his team-mate a simple finish.

C M Y K


CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

You wanted lots of blood? Mortal Kombat listenedVideo game adaptations are famously hit or miss, and this franchise has been both.

MARK KENNEDY

T

he first death in the “Mortal Kombat” reboot occurs less than three minutes in, which is actu-ally pretty coy. This is a movie, after all, based on a

video game where the point is bloody violence.

A katana slices a man vertically in half, triggering a burst of controlled murders. By the 6-minute mark we’ve seen seven more men cut to pieces, including one who has a sword slammed directly down through the top of his skull.

The clever use of a gardening trow-el—likely not what the agricultural manufacturer initially intended—knocks off four more and then we’re off on a bloody tear for the next 110 minutes through history, legend and comprehension.

It may come as no surprise that “Mortal Kombat” swaggers when it comes to hand-to-hand combat: The effects are impressive, from the flips and slashes to the sound of blood gushing and the clunk of metal through bone.

But the acting is laughable, the dia-logue may make you wish for your own quick dispatch and the plot—gob-bledygook about strange dragon mark-ings, chosen ones and other realms—only makes sense if you’re high. “I’ve spent years trying to figure out what it all means,” one character complains. Don’t waste your time.

Cherished fighters from the game are all here—Sonya Blade, Kano, Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Jax—interwoven into the story of a new character—Cole Young. He’s a struggling mixed martial arts fighter—really a “human punching bag”—who gets beat up for $200 a bout but has a super nice, well-adjusted family.

But Cole (Lewis Tan) has a mysteri-ous dragon mark on his chest—”It’s not a birthmark!” he’s told—and soon learns what it means: “An ancient prophecy foretells” that a new group of fighting champions will mass and threaten order on Earthrealm, also known as, you know, Earth.

Simon McQuoid does a decent job on his feature directorial debut, giving us constantly staggered hits of dopa-mine in the form of controlled vio-lence. Screenwriters Dave Callaham and Greg Russo have a strong tenden-cy to lean into ancient Asian mysti-cism (“There is much to learn”) and stilted medieval ones, too: “The proph-ecy is upon us!”

Australian actor Josh Lawson as the psycho Kano steals the movie with enough twisted humor to deserve his own franchise. “Hey, David Copperfield,” he says to Liu Kang after an impressive control of a fire-ball. Many of his lines seem gleefully ad-libbed and he stands out in a forest of stilted dialogue.

Anyway, Cole, Sonya Blade and Kano must train for a big showdown and find their inner fighting mojo.

“The fate of Earthrealm is in our hands,” says Liu Kang. If they don’t win over enemies from out there (in the, uh, Outworld,) the whole human race will be enslaved. This film has equal parts “Karate Kid,” “X-Men,” “Indiana Jones” and more than a whiff of “Star Wars.”

It all culminates in what seems to be a massive multi-part fight but then all the combatants realise that love is stronger than hate and put down their weapons and hug it out. Ha! No way, dude, just kidding. It’s a full-on gore-fest of fight porn.

Video game adaptations are famous-ly hit or miss, and this franchise has been both. The first is well regarded while its sequel was widely panned. This new one is exactly what the doc-tor ordered if you’re a fan. And that’s because everyone on screen needs a doctor.

“Mortal Kombat,” a New Line Cinema release, is released Friday and is rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, and some crude references.

— Associated Press

Ainaa—mirroring our societyLaunched in January, Ainaa, a social reality TV show, highlights Nepal’s many social issues.

TSERING NGODUP LAMA

A

t the 14 minute and 55 second mark of the first episode of Ainaa, a social reality TV show, a wailing Dev Narayan Rasaily tries to explain,

with great difficulty, how he desper-ately went looking for his nine-year-old daughter Reshma the morning she went missing.

A day later, her body was found in a nearby farm, and a post mortem report revealed that she was raped and subsequently murdered. This heart-rending incident occurred in Hariharpur village of Mithila Municipality in 2019.

As the episode unravels, viewers see Rasaily’s grief—raw and deep—and the immense sense of loss he still car-ries in his heart.

Apart from Rasaily, the episode fea-tures four other people—a young par-ent from Mahottari whose eight-month-old daughter was raped and murdered in 2018; a mother from Kathmandu whose 13-year-old daugh-ter was raped and murdered in 2017; and another mother from Kanchanpur whose 13-year-old daughter also suf-fered the same fate in 2018.

In the last few years, Nepal has seen a rise in rape and murder cases of minor girls and Ainaa’s first episode explores this disturbing reality through the stories of the victims’ families.

The episode first aired on Kantipur Television in January and was also uploaded on Ainaa’s YouTube chan-nel. The episode has already been viewed more than 600,000 times. So far, Ainaa has already released 14 epi-sodes, covering wide range of social issues from dowry system, acid attack to caste- and gender-based discrimina-tion and violence. The show’s average views per episode is nearly a quarter million.

These numbers are especially impressive considering the episodes’ lengthy runtime. At 55 minutes, the first episode has the shortest runtime, and the rest of the 13 episodes are all more than an hour long.

Ainaa’s popularity, says its project head Radha Krishna Dhital, has made it evident that there is a viewership for well-researched and -produced shows that highlight social issues.

When asked what prompted him to

make a TV show on social issues when there is a huge demand for competi-tion-based reality TV shows in the country, Dhital says it was his deep interest in understanding the Nepali society and the country’s changing media landscape that got him to make Ainaa.

Dhital has spent the last four years focusing on video production and acquiring all the required training and knowledge to make a show like Ainaa.

“But before that I worked as a jour-nalist for 15 years and journalism gave me a wide understanding of the socie-ty we live in and the many social issues that exist. When I quit journal-ism to focus on video production, I travelled extensively within the coun-try to get a better understanding of our society and also made a lot of social documentaries and experiment-ed with different types of visual story-telling styles,” said Dhital.

In the final years of Dhital’s jour-nalism career, he saw that the coun-

try’s media landscape was changing rapidly.

“Digital media had taken off but the majority of content that was gaining traction and getting widely shared were sensational in nature and lacked depth and nuance,” said Dhital. “I strongly felt viewers deserve shows with quality and substantial content.”

Given the kind of response Ainaa has received so far, Dhital says he has been proven right.

Many viewers of Ainaa have also mentioned how similar the show is to Satyamev Jayate, an Indian TV show about social issues plaguing the coun-try, which was hosted by Bollywood actor Aamir Khan.

Dhital says the similarities are no accident.

“Ainaa is hugely inspired by Satyamev Jayate. In fact, I even trav-elled to India and met with the makers of the show to better understand the show’s production process and what I learned there helped me a lot during the making of Ainaa,” said Dhital.

While Satyamev Jayate had the pop-ular Bollywood actor Aamir Khan as the host, Ainaa is hosted by a relative-ly unknown face Bishwa Prakash Sharma, a career politician and spokesperson of Nepali Congress. This unconventional choice for the show’s host caught many by surprise.

“Before we approached Bishwa Prakash Sharma to host the show, we explored other options, which included popular personalities. But things didn’t work out with them. And when we decided to go with Sharma, even many in the team were very sceptical about how he would perform,” said Dhital. “Getting Sharma to host the show was a big gamble and it paid off.”

While many know Sharma as a pol-itician, very few know that he also has years of experience working in the media.

“I have worked as a radio host and an editor at a weekly magazine for many years,” said Sharma. “And as a politician, public speaking is an area I am very familiar with. The combina-

tion of these two experiences has helped me a great deal in my role as a TV show host.”

But what is it like for a politician of Sharma’s stature to host a social issue-driven TV show?

“It has been a great learning experi-ence for me. After taking the responsi-bility of hosting this show, my under-standing of our society and the wide spectrum of issues that exists in it has deepened,” said Sharma. “I have always believed social transformation is a must for Nepal to become truly prosperous and without it no amount of economic development can bring real prosperity for each and every cit-izen. And after hosting the show, this belief has been reaffirmed.”

The makers of Ainaa agree that one of the main reasons the show has been received so well is because of the con-tent, for which the team, says Dhital, has worked very hard by putting in hours and hours of research in the making of each and every episode.

“Given the nature and sensitivity of

issues Ainaa covers, the team was very clear from the beginning that research was going to be a very impor-tant component of the show,” said Prakash Lamichhane, Ainaa’s research head. “We created a solid research team and that has enabled us to do a lot of ground reporting and rigorous fact-checking.”

Once the team decides on an issue, Lamichhane says the research team starts finding characters.

“We have an extensive network of journalists and social activists spread across the country and they help us in finding stories and characters related to the issue,” said Lamichhane. “The characters’ stories are then cross-checked and verified. We also do extensive research on all that has hap-pened and is happening on the policy level of the issue.”

According to Lamichhane, the objective of Ainaa is to show the issues through the victims’ perspec-tive and the society and the govern-ment’s attitude towards them.

“This has allowed us to tell stories that viewers can empathise with,” said Lamichanne. “And that I think has made all the difference. To bring social transformation, it is imperative that the public believe strongly that such changes are needed and that’s where empathy comes in.”

Lamichanne laments that research isn’t an area that many consider important and hence refuse to invest resources on it.

“But the impact Ainaa has already managed to create has shown the importance of research and we hope it will help change the way the industry looks at research,” said Lamichhane.

The makers of the show say that they are under no illusion that a sin-gle show like Ainaa will transform the society.

“Eradicating many of the social ills that exist in our society is a huge task and Ainaa’s mission has never been to change society but to serve as a cata-lyst to start a movement involving the general public and the policy makers and question why things are the way they are,” said Dhital. “And the kind of response that we have gotten so far from the general public and the gov-ernment and non-government stake-holders in the society shows that we have set the ball rolling in the right direction. And that is what mat-ters to us.”

SCREENGRAB FROM YOUTUBE

Dev Narayan Rasaily’s nine-year-old daughter was raped and murdered in 2019. In Ainaa’s first episode, which explores Nepal’s rise in minor rape and murder cases, Rasaily speaks about his loss.

MORTAL KOMBAT

Joe Taslim, Jessica McNamee, Hiroyuki

Sanada, Lewis Tan

Producers: James Wan, Todd Garner,

Lawrence Kasanoff

Director: Simon McQuoid

AP/RSS

Chloe Zhao ‘excited’ for Oscars as Nomadland wins at Spirit AwardsThe US feature film tipped to win big at Sunday’s Academy Awards.

ANDREW MARSZALLOS ANGELES

C

hloe Zhao voiced her excitement about the looming Oscars as her r o a d m ov i e “Nomadland” topped the Film Independent

Spirit Awards on Thursday, winning best feature and showing no signs of slowing down its relentless award sea-son charge.

The US feature film—which has accrued dozens of Hollywood prizes and is tipped to win big at Sunday’s Academy Awards—also won best director, editing and cinematography honors at the ceremony dedicated to films with smaller budgets.

The Spirit Awards, taking place online this year due to Covid-19, are the penultimate stop on Hollywood’s award circuit before the grand finale of the Oscars, which will be held in-person in Los Angeles in three days’ time.

“We have a lot of friends nominated this year, and we’re really excited to see them... and we have some surprise guests!” said Zhao, who is favorite to become the second-ever female direct-ing winner at the Oscars.

When a moderator suggested those mystery guests might be the real-life nomads who play versions of them-selves in Zhao’s film, she added: “I can’t wait to just hug them. I need to hug somebody!”

The film follows a community of older Americans who roam the West in vans after losing everything in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Collecting her director prize Zhao—who made her name with tiny indie films set in the US heartland—thanked the “independent film community,” add-ing: “We wouldn’t be here without you.”

Zhao’s next film is “Eternals,” part of the mega-grossing Marvel superhe-ro blockbuster series.

Asked by AFP in a virtual Q&A if she would like to return to indie film-making later, she replied: “Definitely—I would love to be able to do both if possible.”

“The difference? There’s a lot more visual effects shots,” she added, refer-ring to the Marvel films’ lavish, com-puter-enhanced action sequences.

- Obamas win again -While “Nomadland” topped the

Spirit Awards with four wins from five nominations, its star Frances McDormand missed out to Carey Mulligan of “Promising Young Woman,” a potential dark horse for

the Oscars.The #MeToo revenge thriller also

won for screenplay.Another Oscar best picture nomi-

nee that added some momentum on Thursday was “Sound of Metal,” in which Riz Ahmed stars as a rock drummer who loses his hearing.

Ahmed won best actor, supporting star Paul Raci was also honored, and the film took best first feature for debut director Darius Marder.

South Korean veteran star Youn Yuh-jung confirmed her supporting actress favorite status with another win for her eccentric grandmother in immigrant drama “Minari.”

And “Crip Camp” became the latest

documentary from Barack and Michelle Obama’s production house to win at the Spirit Awards, emulating last year’s “American Factory” and boosting its own Oscar hopes.

“First and foremost I want to thank President Obama and Mrs Obama for their belief in us,” said Nicole Newnham, co-director of the film about a hippie camp for disabled youths who went on to become leading activists.

The Obamas “actually watched our film multiple times, gave feedback, it was a true partnership... we really did make this film with them,” she added in the virtual “backstage.”

— Agence France-Presse

AFP/RSS


Published and Printed by Kantipur Publications Pvt. Ltd., Central Business Park, Thapathali, Kathmandu, Nepal, P. B. No. 8559, Phone: 5135000, Fax: 977-1-5135057, e-mail: [email protected], Regd. No. 32/049/050, Chairman & Managing Director: Kailash Sirohiya, Director: Swastika Sirohiya, Editor: Sanjeev Satgainya

(C.R.P.D.) - 3/052/053

Documents

POST PHOTO: ANGAD DHAKAL Nepal seeks support in virus