WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR

Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 193 | 16 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 35.5 C 14.0 C Saturday, September 05, 2020 | 20-05-2077 Nepalgunj Jomsom Race begins for new finance minister as Oli bids farewell to Khatiwada There are at least six contenders for the post, but the appointment is likely to happen along with a Cabinet reshuffle, ruling party insiders say.

ANIL GIRI Apart from Gautam, Bishnu Poudel, KATHMANDU, SEPT 4 Surendra Pandey, Janardan Sharma and Barsha Man Pun, who is current- Yubaraj Khatiwada resigned as ly the energy minister, are said to be finance and information and commu- the top contenders. Poudel, Pandey nication technology minister on and Pun have held the finance portfo- Friday, a day after the ruling Nepal lio in the past. Communist Party decided not to nom- Insiders say even Pradeep Gyawali, inate him, again, as a member of the the foreign minister in the Oli Cabinet, National Assembly, a prerequisite for could be one of the frontrunners to him to continue in the Oli Cabinet. lead the Finance Ministry. Another While two ministerial berths are leader said that both the ministries vacant after Khatiwada’s resignation, led by Khatiwada could be given to all eyes are now on who succeeds him Gyawali. in the Finance Ministry. If Gyawali is moved to the Finance Since another ministry is also Ministry, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, the vacant, now a Cabinet reshuffle is also spokesperson for the Nepal likely, according to a leader close to Communist Party, could be given the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. Foreign Ministry. “The prime minister has not indi- Shrestha was appointed a National cated anything regarding Khatiwada’s Assembly member back in January. replacement yet,” the leader told the Both Shrestha and Gautam had lost Post. the 2017 parliamentary elections from Khatiwada had to resign after the Gorkha and Bardiya, respectively. ruling party decided to nominate its “It’s up to the party; I have not yet vice-chair to the National Assembly. staked claim to any ministerial berth. There is only one seat vacant in the Nor have I expressed my desire to POST PHOTO: HEMANTA SHRESTHA National Assembly. become a minister before any party Patan Durbar Square wears a deserted look on Friday as the Lalitpur District Administration Office clamped a curfew in Lalitpur after Gautam himself has made committees,” Shrestha told the Post. Thursday’s clashes that erupted in Pulchowk when police intervened as locals pulled the chariot of Rato Machhindranath defying the public his ambitions to become a Insiders, however, say after the Covid-19 prohibitory orders. minister, but it is not clear if Oli party went through a tough time in will let him lead the Finance recent months–at one point reaching Ministry. on the verge of a split–as part of a Oli later on Friday approved larger power-sharing deal both Khaitwada’s resignation and Shrestha and Gautam could be decided to keep both the finance appointed ministers. and communication and infor- The party was until a few months The good, bad and ugly of mation portfolios with him. ago vertically divided between fac- At least half a dozen names tions led by Oli and the other chair, are currently making rounds for Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Yubaraj Khatiwada the Finance Ministry. >> Continued on page 2 At the time of appointment, the technocrat brought with him the expertise to take the economy forward. But as he signed off, many say he just had a run-of-the-mill tenure.

PRITHVI MAN SHRESTHA Khaitwada, therefore, could never KATHMANDU, SEPT 4 earn the trust of the private sector, Nepal said. Despite his desire to continue Yubaraj “He faces charges of not being Khaitwada as the finance minister, accommodative, as any other finance Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, under minister with a political background pressure amid the fluid internal dynam- could have been,” said Nepal. ics in his Nepal Communist Party, had In the initial days of Khatiwada’s to bid farewell to the technocrat. appointment as the finance minister, Oli had handed over one of the key there certainly were high hopes all ministries to Khatiwada on February around, as he is known as a person 26, 2018, in a move that earned praises well-versed on economy, finance and for him, for the technocrat minister development issues, according to busi- had an illustrious background–he nesspersons and economists. His past holds a PhD in monetary economics, POST FILE PHOTO experience as governor and vice-chair he served twice in the National Yubaraj Khaitwada of the planning commission meant he Planning Commission as vice-chair knew the sources of ills that mired the and once as governor of the Nepal received a significant amount of for- country’s economy in stagnation. Rastra Bank. eign aid. There can be a debate wheth- However, the first criticism he faced Khatiwada was believed to be Oli’s er foreign aid is good or bad, but he was when he brought the white paper charioteer–who could drive the gov- managed to get it,” Nepal told the on Nepal’s economy, even when the ernment’s “prosperous Nepal, happy Post. “He was also able to generate fiscal budget was just round the cor- Nepali” campaign in the right direc- enough resources for under-construc- ner. While painting a bleak picture of tion. tion projects.” the country’s economy, he blamed the Economist Govinda Nepal, a former According to Nepal, he should also past governments for the fiascos. member of National Planning be lauded for his effort to control tax But he himself failed to do anything Commission, said Khatiwada’s perfor- evasion by introducing a policy of substantial to give an impetus to the mance as the finance minister was recognising only those transaction economy, according to a former admin- neither great nor poor. details submitted to the tax authority istrator who did not want to be named. “During his tenure, the government while applying for bank loans. >> Continued on page 2 How politicians’ chopper rides to disaster-hit areas flies in the face of spirit of federalism Leaders and ministers’ penchant for flying to different parts of the country in the name of rescue and relief is reminiscent of the days when the country was under a unitary system.

ior Nepal Communist Party leader Bhim Rawal, visited Sainibazaar of Achham district to distribute relief materials to flood-hit locals. Thapa and Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota also flew to Sindhupalchok when landslides hit the Lidi village last month. According to a report in Kantipur, the Post’s sister paper, Thapa and Sapkota over the last three weeks have visited various districts “to inspect” flood- and landslide-hit areas and to distribute relief. The Kantipur report suggests around Rs3.5 million has been spent from the state coffers for chartering the Army’s MI-17 helicopter. POST COURTESY: BINU BC What is more concerning than the Lankuribot village in Baglung is left ravaged by Wednesday’s flood. Ministers and leaders from money spent on such inspection visits Kathmandu often reach flood- and landslide-hit areas in the name of relief distribution. is politicians in Kathmandu are contin- uing the practice that was prevalent in ANIL GIRI boarded a Nepali Army chopper to the Panchayat days, analysts say. Even KATHMANDU, SEPT 4 visit a flood-hit area in Baglung. Bad after practicing multi-party democra- weather, however, prevented Thapa cy for decades and then the federal On Thursday, an image of Home from reaching the flood-hit area in democratic system for the last three Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa was Baglung. years, the mindset of the politicians widely circulated on social media. The Earlier in the third week of August, has not changed yet according to them. image was taken moments before he Home Minister Thapa, along with sen- >> Continued on page 2

C M Y K SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2020 | 02 NATIONAL Coronavirus patients in home isolation complain of being neglected by authorities Health workers have not reached out to every patient in home isolation for lack of manpower and resources, say local authorities.

AMRITA ANMOL & SANJU PAUDEL RUPANDEHI, SEPT 4

A 68-year-old woman from Tilottama Municipality Ward No. 5 in Rupandehi had tested positive for Covid-19 in the third week of August. A patient of diabetes and high blood pressure, she had been staying in home isolation despite her doctor suggesting she be placed in a hospital, as there were no beds available at the corona-specific hospital in Butwal. She died on Sunday, while on her way to Bhim Hospital in Bhairahawa. “We didn’t have a choice but to keep her at home despite her doctor sug- gesting otherwise. The municipality POST PHOTO: DEEPAK KC did not help us secure a bed in the A worker wearing a mask pushes a wheel barrow in Sinamangal, Kathmandu, on Friday. Despite prohibitory orders in place in Kathmandu Valley, isolation facility at the corona-specific authorities have eased the restrictions for construction works. hospital in Butwal,” said Ram Bahadur Gurung, one of the family members of the deceased. “On Sunday, her health condition worsened and we again asked the municipality to help The good, bad and ugly of Yubaraj Khatiwada us take her to the hospital. But they POST PHOTO: SANJU PAUDEL said all ICU beds in the hospital were The number of patients staying in home isolation has increased in Province 5, as the existing >> Continued from page 1 aid, which are needed the most in the good progress in revenue and expend- taken.” hospitals in the province are already filled to their capacity. “He failed to earn the trust of the wake of the pandemic. iture. Gurung says the woman died due to market, particularly of the private Working in the capacity of the cen- “Data manipulation began with the the municipality’s neglect. ple times but they did not answer. One province has only four corona-specific sector and foreign investors,” said a tral bank governor and vice-chair of white paper [that he issued] which “The authorities shirk their respon- person finally received my call in the hospitals and 138 isolation centres to former government official with a the planning commission, Khatiwada continued later as well,” said the sibility of coronavirus patients stay- evening and suggested that I drink hot cover 12 districts. There are two coro- long experience in finance, economy had built a good rapport with donor ex-administrator. ing in home isolation. Despite our water and eat nutritious food. But na-specific hospitals in Rupandehi and revenue issues. “He was reluctant agencies like the World Bank and One of the criticisms Khatiwada repeated requests, the municipality nobody came to check up on me,” said district and one each in Butwal and to heed the private sector’s concerns, Asian Development Bank. will continue to face for a long time is did not manage a bed for her in the the man. “We only need health consul- Bhairahawa. even refusing to meet them on many “It’s true that he has good relations his contempt for the private sector, isolation centre, where she would tation. But the authorities here have According to the Social Development occasions.” with the donors,” said the former which is considered the engine for have received better care and treat- failed to provide us with even that.” Ministry, a total of 531 people are cur- Khatiwada’s contempt for the pri- government official. “He was economic growth. ment,” Gurung said. A total of 140 people tested positive rently staying in home isolation in vate sector was well known, and his able to bring good foreign aid, particu- “He was known as a person who is Ishwori Paudel, the corona focal for coronavirus in Siddharthanagar Province 5. As per the home isolation penchant for imposing state control larly from the World Bank during his not friendly to the private sector since person of the municipality, admitted Municipality as of Tuesday morning management regulation, health work- had left businesspersons worried. tenure.” he was the central bank governor,” the municipality’s failure in helping with 84 active cases. Fifty-eight of ers should immediately reach out to Many saw Khatiwada as a rigid A former finance minister described said the industrialist. “And he the elderly woman with preexisting them are in home isolation. Uma patients staying in home isolation and bureaucrat, who would not give two Khatiwada’s appointment as the behaved the same way with the pri- health conditions. Thapa, chief at the health unit of the should inform the authorities about hoots about the economic concerns of finance minister as all sizzle and no vate sector even after becoming the “We were concerned about her con- municipality, said that health workers any health complications in the the private sector, and in the mean- steak. finance minister.” dition. But we could not take her to the have been unable to reach out to every patient. time, as also someone who would not The private sector had one particu- hospital since there was no bed availa- patient in home isolation for a lack of Dr Pushpa Raj Paudel, the informa- hesitate to favour certain individuals lar gripe about Khatiwada that he ble,” said Paudel. manpower and resources such as tion officer at the ministry, claimed or businesspersons. He increased tax painted all the businesses with the Another virus-infected man staying ambulances and hospital beds. She, that the authorities allow patients to The third budget he presented on same brush in the name of taking a in home isolation in Siddhartha however, claimed that health workers stay in home isolation only after mon- May 28 this year especially ran into on electric vehicles tough approach against revenue leak- Municipality Ward No. 8, Rupandehi, were in regular contact with patients itoring their health condition and controversy for some of his policies, ages and illicit business practices. said he too is disappointed in the through phone calls. after ensuring their houses meet the and among them, at least two starkly up to 80 percent, According to the industrialist, as authorities’ response to patients stay- The number of patients staying in standard required for home isolation. stand out. someone who has a long experience as ing in home isolation. home isolation has increased in sever- “A health team first inspects the He increased tax on electric vehi- inviting criticism. vice-chair of the planning commis- “I was suffering from fever and diz- al districts of Province 5, as the exist- patient’s house and their physical con- cles up to 80 percent, inviting massive sion and governor of the central bank, ziness a few days ago. I called the ing hospitals in the province are dition. Only then are they allowed to criticism from environmentalists. he should have known that all private municipality’s health workers multi- already filled to their capacity. The stay in home-isolation,” he claimed. Another issue was related to the tax “As a professional on economic sector entities are not fraudsters. on chocolates. issues, there were high hopes that the As an expert, there were high hopes Critics say the move to reduce cus- economy would take a leap under his from him, according to Pashupati toms on chocolates was aimed at bene- leadership,” said Ram Sharan Mahat, Murarka, former president of the fiting certain firms. Khatiwada even a six-time finance minister who is Federation of Nepalese Chambers of tried to defend the decision at the known for introducing economic lib- Commerce and Industry. “But he Race begins for new finance minister ... House of Representatives, saying his eralisation in Nepal in the early 1990s. failed to deliver as per expectation,” decision to limit the customs rate on “But he made tall promises. There was said Murarka. “We are disappointed >> Continued from page 1 Gautam back into his fold. Refusal to force has recommended, among oth- chocolates to 30 percent was “not no way the government could have with him particularly for his The Dahal faction, backed by senior comply with Guatam’s demand that he ers, Oli lead the government for the influenced by anyone”. implemented them.” failure to introduce a fiscal policy to leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and be appointed a National Assembly full five-year term and Dahal run the Khatiwada was also known as a Mahat, a Nepali Congress leader, support the small businesses during Jhala Nath Khanal, had piled member could have weakened Oli in party with an “expanded role”. strict taxman. took umbrage at Khatiwada’s attempt this pandemic.” pressure on Oli to resign both as party the party, according to insiders. Leaders from the Dahal-Nepal fac- From the early months of his to discredit the past government [led According to those who have fol- chair and prime minister. With In a bid to resolve the internal dis- tion said the Oli himself proposed appointment, he started to instruct by Congress party] when he issued the lowed Khatiwada’s policies and Gautam too on Dahal’s side, Oli was in putes, chairs Oli and Dahal had Gautam for the Upper House as soon customs officials to increase the valu- white paper, days after assuming actions, over the last two years or so, it the minority in the nine-member formed a task force, whose report is as the Secretariat meeting began on ation of imported goods, which busi- office. “The administrative expendi- looked like he was confused whether Secretariat. yet to be discussed and endorsed by Thursday, sensing that annoying nessmen say was against the principle ture has increased massively while to act as an economist or a politician. Oli, however, managed to bring the Standing Committee. The task Gautam could push him into the of valuation of the GATS principles as capital expenditure has been just 23-24 “Despite signing the agreement, he minority. provisioned in the Customs Act. percent,” said Mahat. “He wrongly chose to remain mum on the United “Its political meaning is that Oli did “Yes, he gradually made his name boasted about the current govern- State’s Millennium Challenge not want to show that he is in a minor- more as a taxman rather than a ment’s performance in the current Corporation Nepal Compact,” said the ity as Bishnu Poudel won’t go against finance minister in his little over two fiscal years’ budget.” former bureaucrat. “Since the agree- Gautam,” said a Standing Committee years of tenure,” said an industrialist. One criticism Khatiwada faced was ment had been signed, shouldn’t he member close to Madhav Nepal. “Oli “His increasing focus on tax had left data manipulation and multiple peo- have defended the agreement?” did not want to change the power many spooked.” ple familiar with him the Post talked The MCC has become a divisive equation in the Secretariat at this According to the industrialist, he to said he has that uncanny art. force in the Nepal Communist Party time.” A leader close to Oli, however, instructed officials not to recognise Last year, the Financial Comptroller and Khatiwada, according to the said the decision was expected. the invoice price. The valuation of the General Office showed a sudden rise former bureaucrat, played safe, as he “It had become obvious that the reference price maintained by cus- in capital expenditure at the end of did not want to annoy his political prime minister would bid toms offices to ensure that the import- the fiscal year 2018-19 after a week- masters. farewell to the finance and communi- ers don’t undervalue the imported long disruption on its website. The private sector, however, sees cation minister, which he did today,” goods to pay less tax. This is one of the “Forget the general public, even Khatiwada as someone who failed to said Subash Nembang, a Standing reasons why book importers stopped officials did not have access to reve- introduce any long-term reform Committee member who is a close importing books that had price tags in nue and expenditure data,” an official moves for business entities, even confidante of Oli. US dollars. from the Financial Comptroller though he had the opportunity. “A Cabinet reshuffle may happen, Despite severe criticism Khatiwada General Office had told the Post. “He did not make any big policy but only after the Standing Committee was facing after the latest budget, Oli After revising the revenue and departure to support economic endorses the report prepared by the was for giving continuation to him, as expenditure targets, the Finance transformation,” said Murarka. six-member task force.” he was expecting Khatiwada to use his Ministry had started to show progress “However, he did not do much harm POST PHOTO: RAJAN KAFLE good office to bring in investment and based on the revised targets to show to businesses.” Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada (right) is seen with KP Oli during his last Cabinet meeting. (Tika R Pradhan contributed reporting.) How politicians’ chopper rides to disaster-hit areas flies in the face of spirit ...

>> Continued from page 1 provinces and local disaster manage- through the Constituent Assembly, a In 2017, people’s representatives The federal government is already affairs. “Provincial and local govern- “I do not see any point in ministers ment committees in the 753 local primary demand of the Maoist party were elected in 6,473 wards of 753 local facing criticism for holding on to the ments are out of business, so the fed- and leaders from Kathmandu making governments. that waged the decade-long war bodies across the country to ensure concept of chief district officers and eral government should make them rounds of every other disaster-hit Every provincial government also against the state. The Maoist leaders that everyone has their representation making them work as the Home responsible.” areas, as provincial and local has its own internal affairs ministry. said the unitary system of governance in decision-making and that state Ministry’s liaison in the districts even In the past, some provinces have governments are already in place to While there is a worldwide practice and the monarchy were the major hur- through its various arms, like wards, in the current federal set-up. Chief complained about the federal govern- respond to such events” said Khimlal of prime ministers or presidents visit- dle in the country’s socio-political will ensure service delivery, promptly district officers’ role has been criti- ment’s tendency to undermine their Devkota, an expert on federal affairs ing the places hit by a disaster or cri- transformation. respond in the times of crisis and lis- cised for undermining the sub-nation- authority, but there still seems to be who also writes extensively on fiscal sis of a large scale, such events are Around 13,000 people died and hun- ten to the people’s plight. al governments, as they report to the confusion, according to analysts. federalism. largely meant to instill the feeling into dreds disappeared during the dec- With the three tiers of government Home Ministry in Kathmandu Shanta Raj Subedi, a former finance At the federal level there are three the citizens that the state is there to ade-long war that the Maoists fought in place for the last three years, peo- instead of the provincial internal secretary, said that since there is no different disaster management bodies support them. to transform Nepal into a federal dem- ple’s representatives and the federal affairs ministry. alternative to federalism, the govern- in place—the Disaster Risk Reduction But the way the ministers and poli- ocratic republic. government should have worked to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli him- ment has to create bases for fiscal and Management National Council ticians from Kathmandu race to visit After the 2015 constitution ensured devolve power and strengthen self has on more than one occasion federalism, resources distribution and headed by prime minister, the Disaster the disaster-hit sites and distribute Nepal as a federal democratic repub- sub-national governments, according defied the concept of federalism, say- decentralisation of various resources Risk Reduction and Management relief shows their efforts are just per- lic, elections held in 2017 installed to analysts. ing the sub-national governments are and it should be done soon rather Executive Committee headed by Home functory, analysts say. three tiers of government across the “But politicians in Kathmandu agencies under the federal govern- than later. Minister and the National Disaster “I do not think our leaders have country–a federal government in want to centralise power and authori- ment and that they are not independ- “The constitution has explicitly Risk Reduction and Management internalised federalism in true sense,” Kathmandu, seven provincial govern- ty. This shows they want to paralyse ent entities. This despite the defined how Nepal’s federal system Authority under the Home Ministry— said Hari Roka, a political economist. ments and 753 local governments. federalism,” said Roka. “It is explicit- constitution vesting explicit powers to should work. The problem is there is a and the 77 district disaster manage- “They hardly give a thought to what The biggest bane of the unitary ly written in the constitution that the provincial and local governments to lack of political will. Politicians in ment committees led by the respective they should do and what they should system, according to the proponents job of the federal government is to function. Kathmandu, however, are still func- chief district officers. not so as to help strengthen federal- of the federal system, was people at facilitate the two tiers of governments Experts say rescue and relief efforts tioning with the centralised mindset,” The Disaster Risk Reduction and ism. Such visits are largely guided by the grassroots were always on the and empower them, guide them through when a disaster strikes any part of the said Subedi. “We have adopted federal- Management Act 2017 also envisions their desire to display their power and margins, as the state largely failed to the proper policy, among others.” country require coordinated efforts ism but we are refusing to practice it. Disaster Risk Reduction and accumulate more power. They just want reach out to them. According to Roka, if a sub-national from all levels of the government. Until we realise the fact that power Management Provincial Council, to centralise authority, which is against Thapa, the current home minister, government lacks funds or resources, “The federal government should must be delegated and resources must Disaster Risk Reduction and the spirit of the federal system.” is among the senior Maoist leaders the federal government should pro- coordinate with the local governments be channelised to the local levels, Management Provincial Executive After decades of political upheaval, who said they fought to transform vide them with resources. “It cannot for rescue and relief efforts,” said we cannot have a federal system in Committee in each of the seven Nepal adopted a new constitution Nepal into a federal state. interfere,” Roka told the Post. Devkota, the expert on federal true sense.”

C M Y K 03 | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2020 NATIONAL

BRIEFING Police suspect illegal gambling dens are Plasma therapy begins CHITWAN: Two Covid-19 patients have been undergoing plasma therapy in thriving during Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital in Chitwan district. Since Thursday, the blood bank in Covid-19 restrictions Bharatpur has started collection of SHUVAM DHUNGANA plasma from convalescent Covid-19 KATHMANDU, SEPT 4 patients. According to Dr. Harish Neupane of the hospital, two patients Every year, Nepal Police crack down are currently undergoing plasma on hundreds of illegal gambling dens therapy while a third patient has also which are operated mostly in private agreed for the procedure. houses across the country and confis- cate millions of rupees. But during the coronavirus pandemic, not many Committee to probe deaths raids have been conducted as the JANAKPUR: The Province 2 govern- majority of security personnel are ment has formed a committee to busy enforcing restrictions. The num- investigate into the recent deaths of ber of arrests on illegal gambling Dalit people in the province allegedly charges has gone down as a result, say at the hands of security personnel. police who suspect that illegal gam- Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut bling dens have thrived during these announced through Twitter on past six months of Covid-19 lockdown Wednesday that a three-member and restrictions. committee has been formed under According to the data provided by the internal affairs minister to inves- Metropolitan Police Office, tigate the incidents. The committee is Ranipokhari a total of 22 people were supposed to submit its report rounded up from illegal gambling within 15 days. Bijay Mahara of joints in Kathmandu Valley in the last Garuda in Rautahat is the latest six months. person whose death has been “We have not conducted that many blamed on police. raids in private houses in the past six months, as our personnel are busy due enforcing Covid-19 restrictions,” said Kapurkot Bazaar sealed Senior Superintendent of Police, SALYAN: Kapurkot Bazaar in Kapurkot Sushil Kumar Yadav, spokesperson for Rural Municipality, Salyan, has been the Metropolitan Police Office, sealed for a week after a health work- Ranipokhari. er working in the local unit tested Police have been conducting raids positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. In based on tip-offs while they have the meantime, health officials have POST PHOTO: HEMANTA SHRESTHA halted their own anti-gambling been mobilised in the Bazaar area for Priests carry out Kshama Puja (atonement rituals) before the Rato Machhindranath chariot to seek the Rain God’s forgiveness as the community couldn’t organise the centuries-old Bhoto Jatra crackdown. contact tracing, officials said. this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Lalitpur, on Friday. On Saturday, a team from the Metropolitan Police Circle, Boudha, raided the house of Dawa Sherpa, 36, of Kathmandu Metropolitan-6, Boudha, following a tip-off. The team detained a dozen gamblers and confis- cated around Rs 300,000 from them. Turn private schools into trusts, Bagmati proposes According to the Gambling Act 1963, if one is caught for gambling offence for the first time, they shall be The provision, says a provincial minister, will provide free and compulsory education to all children as envisioned by the Constitution of Nepal. liable to a fine not exceeding Rs 200. For repeat offenders, there is a provi- BINOD GHIMIRE schools would remain intact when year didn’t have any provisions on “Allowing private schools to operate school students across the country 1.4 sion of jail sentences ranging from KATHMANDU, SEPT 4 presented before the Cabinet, although ending private ownership of schools. in the present form would be against million are from Bagmati, according one month to a whole year. some other provisions could be Commenting on the ministry’s the spirit of the constitution which to the economic survey. As many places across the country The Social Development Ministry of revised later on. change of policy, members of the com- envisions for the free and compulsory Compensation for the private school are in lockdown and the festival sea- Bagmati Province has come up with a “The provision was included as per mission said the government was education at the school level.” Dulal operators however would only be son around the corner, many private proposal to convert private schools the spirit of the Constitution of Nepal. working at the behest of private told the Post. “nominal”, according to Dulal. homes are becoming gambling dens, into trusts or cooperatives in the spir- The country can never move towards schools by not rolling out any laws to According to Ritu Raj Sapkota, the “Everyone has to abide by the law said Yadav. The law enforcement it of the Constitution of Nepal and as the path of socialism with private control the privatisation of education. chairperson of National Private and the state adopts,” he said when asked authority believes that gambling leads suggested by the High-Level National schools intact,” he told the Post. Boarding Schools’ Association, Nepal, how possible it is to convert private to social crimes and violence. Education Commission. The preamble of the constitution private schools across the country schools into trusts. “There will be Police have urged the public The proposal, which will come to says Nepal is a socialism-oriented have invested Rs 600 billion in the incentives for them.” to immediately report gambling effect after endorsement by the pro- state. He said the policy is based on Members of the business and 23 percent of schoolgo- Meanwhile, provincial lawmakers activities. vincial Cabinet, will provide the basis Article 31(2) of the constitution, which provincial assembly ers attend private schools. have also backed Bagmati govern- “The country’s law bars Nepali citi- for the provincial government to makes the state responsible to ensure The provincial government believes ment’s policy. zens from entering casinos with the formulate a law to govern the educa- compulsory basic education and free have also backed the implementing its policy will not be a “It is a long-term plan that will be intent of gambling, while hotels and tion system within the province, secondary education for all. problem in all its districts, barring the implemented gradually. How long the restaurants are closed due to restric- officials said. The government in August 2018 new government three districts in the Kathmandu conversion process takes will depend tion due to which private houses “Private schools will be converted formed the High-level National Valley and in Chitwan. “The private on how much money the government become the dens for gamblers. So into trusts and cooperatives,” reads Education Commission headed by policy on education. schools will be supported to shift their can allocate for it,” Ranta Dhakal, a without getting a tip-off from family one of the clauses of the draft policy. Education Minister Giriraj Mani priority towards higher education,” member of the provincial assembly members or neighbours about it, raid- “The local governments will be sup- Pokharel which on January 15, 2019 said Dulal. and former chairperson of All Nepal ing is difficult,” said Yadav. ported to ensure there is only public submitted its report to Prime Minister Despite the federal government’s Of the 35,520 schools across the National Independent Students’ According to Metropolitan Police education at the school level.” KP Sharma Oli recommending to con- reluctance to implement the recom- nation, 6,687 are private, according to Union-Revolutionary, told the Post. Office, Rani Pokhari, more than Rs 19 Yubraj Dulal, Minister for Social vert the private schools into trusts mendations of the minister-led com- the government’s economic survey for Private school operators, on the million was recovered from 1,161 sus- Development of Bagmati province, from companies within 10 years. mission, which has not been made fiscal year 2019-20. There are 7,031 other hand, are not happy with the pected gamblers from different parts said the draft policy would be present- It said the conversion process would public, the Bagmati provincial gov- schools in total in Bagmati Province. plan.“The government should focus of the Valley in the fiscal year 2018/19. ed before the Cabinet in a few start in three years. However, the edu- ernment claiming its independent sta- The breakdown of private and public on improving the quality of education “The money seized from the gam- weeks. He said that the policy related cation policy endorsed by the tus maintains it can implement any schools in Bagmati Province was not in public schools rather than hound- blers goes to the government’s funds,” to the conversion of the private Education Ministry in November last policy in line with the constitution. available. Of the total 7.021 million ing private schools,” Sapkota said. said Yadav. Overstay fines become hurdle for Repatriation quandary persists even with Nepali workers waiting to return funds to support migrant workers’ airfare Many workers have been charged with hefty fines for overstaying their visas While Nepali embassies in labour destination countries struggle with the complicated verification as flights to Nepal were suspended for months due to Covid-19 pandemic. process, labour rights activists question the government’s commitment to bring citizens home.

CHANDAN KUMAR MANDAL UAE Dirhams (approximately Rs38,243) as an over- Shom Prasad Luitel, lawyer who had filed KATHMANDU, SEPT 4 stay fine,” said Khem. the petition at the Supreme Court for repa- He fears he will be stranded without food and triation of Nepali migrant workers, says the After months of wait, Khem, a Nepali migrant accommodation. government and its embassies in labour worker in Dubai, managed to get a flight ticket to According to Pasang Sherpa, vice-chairman of hosting countries are not committed to the return home. Non-Resident Nepalese Association (NRNA), UAE task of repatriating the stranded citizens. But in the last three weeks, his flight has been chapter, overstay fines are being charged only to “I think the government wants the work- rescheduled several times. those workers boarding their flights via Dubai air- ers to return with their own wherewithal “I managed to buy the ticket with some contribu- port as different emirates have different rules. and reimburse them later,” said Luitel. tion from my employer and loan from my family “The rule applies to all foreigners, so even the The guidelines state that the concerned back home. But here I am still, counting my days to embassy cannot do much in this regard,” Sherpa recruiting agencies and foreign missions return,” Khem told the Post from Dubai over told the Post. “The only solution to this problem is must first ensure the migrant workers have the phone. that either the Nepal government should pay the not received air tickets or other financial Having gone through a series of flight reschedul- fines or make the employers pay.” aid from their employers or host nations ing, Khem is uncertain when—or whether—he will Sherpa said this situation would not have arrived before they get support from the welfare reach home. Khem, who hails from Jhapa, is par- had the Nepal government agreed to the UAE gov- fund to return home. ticularly worried after witnessing what happened ernment’s proposal of flying the Nepali workers to Some have argued that the guidelines are to his three friends, whom he had gone to see off at Kathmandu for free of cost. complicated, thus delaying the repatriation Dubai airport last Monday. “The UAE government had approached the process. “My three friends could not board their flight Nepal government about sending back Nepali “Even some ambassadors have expressed because they could not pay the overstay fines,” workers on free flights, but the Nepal government dissatisfaction on the guidelines,” said Khem said. “They requested the officials to allow did not even give the landing permission,” Sharu Joshi Shrestha, a gender and migra- them to board the flight, but nothing happened.” Sherpa said. tion expert. “Lack of coordination among The Nepal Airlines flight took off, leaving behind Over 35,000 Nepali migrants have registered concerned stakeholders, which was missing at least 17 workers at Dubai airport. with the Nepal embassy in Abu Dhabi to return while drafting of the guidelines, has affect- Khem said even when the flights are available, home. Nepal government’s failure to address the ed the overall repatriation process.” many Nepali workers are unable to return home plights of undocumented workers have put hun- PHOTO: NEPAL EMBASSY IN OMAN/FACEBOOK But Luitel disagrees. He argues the because of hefty overstay fines. dreds of workers without work and valid visas in The government has been facing criticism for the delay in repatriation of workers who are in trouble. guidelines simply instruct the Nepali mis- Many workers do not have the money to pay the trouble. sions to contact the employers, recruiting fines. Their money has been spent on air tickets, According to Som Prasad Lamichhane, director CHANDAN KUMAR MANDAL months later, it still remains unclear when agencies, or the host governments and which are already several times expensive. with the Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee, KATHMANDU, SEPT 4 the migrant workers will return home. check if the workers are getting any finan- The UAE government’s ongoing amnesty pro- an organisation working for the rights of Nepali Din Bandhu Subedi, spokesperson for the cial support for airfare so that they could gramme for foreigners, including Nepali migrants, migrant workers, Nepal government could have The Supreme Court on June 15 ordered the Foreign Employment Board, which return home. have given a three-month grace period to the for- taken a diplomatic initiative to waive off the over- government to repatriate the Nepali migrant manages the welfare fund, said the board “For years, the Nepali missions in labour eigners whose visa expired before March 1, mean- stay fines of migrant workers. workers stranded in various labour destina- had released Rs 4 million to the Nepal destination countries have been taking the ing they have until November to return to their “We have not seen diplomatic dialogue with the tions by using the Foreign Employment Embassy in Malaysia to send back 86 grievances of workers to the employers, countries without facing any punishments or fines host nations to help the Nepali workers,” said Welfare Fund. stranded workers. recruiting agencies and host governments. for overstaying their visas. Lamichhane. “The government could have at least It’s been more than two and half months “But we are not yet sure whether those The repatriation guidelines also instruct There are many Nepali workers in the UAE, requested for the general amnesty for workers since the court decision, and the govern- workers have already returned to Nepal or them to do the same. Only this time they are including Khem and his three friends, whose visas whose visas have expired and could not travel ment has still not provided the air tickets to not. Other embassies have also been collect- supposed to make sure whether the workers expired after the March 1 cutoff date and now face home because of the lockdown.” the Nepali workers languishing in foreign ing details of the workers who need to be have received airfare support,” said Luitel, overstay fines and thereby unable to return home Khem and his three friends have a rescheduled countries. Many workers have been without repatriated,” he told the Post. “For instance, who was also a member of the committee unless they pay the fines. flight on Sunday. They don’t know whether they jobs and money to support themselves the Nepal Embassy in the United Arab of that drafted the guidelines. These workers could not return home soon after will be allowed to board the plane with unpaid for months now due to the coronavirus Emirates has estimated that 15,000 Nepali As of Wednesday, 56,045 Nepalis have their visa had expired because there were no overstay fines. pandemic. workers may need the welfare fund’s sup- returned from various countries, mainly flights to bring them home. “We didn’t choose to stay here after our visas Following the Supreme Court’s directive, port to return home.” from the Persian Gulf states and Malaysia. “I managed to get a ticket and I have borrowed expired. There were no flights. I don’t know why it took nearly a month for the government to The government has been facing criti- Several thousand are expected to return money from my friends to pay for the PCR test. But our government is not doing anything,” said Khem. approve the migrant workers’ repatriation cism for the delay in repatriation of trou- once repatriation and regular flight services I have no idea how I am going to pay around 1,200 “I had no job for months, the fine is building up.” guidelines. Now, nearly one and a half bled migrant workers. have resumed.

C M Y K SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2020 | 04 WORLD Brazil tops 4m cases as probe launched Russian coronavirus into WHO-led pandemic response vaccine trials post Former Liberian President Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Clark co-chair the investigative body. positive early-stage pen the economy too soon, and if social distancing measures are aban- doned. As the death toll rose, the IPPR said its members would have unfet- results, says study tered access to the WHO’s files. The WHO “made it clear that their REUTERS files are an open book. Anything we MOSCOW, SEPT 4 Widespread vaccinations not want to see, we see,” said former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, Russia’s “Sputnik-V” Covid-19 vaccine expected until mid-2021: WHO who co-heads the panel with Sirleaf. produced an antibody response in all “We can’t count on it being another participants in early-stage trials, GENEVA: The World Health century until a pandemic like this according to results published on Organization does not expect wide- comes around,” Clark said. The WHO Friday by The Lancet medical journal spread vaccinations against Covid-19 has been accused of being slow off the that were hailed by Moscow as an until the middle of next year, a spokes- mark to react to the initial Covid-19 answer to its critics. woman said on Friday, stressing the outbreak in China. The results of the two trials, con- importance of rigorous checks on “If another took off like this in ducted in June-July this year and their effectiveness and safety. None of short order, how devastating that involving 76 participants, showed the candidate vaccines in advanced would be, now that we know the 100 percent of participants developing clinical trials so far has demonstrated extent of damage that can be done,” antibodies to the new coronavirus and a “clear signal” of efficacy at the level Clark said. no serious side effects, The Lancet of at least 50 percent sought by the The WHO has also come under said. WHO, spokeswoman Margaret Harris fierce attack from US President Russia licensed the two-shot jab for said. US health officials and Pfizer Inc Donald Trump, who is withdrawing domestic use in August, the first coun- said on Thursday a vaccine could be his country from the UN agency. try to do so and before any data had ready for distribution as soon as late He accuses the organisation of been published or a large-scale trial October. That would be just ahead of botching its handling of the pandemic begun. the US election on Nov 3 in which the and of being a “puppet of China.” “The two 42-day trials—including 38 pandemic is likely to be a major factor Against that backdrop, WHO mem- healthy adults each—did not find any among voters deciding whether ber states in May agreed to a resolu- serious adverse effects among partici- President Donald Trump wins a sec- tion calling for an “impartial, inde- pants, and confirmed that the vaccine ond term. “We are really not expecting pendent and comprehensive evalua- candidates elicit an antibody to see widespread vaccination until tion... to review experience gained response,” The Lancet said. the middle of next year,” Harris told a AP/RSS and lessons learned from the WHO- “Large, long-term trials including a UN briefing in Geneva. “This phase 3 A woman looks from a window amid the coronavirus pandemic at Morro da Providencia favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The city is deploying a pro- coordinated international health placebo comparison, and further mon- must take longer because we need to gramme to administer 20 thousand Covid-19 quick tests in the city’s poor neighbourhoods to track the progress of the disease. response” to the pandemic. itoring are needed to establish the see how truly protective the vaccine is It said the probe should long-term safety and effectiveness of and we also need to see how safe it is,” AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE The virus continued to disrupt the review WHO’s “actions... and their the vaccine for preventing Covid-19 she added. RIO DE JANEIRO, SEPT 4 world of sport and entertainment, timelines.” infection,” it said. with filming of the new Batman movie Trump accuses the “Despite many warnings for years The vaccine is named Sputnik-V in Brazil has surpassed four million halted in Britain because its star now that such a pandemic was a sig- homage to the world’s first satellite, cine,” said Kirill Dmitriev, the head of coronavirus cases as an international Robert Pattinson reportedly tested WHO of botching its nificant global risk, why was the world launched by the Soviet Union. Some the Russian Direct Investment Fund panel looking into the global response positive for the disease. handling of Covid-19 caught off-guard?” asked Clark. Western experts have warned against (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth to the pandemic vowed to uncover how Brazil topped four million cases Virus disruptions and travel restric- its use until all internationally fund, which has backed the vaccine. it was able to spread worldwide. with 124,600 deaths, second only to the pandemic and being tions have played havoc on the global approved testing and regulatory steps “All of the boxes are checked,” he “This is a strong panel poised to ask United States. economy. have been taken. told Reuters. “Now... we will start ask- the hard questions,” said former There were almost 44,000 new a ‘puppet of China’. G20 foreign ministers held a virtual But with the results now published ing questions of some of the Western Liberian president Ellen Johnson cases over the previous 24 hours meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia to for the first time in an international vaccines.” Sirleaf, co-chair of the Independent alone, and 834 fatalities. However, seek international cooperation over peer-reviewed journal, and with a Commenting on the results of the Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and some experts saw a silver lining of Sao Paulo, pointing to spikes in the easing travel restrictions and reopen- 40,000-strong later-stage trial launched early-stage trials, lead author Dr Naor Response (IPPR), which will rake over in the statistics—the South American south and center-west, while cases ing borders. last week, a senior Russian official Bar-Zeev of the International Vaccine the heavily criticised World Health giant could be on the verge of were falling in the major cities of Sao “Reopening borders, in accordance said Moscow had faced down its crit- Access Center, Johns Hopkins Organization-led response. improvement. Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, as well as in with all the protective measures... will ics abroad. Bloomberg School of Public Health, Meanwhile, Amnesty International “In the last two months, we have the north. help our economies to thrive, people “With this (publication) we answer USA said the studies were “encourag- said more than 7,000 health care work- seen a curve that mixes regions that But experts warned the situation to prosper, and will of course all of the questions of the West that ing but small”. ers have died of the virus worldwide, are increasing, with others that are could suddenly worsen again if local bring hope for humanity,” said were diligently asked over the past Bar-Zeev, not involved in the study, including more than 1,300 in Mexico decreasing,” said Paulo Lotufo, profes- and regional governments give in to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal three weeks, frankly with the clear said “clinical efficacy for any Covid-19 alone, the most for any country. sor of epidemiology at the University pressure from business groups to reo- bin Farhan. goal of tarnishing the Russian vac- vaccine has not yet been shown.”

BRIEFING Beijing is planning a

NATO: Russia must cooperate on probe into poisoning building spree in Tibet BRUSSELS: NATO allies agreed on REUTERS completion of the challenging middle Friday that Russia must cooperate BEIJNG, SEPT 4 section of a high-elevation Sichuan- fully with an impartial investigation Tibet railway link, a railway line to be led by the Organisation for the China is planning a more than 1 tril- between Nepal and Tibet that has Prohibition of Chemical Weapons lion yuan ($146 billion) push to accel- remained in the planning stages, and into the poisoning of opposition lead- erate infrastructure investment in a newly planned dry port in the Tibet er Alexei Navalny, the alliance’s chief Tibet, including new and previously Autonomous Region, the sources said. said. Germany, where Navalny is in announced projects, three sources The sources declined to be identi- hospital, has said he was poisoned familiar with the matter told Reuters. fied because they were not authorised with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve The renewed push to step-up devel- to speak with media. agent. Russia has until now not opment of the remote and impover- It was not immediately clear how opened a criminal investigation and ished southwestern region signals much of the targeted spending is said there is no evidence yet of a Beijing’s intent to bolster frontier new, or over how many years it would crime. “Any use of chemical weapons security amid heightened border ten- be invested. shows a total disrespect for human sions with India in recent months, two China’s State Council Information lives, and is an unacceptable breach of the sources said. Office and the Tibet regional govern- of international norms and rules,” Last week, during a senior ment did not immediately respond to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Communist Party meeting on Tibet’s requests for comment. told a news conference. “NATO allies future governance, President Xi A June clash in the western part of agree that Russia now has serious Jinping lauded achievements and the China-India border was the worst questions it must answer. The praised frontline officials but said violence between the Asian giants in Russian government must fully coop- more efforts were needed to enrich, decades, and there is little sign of eas- erate with the Organisation for the rejuvenate and strengthen unity in ing tension, with more military action Prohibition of Chemical Weapons the region. in the past week. (OPCW) on an impartial internation- He said a number of major infra- Beijing has long aimed to build a al investigation,” he said, reporting structure projects and public facilities high-speed rail network to make Tibet back from a meeting of the alliance’s would be completed, including the more accessible from China’s inland ambassadors. Sichuan-Tibet Railway, according to provinces, and it plans to improve or remarks published by the official extend railways being planned or con- Xinhua news agency. structed that connect it with other AP/RSS Rescuers sift rubble amid The construction plans include parts of China, two sources said. A cyclist navigates through a flooded road after heavy monsoon rains in Lahore, Pakistan, on Friday. signs of life in Beirut BEIRUT: Rescue workers in Beirut dug through rubble and probed a col- lapsed building with sensors on Friday after signs of life were detect- ed under a mound of debris one Tiny village offers window into India’s surging Covid-19 caseload month after a huge explosion shat- tered the capital. Workers pulled up chunks of concrete and masonry as REUTERS the vast countryside, where health official in Satara district where the ers had gathered one night to offer between Aug 6 and Aug 23, the period they dug down in the residential dis- RAJEWADI/GAUWAHATI, SEPT 4 facilities are basic at best. village is located. prayers to a local deity. They had din- in which India added 1 million new trict of Gemmayze after rescuers said In Rajewadi—a small village of Since then, 91 people there have ner together after the rituals, and infections—the fastest such jump in on Thursday they had detected signs The quaint, sugarcane-growing vil- around 360 in India’s most-affected tested positive and the village has throughout the function no one wore the world. of a pulse and breathing, a Reuters lage of Rajewadi in India’s west did state of Maharashtra—authorities been sealed off by police. masks or practiced social distancing. Officials warn the situation will get witness said. The Aug 4 explosion at not have a single confirmed coronavi- launched widespread testing only Government officials, police and Police said almost all those who worse before getting better. the nearby port was caused by mas- rus case until mid-August. Now one in after an elderly resident was found to residents said days before the death— attended have tested positive. Police Satara now conducts more than sive amounts of badly stored ammo- every four people there is positive for have died of Covid-19 on Aug 17, said the village’s only fatality from the have lodged a complaint against the 2,000 tests a day, up from only about nium nitrate. It killed about 190 peo- the virus, with police blaming a local Aniruddha Athalye, a senior health disease—the person and about 30 oth- organiser for violating the state’s epi- 200 weeks ago. Nationally, India’s test- ple and injured 6,000, in a nation religious event for the spread. demic act. ing has more than doubled in a month already crippled by economic crisis. Such spurts in cases in small towns The village is now barricaded with to over 1 million a day. That equates to and villages, where mask wearing and bamboo and wood, with a poster about 32 tests per 1,000 people, higher social distancing have nearly van- describing it as a containment zone. than many developing countries but White House asks agencies to ished and community gatherings are Sanjay Bhosale, a village grocery much lower than the US rate of 253 back, explain why India’s infections shop owner whose son has contracted per 1,000. detail China-related funding are now rising faster than anywhere the virus, said residents had grown Officials say because India’s rural WASHINGTON: The White House has else in the world and why the country tired of the virus rules and started health infrastructure is poor, the focus asked US government agencies for is soon set to top 4 million cases. visiting each other like before. is on testing so patients can be isolat- extensive details of any funding that Based on current trends, India will “A perception was created that coro- ed earlier at home, reserving scarce seeks to counter China’s global influ- overtake Brazil as the second-worst navirus was just a hype, that it’s not hospital beds for the most critical. ence and business practices, or sup- affected nation after the United States that serious,” Bhosale said. Already in rural Maharashtra, both ports Beijing, amid growing tensions in days. This trend has played out across government and private hospitals are between Washington and Beijing. The South Asian country reported India’s countryside where 60 percent running out of beds, authorities say. According to an Aug 27 White House 83,883 new infections on Thursday, of its 1.35 billion people live. Still, only 1.76 percent of confirmed Office of Management and Budget surpassing its previous global record As more cases are reported on the patients have died in India, compared (OMB) document seen by Reuters, the for the highest single-day rise. Cases back of higher testing, some states with the global case rate of 3.3. OMB directed US agencies to submit are accelerating in its towns, villages such as Assam in the northeast have “We have to take into consideration “cross-cutting data on federal funding and smaller cities while the situation asked police to tighten enforcement of the economic angle while dealing with that aids or supports China, or that has stabilised in the big metropolis of social distancing and other restric- the pandemic,” said Himanta Biswa directly or indirectly counters New Delhi and Mumbai. tions. Largely rural Assam has report- Sarma, health and finance minister of China’s unfair competition and The World Health Organization has REUTERS ed one of the highest infection totals Assam. “Rather than frequent lock- malign activities and influence said India’s relatively low mortality A woman mourns as she looks at a photograph of the body of her husband, who died due to in India. downs, we must try to maintain social globally.” (AGENCIES) rate could rise as the virus fans out to the Covid-19, outside a mortuary in New Delhi, on July 9, 2020. In Satara, total cases doubled distancing and use masks.”

C M Y K 05 | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2020 MONEY

FOREX Indian firms raise US Dollar 117.32 New cyber security law requires firms Euro 139.08 record $31 billion Pound Sterling 155.81 Japanese Yen 11.05 to use information sharing platform equity capital in Chinese Yuan 17.15 shrinking economy Qatari Riyal 32.22 The purpose of the platform is to establish a cyber security community to detect and prevent cyber attacks.

Australian Dollar 85.42 REUTERS KRISHANA PRASAIN license are recorded, and segregated HONG KONG/BENGALURU, SEPT 4 Malaysian Ringit 28.27 KATHMANDU, SEPT 4 details as per usage, location, version, owner, purchaser and date are listed. Indian companies have raised a record Saudi Arab Riyal 31.28 The Nepal Telecommunications The licensee should have the $31 billion in equity capital in 2020, Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank Authority has passed the Cyber employee’s related policy addressing Refinitiv data showed, as banks Security Bylaw 2020 which aims to proper handling of social media, strengthen their balance sheets to pre- PRICE PER TOLA protect information and communica- usage of official devices, personal pare for future economic uncertainty BULLION tion systems from cyber attacks and devices and proper handling of offi- and corporates tap into the elevated other associated risks. cial email/accounts and information. global liquidity levels. Fine Gold Rs 96,400 It requires telecommunication and As per the bylaw, the organisation The record raising comes despite internet service providers to make use needs to change the password every India’s economy contracting 23.9 per- Silver Rs 1,310 of national and international cyber 90 days. cent in the June-quarter, year on year, risk information sharing platforms to Service providers should act proac- which puts it on track for the first SOURCE: FENEGOSIDA receive and share information regard- tively as the first line of defence to annual contraction since 1980. ing security issues, vulnerabilities protect their customers from known The rush of deals though has not and cyber threat intelligence. attacks. The firms should follow the been extended to initial public offer- GASOLINE WATCH The purpose of the platform is to common best security practices ings (IPOs), which have fallen to a establish a cyber security community defined by--system administration five-year low to be worth just $1.5 bil- in Nepal to facilitate the detection networking and security, centre for lion, in the eight months year to date, and prevention of cyber attacks by internet security while using open the data showed. sharing cyber threat intelligence source such as general public licence, Banks have been the most active information. Berkeley software distribution license issuers, raising $13.68 billion, followed ATM heists resulting from compro- for the operating system, applications, by the energy and power sector with mised switching systems, distributed antivirus or anti-malware. $7.05 billion, and consumer products fund transfers into legitimate user SHUTTERSTOCK Service providers should encourage with $3.41 billion. accounts, and the hacking of the Nepal has witnessed multiple data breaches such as ATM heists, distributed fund transfers using ‘pretty good privacy’ or Reliance Industries’ $7-billion SWIFT system are the best known into legitimate user accounts, and the hacking of the SWIFT system. digital signature in email communica- raising in June was the country’s cases of data breaches in Nepal in the tion, documents, letters and other largest, the data showed, as the com- recent past. invest in security. The higher the According to the bylaw, service pro- applications. pany turned net debt-free and is now These schemes were discovered and investment cost of technological viders should map and analyse organ- Similarly, service providers should looking to expand its consumer busi- well publicised, but there are dozens infrastructure, the more secure the isation communication and data flows have an internal security audit team ness by acquiring Future Group’s of instances of card skimming, loss of system will be,” he said. for possible security threats. They for regular network, system, critical retail arm. personally identifiable and proprie- Internet service providers say that should routinely assess their suppli- infrastructure audit. Real estate companies were identi- tary data and money laundering that updating technological infrastruc- ers who supply equipment or Narayan Koirala, software engineer fied by corporate advisors as the most were either resolved and unreported, tures as per the bylaw will require third-party partners in the audit, and and managing director of Eminence likely candidates to tap the markets or proceeding undetected, according resources and time amid the ongoing test the results to confirm they are Way, has worked on cyber security for further in 2020 as property demand is to reports. Covid-19 crisis. meeting their contractual security more than a decade. He said that the expected to return after the disruption As digitisation grows in Nepal, it is Since Nepal’s IT industry is small, obligations. new bylaw has incorporated the net- caused by the coronavirus crisis. inevitable that increasingly vast immediate installation of technologi- For data security and privacy, ser- work, software, security, human Surging cash levels—helped by amounts of data across the public and cal infrastructure as envisaged in the vice providers should apply encryp- resource security and monitoring $15 trillion of stimulus made available private domains will also be at risk. new rule will take time, said Bhoj Raj tion techniques for data transit. The part, which is laudable as it would for economies to withstand the fallout Nepal Telecommunications Bhatta, president of the Internet firms should adopt data masking, enhance the security system. of the pandemic was primarily Authority Director Min Prasad Aryal Service Providers’ Association. “We anonymising techniques or encryp- Similarly, enforcement of audit tim- responsible for the raising rush, advi- said that with the rapid growth in have also asked for government sup- tion for customer data, and use hash/ ing, security assessment timing, secu- sors said. information and communication tech- port as upgrading the existing system encryption to store sensitive data. rity operation centre, continuous “We expect issuance to expand fur- BIZLINE nology, the number of criminal activi- may cost a lot of money.” Service providers should have a monitoring, asset management and ther to growth capital in the coming ties including cyber attacks has also Advocate Baburam Aryal, who spe- non-disclosure agreement with their identification in the new legislation weeks and months, and the pipeline is gone up; and to overcome such poten- cialises in cyber law, said that service employees, vendors or third parties to are good, he added. developing across sectors,” said Ncell Axiata launches ‘Pahilo tial risks, the new legislation contains providers had been using systems prevent copying, reproducing, distrib- “The law, however, should be updat- Citigroup’s India head of banking and SIM’ for SEE students provisions that service providers based on their own internal policy as uting or selling of licensee’s digital ed according to the time.” He said that capital markets Ravi Kapoor. should follow. per the directives issued by the tele- data without the consent of the licen- the new rules would definitely have an EY India partner Sandip Khetan KATHMANDU: Ncell Axiata Limited “This includes establishing a cyber com regulator. see. The customer’s digital data should impact on Nepal’s burgeoning IT said the banks’ raisings helped creat- (previously Ncell Private Limited) security community, a periodical In the absence of laws, many system not be shared with the vendor or any industry at a time when service pro- ed “a cushion to the potential losses has launched a special campaign audit of IT systems, and use of protec- securities are being ignored, and the other third party without the consent viders are not investing in upgrading on account of credit losses” that could ‘Pahilo SIM’ for this year’s SEE tion measures by complying with new bylaw requires compliance, he of the customer—except to govern- their systems. occur in the future. (Secondary Education Exam) stu- international standards,” Aryal told told the Post. ment law enforcement agencies like “Nepal Telecom has its own IT poli- Foreign appetite to buy Indian dents. The campaign allows students the Post. Security audit reports need “The new bylaw has been passed so the police. cy, but with the implementation of the equities has risen sharply, with to subscribe to an Ncell prepaid SIM to be submitted to the authority every that customer data does not get stolen, Telecom and internet companies new bylaw, it will strengthen the secu- investors outside India buying $10.3 card at just Re1 and take benefit from six months. hacked or used for fraudulent activi- should have an updated copy of a doc- rity system for both companies and billion of new shares in the three exciting offers of free My5 service “Obviously, to make the system ties and customer rights are protected ument where all its technological their customers,” said Managing months to August, the Refinitiv and data bonus, states the press secure, service providers should with a secured system,” he said. assets like hardware, software and Director Dilli Ram Adhikari. data showed. release issued by the company. The special offer is available to all stu- dents of 2020 (SEE 2076) with a valid admit card. After subscription of Pahilo SIM and upon first recharge of Rs100 or more, students will receive daily bonus of 100MB per day Gamers left reeling as Chinese firm to run Laos electric for 30 days. Ncell Axiata is delighted to give continuity to the special ‘Pahilo SIM’ offer targeted to ensure India pulls plug on access to telecom services at afforda- grid amid default warnings ble rates to SEE students. With the local administrations in various dis- knowledge of the discussions. tricts adopting restrictive measures Tencent’s PUBG China’s embassy in Laos said on its to contain the spread of Covid-19, it is website that Laos would operate the advised to first check if nearby Ncell REUTERS transmission assets. It did not give Centre is open and visit the centre NEW DELHI/CHENNAI, SEPT 4 shareholding details but said “Laos taking required safety measures to India’s technology can also gradually repurchase shares buy the SIM. This is fourth time in a For tens of millions of Indian during the operation.” row in the last four years that Ncell gamers, Tencent’s PlayerUnknown’s ministry said the Neither EdL nor China Southern Axiata has launched this offer. The Battlegrounds (PUBG) videogame was app was a threat to responded to Reuters requests for scheme will remain in place for 90 a welcome distraction from the coro- comment on the deal. The Laos and days from the date of launch. navirus pandemic. India’s sovereignty Chinese governments did not respond Then the Indian government said it to requests for comment either. was pulling the plug. and security. Reporting from the Laos capital Oppo CEO attends IFA “When everything was under lock- Vientiane, Xinhua quoted Laos energy 2020 virtually, reaffirms 5G down, PUBG’s interactive features and mines minister Khammany partnership with Qualcomm gave me a semblance of real-world gamers to communicate with one Inthirath as calling it a key project social interaction. It was a stress-bust- another using text and voice, and which would benefit from the Chinese KATHMANDU: Oppo founder and CEO er for me,” said Mustafa Scentwala, 26, users say these make it a unique company’s “advantages in experience, Tony Chen virtually attended the IFA who lives in India’s financial hub, mobile game in a country where mil- technology and human resources.” 2020 Special edition held in Berlin, Mumbai, and played PUBG with nine lions of gamers cannot afford expen- The new company will operate Germany and gave a speech at the friends for hours each day. sive gaming consoles and broadband under Laos government regulation, Qualcomm keynote session via PUBG, part of the “battle royale” connections. Xinhua reported, but would take videoconference. In his speech, he genre in which a group of players “The only thing that couldn’t be advantage of China Southern’s “finan- reviewed the history of cooperation fight one another until only a single locked down by corona was PUBG,” cial strength and mature experiences between Oppo and Qualcomm and combatant is left alive, became a said Veera Raghavan, a gamer hailing REUTERS in power grid construction, operation emphasized that the two parties will casualty of geopolitics on Wednesday from the southern city of Chennai. A farmer works in a paddy field under the power lines near Nam Theun 2 dam in Khammouane and management.” continue to work together in promot- when the Indian government said it Tencent had launched a lighter ver- province in Laos. The state-run Vientiane Times said ing the global rollout of 5G products. was banning it, along with over a hun- sion of the game, which consumes less after the deal that EDLT would in Oppo and its partners aim to provide dred other Chinese apps, as tensions mobile data and runs smoothly on REUTERS million people closer to its giant future invest about $2 billion in the users with a quick, convenient and with Beijing escalated. cheaper phones, in a bid to woo even VIENTIANE (LAOS), SEPT 4 neighbour. local grid and international connec- exciting technology experience and India’s technology ministry said the more Indian players who would poten- The power grid shareholding deal tions. Laos has spent heavily on hydro- will collaborate towards building a apps were a threat to India’s sover- tially spend on the app in the future. The poor, small Southeast Asian coun- was signed on Tuesday between state- electric schemes, many financed by new ecosystem of intelligent connec- eignty and security. Some PUBG players in India have try of Laos is set to cede majority owned Electricite du Laos (EdL) and China, with the aim of becoming “The tivity, reads the press statement. As In a statement on Thursday, Tencent spent thousands of rupees to buy control of its electric grid to a China Southern Power Grid Co., Battery of Southeast Asia”. But those the era of intelligent connectivity is said its apps complied with India’s so-called Royal Passes, a way to earn Chinese company, as it struggles to according to Chinese state news agen- projects, along with a new Chinese emerging, Oppo will continue to data protection laws and that it would quick rewards and have access to stave off a potential debt default, peo- cy Xinhua, which did not give details high speed railway, are at the centre of increase investment in cutting-edge engage with local authorities to clari- special missions in the game. Some ple with direct knowledge of the of the new ownership. a debt crunch. technology including 5G, AI, AR, and fy its policies. took to Twitter to appeal the ban mak- agreement said. Three people with knowledge of the The World Bank estimated in June big data. Upholding “Benfen” as the The ban is the latest move against ing #PUBG a top trend across India The deal comes at a time when crit- matter said it would give majority that debt levels would reach up core value, the company will always Chinese companies in India amid a this week. ics accuse Beijing of “debt trap diplo- control of the new Electricite du Laos to 68 percent of GDP in 2020, from 59 respect global market rules and months-long standoff over a disputed India is PUBG’s biggest market by macy” to gain strategic advantage in Transmission Company Limited percent last year. Rating agency norms in developing global business. border but the timing and the target users, and according to analytics firm countries struggling to repay loans (EDLT) to the Chinese company. Moody’s warned last month of “a “Oppo and Qualcomm have shared a were particularly tough for young peo- SensorTower, accounts for 29 percent taken out under President Xi Jinping’s Power exports are central to Laos’s material probability of default in the very long, close, and trusting partner- ple. They have been using the game to of the apps total downloads. The ban global “Belt and Road” infrastructure development plans. near term.” ship. We launched several smart- stay in touch with friends while is another blow for Tencent whose initiative. “It will give the Laos state grid bet- While Laos has recorded only 22 phones equipped with Qualcomm’s schools and colleges are shut to stop WeChat app was also outlawed by New China is Laos’s biggest creditor, ter bargaining power with regional coronavirus cases and no deaths, the Snapdragon mobile platform this the spread of the coronavirus. Delhi in June, following a border skir- and the deal will bind the landlocked, countries and start to make a profit,” epidemic has hit tourism and overseas year,” remarked Tony Chen. PUBG’s interactive features allow mish that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. mountainous country of seven said one of the people with direct remittances hard.

China may dump US Treasury bonds amid tensions

REUTERS ing coronavirus, trade and technol- and Economics, was quoted as say- China has steadily decreased its SHANGHAI, SEPT 4 ogy, global financial markets are ing on Thursday, without giving a holdings of the US bonds this year, increasingly worried if China detailed timeframe. although some market watchers China may gradually cut its hold- would sell the US government debt “But of course, China might sell suspect China may not have neces- ings of US Treasury bonds and it holds as a weapon to counter ris- all of its US bonds in an extreme sarily sold US Treasuries as it may notes, in light of rising tensions ing US pressure. case, like a military conflict.” have used other custodians to pur- between Beijing and Washington, “China will gradually decrease China, the second largest non-US chase Treasuries. state-backed newspaper Global its holdings of US debt to about holder of Treasuries, held $1.074 Dropping to $800 billion from Times cited experts as saying. $800 billion under normal circum- trillion in June, down from $1.083 the current level could mean With Sino-US relations deterio- stances,” Xi Junyang, a professor at trillion the previous month, accord- shrinking its holdings by more rating over various issues includ- the Shanghai University of Finance ing to latest official data. than 25 percent.

C M Y K SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2020 | 06 SPORTS | MEDLEY Serena through as Murray knocked out The loneliness of the football fan M SHRESTHA otherwise, one liked. Maybe one just liked the manager for his no nonsense The American will vie against 2017 champion Sloane Stephens in the next round as Briton Murray loses a one-sided affair. PL WATCH style, his sartorial sense, his antics on the touchline, his looks or whatever. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Maybe they were the team that had an NEW YORK, SEPT 4 attractive player, whether in looks There is this man I know. I will call or playing style, and you fell for the Serena Williams continued her hunt him K. K and I got talking about foot- team because of him. There could so for a record seventh US Open title ball and I asked him which Premier many more. with a straight-sets win on Thursday League team he supported. He said he It is easy to continue to support a as Andy Murray crashed out in the was a Chelsea fan although he used to team if they continue to win trophies. second round at Flushing Meadows. be an Arsenal one. “These days We all love winners, after all. Besides Williams, the tournament’s third Arsenal makes me mad,” he added the pure pleasure of enjoying the suc- seed, dispatched unseeded Russian with hardly comprehensible indigna- cess, one gets bragging rights with Margarita Gasparyan 6-2, 6-4 under tion. I inwardly chuckled but said one’s friends, one gets a vicarious the roof of a near-empty Arthur Ashe nothing. After a while I said that I had thrill, and one gets a sense of comfort Stadium on a wet New York evening. never come across a fan who had when other things may not be going The 38-year-old closed out the first set switched his team. “You have now,” he one’s way. One feels one has a pretty with ease before a slight wobble in the replied with disdain. girl or a handsome guy by one’s side second when she was broken twice by That left me wondering about him. and is the envy of others. Gasparyan, before progressing into K must have become a Chelsea fan But then even success gets boring the third round. when they were a dominant force in after a while. On the other hand if “I’m just happy to get through it and the mid-noughties after Russian oli- one’s team’s fortune is in a steady try to focus on the next round,” said garch Roman Abramovich bankrolled decline it becomes challenging and in Williams, who will take on 2017 cham- the team’s success. Or maybe it was a perverse sense enjoyable too. One does pion Sloane Stephens in the last 32. little later when his older team not want to just abandon the team and Williams is seeking a record-equal- Arsenal started their slide from the jump ship because over time one has ling 24th singles Grand Slam title at a late noughties onwards. He wanted to expended time, energy and emotions subdued, spectator-free Billie Jean support a winner but not Manchester for the team. One has developed an King US National Tennis Center in United, the most dominant force in affinity for the team, one identifies New York. English football between the early with the team. Of course one could A tournament victory next week 1990s and early 2010s, because. Well always go out with a prettier girl or a would also see her break away from because, that was too obvious a team better looking guy. But what about all Chris Evert, on six titles, as the most to pick wasn’t it? He had supported the time you spent with the earlier decorated US Open champion of the Arsenal because they challenged the one? In football the players change, women’s game in the modern era. AP/RSS serial winner in the first place. the managers change and even the Williams’ American compatriot Serena Williams of the United States returns to Margarita Gasparyan of Russia in their US Open tennis championships match on Thursday. So why does a football fan support owners change but the fan remains. Sofia Kenin, the number two seed, one Premier League team rather than Now the question that arises is how continued her impressive form this “I just felt like everything was com- round three 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. on the tour, you always have your another? In England the answer to a much of the pain can one bear. One year with a straightforward 6-4, 6-3 ing in, my toss, my rhythm. Everything Elsewhere, sixth seed Italian Matteo doubts. Right now my results actually large extent would be because it is had expected so much from one’s team victory over Canadian Leylah was going well through the whole Berrettini brushed aside France’s Ugo make me really happy because it the local club. But elsewhere there but every year one gets disappointed. Fernandez to progress into the third match,” said Felix Auger-Aliassime. Humbert 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) while shows that I did the right things pre- probably are a variety of reasons. One can’t take it anymore. One wants round. The reigning Australian Open In early men’s matches, second seed Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut pro- paring for this comeback,” said Maybe they were the winning team to wash one’s hands of the team but champion Kenin is yet to drop a set at Dominic Thiem celebrated his 27th gressed against Serbian Miomir Pironkova. when one first started watching the it’s not so easy. One is in a lonely place. Flushing Meadows as she bids for her birthday with an easy straight-sets Kecmanovic. Seventh seed Madison Keys of the game. Maybe they when one first Why is the football so important if it is second Grand Slam title of the year, win against India’s Sumit Nagal. The In the women’s competition USA also progressed, making light started watching the game had enough so much trouble? Maybe the famous and of her career. Austrian triumphed 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 against Thursday, Tsvetana Pironkova, work of Spain’s Aliona Bolsova 6-2, in them to challenge the big boys. Liverpool manager Bill Shankly had In the men’s draw Andy Murray, Nagal, who became the first Indian returning after a lengthy time away 6-1, while Stephens easily overcame Maybe one is just a sucker for under- something when he said, “Some peo- slumped to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, defeat against man since 2013 to reach the second from the game following the birth of Belarusian Olga Govortsova 6-2, 6-2. dogs. Maybe they were the team one ple think football is a matter of life a dominant Felix Auger-Aliassime. round of a Grand Slam. her son, advanced at the expense of British ninth seed Jo Konta became was introduced to early on by a dear and death. I assure you it is much The 15th seed Canadian smashed 24 Third seed and beaten finalist last Garbine Muguruza. The unseeded another high-ranking woman to be one. Maybe that was the team one’s more serious than that.” aces and 52 winners in a one-sided year Daniil Medvedev made light Bulgarian knocked out the 10th sent packing, losing in three sets to circle supported and was easier to That brings me to K. I don’t want affair that saw Murray muster just work of Australia’s 116th-ranked Spaniard 7-5, 6-3 in 1hr 21 min. Romania’s Sorana Cirstea after going make conversation about. Maybe they to know why he abandoned Arsenal. two and nine respectively. Christoper O’Connell, easing into “Coming from three year of absence a set ahead. were the team whose style playing, or I’d rather contemplate. Football Leaks creator trial begins Spain, Germany share spoils, Bale features for Wales in Nations League REUTERS LISBON, SEPT 4 AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE second spell as Spain coach, despite being and in Germany. while in the same Group 3, Hungary were PARIS, SEPT 4 re-appointed in November 2019 just after The stands in Stuttgart were therefore surprise 1-0 winners away in Turkey. Police guarded a Lisbon court behind crowd barriers on their last game in Euro 2020 qualifying. empty as Barcelona winger Ansu Fati came In Group 4, out-of-favour Real Madrid star Friday before the trial of Rui Pinto, whose Football Leaks Jose Luis Gaya’s late goal gave Spain a 1-1 “This team is full of faith and hunger. We on for the second half to make his Spain Gareth Bale started for Wales but was taken website published a huge trove of documents exposing the draw away in Germany on Thursday as the didn’t deserve to lose and we kept fighting to debut. Fati, who was born in Guinea-Bissau, off at half-time in their 1-0 victory over multi-million dealings of European football clubs. start of the UEFA Nations League marked the end,” said Spain captain Sergio Ramos, does not turn 18 until October. At 17 years Finland in Helsinki. Kieffer Moore scored The 31-year-old former history student was to be tried the return of international football in who earned his 171st cap. and 308 days, he is the second-youngest the winner 10 minutes from time. from 0830 GMT at the Central Criminal Court in the Europe following a hiatus of 10 months due These two teams will hope to feature player ever to represent Spain, behind “Gareth Bale has had no football at all,” Portuguese capital on 90 charges including unauthorised to the coronavirus pandemic. prominently in the European Championship, Angel Zubieta, who was a few weeks Wales coach Ryan Giggs told Sky Sports. “It access to data, violation of correspondence and attempted Valencia defender Gaya was on hand to which was postponed by a year because of younger when he played against was a real juggling act, picking the team. extortion. Pinto acknowledges releasing the 70 million score from close range in the sixth minute the pandemic and will now go ahead—all Czechoslovakia in 1936. Gareth has had the least football out of documents, but says he was a whistleblower acting in the of added time in Stuttgart after Rodrigo going to plan—in June and July next year. Elsewhere on Thursday in the same everyone and I thought, ahead of Sunday, it public interest. Moreno had nodded down a Ferran Torres In the meantime, this second edition of group, Manchester City’s Oleksandr would be best to take him off.” Football Leaks’ data showed how some of the richest and cross, in a dramatic ending to the League A, the Nations League will be crammed into Zinchenko scored a fine goal to give Ukraine On Sunday Wales host Bulgaria, who most prominent figures in football avoided tax by channel- Group Four encounter. Earlier, new Chelsea the next three months, with the four group a 2-1 win over Switzerland in Lviv. Andriy were held to a 1-1 draw by the Republic of ling earnings offshore, and provided insight into wealthy striker Timo Werner had given Germany winners in League A advancing to the finals Yarmolenko of West Ham United had put Ireland in Sofia. Bozhidar Kraev put Gulf individuals and organisations who became influential the lead just after half-time in an entertain- later in 2021. For now, all games are being Ukraine ahead with a backheel effort, before Bulgaria ahead only for recent Celtic loan in the sport. It also examined the huge sums flowing ing contest between two of the last three played behind closed doors, just like the Haris Seferovic equalised. signing Shane Duffy to head in a stop- through leading clubs and the uneven way authorities have World Cup winners. recent Champions League and Europa In League B, Artem Dzyuba netted a page-time equaliser for Ireland in their first applied rules. It was Luis Enrique’s first game of his League ‘Final Eight’ tournaments in Lisbon brace as Russia beat Serbia 3-1 in Moscow, game under new manager Stephen Kenny. HOROSCOPE ARIES (March 21-April 19) *** CANCER (June 22-July 22) *** LIBRA (September 23-October 22) *** CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19) ** Once you achieve goals, did you realise that you need Finding a forgotten twenty in an old winter coat This is not a very good time for you to be The old grudges you’ve been carrying around for so to take some time to appreciate your achievement? pocket might make your day, but you should know by spending a lot of time socializing with new long--aren’t they getting to be heavy? It is more than Slow down today and appreciate the view. You’ve now that money doesn’t buy happiness. If you keep people. Your time and money are tight, and the peo- okay to let go. Are you keeping this person in your worked hard to get to where you are, and you deserve this at the front of your mind today, it should make it ple who have always been important in your life are emotional bank account in the hopes that someday some time to gloat a little. a lot easier to handle decisions. missing you. you can cash it in for a sense of revenge?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) *** LEO (July 23-August 22) **** SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) *** AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18) *** One of the more flamboyant people you know is sud- Everyone around you has a different idea about how Taking care of matters at or around your home Your friends are in the mood to have some fun--so it’s denly acting a lot more conservatively and it’s to solve a problem--but only you have the right idea! should be your top priority right now--whether that the perfect time to go out together and make memo- piquing your curiosity big time. Their change in You have an ability to compromise, so don’t leave this means redecorating the living room, getting back ries with your favorite people! Try to do something behavior could be because of a new job, a new prob- skill by the wayside because you’re afraid to ruffle a into a good groove with a roommate, or just avoiding that requires a lot of high energy--like playing sports lem, or a new relationship. few feathers. the hustle and bustle of the outside world. or going out dancing.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21) **** VIRGO (August 23-September 22) *** SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21) *** PISCES (February 19-March 20) **** Making a compromise is the best way to get out of a Keeping busy today will keep you smiling--even if A troubled friend needs some cheering up today, and It’s a good idea to spend some time thinking about power struggle today--even though you might not feel you are spending your time cleaning out your clos- you should make yourself available to them as best what you want to do next in life. What experiences do like sacrificing any of the ground you’ve worked so ets! You won’t be happy if you’re bored, so if you you can. There has been a lot of drama recently, and you want to have? What people do you want to meet? hard to win. Showing this other person that you can don’t have enough to do right now, call up a friend you can provide them with the normalcy that will Daydreaming about your future is free, it’s fun, and change will impress them. and see if that friend needs your help with anything. help them regain their equilibrium. it’s something you totally control. CROSSWORD SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION

C M Y K 07 | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2020 CULTURE & LIFESTYLE Poems that travel across and beyond the Himalayas Yuyutsu RD Sharma’s Panaharu Khali Chhan is a collection that outlines the poet’s oeuvre and leaves the readers wanting more.

BIBEK ADHIKARI images. Yet, at the heart of all these stinking kiss.” Yet life goes on. The hill ings. But once the readers scan the poems, the notion of loss prevails over people struggle to make their ends meet, English version, the meaning resurfaces. n the Preface (titled The Pride in beauty. but drag their lives like mules, carrying This is quite frustrating for someone sole- Being a Himali Poet) of his recent Take, for instance, the first poem Euta “stanzas of modern slavery” on their ly relying on the Nepali version. collection of Nepali poems, Sapana. Dreams about thunder and vul- backs. These mules carry Iceberg beer, Sharma’s Nepali is peppered with Panaharu Khali Chhan, eminent tures get juxtaposed with the falling of a Chinese bricks, tin cans, rice sacks, and many phrases from Hindi and English. Nepali poet and editor Yuyutsu RD “four-month embryo / from the greedy iodised salt on their backs—and they are Readers who are looking for a “standard Sharma writes: “This [poetic] jour- mouth of a hateful hawk.” The result is “cursed for a lifetime eternal wander- Nepali” are at a loss. Nevertheless, the Iney began on a long wooden table outside the trembling of the newly-wed bride, who ing.” So are the people living there. use of the poet’s idiolect—the speech pat- a small tea shop in Bhimphedi.” That was was “dreaming of pregnant sunsets.” It is The third part of the book—Phurbako tern of an individual—is a classic dou- around 40 years ago. The lush greenery, Sharma’s caliber as a poet that enables Yarling, Phurba’s Earrings—takes the ble-edged sword: it can either attract the the soft rustle of mountain air, and the him to stitch one image after another into readers to the northern Himalayas, from readers or repel them. Personally, I found lonesome sleepy hamlet enchanted the Frankenstein-esque poetry of gro- where even the “God says hello.” Sharma it rather charming, especially reading the Sharma. The young poet in him was tesque horror. The “horror,” however, is writes about the “turquoise lake” that stanzas sprinkled with strange dialects. piqued with an unwavering interest—he everyday reality for many Nepalis. reflects the image of the Sagarmatha and Still, the occasional typos and errors in sat beneath a peepal tree, put pen to In his next poem, Niyati, the poet com- “longs to belong to the ocean”; a stark punctuation make the reading a jittery paper, and started writing about the hills, pares the life of a street dog with a drunk- contrast to what is assumed to be normal. one. An efficient editor can easily solve the people who live there, and their every- en porter—both are “huddled / in the Meanwhile, Phurbako Yarling is a roman- this problem. day struggles. shadow of / a pagoda.” The element of tic poem that embraces mountain meta- For Sharma, the best poems are like In his long career of 40 years, Sharma dread is manifested by Sharma’s choice phors and Helambu’s essence. The poet “the poems / on the Lake [he] didn’t has produced more than a dozen antholo- of images: “gorilla kick” and a “pus-drip- sees Phurba [Again] in Ghyalung right write,” just like the “kisses [his lover] / gies, contributed to numerous literary ping paw.” This nauseating description of before entering the Langtang forest and refused” to accept. Also, for him, the Lake magazines worldwide, and served as a a normative scene results in a prickling reminisces his traveling experience (especially Lake Phewa) is like a half-writ- visiting poet-scholar at many American sensation of fear and loathing in the amidst the “mountain stillness.” ten poem, forever struggling to be whole- universities. What makes his poems so reader. The last part of the book—Whitmanki some and achieve something illusionary. widely read and anthologised is because In the poems that follow, Sharma con- Chhori, Whitman’s Daughter—takes the Between these two dualities—of writing they are grounded: they depict the actual trasts Buddha with the “death of a readers beyond Nepal. Readers travel to the the best poems and eschewing the half- image of the penurious lower-class Nepali dream” and the “illusion of a colorful chilling alleys of London to the butter- baked ones—he struggles sometimes and society. Yet the depiction is not straight- lust.” He broods over the death of an old PANAHARU KHALI CHHAN fly-filled streets of the Netherlands. One of fears the blank page, the dreadful khaali forward—he yokes many images into a woman in a traffic accident and thinks his most read and loved poems—Ani Tapai pana. In the eponymous poem, Panaharu single poem, creating a long-lasting and about the fiery, swollen eyes of the sun. Translator: Yuyutsu RD Sharma New York-baasi Hunuhunchha (Are you a Khhali Chhan, he “scribbles anger,” at times hauntingly gripping experience Bhimphedi, on the other hand, is a power- Genre: Poetry New Yorker?)—chronicles his first-hand “compiles a cosmos of failure,” dreams for his readers. ful work that brings together labour Publisher: White Lotus Book experience in the streets of New York. about the “flaring fields of fire,” and Reading the collection, which is divid- workers in a tunnel to the philosophical Shop/Nirala Moreover, in another poem, London “chants the mantras”—the same that ed into four parts—Pahadko Artha, musing—“another name for drunkenness Publications Bombaari, the poet travels around London used to fill his pages before. Khacharharu, Phurbako Yarling, and is death.” Price: Rs 395 and collocates the euphoria with Bhaktapur For readers who want to peruse Whitmanki Chhori—is synonymous with Sharma also pays a fitting tribute to fair and Shakespeare’s Prospero. Sharma’s selected poems in Nepali, which having a long tête-à-tête with the moun- one of his inspirations, Gopal Prasad As an ardent admirer of his many he wrote (and sometimes translated) for tains and their people. It is only in the Rimal, in the poems Aamaka Sapanaharu dried blood,” while “upon the boiling English poems, reading Sharma in Nepali 40 years, this anthology will be the right latter part of the work that readers get and Gopal Prasad Rimal. He calls Rimal a afternoon’s boundary” a tortoise raises was a bit of an uncommon experience. choice. It will outline the poet’s oeuvre transported to the West: New York, “young embryo-son” and later the “pago- its long neck and gawks. Many of the poems in this collection, hav- and leave the readers wanting more. On a Amsterdam, London, among others. The da of poetry.” What I personally found In the second part of his book— ing first written in English and later final note, reading Sharma in English is a first part—Pahadko Artha, The Meaning charming is his bewildering use of Khacharharu, Mules—Sharma’s poems translated in Nepali, have a different flair delightful experience; reading him in of the Hills—chronicles the bleak and imagery. He defamiliarises what is com- reach Lake Phewa, Ghorepani, and from the usual contemporary poetry. Still, Nepali, a somewhat bewildering and dis- bizarre lives that thousands of pover- monplace and comes up with something Birethanti. The people of these areas are some poems feel like they are being forci- concerting one. ty-stricken Nepalis are forced to live. strangely fascinating. Take his poem like the hill mother from his poem, bly translated. One example of this is Readers find themselves between short, Lumbini as an example. He sees the Asafaltaharu, who has nothing to offer Yeshuko Cross, or Christ’s Cross, which is Adhikari is a poet and critic. He tweets as pithy lines surrounded by labyrinthine sacred pond “green [but] with droplets of her caterwauling son except a “moist but too ambiguous even after multiple read- @bibek_writes.

Yenya: Celebrations in Kathmandu The spirit of this festival has also been at the heart of openness to change.

PRATEEBHA TULADHAR I’m a fan of the untamed and this jatra drinking from Hatu Dyaa, their hair is just that. Look at the fierceness in the hanging limp behind them, as they jostle e will miss the Majipaa Lakhey and look at Hatu Dyaa! for their turns. charm of This festival is a manifestation of The confining of children to secluded Indra Jatra everything Dionysiac! lives under the name of anointing them this year. Hard The jatra has historically drawn living deities, which I have never been a to imagine masked dancing troupes from all around fan of, has also undergone change over when we will the Valley. From Bhaktapur, Kirtipur, the years, because of resistance from fam- “Wbe comfortable among a crowd like this Ichangu and other places in the vicinity. ilies and activists. This week, with again to drink sweet thown from Swet The troupes walk hours to come perform Kathmandu observing a lockdown, we Bhairav,” wrote my friend Paavan on her in the courtyards around the Kathmandu saw miniature chariots of the living dei- Instagram, along with a photo of herself Durbar Square— their head gear, their ties being drawn through the streets to fill at the Hatu Dyaa. Hatu Dyaa is the Newa musical instruments and all. Within the vacuum of the gigantonormous ones name for Swet Bhairav. Hatu Hyakiu is Kathmandu City itself, every single com- that have staggered through the streets in the term that describes the thown, or munity has been assigned a task at the the past. I’ve always thought of these sweet wine, trickling down the mouth of festivities. And over the centuries, they’ve improvisations as a mark of how tradi- the deity during Indra Jatra. Jatra-goers continued to perform it, competing to tions need to allow for boundaries to be throng the massive face of Swet Bhairav, make their performance shine. If the lead pushed so that they can incorporate clamouring for the wine; their jaws open, musicians in the processions are the changes to make themselves more their tongue drawn out to catch the wine Shahis, the Saapu community from relevant. with as much as their mouths can expand. Kilagaal move the Pulukishi. If the Lately, I also find myself wondering The drink sometimes trickles down their Ranjitkaars of Majipaat bear the respon- how it came to be given its Nepali name in chins and all the way down the neck. sibility of the Lakhey, the Pancha the first place. Legend has it that Indra I’ve often thought of this as an act of Buddhas are performed by the was captured by the people of Kathmandu receiving. Without holding back. Without Bajracharyas. at this time of the year for stealing flow- shame. Unlike so many other occasions As monsoon withdraws it would also be ers. One of the performances at the festi- when you might be taunted for your need a time to set aside fieldwork and that’s val is the arrival of his mother Dangii, for a drink or for asking, there’s no shame where revelry comes in. The Yenya, or the who rescues her son. But the name “Indra during this festival. You open your mouth Celebration of/in Kathmandu, was when Jatra”, which is nowhere close to the orig- wide and receive, your face turned the communities came together every inal name of the festival, obviously came towards the sky, sometimes, the drizzles year to make merry together. It has been from the rulers who wanted to find an mingling with the wine, making its way a time for show of management equivalent in their own language. But in into your system—for we’re at the very POST FILE PHOTO skills, with each community managing doing so, perhaps the jatra’s original idea end of monsoon in the Valley. you always run into friends, mostly pho- hundred things related to touch, but also their own responsibility best and taking has been hijacked. From being a time Thinking of this festival conjures in tojournalists. But you also run into your- for events like this one, that Paavan calls to the streets to have fun with when people come together for my mind sounds, smells and the awk- self constantly, in your contact with “mero favourite”. And it is my favourite whatever apparatuses their ancestors had Celebrations in Kathmandu, which is wardness of strangers pressing against strangers. Strangers can sometimes push too, so I instantly write a comment on invented and placed a claim on for their what Yenya literally means, the focus was you, while you suck in your breath, trying you closer to yourself, as you embrace her post. community. shifted to a certain god alone, all other to hold yourself away as farthest as possi- your body more closely in a crowd to keep My brother has often asked me why I The spirit of this festival has also been activities at the event being tucked away ble from the touch, even in knowing that yourself from being touched, brushed would go to this jatra on my own every at the heart of openness to change. It has behind his name in so doing. And from a being shoved around by the revelers is a against. These things can happen without year. I initially thought I liked how invisi- constantly improvised itself over the celebration that was of a city and the part of being at a jatra. intent, too, but also with intent. And so it ble I could be as I drifted amidst the years, beginning from introducing the people, it became a festival, called after a For as long as I can remember, if I have feels like a time you’re out there, gather- throngs of people doing their own thing. Nanichayau (ref to A time called Indra scheming god! been in Kathmandu in September, I’ve ing yourself more tightly than ever. But year after year, as I worked as a jour- Jatra by Prateebha Tuladhar, TKP), dedi- always been at Indra Jatra. With my par- But jatra or no jatra, we’re all holding nalist, talking to more and more people cated to the best aloo chop maker in the Tuladhar has worked as a journalist for ents as a child and on my own as an adult. ourselves now, even within the walls of about the festival, a completely new inter- city, to the day set aside for women to drag over a decade, with affiliations to You’re never alone at this festival because our own homes. And we’re nostalgic for a est in the festival began to emerge in me. the chariots, to a day dedicated to women Kantipur TV and German Press Agency. BEST-SELLERS | NEW RELEASES Fiction

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C M Y K SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2020 | 08 CULTURE & LIFESTYLE (C.R.P.D.) - 3/052/053 In this messy, poorly written Netflix series, only Neena Gupta shines Netflix India’s latest series, Masaba Masaba, is filled with cliches and is a boring rendition of the interesting lives of Masaba and Neena Gupta.

ANKIT KHADGI Likewise, the character of Gia (played KATHMANDU by Rytasha Rathore), the protagonist's chubby but sassy and witty best friend, is ver since Masaba Gupta was a time-worn archetype character and a born, she has been under the big time disappointment. Besides being a public eye. Masaba had creat- 2 am friend to Masaba, her character has ed a storm in the society she not much to offer, except make witty was born in because her moth- comebacks and encourage people to have er, veteran actor Neena Gupta, sex to make their life colourful. Ehad decided to give birth to her without Meanwhile, most of the men in the getting married to her father, the legend- show are one-note characters. Masaba’s ary cricketer Viv Richards. This was back ex-husband Vinay has no significance in in the ’80s when society was much less the plot. Likewise, the two other male liberal than now. characters, Dhaariya (played by Neil Throughout her childhood, she was Bhooplam) and Jogi (played by Smaran bullied for her skin tone and called vari- Sahu), are just used as characters who are ous names. Likewise, her mother, Neena just love interests or are present to create Gupta, also had her fair share of struggle, sexual tension in Masaba’s life, making as she was hypersexualised by the audi- their presence forgettable. ence, leading her to get typecast in mov- The cinematography offers nothing ies and later struggle to get author-backed new either. The scenes look all glossy and roles. the set design looks like it was created to However, this is not the story director shoot for an Instagram post. Sonam Nair is interested in telling. But there are a few moments in the Rather she is focused on the life of the show that will help you keep watching the mother-daughter duo, who are still navi- series. And most of such moments are gating their lives amidst all the chaos, 20 when Neena Gupta appears on the screen. years later, doing what they love, which is Her screen presence is charming and acting and designing clothes respectively. there is an innate likeability in her perso- Released on August 25, Netflix’s Masaba na. Even though the show fails to show Masaba is a tightly squeezed, semi-fic- her as a wholesome being, someone who's tional account of Masaba Gupta and much more than just a mother, whenever Neena Gupta, their struggles, wins, and passionate actor, hungry for roles in an Farah Khan, Mithila Parker, and Pooja she appears, she literally lightens up the the glamour world they are part of. industry that treats her like a liability. In MASABA MASABA Bedi. But the characters are so badly screen. Starring both Masaba Gupta and Neena her head, she knows she’s defeated but written, backed by even poorer dialogues, Masaba’s acting is also pretty Gupta, the six 30-minute episodes show us her heart always pushes her to not quit, Starring: Neena Gupta, Masaba that their presence adds nothing to the decent, and since it’s her first debut pro- a sanitised version of their lives, the con- as acting is the thing that makes her Gupta, Neil Bhooplam plot, which itself is convoluted in trying ject, she shows some scope as an flicts and struggles they face. happy. Director: Sonam Nair to be too cool and sassy, oftentimes forget- actor as well. The chemistry and the reg- The show starts with an article that And while the real-life story-lines of ting the basics of story-telling. ular banter between the real-life moth- creates havoc around the lives of Masaba Neena and Masaba are interesting, even But that’s not the only thing that lets er-daughter duo is also natural, making it and Neena. In the blind item (a news inspiring, they have been shown through an overbearing mother, who always has to the audience down. The portrayal of a one of the highlights of the not-so innova- story, typically in a gossip column, in rose-tinted glasses which fails to acknowl- have her say in her daughter's decisions, tabloid editor, Micky, a recurring charac- tive show. which the details of an incident are edge the duo's struggles and their strong which kind of creates a bitter-sweet ani- ter in the show, is so problematic and When the trailer of the show was reported but the identities of the people and fierce personalities. mosity between them. But there isn’t outdated, that it takes power away from released, it looked really interesting as we involved are not revealed), it’s hinted that The character of Masaba is so poorly enough depth given to the character that the film's central message: of women hardly see autobiographies of famous Masaba is going to divorce her husband, written that the audience can hardly con- explains her overprotectiveness. Why is defying social stereotypes. personalities, where they themselves act Vinay (played by Satyadeep Mishra). The nect with her. She’s given such uninspir- she exhibiting such behaviour? The audi- Micky is shown as a vain person whose on the screen in the Indian entertainment gossip turns out to be true and Masaba ing and poorly written dialogues that we ence is hardly shown anything to under- character is woven with a touch of industry. Likewise, since both Masaba separates with her husband and starts hardly know who the real Masaba is. stand the character, besides portraying Schadenfreude personality, as he derives and Neena have achieved so much in living with her mother, Neena. The series Likewise, the writers hardly give her her being a mother and a struggling actor. pleasure from seeing people fall apart. their respective careers, their stories on then switches to Masaba’s professional space to be vulnerable. We rarely see her Besides their lives, Bollywood, the fash- While it's understandable that there the celluloid were bound to be an exciting struggle, as she faces a creative block emotional side, or as someone who has ion and the glamour industry, and social might be people like him in the media journey for people to witness. But the end while designing her new collections, layers to their personalities, like every- media also become central to the plotline. industry, and the show is trying to depict product is so unimaginative and unin- showing the audience how she navigates one else. We see a satirical representation of that, but when you reinforce stereo- spiring, filled with lazy writing, that it her ways of surviving in the fashion Neena Gupta’s character is slightly bet- Bollywood, which the mother-daughter types—showing a gay man as someone fails to give justice to the otherwise inter- industry when her personal life is in ter written, but it still misses so many duo is part of. But the satire, rather, who’s super campy, has a limp wrist, and esting and inspiring lives of the creative turmoil. facets of her personality that it fails to comes across as a childish parody of the speaks in the same stereotypical way— duo, Masaba and Neena. Their story Likewise, Neena Gupta’s story too provide justice to the persona of such a industry. There are special appearances then as a maker your intention becomes deserved a much better presentation than moves parallelly. Neena is shown as a talented actor. In the show, she’s shown as made by Kiara Advani, Shibani Dandekar, dicey. this forgettable show.

Boseman honoured as hometown Phew! Revolting spit and poo brews shown in Swedish exhibit hero in native South Carolina The Disgusting Food Museum in Malmo, Sweden, is now introducing a The city paid tribute to Boseman in a public memorial on Thursday evening. drinks menu in the form of a temporary exhibition opening Saturday.

PAUL RHYS include a bull’s penis, frog smoothies from Peru, MALMO, SWEDEN a wine made of baby mice that is consumed in China and Korea, and Sweden’s “surstrom- esperate for a drink? There is ming,” an infamously putrid fermented spit-fermented wine, liquor fer- herring. mented in prison toilets, and a Many of the fermented beverages now being strong Scottish brew served from exhibited are equally stomach-churning. One is the mouth of a taxidermied an ancient Korean beverage concocted for squirrel. medicinal purposes from fermented child’s DThe Disgusting Food Museum in Malmo, feces and rice. Sweden, which has served up displays of bull Ahrens points to a jug with a milky liquid, testicles and maggot-infested cheese, is now brewed with the help of a donation produced by introducing a drinks menu in the form of a his youngest daughter. He explained that the temporary exhibition opening Saturday. “poo wine” was part of South Korean tradition- Museum director Andreas Ahrens said he al medicine to help broken bones and bruises, wants to encourage people to examine their but it is not anything familiar to Koreans today. relationship with alcohol by showing the Other beverages on display include chicha de extreme measures people have taken to concoct muko, which is spit-fermented corn meal beer mind-altering brews. from Peru, a Ugandan gin made from fermented “People are very desperate to get drunk bananas, and a wine made from an overripe around the world,” Ahrens said. “So whenever orange fermented in the tank of a prison toilet. we find ourselves in a situation where there is One display tells what happened in the Soviet no alcohol, we get quite inventive and we’ve Union when the government closed alcohol been doing this for millennia.” stores to reduce drunkenness: people began Most of the drinks on display are beverages drinking perfumes and varnish, leading to the that are commonly consumed somewhere in the deaths of many. world but which would revolt outsiders unfamil- Another liquid refreshment featured in the AP/RSS iar with the taste. exhibition is an Icelandic beer made with whale A child holds her Black Panther doll during a Chadwick Boseman Tribute on Thursday, in Anderson. These include bitter herbal liquors like testicle that’s been smoked in sheep’s dung. Gammel Dansk, drunk in Denmark, as well as “Some of these things are so normal in some ASSOCIATED PRESS her family in Augusta, Georgia, In Anderson, a city of about 28,000 Fernet-Branca, an Italian amaro. societies. Should it really be that normal?” ANDERSON, SC before the actor portrayed her father people, "there's deep sadness and “So much of what we drink is an acquired Ahrens said. “Why don’t we listen to our brains in the 2014 film Get on Up. grief, but it has a bounce out of it taste,” Ahrens said. and go, ‘Hey, if this tastes this way, maybe we hadwick Boseman Boseman was a playwright who that is such inspiration," city spokes- The museum in the Swedish city of Malmo shouldn’t drink it?’” was remembered as a acted and directed in theater before woman Beth Batson said. That's opened two years ago. The idea was to revolt At the entrance to the downtown museum, hometown hero who playing the Marvel Comics charac- because Boseman inspired so many and to entertain—but also to provoke reflection marks on a blackboard indicate each time some- brought a sense of ter King T'Challa in Black Panther, people in the community, she said. on how our notions about what is delicious, or one has vomited while visiting. Ahrens corrects pride to his native which became one of the top-gross- "It has been amazing to watch the disgusting, are culturally determined. a number to read “2 days since last vomit.” Anderson, South ing films in history. He also wowed grief, so to speak, blossom," she said. The dozens of food items on regular display —Associated Press CCarolina. audiences in his portrayal of other "Now young people say 'what can I The city paid tribute to Boseman Black icons, including Jackie do, what can I be.'" in a public memorial on Thursday Robinson in 42 and Thurgood Pastor Samuel Neely said evening. The actor, who became Marshall in Marshall, and shined in Boseman was active in church, widely popular through Black other films such as Spike Lee's Da 5 speech and debate. The pastor said Panther, was honored after he shock- Bloods. he baptised Boseman. He also ingly died last week at the age of 43 Brown-Thomas joked about how praised Boseman for having high following a private four-year battle her family teased Boseman for being character. with colon cancer. too tall to play her father. But she "Even though he plays these dif- A viewing of Black Panther was said Boseman was perfect for the ferent people, I still see the person I held at an outdoor amphitheater role, admiring his humility as a knew as a child," said Neely, who where people practiced social dis- high-profile actor. "He wasn't was Boseman's childhood pastor. tancing. Most attendees wore masks, Hollywood, and that's what I loved "When I see him, it's almost like see- while others—mostly kids—dressed about him," she said. ing my own child. He's still Chad." up in Black Panther costumes. Anderson mayor Terence Roberts Thursday's tribute was not a Some artwork of Boseman said people around town always funeral, and members of Boseman's was displayed onstage during the knew Boseman would be special. immediate family did not plan to be tribute. "You know, he was always reading in attendance, Boseman's publicist, "He is the epitome of black excel- and always trying to get better," Nicki Fioravante, said in a lence," said Deanna Brown-Thomas, Roberts said. "So from a work ethic statement. the daughter of legendary singer point of view, it just doesn't happen "On behalf of the Boseman James Brown and president of her overnight. He showed us that Family, we appreciate the communi- AP/RSS father's family foundation. She we've got to hone our skills and just ty's outpouring of love and admira- A selection of drinks, including coca leaf liqueur, ant gin, fishy whisky and scorpion vodka along with a squirrel remembered when Boseman visited persevere." tion for Chadwick," Fioravante said. decanter, are on display at the Disgusting Food Museum in Malmo, Sweden.

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