WI THOUT F EAR O R F A V O U R

Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 295 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 25.4 C -3.6 C Wednesday, December 23, 2020 | 08-09-2077 Dharan Jumla Nepal Communist Party’s fragile unity falls apart Factions led by Oli and Dahal are in bid to wrest control of the party, as both claim to have majority members on their side.

MAY 16 Five- MAY 29 Dahal JULY third week Mid-AUG to mid-SEP NOV 20 Oli MARCH 4 point agree- makes public Dahal and Nepal Agreement between and Dahal Oli under- ment for party the agreement reach a written Dahal and Nepal; Nepal reach agree- JAN 26 Agni goes kid- Mid-JUNE to APRIL 20 unification between him agreement to relegated to fourth ment: Oli to Sapkota ney trans- SEP 5 Internal JAN second week mid-JULY Dahal lead the gov- Government MAY 17 Then and Oli to run remove Oli as rank; Nepal presents a elected as plant conflict surfac- Five Secretariat and Nepal unite Mid-OCT to mid-NOV ernment, issues ordinanc- CPN-UML and the government both prime min- note of dissent; Oli and the speaker es, Dahal member close to accusing Oli of AUG 16 Bamdev Dahal demands Dahal to run es related to the CPN (Maoist in turns ister and party Nepal have a heated of the announces Dahal form running the Gautam proposed implementation of the party as Constitutional 2018 Centre) unite 2019 chair debate 2020 Lower changes in ‘Dhobighat government as as party’s vice- the deal to make him executive Council and House ministers alliance’ per his will chair the executive chair chair political parties

APRIL 24 APRIL 29 MAY 2 JUNE 30 JULY 28 SEP 11 OCT 21 NOV 28 DEC 15 Oli DEC 19 Oli DEC 20 DEC 22 Ordinances Demand for Both Eighteen lead- Dahal holds Announcement India spy Oli issues ordi- visits Dahal Oli recom- Party withdrawn resignation chairs ers including a Standing is made in a chief responds nance on at his resi- mends splits of the prime agree to Dahal demand Committee Standing Samant NOV 13 to Dahal’s Constitutional dence in House dis- minister at self-criti- JUNE 28 Oli Oli’s resigna- meeting, Oli Committee meet- Goel Dahal pre- document Council Act Khumaltar solution, the cise says India tion at the faction does AUG 14 A ing that party meets wit sents his DEC 6 Oli DEC 16 Oli to ask the President latter to Secretariat wants to Standing JULY 2 Oli not attend task force disputes have OCT 1 Oli Oli document skips agrees to approves withdraw remove his Committee prorogues formed to been settled appoints levelling Standing withdraw his docu- as prime the House resolve the ambassadors, allegations Committee the ordi- ment minister session conflict Dahal objects against Oli meeting nance

TIKA R PRADHAN Party split. There, however, is no appointed Pradeep Gyawali as the Allegations and counter-allega- corruption. Since there is no House now, KATHMANDU, DEC 22 former UML or former Maoist party spokesperson in place of tions Oli and Dahal have been “And when it came to the party, the faction that goes to the party. There is Nepal Communist Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who is engaged in for the past few months we had to beg for party meetings,” Election Commission with the Many may not agree that the day Party led by Oli and Nepal with the Dahal faction. continued on Tuesday as well. said Dahal. “We carry the true signatures of 40 percent of the KP Sharma Oli’s CPN-UML and Communist Party led by Dahal. It then swiftly approached the Oli did not name but in what spirit of the party unity. With us total central members can split Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s CPN Which faction has or will Election Commission to register was quite apparent, he took a pot- are all the former Maoist mem- the party and have a new one reg- (Maoist Centre) announced merg- have the legal status is subject the changes made to the party shot at Dahal, saying some lead- bers and those senior leaders istered. er, both had also sealed the fate of to the decision of the Election statute. ers were only focused on three from then UML who led their It’s not that the Nepal the Nepal Communist Party. Both Commission—and if it fails to do In the meantime, the Dahal things–money, position and fami- party several times.” Communist Party saw a spectacu- the leaders, who assumed the post so, the matter will be resolved by faction, at Karki Banquet, ly. “We had to go for the [House] Dahal argued that a two-thirds lar implosion suddenly on of party chair dividing power the court. Babarmahal, held its own meet- dissolution because we cannot majority of members are with his Tuesday. It was in the making for equally between them, were However, both factions contin- ing of the Standing Committee, hand over the country to a person faction. quite some time. Oli, who is also buoyed by the fresh election victo- ue to claim to be the legitimate which “decided” to expel Oli as who only thinks about position, The Dahal faction has claimed the prime minister, however, has- ry. They were least concerned Nepal Communist Party. the party chair. In the afternoon, money and family.” to have 315 Central Committee tened the process by suddenly dis- about whether their tens of thou- On Tuesday morning, Oli held a the Dahal group held a meeting of Oli said that despite giving the members on its side. solving the House of sands of cadres and leaders of meeting of the Central Committee the Central Committee, dismiss- role of “executive chair”, Dahal When the Nepal Communist Representatives on Sunday. different ranks were indeed ready at Baluwatar attended by mem- ing the meeting held by Oli in the did nothing to complete the unifi- Party had held its first Central After its merger, the party had for the assimilation. The only bers loyal to him. He told the meet- morning as “a gathering of a cation process. Committee meeting on May 17, decided to complete all the unifi- thing they both could see then ing that it does not harm the body small faction”. “Instead they prepared a 2018, the day the party was cation process within three was power. when some furuncles are removed, After expelling Oli through a no-confidence motion and announced, it had 441 central months and hold its unity general There were murmurs among indicating at Dahal and his com- disciplinary action as per the planned an impeachment and members. convention within two years. But cadres and leaders regarding the rades from the UML days, Madhav party statute, the Dahal faction’s even showed the audacity to expel As per the Political Parties Act, even after one year, the party was life of the newly formed Nepal Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal. Central Committee meeting unan- the party chairman,” said Oli. any faction with 40 percent of struggling to complete its unifica- Communist Party (NCP). The Oli faction also constituted imously decided to elevate senior At his gathering, Dahal said Oli Central Committee members and tion process, as debate arose over On Tuesday, 31 months after its a 1,199-member general conven- leader Madhav Nepal to the party completely failed on the govern- 40 percent of Parliamentary Party the party’s ideology. formation, the Nepal Communist tion organising committee. It chair with equal status as Dahal. ance front and could not control members can register a new party. >> Continued on page 2 Polls have been announced, but there are challenges, officials say Willingness of the parties to go to the polls is the biggest one. Before that Election Commission will have to resolve the dispute within the Nepal Communist Party.

resorting to violence. In the 2017 elections, protests by the Madhes-based parties regarding the delineation of electoral constituen- cies had posed challenges, particular- ly during the local elections. There had also been a limited degree of challenge from the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal as well. Even though legal challenges have been made against the dissolution of the House, Thapaliya said that as the authority to hold elections, the com- mission should prepare to hold the polls on the announced dates. “Holding elections this time around is not as challenging as in 2008 when not only was the political situation volatile but we also had to Photo courtesy: PM’s Secretariat prepare a new process and systems Election commissioners have suggested holding the elections in one phase to cut cost. for the elections,” said former chief election commissioner Bhojraj PRITHVI MAN SHRESTHA the elections will be how the political Pokharel, who led the commission at KATHMANDU, DEC 22 situation evolves going forward,” said that time. Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh But like Thapaliya and Singh he too Midterm polls have been announced Thapaliya. thinks the political situation in the in two phases on April 30 and May 10. The anti-Oli faction within the rul- country is a bigger challenge. In par- Whether they will be held or not ing party, as well as opposition parties ticular he is concerned about the first and foremost depends on how in the dissolved House of internal dispute in the Nepal the Supreme Court rules on the writs Representatives, has called the Communist Party. that have been filed calling for the House dissolution “unconstitutional”. “The Election Commission may be reinstatement of the House of And they have not said unequivocally required to settle disputes within the Representatives President Bidya Devi that they will take part in the ruling Nepal Communist Party if both Bhandari dissolved on Sunday on the elections although the meeting of the sides approach the commission claim- recommendation of Prime Minister Oli faction on Tuesday said it would. ing to be the Nepal Communist Party,” KP Sharma Oli. “As of now, it appears that most said Pokharel. But soon after the announcement of political parties are against holding This is particularly important in the dissolution, the prime minister fresh parliamentary elections,” said assigning the election symbol. summoned the chief election commis- Ayodhee Prasad Yadav, former chief On Monday, the Nepal Communist sioner and two other election commis- election commissioner. “A political Party faction led by chair Pushpa sioners and asked them to prepare for consensus is required to hold elec- Kamal Dahal and senior leader the polls. tions like in the past.” Madhav Kumar Nepal, who was ele- Although there is sufficient time to During the Constituent Assembly vated as chair on Tuesday, informed prepare, the Election Commission has elections in 2008, there was a chal- the commission of the disciplinary concerns about how the political situ- lenge to get the Communist Party of action they had taken against Prime ation will evolve in the run up to the Nepal (Maoist), which had entered Minister Oli. midterm elections. peaceful politics by ending the dec- On Tuesday morning, Oli held a “The main challenge for us to hold ade-long conflict in 2006, on board. meeting of the Central Committee of Likewise, bringing the his faction of the party which decided Madhesi forces, who had to increase the number of members of organised the first Madhes the Central Committee to 1199 so that movement in 2007 demanding he has a majority in the party’s federalism, to the polls was Central Committee. another challenge. This decision was subsequently The second Constituent relayed to the Election Commission Assembly elections were held in but whether the Oli faction’s a relatively less challenging expansion of the Central situation in 2013 although the Committee is legally valid or not will security challenge was a have to be decided by the bigger factor with a faction commission based on the Political split from the Maoist party Parties Act-2017. boycotting the elections and >> Continued on page 2

C M Y K WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 | 02 National Nepal Communist Party’s fragile unity ... Kanchanpur road projects are running behind schedule Project contractors cite funds crunch as reason for delays while the stakeholders point to the contractors’ negligence.

BHAWANI BHATTA that the company will meet the dead- lion road four years ago. But the con- KANCHANPUR, DEC 22 line.” struction work of the road has not The condition of the Kaluwapur- been completed even after extending The construction work of the Daiji- Belauri road section is also its deadlines time and again. Only 70 Lipna road in Bedkot Municipality, similar. Santoshi Thegin JV percent of the road project has been Kanchanpur, started three-and-a-half Construction Company, a contractor done so far. The latest deadline for the years ago but only 55 percent of the company, had received a tender to con- project is mid-March. work has been completed so far. The struct the road in September 2016. The construction work of the Banka- road construction was to be completed According to the contract agreement, Nayil-Budar road in Krishnapur has within two years of the contract the construction work of the road also remained incomplete. agreement. should have been completed within “The opening of the road track has On April 19, 2017, Nagarjun June 2018. But the project is been delayed, as 20kms of the road Constructions, a construction compa- still incomplete despite several exten- falls in forestland. We are facing prob- post PHOTO: angad dhakal ny, was awarded the contract to con- sions to the contract deadline since its lems preparing an Environment A gathering of the Dahal-Nepal faction of the Nepal Communist Party in Kathmandu on Tuesday. Those who were trying to save the party say a struct a 16km road from Lipna to initiation. Impact Assessment report,” Bhatta split was coming along for quite some time but it was delayed because neither Oli nor Dahal wanted to be seen as the cause for the split. Bhamka in Bedkot at a cost of Rs 163.5 “Only four kms of the road in said. million. the Bansaha area and three kms After the formation of provincial >> Continued from page 1 both Oli and Dahal to remain under House, Oli drove the final nail in the But only four kilometres of the road in Belauri bazaar have been black- governments in 2018, all ongoing road Then in May last year, Dahal started one roof. coffin of the Nepal Communist Party. has been blacktopped so far, according topped yet. There’s a 14km road projects which were under the federal talking publicly about an agreement “The only and main problem of our Ghanashyam Bhusal, a Standing to Hemraj Bhatta, an engineer of the section in Bansaha and a 15km road government were handed over to the he and Oli had reached about leading party is having two chairs,” said Committee member who resigned Infrastructure Development Office in section in Belauri area that have yet provincial governments across the the government in turns, much to the Janardan Sharma, a Standing from the Oli Cabinet on Sunday, said Kanchanpur. to be blacktopped,” Bhatta said. country. chagrin of Oli. Committee member, who had played a Oli was fully responsible for the party “As per the contract agreement, The latest deadline for the road pro- “Some of the road projects were Dahal, a two-time prime minister, crucial role in saving the party from split. the contractor had to complete the ject is mid-March. “But the construc- delayed due to budget shortage where- has had a bitter experience regarding the brink of a split in September. “We “I cannot explain in words such a construction work by mid-August tion work of the road does not seem as some were delayed due to contrac- power-sharing with Oli in the past as should have realised long ago that two level of planning for an explosive 2019. But they are citing a shortage likely to be completed by then,” he tors’ negligence. We have been pres- well. In 2016, Oli had refused to hand swords cannot fit into the same move of this extent [by Oli],” said of construction materials and Covid- added. suring contractors to complete the over the reins to Dahal, despite a gen- sheath.” Bhusal, referring to a series of actions 19 restrictions as the causes for the The condition of the 21km construction work within the given tleman’s agreement to that end. Dahal Dahal, who ran his Maoist party for Oli has taken in the recent past includ- delay in construction work,” said Malumela-Gulariya-Dhangadhi road timeframe. We are also managing the had then been forced to side with the three decades uncontested, was hav- ing the ordinance and the House disso- Bhatta, adding that the construction in Kanchanpur is also not different. required budget to speed up construc- Nepali Congress. ing a new experience in the Nepal lution. “Only if he had attended the company now has a new deadline of Swochhanda Construction Pvt. Ltd, tion works,” said Dipak Negi, an engi- Oli’s refusal to abide by the new Communist Party. Oli had reduced party meetings and discussed his December 30, 2020 to complete the a construction company, had received neer at the Infrastructure Development gentleman’s agreement prompted him to a ceremonial chair. Despite issues openly. No one would have work. “But it seems highly unlikely a tender to construct the Rs 184.5 mil- Office in Kanchanpur. Dahal to forge an alliance with former agreeing to let Dahal hold the post of stopped him from completing his UML leaders like Nepal and Khanal. “executive chair”, Oli never allowed term.” In November last year, Dahal man- him to exercise any authority. Insiders Those who were trying to save the aged to extract “executive chairman” say Dahal was never comfortable party say a split was coming along for for himself, but Oli never allowed him under Oli’s thumb. quite some time but it was delayed to exercise the authority the post But Dahal’s lust for power, accord- because neither Oli nor Dahal wanted entailed. ing to some members, was also not to be seen as the cause for the split. While Oli kept on running the party hidden from anyone. Since Oli was But by dissolving the House, Oli has to and the government unilaterally, he elected to lead the government for the take the blame for the party split, also relegated Nepal to fourth rank in full term, Dahal should not have according to leaders from the Dahal the party, which further strengthened formed an alliance against his own faction. the bond between Dahal and Nepal. party leader, they say. “But the worry is not just that a The Dahal-Nepal faction over the At the Baluwatar meeting on party has split,” said Bhusal. “The months managed to garner the major- Tuesday, Oli levelled serious charges major concern is if we can save the ity in all party committees–the against Dahal, saying he was only political achievements. If the system Secretariat, the Standing Committee focused on three things—position, remains, we can grow again.” and Central Committee. money and family. Mani Thapa, a Standing Committee Oli gradually found himself cor- Bitterness between Oli and Dahal in member, summed up well the reasons nered, and made some desperate November reached a different level behind the party split. moves, which boomeranged on him. In after both started to engage in nasty “The first and foremost reason why April this year, Oli issued two ordi- personal remarks. the party has arrived at this situation nances–one related to the Some second-rung leaders were try- is when the party announced merger, Constitutional Council Act and the ing to effect a patch-up but on it was never a unity of ideologies,” other to the Political Parties Act. December 15, Oli reintroduced the Thapa told the Post. He withdrew them within five days same ordinance related to the “Then there were some other rea- after massive criticism. But the move Constitutional Council Act which he sons. There was always conflict sowed the seeds of suspicion in the was forced to withdraw in April. between Oli and Nepal. There were Dahal-Nepal faction if Oli was trying Despite agreeing to withdraw it at the issues among the former Maoists. The to split the party. party’s Standing Committee a day party like any other Nepali commu- As the tug-of-war continued between later, Oli refused to do so, inviting con- nist party lacked intra-party democra- the two chairs, with a semblance of frontation and setting the stage for a cy. Last but not the least, Nepali com- peace returning to the party once in a party split. munists don’t know yet how to run a while, it was becoming untenable for Then on Sunday, by dissolving the government properly.”

post PHOTO: SANJOG MANANDHAR A woman selling food for monkeys waits for customers at Swayambhu, Kathmandu on Tuesday. Polls have been announced, but there are challenges, officials say

>> Continued from page 1 Even though the vaccination pro- the vaccine,” said Gautam. As the Nepal Communist Party cess against Covid-19 has begun in But a senior official at the Finance heads for a split, the commission’s some countries including the United Ministry said, on condition of ano- decision will have a bearing on which States and the United Kingdom, nymity, that arranging extra budget faction gets the election symbol “sun”, Nepal’s government has not decided for holding the elections would be which is at present assigned to the which vaccine it would purchase and challenging considering that revenue Nepal Communist Party (NCP). when it would do so. collection has largely been enough “Only after dispute settlement, may “We are still in the preparatory only to meet administrative expendi- the commission distribute election phase and we have not yet decided tures. symbols,” said Pokharel. “After dis- which vaccines to purchase,” said According to the Financial tributing election symbols, the com- Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson for Comptroller General Office, the gov- mission starts printing ballot papers, the Ministry of Health and Population. ernment collected Rs309 billion in rev- which is also a time consuming affair.” According to him, the ministry does enues while recurrent, or administra- Then there are administrative and not have an outlook of the situation of tive, expenditures of the government logistical preparations like updating the pandemic during April and May. stood at Rs286 billion as of December the voters’ list and educating voters “Covid-19 will continue to exist here 20 this fiscal year. considering the large-scale cancella- for a prolonged period but whether it In the last federal and provincial tion of votes in the last elections, will be on the scale of epidemic is elections, the election authority had according to Pokharel. uncertain,” he said. spent Rs7.75 billion, according to Raj “Procuring election materials is Public health officials, however, say Kumar Shrestha, spokesperson for the another challenge as all goods are not although the number of daily cases is commission. available within the country,” he said. not as high as in October, the spread is On top of this, the government Pokharel said that the delay in court not slowing down. needs to spend massively to maintain giving its verdict regarding the consti- Elections have been held in the mid- law and order too which requires tutionality of the House dissolution dle of a pandemic in the US, Bihar in extra billions of rupees. could also affect the commission’s India, Myanmar, some European “Based on the current revenue col- preparations. countries and Bolivia in recent lection, arranging resources for elec- “If the legal process is prolonged months. tions from the recurrent budget head and the court gives its verdict in “These elections showed that the is challenging,” the ministry official favour of holding the elections in the polls can be held even amid such a said. “But the Financial Working eleventh hour, questions will arise health crisis,” said Pokharel. “But Procedure Act prevents the govern- whether the elections could be held people’s participation was less in ment from transferring the capital within six months from the date of some of them. In some countries, a budget for the administrative pur- announcement as per the constitu- tendency to curb voting rights has pose.” The spending for elections falls tional provision,” he added. appeared by keeping polling booths under the category of recurrent According to a statement issued by away from the stronghold of the oppo- expenditure. the Office of the President on Sunday, sition parties citing the risk of coro- Keeping the expenditures in mind, the House dissolution was based pri- navirus.” Chief Election Commissioner marily on Article 76 (1) and 76(7) and The government will also be forced Thapaliya during his meeting with Article 85 of the constitution. to spend big on holding elections at a Prime Minister Oli even suggested Although citing this article as the time when it has been struggling to that elections should be held on one basis for the dissolution has been finance efforts of economic recovery day across the country. questioned, it states that election to and then there are finances needed to “During the meeting with the Prime another House of Representatives procure vaccines. Minister on Sunday, we suggested must be completed within six months According to Gautam, the estimated holding the elections in a single phase, of the dissolution. cost of purchasing the vaccine and preferably on May 10, from the per- Experts and officials also point out necessary infrastructure for storing spective of both management and aus- how the situation regarding the Covid- the vaccine would be Rs48 billion. terity,” he told the Post. 19 pandemic develops as the election “We have sought the budget from But Oli, to take opponents in his date approaches while the availability the Finance Ministry which has party by surprise, held no consulta- of resources for holding the elections responded saying that the budget tions and called snap elections in two are other concerns. would not be a problem for purchasing phases—April 30 and May 10.

C M Y K 03 | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 National House reinstatement or elections, Congress party divided over future course of action Some leaders are in favour of using elections to party’s advantage as they reckon ruling NCP is heading towards split. ANIL GIRI KATHMANDU, DEC 22

The primary opposition, Nepali Congress, is in the midst of a major dilemma—whether to support the midterm elec- tions announced by the KP Sharma Oli government or spearhead a struggle for restoration of the dissolved House of Representative. To figure out its political course, the party convened its Central Working Committee meeting from Tuesday but the leaders are already divided. A certain section of the party is considering the prospect of midterm polls being held on April 30 and May 10, as announced by the Oli government, and should the party start making preparations accordingly. Then there are those leaders who see no possibility of the elections and are in favour of holding a nationwide protest against the gov- ernment’s move of dissolving the lower house of Parliament. The view of Nepali Congress on Oli’s move to dissolve the House of Representatives is somewhat consistent across the board, that it is unconstitutional. But, at the Post Photo: keshav Thapa same time, the announcement of snap elections has led A protesting sugarcane farmer sits in front of riot shield-wielding Armed Police Force personnel deployed at Maitighar, Kathmandu, on Tuesday as precaution against possible demonstrations some leaders to ponder if the party should accept Oli’s against the decision to dissolve the House of Representatives. decision to go for a fresh mandate through elections. At Tuesday’s Central Working Committee meeting, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba said Oli’s deci- sion to dissolve the House guided by his desire to become an autocrat, a leader told the Post. “Nepali Congress cannot support the unconstitutional and undemocratic decision taken by the Oli administra- Dissolution of House of Representatives sends tion. At this time, we have to play the role of a guardian,” the leader quoted Deuba as saying. Though Deuba condemned Oli’s action, some leaders close to him suggested using the midterm elections in shock waves through provincial governments Congress’s favour, as they reckon that the ruling Nepal Communst Party is teetering on the brink of split. Leaders from the Deuba fold, like Narayan Khadka and Chief ministers of some provinces set to lose majority in the provincial assembly, destabilising their governments. NP Sawad, said at the Central Working Committee meeting that the party should prepare for elections while caution- POST REPORT exception to the political turmoil the coun- from Janata Samajwadi Party. The Chief the CM not to dissolve the provincial assem- ing the party leadership against taking to the streets for PROVINCE BUREAUS, DEC 22 try is facing. “One should be ready for the Minister of the province was selected from bly fearing a crisis. There have been reinstatement of the House of Representatives. consequences if they trigger political insta- the then UML whereas the House Speaker rumours that’s what he plans to do.” “Even our own leaders have in the past dissolved the The political developments unfolding in the bility by toppling the provincial govern- was selected from the then Maoist. In Karnali Province, the changed politi- parliament and successfully conducted elections,” Khadka centre have already started having reper- ment,” he said. Gurung has support from 43 assembly cal scenario will have a minimal impact on said. “Who knows what directions the protest will take.” cussions in the governments of the six of In Bagmati Province, Chief Minister members, 40 from NCP and three from the present government led by Mahendra Khadka suggested that the party should focus on elec- the seven provinces that are ruled by the Dormani Paudel’s government has also lost Rastriya Janamorcha, but according to NCP Bahadur Shahi, who was elected from then tions despite Oli’s move being unconstitutional. Nepal Communist Party. his majority due to the split in party mem- provincial leaders, that equation could Maoist (Centre), provided the existing fac- “We have to wait what the Supreme Court says about the The division of the party between the bers. Out of 110 assembly members in the change because of polarisation within tions remain intact. However, there are House dissolution as well, as a dozen cases have been regis- factions led by chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal province, 80 lawmakers are from NCP. the NCP. speculations and rumours that some pro- tered against Oli’s move,” he said. “If the court decides to and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal on Thirty-four of the 80 assembly members According to Ramji Baral, who won elec- vincial assembly members could possibly reinstate the House, we shall welcome the verdict. If that the one hand and Prime Minister KP are supporters of Oli. The Dahal-Nepal fac- tion from the then Maoist, there is a possi- switch camps. didn’t happen, we have to consider going to the polls. Going Sharma Oli on the other has led to a vertical tion has 22 and 24 assembly members bility of an impeachment motion against There are 20 members of the then CPN- on a protest is the most difficult alternative.” division among the party rank and file. respectively in their corners. According to Gurung if he lends his support to Oli. “The UML, 13 of the Maoist (Centre), six of Senior Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudel, however, is At present, while Province 1, Bagmati, Shalikram Jamkatel, minister of Internal assembly members appointed from the then Nepali Congress and one of Rastriya certain that holding the midterm elections within the next Gandaki and Lumbini are led by chief min- Affairs and Planning of NCP, the CM’s gov- Maoist are unified. If the Chief Minister Prajatantra Party in the 40-seat Provincial six months is impossible. isters close to Oli from the erstwhile CPN- ernment could face impeachment since he supports the PM, there will be a two-thirds Assembly. And among the 20 members from “Nepali Congress should strongly oppose the decision to UML, Karnali and Sudurpaschim are led by no longer enjoys a majority. “The CM should majority against his government.” the former UML, 12 are close to Oli while dissolve the House of Representatives,” he told the meet- chief ministers close to Dahal from the eight are with Nepal. On the basis of this ing. “We should hold a nationwide protest against Oli’s erstwhile Communist Party of Nepal numerical, the Dahal-Nepal group has 21 decision.” (Maoist Centre). members, which is enough to form a gov- Another leader Mahesh Acharya, who is close to Poudel, In Province 1, with the impending split of ernment. expressed a similar view. the ruling Nepal Communist Party, the pro- However, the Shahi government is wor- “Nepal Congress has no choice besides organising street vincial government, led by Sherdhan Rai ried, as Oli has included Dharmaraj Regmi, protests against House dissolution,” he said. with a two-thirds majority in the provincial who was elected from Dailekh as the Maoist Acharya also suggested that the party should spearhead assembly, may end up in minority. (Centre) candidate then, in the organising a separate protest and not join the ruling party leaders who As per the constitutional provision, the committee of the upcoming party conven- too are standing up against Oli. Chief Minister should garner votes of con- tion of the Oli group. “We should not support the political line of Pushpa fidence in case the party he/she represents Sita Nepali, chief whip of the NCP parlia- Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal when we go on a splits. The CM will be relieved from his/her mentary committee who is close with the protest, because they are equally responsible for the cur- post if he/she fails to get a vote of confi- Dahal-Nepal faction, said she heard about rent mess that we are in,” Acharya said. dence from majority members of the pro- Regmi’s inclusion in the committee through A Central Working Committee member told the vincial assembly. And a no-confidence social media. Post after Tuesday’s meeting that the House dissolution motion can also be tabled in the assembly, “He (Regmi) has been very positive with has created a clear divide in the party, one in favour forcing the CM to show support of majority the government in recent times. He is com- of the House reinstatement and the other in favour of members of the provincial assembly. mitted to our group. I don’t think that he the polls. Of the total 93 members in Province 1 will defect to another group,” she said. The Deuba faction seems confident that Nepali Congress assembly, the ruling NCP has 67 members, Regmi had signed the no-confidence motion will gain majority if the elections were to be held as Nepali Congress has 21 members and filed earlier against Chief Minister Shahi. announced, while the Poudel camp is more circumspect. Janata Samajwadi Party has three mem- The Sudurpaschim government also “Opinions are divided,” Dr Shekhar Koirala, a Central bers. Similarly, Rastriya Prajatantra Party post illustration finds itself in a political turmoil in light of Working Committee member, said. “I don’t see the chances and Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch resign and open doors for others,” he said. In Lumbini Province, until Tuesday, lead- the recent developments. Of the 53 assem- of the House reinstatement, nor of the midterm elections.” have one member each. “But the CM may dissolve the provincial ers of NCP were still undecided on which bly members, 39 are from NCP. Only six of But, I do not see chances of house restoration and hold- Fifty-one among the 67 NCP members assembly.” faction to choose. Out of 87 assembly mem- the 39 from the NCP are in favour of Oli. ing the elections in the next six months, said central work- were elected from then CPN-UML and the “The CM has already lost the majority bers, 61 are from NCP in the province. Chief Minister Trilochan Bhatta from NCP ing committee member Dr Shekhar Koirala, there are other 16 were from Maoist (Centre). Twenty now. The next few days will reveal the fate Among the 61, 41 are from the then UML has also lost his majority in the provincial divided opinions inside the party. NCP members are considered to be close of this government,” said Deepak Niraula, and 20 are from the then Maoist. Thirty six assembly. “There is a possibility of a third scenario, the one that with the Oli group, 28 are with the Dahal- an assembly member known to be close to out of the 41 from the then UML are in “The Dahal-Nepal faction has the majori- happened after the first Constituent Assembly was dis- Nepal group while three members seem the CM. favour of Oli. There are 19 assembly mem- ty’s support,” said Rana Bahadur Rawal, solved in 2012 following which an interim government was neutral. In Gandaki province, Prithvi Subba bers from Nepali Congress, six from Janata parliamentary party leader of Nepali formed under Khil Raj Regmi,” added Koirala. “Discussions are on regarding the forma- Gurung, the provincial in charge and a Samajwadi and one from Janamorcha. Congress in the provincial assembly. The Poudel faction, meanwhile, suspect that Deuba could tion of a new government in the changed standing committee member of Nepal Bhumishwor Dhakal, chief whip of the “Which of the two factions comes out try to push the party to join an all-party government under political situation with the support of Communist Party, is the Chief Minister. But NCP, said, “It is highly unlikely much will stronger at the centre will surely affect the Oli in order to hold the midterm elections, or to form an Nepali Congress and Janata Samajwadi with NCP split more or less inevitable, change in the political scene here in outcome here. It remains to be seen what election government led by Deuba himself. Party,” said Kul Prasad Sambo, a member of Gurung’s government is also on the verge Lumbini. Provincial ministers and other will happen in the coming days.” Poodle and his supporters are wary of the recent under- the Provincial assembly close to the Dahal- of losing his two-thirds majority in the pro- assembly members are supporting the CM.” standing between Deuba and Oli over the appointments in Nepal faction. vincial assembly. Chief Minister Shankar Pokharel has (Deo Narayan Sah in Morang, Subash various constitutional bodies. With the possible threat to his govern- In the 60-member provincial assembly, 28 started discussions with Nepali Congress Bidari in Makwanpur, Lal Prasad Sharma “We should not chase after power and position,” Poudel ment, Rai is said to have been striving to are from the then CPN UML, 15 represent for collaboration in case of a threat to his in Pokhara, Ghanashyam Gautam in said at the Central Working Committee meeting, warning lure some members from the rival faction. Nepali Congress, 12 from the then Maoist, government, said Fakhruddin Khan, chief Rupandehi, Kalendra Sejuwal in Surkhet the party leadership against forming an alliance that could Rai said the Province 1 government is no three from Rastriya Janamorcha and two whip of Nepali Congress. “We have advised and Chitranga Thapa in Dhangadhi.) jeopardise the party’s reputation. Political unrest likely to trigger surge in new coronavirus cases across country ARJUN POUDEL According to Johns Hopkins School things. New cases of coronavirus cause of death, people dying in homes KATHMANDU, DEC 22 of Public Health, the higher the test could spike in the coming days.” are being cremated without their kin positivity rates, the more likely that The government’s handling of the knowing their infection status. Of the 155,017 swab samples tested in the transmission rate is high and pandemic has been poor from the very “At a time when all the strength of the last 22 days, 23,088 have tested pos- more untested people with coronavi- beginning. When it decided to enforce the country should be focussed on itive for coronavirus in the country. rus are going around in the communi- a lockdown starting March 24, with fighting the pandemic, we have start- This means that 15 out of every 100 ty. The World Health Organization just two reported Covid-19, there were ed fighting within the party,” Dr people who get tested for the disease says a test positivity rate below five expectations that it would work seri- Bikash Lamichhane, a public health are getting positive results--a test pos- percent should be achieved for a coun- ously towards improving health infra- expert, told the Post. itivity rate of 15 percent. try to relax its virus containment structures and curbing the spread of The World Health Organization in A test positivity rate this high is not measures. infections. March said that the highest level of good news as the government’s focus But in Nepal, which has recorded a However, as new cases spiked, the political commitment was needed to has shifted to politics from the fight test positivity rate of 15 percent over government withdrew all contain- fight the coronavirus pandemic and a against the pandemic, public health the last 22 days, the test positivity rate ment measures and halted free testing long list of countries were not show- experts say warning that coronavirus is still more than three times the UN Post file Photo and contact tracing, considered key to ing “the level of political commit- spread has not slowed down. agency’s threshold of five percent. But Following the government’s decision to dissolve the House, protests and political meetings containing the pandemic. ment” needed to match the level of “What has slowed down is the test- almost all measures to contain the have begun. Apart from this, the Ministry of threat the world faces. ing,” said Dr Baburam Marasini, for- spread of the virus have been lifted. Health and Population has been also “The number of daily positive cases mer director at the Epidemiology and All this is happening at a time when mass meetings and public gatherings. “At a time when all the state machin- including in the test figures tests done jumped to over 200,000 in the United Disease Control Division. “The gov- various political parties have threat- Meanwhile, people are not strictly ery, political parties and public should on people such as health workers, indi- States due to the political turmoil ernment is not serious about contain- ened to take to the streets to protest following safety measures, including be focusing on containing the spread viduals who need to attend court hear- there,” Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of ing the spread of infection. People are Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s deci- the use of face masks and social of infection, new political turmoil has ings and government staffers serving the Clinical Research Unit at the bound to suffer when the government sion to dissolve the House of distancing. Also, with the dissolution created in the country,” Dr Sudha at the Prime Minister’s residence--all Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious and political parties prioritise control Representatives. of Parliament, authorities concerned Sharma, former secretary for health of whom get tested regularly. Disease Hospital, told the Post. “The over state power, instead of control After the latest developments in pol- aren’t accountable to anyone, told the Post. “Attention of the public After the ministry decided not to coming days will be more challenging over the pandemic.” itics, the country is likely to see more experts say. has been diverted towards political test the deceased to establish their for us as well.”

C M Y K WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 | 04 Opinion EDITORIAL Five years of relentless ‘Oli-fication’ A magnificent implosion The worry is that the The least that is expected of the leaders is that they societal and political follow a minimum standard of dignity. changes have become almost irreversible. It was inevitable, the fragmentation of the Nepal Communist Party. The way the two factions within the party, led by KP CK Lal Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal respectively, had been going at each other’s throats in the past few months, it was just SOUTH SIDE a matter of time before they parted ways. And yet it is strange, even ugly, that the party that had got the most unequivocal popular mandate in Nepal’s political history to run the govern- ment and steer the country towards a prosperous future, When a situation is too complex to com- prehend, the temptation to insert the imploded magnificently. With its implosion, the party has put first-person singular in the narrative is to rest the people’s desire to see a singular party run the coun- impossible to resist. A day before the try for a full term, unlike in the past when one minority govern- winter solstice, I was re-reading The Works of Oscar Wilde in the afternoon ment fell after another and horse trading in politics was the sun. Once again I had found The Ballad order of the day. of Reading Gaol particularly striking. In the closing section of the six-part The twin co-chairs ran the Nepal Communist Party with poem, Wilde bemoans: ‘Yet each man utmost callousness as if it was their personal fiefdom. Having kills the thing he loves, / By each let this be heard, / Some do it with a bitter jeopardised the party’s political legitimacy and the country’s look, / Some with a flattering word, / forward march for their petty monkey business, Oli and Dahal The coward does it with a kiss, / The brave man with a sword!’ I was trying show no remorse even today. The party that had got the people’s to contemplate the way Supremo KP mandate to become the custodians of their dreams had no Oli will kill the contested constitution which he had used so far with so much moral licence to split, just as it had no moral licence to let loving care. Then the postprandial Po st File Photo Parliament fall apart at the whim of a party chair whose only sluggishness took over and I dozed off thought with as little authority for pro- ion, the incumbent chief justice was through its misuse. The prime minister on the terrace floor. vincial governments as the stem of a defamed and was made to bow out of spent his second year in office by desire has been to hold on to power no matter how much his The reverie was broken by the shrill wineglass where all potent power is office. repeatedly pushing the envelope of his actions cost the country. of the cell-phone, which had been play- poured into the bowl at the top. Businesses were told in no uncertain authority. Krishna Bahadur Mahara ing relaxing jazz in the background. The charter, however, lost its utility terms to shift their loyalty from the was disparaged and defanged through The twin factions have begun the race to the Election The caller was Bimal Acharya, an ener- once Supremo Sharma Oli managed to office of the ruling party to the person- a thinly-veiled political intrigue. Commission with their claims to legitimacy. On Tuesday, a two- getic journalist with a Nepali language get hold of the ownership of the lapsed al secretariat of the prime minister. Cabinet colleagues were turned into news portal. He politely asked if I was The egos of media-persons that had attendants of his political antecham- thirds majority of the members of the central committee that Maoists through a hurried political abreast of the latest political develop- acquisition. The amalgamation was helped raise his stature in public were ber. Madhesi politicos were brought to attended the meeting of the Dahal faction replaced KP Sharma ment. Upon my denial, he informed me rumoured to have been facilitated by massaged with fulsome praise. their knees by the skilful parading of Oli with Madhav Kumar Nepal unopposed as its chairman. The that the Parliament had just been dis- the interlocutors of a friendly neigh- The palanquin press has been duti- the Trojan Horse named CK Raut. solved. bourhood country from across the fully carrying his glittering litter with Premier Oli marshalled the court of Oli faction, meanwhile, replaced Narayan Kaji Shrestha with Perhaps the journalist needed a Himalayas. With the near-complete loss nationalist gusto anyway. The phalanx propaganda to destroy lawmaker Pradeep Kumar Gyawali as its spokesperson and added a whop- Madhesi voice to add some colour to his of its support base in the Tarai-Madhes, began to sway in admiration once the Resham Chaudhary in every possible reportage. I told him that the power the Nepali Congress had already Supremo made the six-day trip to way. When Chinese President Xi ping 556 new members in the central committee. The Election that be had gently pushed the charter become a politically malnourished Beijing and brought back prospects of Jinping came visiting, he was in top Commission is going to have its plate full in the coming days as down the precipice. I might as well have entity. trans-Himalayan railways and the form and ready to rededicate himself used Wilde’s allusion and said that the When he moved into the official resi- promises of Chinese investment as the to Xi Jinping Thought to the applause neither faction seems to let go of the other’s neck. coward has killed the constitution with dence of the Prime Minister at economic elevator necessary to lift the of Ximians in Nepal. The division of the party does not seem to become easy, as a last kiss. Baluwatar for the second time in early- carriage of prosperity from the base- Pushpa Kamal Dahal spent an entire 2018, the Supremo was determined not ment to the higher floors. year imploring the Supremo to show there is no clear-cut division anymore. Cadres have crossed Superfluous statute to vacate it again—come what may. He Opinion pages of print publications some mercy and accommodate him in a over from one faction to another in the past two and a half Every signatory of the 16-point con- needed to establish his indispensability in 2018 were awash with deliberations role commensurate with his aspira- spiracy can claim to have sired the through the manipulation of beliefs in about metro tracks, railroads, water- tions. Oli has responded with an years, and reports from various parts of the country say one charter that was fast-tracked through society. He set out to do that with the ways, international airports, hydroe- autogolpe. faction has already started barring another faction from enter- the second constituent assembly in the ‘oliological’ exhortations of chauvin- lectric power stations and trans-border Dutiful Oliars of the media and intel- middle of Gorkha earthquake after- ism, demagoguery, jingoism, populism transmission lines being built in a jiffy ligentsia have assiduously cultivated ing party offices. The slugfest is only set to escalate in the com- shocks. But there is little doubt that Oli and xenophobia. After ‘Modi-fication’ by the genie materialising out of the the lie that Supremo Sharma Oli has no ing days as the two factions continue to up their ante against was its principal builder as well as the and ‘Trumpification’, the process of magical lamp called the Belt and Road equal in contemporary politics and his biggest beneficiary. such a legitimacy formation can best Initiative. Nobody cared to consider removal from office will invite instabil- each other. Unless, that is, the top leaders set aside their person- The contentious process of adopting be termed as the ‘Oli-fication’ of socie- something as elementary in develop- ity. Shameful as it may seem, al egos and settle on a graceful bifurcation for the safety and the statute turned him into the ethnon- ty and polity. ment planning as the limited absorp- Kathmandu’s social celebrities came security of their cadres as well as their respective political ational chieftain of the Khas-Arya com- tion capacity of transitional societies. out twice openly in defence of the inde- munity. It ensured his enthronement in Developmental delusions Along with a strongman image, Oli fensible occupant of Baluwatar. legitimacies among the people. Singha Durbar as the second-most Oli invested his first year in consolidat- began to cultivate the persona of an No tears need be shed for the contro- The least that is expected of the leaders of both factions is nationalist Prime Minister since the ing all authority in the office of the affable grandfather who cracked silly versial constitution. The chief worry is passing of lately lamented Marich Man Prime Minister. Hand-picked perma- jokes and delivered witty repartees. that the ‘Oli-fication’ of society and that they follow a minimum standard of dignity in their claims Singh Shrestha of the Panchayat era. nent secretaries were posted in key The millennium generation loved his polity has become almost irreversible. to legitimacy in their party offices, on the road and at the The charter became even more ministries who reported and took rustic utterances and laughed at his The court may or may not reinstate the important for him to establish his polit- instructions directly from the prime irrational outbursts such as the call to Pratinidhi Sabha and a sudden state of Election Commission. Citizens, human rights activists and ical credentials. The statute had men- minister’s secretariat. Once coercive name rhinos ‘Gaida in any language’. emergency may prolong the long night, civil society members must remain vigilant in the coming days tioned the Maoist armed struggle but instruments of the state were brought Unlike his political contemporaries, but only political mobilisation can disowned its agenda except for the under his control, the prime minister the buffoonery of ‘Olba’ made him look restore the faith in the democratic gov- to ensure that the falling apart of the Nepal Communist Party acceptance of an oligarchic republic. It began to exercise his ethnonational humane and likeable. ernance. The year is about to end, the does not become yet another excuse for destabilising peace had completely rejected aspirations of influence and political authority to travails of another democratic struggle all the three Madhes uprisings. manufacture consent. Through the Diversionary drill has once again begun. Happy New Year within the country. Federalism had been added as an after- plausible mobilisation of public opin- Absolute power can only be tested 2021 anyway! Helping premature babies survive

increase the survival rate of prema- Delivering a baby at a ture newborns must be improved. One example is kangaroo mother care, health centre adds the which helps to keep newborns warm. Premature newborns can suffer from survival rate of women at hypothermia, and this type of care means they are carried (usually by the risk of premature birth. mother), with skin-to-skin contact providing warmth. In situations where the mother is incapacitated, Ifeanyi M Nsofor her partner can step in. Another inter- vention that can increase newborn survival rates is access to alternative sources of breast milk. It is more chal- lenging to begin breastfeeding a pre- mature baby immediately after birth, and breast milk banks can provide screened and pasteurised supplies. Preterm birth complications are the Research in Ethiopia shows that moth- leading cause of death globally for ers are more likely to accept donated children under five. Of the 15 million breast milk if they are well informed babies born before the 37th week of about it. pregnancy every year, approximately Finally, all girls should be enrolled one million will die. But new research in school. When a mother is educated, conducted at secondary and tertiary she is more likely to attend antenatal health facilities in Bangladesh, India, clinics, deliver in health facilities, Kenya, Nigeria, and Pakistan offers and practice other healthy behav- hope for increased survival rates. iours. But more than 130 million girls These countries have some of the are out of school globally, and world’s highest numbers of preterm Covid-19 lockdowns are likely to births. But a randomised clinical increase this number. The link trial—known as Antenatal between education and healthy behav- CorTicosteroids for Improving iours underscores the impact of exter- Outcomes in preterm Newborns nal social conditions on health out- (WHO ACTION-I)—proved that admin- comes. Health planners, programme istering the steroid dexamethasone to Shutter stock managers, governments, the private pregnant women at risk of preterm saver. weakness. If either is found, the preg- health facilities under the supervision While such a strategy cannot sector, and donors must bear these birth in low-resource settings can But as important as the trial’s nancy can be designated as ‘high risk’ of skilled health workers. In many address every reason why some conditions in mind when planning boost their babies’ chance of survival, results are, this treatment for at-risk and managed conservatively, usually parts of the world, this is not the case. women deliver at home—such as diffi- interventions. without increasing the incidence of mothers cannot save every premature by an obstetrician. Studies show that 59 percent of child- culty in reaching a health facility—it The WHO ACTION-I trial is an bacterial infection in mothers. For baby. There are at least four other In Nigeria, two-thirds of pregnant births in Nigeria take place at home, can help overcome the simple lack of important step toward increasing pre- every 25 pregnant women treated with ways to address some of the risk fac- women already attend some form of 35 percent of childbirths in knowledge about the benefits. In 2016, mature babies’ survival rate. But the steroid, one premature baby’s life tors for premature births, while antenatal clinic. While Covid-19 has Bangladesh are handled by traditional EpiAFRIC evaluated the SURE-P addressing the other risk factors is was saved. increasing child survival. limited the frequency of antenatal birth attendants, and 53 percent of Maternal and Child Health Project, also necessary to help ensure that As a young medical doctor undergo- First, every pregnant woman should clinic visits, they are sometimes deliveries in Kenya take place outside one of Nigeria’s top nationwide every mother, including those in ing training at a teaching hospital in attend antenatal classes provided by offered online or through community health facilities. Delivering in a health maternal-health interventions. A low-resource settings, takes home a Nigeria, I carried out blood transfu- skilled health workers. These classes outreach by health workers, so that facility increases newborn survival major finding was that after the pro- healthy newborn. sions in premature infants with jaun- are great platforms for giving women pregnant women do not have to travel rates, especially for women at risk of ject’s introduction, 32.1 percent more dice. It is a tedious process that can and their partners the right informa- long distances. One of Nigeria’s fore- premature birth. Policymakers pregnant women gave birth at health Nsofor, a medical doctor and Senior lead to infections in newborns. The tion for a safe pregnancy and screen- most midwives, Tolu Adeleke, is pio- should deploy community health facilities. The increase also led to Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity at possibility of sparing mothers and ing for risk factors like hypertension neering online childbirth preparation workers to provide information on the more newborns being vaccinated George Washington University, is CEO their babies from such life-threaten- and diabetes. Pregnant women could classes for pregnant women and their risks of home-based deliveries and against polio, hepatitis B, and tuber- of EpiAFRIC and Director of Policy ing procedures is one reason to con- also undergo an ultrasound to check partners. accompany pregnant women to these culosis. and Advocacy at Nigeria Health Watch. sider the WHO ACTION-I trial a life- for multiple pregnancies and cervical Second, all women should deliver in facilities. Third, neonatal services that —Project Syndicate

C M Y K 05 | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 Money

FOREX Stocks recover US 118.45 Work starts to build dry port in Far West Euro 144.61 as US stimulus Pound 158.3 The planned inland terminal will provide access to India’s largest seaport, Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai. offsets angst over Japanese 11.46 KRISHANA PRASAIN in KATHMANDU & Chinese 18.09 BHAWANI BHATTA in KANCHANPUR new virus strain DEC 22 Qatari 32.53 Reuters Australian 89.22 Nepal is setting its sights on Mumbai LONDON, DEC 22 as a transit point for third country Malaysian 29.17 trade, and has started work to Stocks rebounded on Tuesday, with construct a dry port in Dodhara Washington’s approval of an $892 bil- Saudi 31.57 Chandani on the western border with lion pandemic relief package helping Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank India which offers the shortest route them recover some of the losses to the sea. caused by fears over a highly infec- The inland terminal will provide tious new strain of Covid-19. Shares access to India’s largest seaport, The Euro STOXX 600 added 0.8 per- Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai, cent, its biggest one-day jump in over Nepse 2,061.41pts 4.86 percent and facilitate Nepal’s foreign trade five weeks in sight. German and and lower costs, officials said. Dodhara French indexes added 1 percent and highest gainers Chandani dry port will be the first 0.8 percent respectively. RBCLPO SICL NABIL SJCL NLIC NICA 10 percent1 0 percent9 .99 percent 9.96 percent 9.96 percent 9.91 business gateway to India from London’s blue chips turned positive, Nepal’s far west. too, recovering early losses even as moderate gainers SMFBS NGPL SABSL NIL DHPL CZBIL The Intermodal Transport Britain adjusts to strict lockdowns 4.94 percent 4.92 percent 4.88 percent 4.80 percent 4.76 Development Committee under the imposed to curb the spread of the new

moderate losers Ministry of Industry, Commerce strain of coronavirus. Wall Street RADHI HBLD83 SMB SBIBD86 NICGF HDL and Supplies has started a study at futures also edged into the black. -0.99 percent-0 .96 percent -0.48 percent-0 .48 percent -0.29 Mayapuri and Gaurishankar​​ commu- Fuelling the optimism, in part, was highest losers nity forests as possible sites for the the US Congress’s approval on Monday NABBC UMRH SFMF SIFC MEN CHL dry port. of a coronavirus aid package. The -9.92 percent-9 .90 percent -5.19 percent- 1.98 percent -1.81 “We have started preparations to first such aid since April came as the conduct a feasibility study for the dry pandemic accelerated in the United port,” said Ashish Gajurel, executive States, infecting more than 214,000 director of the Nepal Intermodal people every day and slowing the eco- Price Per tola Transport Development Board. nomic recovery. bullion Nepal had broached the subject of Po st Photo: Bhawani Bhatta The bill includes $600 payments to building a dry port at Dodhara Mayapuri Community Forest Area of D​​ odhara Chandani Municipality, the proposed site for the dry port. most Americans and additional pay- Fine Gold Rs 94,900 Chandani in Kanchanpur district dur- ments to millions of people thrown ing a meeting of the Inter- that has remained on the drawing The World Bank had conducted a had started preparations for an out of work during the pandemic. Silver Rs 1,315 Governmental Committee on Trade, board for years. feasibility study for the proposed dry Integrated Check Post in the Banbasa Market players also took stock of Transit and Cooperation to Control “The dry port will provide the port at Kanjabhoj in Dodhara area. the damage from a new Covid-19 vari- Soceur : FENEGOSIDA Unauthorised Trade held on December shortest route to two key ports— Chandani Municipality a decade ago, According to Gautam, the Indian ant, with investors betting that vac- 7, and the Indian side was agreeable to Mundra Port, India’s largest private and the Nepal Intermodal Transport side has proposed to construct the cines would still be effective against the proposal, officials said. port in Gujarat, and Jawaharlal Nehru Development Board had prepared facility on the upper part of Kanjabhoj the new strain. On Monday, countries gasoline watch India also agreed to construct an Port in Mumbai,” Dahal said. another report in 2016. as the previously proposed site lies across the world shut their borders to Integrated Check Post on the border “Transporting goods to Nepal A technical committee was formed within a national forest in India. Britain because of fears over the new which would be connected to the dry through these routes will result in a under the chairmanship of Prakash As per a recent study conducted by strain, snarling one of Europe’s most port by a railway line. substantial saving.” Dahal, joint secretary of Ministry of Dahal’s team, 350 bighas of land is important trade routes just days The Nepali side consented to pre- Most of Nepal’s trade infrastruc- Industry and Commerce, to conduct available in Mayapuri and before Britain is set to leave the pare a detailed feasibility study of the ture is concentrated in the country’s the study in October. The team report Gaurishankar community forests. European Union. inter-country economic zone in the east to connect with Kolkata port, and stated that the proposed site was suit- Gautam said the land would be suit- The discovery, just months before Dodhara-Chandani-Banbasa area. the construction of a dry port in able for building the facility, said able for a dry port and an Integrated vaccines are expected to be widely Banbasa town lies across the border Sudurpaschim province may facilitate Gajurel. Check Post. He said that the Indian available, brought back fears over the in Champawat district in Uttarakhand access to more ports in India in the “We have planned to complete a side had already started the process of economic impact of new lockdowns to state, and is the most well known future, officials said. detailed feasibility study within building a road. counter the virus, which has killed crossing point into Nepal from India. “It will be the trade gateway in the two years,” Gajurel said. “We have According to the survey conducted about 1.7 million people worldwide. The proposed dry port and far west region with railway connec- already appointed the consultant to by the World Bank, the dry port is European shares had slumped 2.3 Integrated Check Post will be spread tivity to different Indian states,” he conduct it.” estimated to cost Rs5 billion, said percent, their biggest one-day loss in over 280 bighas of land, said Prakash said. “The site is strategically impor- According to him, a master plan Gajurel. The study at that time showed nearly two months, in response. Dahal, joint secretary at the Industry tant and beneficial for trade and tran- will be ready within three months, the need to build a concrete bridge in The new strain “is a bump in the Ministry. sit for Nepal.” and a detailed project report (DPR) Mahakali. road, but that road is still leading to a “The study process has moved In November, a high-level delega- and environmental impact assessment He said that the bridge was in the much stronger recovery in the second ahead after identifying the potential tion from the Ministry of Industry, (EIA) will be completed within two final stage of completion, and that it half,” said Hugh Gimber, market strat- construction site.” Commerce and Supplies including years. “It will take another two years would make things easier for the con- egist at JP Morgan Asset Management. According to Dahal, a preliminary Minister Lekh Raj Bhatta and secre- for the construction of the dry port,” struction of the dry port. The study “Markets are a lot calmer because study has shown that not many trees taries Chandra Kumar Ghimire and he said. had identified the proposed area as of confidence that there is a big build will have to be cut down for the pro- Baikuntha Aryal made a field visit to Shreedhar Gautam, under secretary the first option, he added. The previ- up of pent-up demand and a return to ject. The local administration and peo- take stock of the development of the at the Industry Ministry, said Indian ously proposed Kanjabhoj has been much stronger levels of activity in the ple have agreed to expedite the project first dry port in far western Nepal. officials had informed them that they kept as a third option. second half of next year.” Oil drops as new strain revives demand fears Nepal restricts travellers who visited the 1300 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 48 cents, or 1 percent, to $47.49. UK to prevent spread of new virus strain Both benchmarks slid nearly 3 per- cent on Monday, partly erasing recent gains driven by the rollout of Covid-19 The restriction is effective from Thursday until further notice as the new coronavirus vaccines, seen as key to allowing a return to normal life. strain is considered to be 70 percent more contagious than the strain found elsewhere. “In the battle between immediate negative concerns and future opti- POST REPORT further notice, according to the down in London and southeast mism, the former is now fighting KATHMANDU, DEC 22 authority. England and tighten restrictions for back,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker “There are no direct flights to and all of England over the festive period. PVM. The latest rally culminated in Nepal on Tuesday issued circulars to from the UK to Nepal. But given that Since the UK lockdown was Brent hitting $52.48, its highest since all international airlines to ensure some travellers coming from the UK announced on Saturday, nearly 40 March, on Friday. Some see potential that planes bound to Nepal shall are currently at transit airports, and countries in Europe, Asia, South for prices to fall further. not carry passengers originating from this may cause them inconvenience, America and the Middle East have “The environment remains decided- or transiting through the United we have decided to restrict passengers restricted travel from the UK and in ly risk-averse,” said Jeffrey Halley of Kingdom to prevent the spread of a originating from or transiting through some cases, also travel from other brokerage OANDA. “Given the scale new strain of the coronavirus in the the UK only from Wednesday mid- countries that have documented cases of oil’s two-month rally, a deeper cor- country as it is considered to be 70 night,” Rajan Pokhrel, director gener- with the variant. rection cannot be ruled out.” percent more infectious than the com- al of the Civil Aviation Authority of The variant has also been detected Oil gained support from US mon strain. Nepal said. in Denmark, the Netherlands and REUTERS Congress approval for a $892 billion “This is of your urgent attention to India restricted flights from the UK, Australia, according to the World The Bryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve is seen over Freeport, Texas, US. coronavirus aid package after months ensure that the aircraft bound to and vice versa from Tuesday. Health Organisation. In South Africa, of inaction. In focus will be the latest Nepal shall not board passengers orig- Countries around the world are a different coronavirus variant has Reuters Detection of the new strain prompt- US oil inventory reports, expected to inating from or transiting through the imposing bans and restrictions on been reported, the UN health organi- London, DEC 22 ed several countries to close their bor- show crude stocks fell by 3.3 million United Kingdom due to severe new travel from the UK to stem the trans- sation’s technical leader for Covid-19 ders to Britain, though a British min- barrels. The American Petroleum strain of the Corona Virus [sic] in mission of a coronavirus variant that Maria van Kerkhove, said Monday, Oil dropped towards $50 a barrel on ister said the UK and France are work- Institute’s report is due at 2130 GMT. UK,” the Civil Aviation Authority of health authorities say can spread fast- according to a CNN report. Tuesday, adding to losses from the ing to reopen one of Europe’s most The Organization of the Petroleum Nepal said in the statement. er than others. The Foreign and Commonwealth previous session, as a new coronavi- important trade routes. Exporting Countries and allies are set The entry restriction for such pas- According to CNN, the new variant Office of the UK has updates on the rus strain in the UK revived concerns Brent crude was down 43 cents, to boost output by 500,000 barrels per sengers into Nepal shall be effective discovered in the UK prompted latest advice for UK travellers to other over demand recovery. or 0.8 percent, at $50.48 a barrel by day in January. from 23:59 hours of December 23 until authorities to impose a Tier 4 lock- countries. Apple targets car production by 2024 and eyes ‘next level’ battery technology: Sources The iPhone maker’s automotive efforts, known as Project Titan, have proceeded unevenly since 2014 when it first started to design its own vehicle from scratch.

Reuters built robo-taxis to carry passengers the scope of its efforts to an autono- that Apple had held talks with poten- bulks up the individual cells in the Apple’s design means that more San Francisco, DEC 22 for a driverless ride-hailing service. mous driving system that would be tial lidar suppliers, but it was also battery and frees up space inside the active material can be packed inside Central to Apple’s strategy is a new integrated with a car made by a tradi- examining building its own sensor. battery pack by eliminating pouches the battery, giving the car a potentially Apple Inc is moving forward with battery design that could “radically” tional automaker, rather than the As for the car’s battery, Apple plans and modules that hold battery materi- longer range. Apple is also examining self-driving car technology and is tar- reduce the cost of batteries and iPhone maker selling an Apple- to use a unique “monocell” design that als, one of the people said. a chemistry for the battery called LFP, geting 2024 to produce a passenger increase the vehicle’s range, accord- branded car, one of the people added. or lithium iron phosphate, the person vehicle that could include its own ing to a third person who has seen Two people with knowledge of said, which is inherently less likely to breakthrough battery technology, peo- Apple’s battery design. Apple’s plans warned pandemic-relat- overheat and is thus safer than other ple familiar with the matter told Apple declined to comment on its ed delays could push the start of pro- types of lithium-ion batteries. Reuters. plans or future products. duction into 2025 or beyond. “It’s next level,” the person said of The iPhone maker’s automotive Making a vehicle represents a sup- Shares of Tesla ended 6.5 percent Apple’s battery technology. “Like the efforts, known as Project Titan, have ply chain challenge even for Apple, a lower on Monday after their debut first time you saw the iPhone.” proceeded unevenly since 2014 when it company with deep pockets that in the S&P 500 on Monday. Apple Apple had previously engaged first started to design its own vehicle makes hundreds of millions of elec- shares ended 1.24 percent higher after Magna International Inc in talks from scratch. At one point, Apple drew tronics products each year with parts the news. Apple has decided to tap about manufacturing a car, but the back the effort to focus on software from around the world, but has never outside partners for elements of the talks petered out as Apple’s plans and reassessed its goals. Doug Field, made a car. It took Elon Musk’s Tesla system, including lidar sensors, which became unclear, a person familiar an Apple veteran who had worked at 17 years before it finally turned a sus- help self-driving cars get a three-di- with those previous efforts said. Tesla Inc, returned to oversee the pro- tained profit making cars. mensional view of the road, two Magna did not immediately respond ject in 2018 and laid off 190 people “If there is one company on the people familiar with the company’s to a request for comment. from the team in 2019. planet that has the resources to do plans said. To turn a profit, automotive con- Since then, Apple has progressed that, it’s probably Apple. But at the Apple’s car might feature multiple tract manufacturers often ask for vol- enough that it now aims to build a same time, it’s not a cellphone,” said a lidar sensors for scanning different umes that could pose a challenge even vehicle for consumers, two people person who worked on Project Titan. distances, another person said. Some to Apple, which would be a newcomer familiar with the effort said, asking It remains unclear who would sensors could be derived from Apple’s to the automotive market. “In order to not to be named because Apple’s plans assemble an Apple-branded car, but internally developed lidar units, that have a viable assembly plant, you need are not public. Apple’s goal of build- sources have said they expect the com- person said. Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro and 100,000 vehicles annually, with more ing a personal vehicle for the mass pany to rely on a manufacturing part- iPad Pro models released this year volume to come,” the person said. market contrasts with rivals such as ner to build vehicles. And there is still both feature lidar sensors. REUTERS Some investors reacted to the report Alphabet Inc’s Waymo, which has a chance Apple will decide to reduce Reuters had previously reported The Apple Inc logo is seen hanging at the entrance to the Apple store in Manhattan, New York. on the company’s plans with caution.

C M Y K WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 | 06 world Briefing BioNTech says its shot works on UK strain Pollution deaths South Korea scrambles jets as The proteins on the UK variant of the coronavirus are 99 percent the same as on the prevailing strains, and therefore in India rose to Chinese, Russian aircraft enter air defence zone BioNTech has ‘scientific confidence’ that its vaccine will be effective, the company CEO says. 1.67 million in SEOUL: South Korea said on Tuesday it had scrambled fighter jets in Ass ociated Press response to an intrusion into South BERLIN, DEC 22 2019: Report Korea’s air defence identification zone by 19 Russian and Chinese German pharmaceutical company REUTERS military aircraft. Four Chinese BioNTech is confident that its corona- NEW DELHI, DEC 22 warplanes entered the Korea Air virus vaccine works against the new Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ) UK variant, but further studies are Toxic air killed more people in India followed by 15 Russian aircraft, need to be completely sure, its chief in 2019 than in 2017, The Lancet said according to South Korea’s Joint executive said on Tuesday. in a report shared by the government Chiefs of Staff. The South Korean The variant, detected mainly in on Tuesday, with 1.67 million deaths military dispatched air force fighters London and the southeast of England accounting for 18 percent percentof to take tactical measures. The South in recent weeks, has sparked concern all fatalities. Korean military said in a statement worldwide because of signs that it India, whose cities top global the Chinese military had informed may spread more easily. While there is pollution lists, faces a growing eco- South Korea that its planes were car- no indication it causes more serious nomic as well as human toll from rying out routine training before the illness, numerous countries in Europe bad air quality, which was linked to Chinese aircraft entered the KADIZ. and beyond have restricted travel 1.24 million, or 12.5 percent of total from the UK as a result. deaths in the previous such study for “We don’t know at the moment if 2017. Indonesia leader reshuffles our vaccine is also able to provide The analysis found pollution led to cabinet amid virus crisis, graft protection against this new variant,” chronic obstructive pulmonary dis- CEO Ugur Sahin told a news confer- ease, respiratory infections, lung can- JAKARTA: Indonesia’s president ence the day after the vaccine was cer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, announced a Cabinet reshuffle on approved for use in the European neonatal disorders and cataracts. Tuesday following the arrest of two Union. “But scientifically, it is highly Land-locked New Delhi, the world’s of his ministers on corruption likely that the immune response by most polluted capital whose winter charges and his administration’s this vaccine also can deal with the skies are often obscured by its filthy lackluster pandemic response. Four new virus variants.” air, recorded the highest per-capita ministers lost their jobs, including Sahin said that the proteins on the economic hit, the journal said. Health Minister Terawan Agus UK variant are 99 percent the same as The fatalities in 2019 led to a total Putranto, and two others were on the prevailing strains, and there- loss of $36.8 billion, or 1.36 percent of rotated to more important positions, fore BioNTech has “scientific confi- India’s gross domestic product (GDP), ending weeks of speculation about dence” that its vaccine will be effec- ap/rss with the poor and populous states of the possible changes. President Joko tive. A nurse holds a phial of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Guy’s Hospital in London, UK. Ugur Sahin, CEO of Biontech says the German Uttar Pradesh and Bihar experiencing Widodo chose the mayor of Surabaya, “But we will know it only if the pharmaceutical company is confident that the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine works against the UK variant of the virus. the highest economic loss as a percent- Indonesia’s second-largest city after experiment is done and we will need age of their GDP. Jakarta, to become the social affairs about two weeks from now to get the up next week with further supplies,” Although the death rate due to minister, replacing Juliari Batubara, data,” he said. “The likelihood that Britain, stuck in Covid-19 isolation, strives to said Sean Marett, BioNTech’s chief household air pollution fell 64.2 per- who was detained by Indonesia’s our vaccine works ... is relatively lift France’s freight ban commercial officer. cent from 1990 to 2019, that due to anti-corruption commission on high.” Several EU countries have said they ambient particulate matter pollution December 6. Batubara was accused Should the vaccine need to be plan to start vaccinating on Sunday. more than doubled, The Lancet said. of taking bribes related to the govern- adjusted for the new variant the com- REUTERS to get French President Emmanuel Germany’s health minister, Jens “The improvements in air quality ment’s Covid-19 aid distribution. pany could do so in about 6 weeks, DOVER, ENGLAND, DEC 22 Macron to lift a ban on freight from Spahn, said he expects the country to across India during the Covid-19 lock- Sahin said, though regulators might Britain. receive more than 1.3 million doses by down period, and its upsurge again have to approve the changes before the The United Kingdom was stuck in Johnson and his advisers said the the end of this year. with the easing of restrictions, pro- Afghan police say bomb tears shots can be used. Covid-19 isolation on Tuesday after mutated variant of the novel coro- Germany is among the European vide interesting pointers to the extent through car, killing five Having to adjust the vaccine would much of the world cut off travel ties navirus, which could be up to 70 countries that have banned flights of air pollution reduction that is pos- KABUL: A roadside bomb tore be a blow for the rollout of immunisa- due to a highly infectious new coro- percent more transmissible, was from the U.K. because of the new vari- sible with reduced human activity,” it through a vehicle in the Afghan tion campaigns and rein in the pan- navirus strain, halting one of spreading rapidly but that it had ant there. added. capital of Kabul on Tuesday, killing demic that has so far killed more than Europe’s most important trade been identified because British sci- “We want to avoid for as long as we The government said in a statement at least five people, three of them 1.7 million people worldwide. routes just days before the Brexit entists were so efficient at genomic can that a possibly dangerous virus that India would need to invest doctors, police said. The doctors BioNTech’s vaccine, which was cliff edge. surveillance. variant spreads to continental more in state-specific pollution con- worked at the Puli Charkhi prison, developed together with U.S. pharma- With queues of trucks snaking to The BBC cited France’s Europe Europe,” said Spahn. trol programmes if it were to meet its and were killed as they were on the ceutical company Pfizer, has been the horizon in England and super- Minister Clément Beaune as saying But Lothar Wieler, the head of goal of becoming a $5 trillion econo- way to their office in the city’s authorised for use in more than 45 market shelves stripped just days that Britain and France would Germany’s national disease control my by 2024, from around $2.9 trillion Doghabad neighbourhood. It was not countries including Britain, the before Christmas, British Prime announce a deal to restart freight by centre, said it was very likely the U.K. n o w. immediately clear if the doctors were United States and the EU. Hundreds of Minister Boris Johnson scrambled Wednesday. variant is already circulating in India’s three main cities, New targeted in the attack. Their car, a thousands of people have already Germany. Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai, were on white sedan, did not appear to have received the shots. Wieler, said it was common for the list of the world’s 20 worst any markings on it that indicated The companies submitted data to in Europe, is 95 percent effective in have requested doses will receive viruses’ genetic material to change, polluted cities, Swiss air quality tech- that its passengers were medical regulators showing the vaccine, which preventing infection with Covid-19. them in the next five days, the very and that can affect how transmissible nology company IQAir reported on workers. (AGENCIES) goes by the brand name COMIRNATY “All countries across the EU that initial supply, and that will be followed they are. Tuesday. Trump, House lawmakers plot MeToo rocks Turkey’s literary world futile effort to block Biden win Ass ociated Press Republican, urged lawmakers to election malfeasance. WASHINGTON, DEC 22 remember that an effort to block the A range of nonpartisan election election results in Congress was officials and Republicans have con- President Donald Trump hosted sever- “just not going anywhere.” firmed that there was no fraud in the al House Republican lawmakers at the “I mean, in the Senate, it would go election. That includes Attorney White House on Monday to discuss an down like a shot dog,” Thune told General William Barr, who on Monday ultimately futile effort to block CNN. “I just don’t think that it makes said he saw no reason to appoint a Congress from affirming President- a lot of sense to put everybody through special counsel to look into the presi- elect Joe Biden’s victory in the this when you know what the ultimate dent’s claims about the 2020 election. November election. outcome is gonna be.” Trump has discussed doing so with The meeting underscored Trump’s Still, Trump has continued to some of his advisers. refusal to accept the reality of his loss dangle the possibility of congression- Trump and his allies have filed and his willingness to entertain al intervention. roughly 50 lawsuits challenging elec- undemocratic efforts to overturn the Brooks said Monday’s White House tion results, and nearly all have been will of the majority of American vot- meeting was originally scheduled for dismissed or dropped. He’s also lost ers. Biden will be sworn in as presi- about an hour, but lasted for three twice at the US Supreme Court. dent on January 20. hours, with Trump participating for With no further tenable legal With no credible legal options much of it. Other attendees including recourse, Trump has been fuming and remaining and the Electoral College Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy peppering allies for options. having confirmed Biden’s victory ear- Giuliani, who has spent the weeks On January 6, a lawmaker can lier this month, Trump is turning his since the election promoting false object to a state’s votes on any grounds. attention to January 6. That’s when claims of voter fraud. The objection will not be heard unless Congress participates in a count of Brooks said he also met with Vice it is in writing and signed by both a the electoral votes, which Biden won President Mike Pence. As president of member of the House and a member 306-232. the Senate, Pence is to preside over the of the Senate. afp The count, required by the January 6 session and declare the If there is such a joint request, then Publishing house Everest dropped novelist Hasan Ali Toptas—once dubbed the eastern Franz Kafka—after sexual harassment allegatoins. Constitution, is generally a formality. winner. the joint session suspends and the But members can use the event to Brooks said the group is making House and Senate go into separate AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE and friends”. media, Toptas’s publishing house object to a state’s votes. plans to challenge the election results sessions to consider it. For the objec- ANKARA, DEC 22 Local media attributed allegations Everest dropped him. He was also Rep Mo Brooks said he organised from Michigan, Wisconsin, tion to be sustained, both chambers that Colak sent the lewd text messages stripped of awards he received this Monday’s session with about a dozen Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada, must agree to it by a simple majority Sexual assault and harassment allega- to the same Twitter user Leyla. year and in 2013. House Republicans who are willing to all battleground states Biden carried. vote. If they disagree, the original tions have shaken Turkey’s literary Her Twitter account has since dis- Another writer, Asli Tohumcu, said challenge the results. Brooks in particular has raised ques- electoral votes are counted. world, creating a rare #MeToo appeared. author Bora Abdo harassed her, which “President Trump is very support- tions about the way state elections The last time such an objection was moment as women break taboos and Moved by the stories, author Pelin he denied. ive of our effort,” Brooks said in an were conducted this year, with some considered was 2005, when Rep speak out in the still largely Buzluk came forward with her own “Taking courage from Buzluk, I interview late on Monday. having made changes to ballots and Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio and patriarchal country. The online allegations against Toptas to the wanted to show we’re not alone,” she With Democrats holding the House procedures during the pandemic. Sen Barbara Boxer of California, both testimonials have led to the suicide of Hurriyet daily newspaper. told the Hurriyet. majority and several Republican sena- While the new procedures may have Democrats, objected to Ohio’s elector- one author who was singled out after “I was in shock,” she said, describ- The Iletisim publishing house tors now acknowledging Biden’s victo- led to confusion in some states, state al votes by claiming there were voting allegedly sending a series of lewd text ing a “very frightening moment” in dropped Abdo after the claims ry, any effort to block congressional and federal officials have said there irregularities. Both chambers debated messages to younger women. which Toptas “approached and forced” surfaced. approval of the election appears sure was no credible evidence of the objection and rejected it. It was But while born in social media himself on her in 2011. “’Well, why did While the reputation of some to fail. Senate Majority Leader Mitch widespread fraud. only the second time such a vote had anonymity, the movement has since you wear that dress?’,” Buzluk said he reputable authors has been shaken, McConnell has warned his members Still, Trump’s top aides, including occurred. been joined by well-known voices, told her in response. none of the allegations have yet against taking such a step. chief of staff Mark Meadows, contin- McConnell has told Senate marking the first time women have Toptas issued a statement that led to criminal charges. Sen John Thune, the No 2 Senate ued on Monday to push false claims of Republicans that a dispute over the dared to come forward against major caused further controversy and confu- But similar stories also hounded results in January would authors. sion, describing his actions as that of Turkey’s main opposition parties this yield a “terrible vote” for It all started with a single tweet. a “patriarchal perpetrator”. year, resulting in legal action. Republicans. They would A user called “Leyla Salinger” “An individual can make mistakes The main opposition Republican have to choose whether to shared a video of novelist Hasan Ali without realising, unaware of the People’s Party (CHP) saw its deputy back Trump or publicly Toptas—once dubbed the eastern large pain inflicted on the other party, chairman for Istanbul’s Maltepe buck him. Franz Kafka—accompanied by a cap- until one understands what it is to be district charged last month with rape. tion reading: “How many of us are a patriarchal perpetrator,” Toptas And the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ waiting for this man to be exposed?” said. “I sincerely apologise to anyone I Democratic Party (HDP)—the From there, accusations from 20 unknowingly have hurt or upset,” he second-largest opposition parliamen- women mainly on social media against added. tary group—removed a deputy Toptas followed, leading many more to Writer Buket Uzuner brushed aside accused of rape earlier this year. describe the harassment and abuse Toptas’s comments. It is not the first time Turkey’s they allegedly suffered at the hands of “What does patriarchal perpetrator literary community has come under other male writers. mean?” she tweeted. “It’s an apology scrutiny. Ibrahim Colak, 51, another author he was forced to make.” Author Nazli Karabiyikoglu swept up in the wave of stories of Toptas later said his statement did wrote a long piece for a Turkish abuse, killed himself on December 10 not imply an admission of guilt and website in 2018 entitled: “Sexual in Ankara after tweeting a seeming denied Buzluk’s description of harassment and persecution in apology to his family. events.”Nothing like that happened at Turkey’s publishing sector.” “I had not prepared myself for such all,” he told the Milliyet daily. It is no longer available online but an end. I wanted to be a good person That same day, the newspaper ran was shared with the #MeToo but I failed,” Colak tweeted before interviews with five women accusing hashtag at the time. Karabiyikoglu taking his life, adding he could not Toptas of harassment. republished the piece on her website “look in the faces of my wife, children After the claims blew up on social last year.

C M Y K 07 | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 Sports | Medley Briefing Lampard believes Werner will end Chelsea goal drought Tribhuvan Army Club first to get AFC Club Licence Thiago Silva header and Tammy Abraham double help Chelsea bounce back from two successive league defeats and close in on the top four. KATHMANDU: Nepal Army’s Tribhuvan Reuters weren’t good enough in their box Army Club has become the first ‘A’ LONDON, Dec 22 when we had opportunities,” he said. division outfit of the country to be At the Turf Moor, Burnley beat granted AFC Club Licence after meet- Chelsea’s new signing Timo Werner Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 to ing the requirements for AFC Club will start firing on all cylinders when move out of the Premier League rele- Licensing Regulations. The team will he ends his goal drought, manager gation zone. The win against now be named Tribhuvan Army Frank Lampard said after seeing his 11th-placed Wolves, extends Burnley’s Football Club (TAFC). The appeal side beat West Ham United 3-0 thanks unbeaten run to four games and moves body of the All Nepal Football to a Tammy Abraham double and a them up to 16th spot on 13 points and Association decided to grant a Thiago Silva header on Monday. one behind Arsenal with a game in licence to TAFC on Tuesday. The Germany forward Werner, who has hand. Burnley had been struggling for football governing body on November scored eight goals in 20 games for goals, managing just six in their open- 30 had rejected applications of all Chelsea in all competitions since he ing 12 league matches of the season, 13 ‘A’ division clubs citing that they joined them from Bundesliga side RB and manager Sean Dyche turned to failed to meet the requirements. Leipzig in the close season, has failed his trusted old pairing of Ashley TAFC had made amendments to to find the back of the net in his last Barnes and Chris Wood for the visit of the statute to meet the licence eight starts. Nuno Espirito Santo’s team. regulations. (SB) “That’s the period Timo is in, it’s Barnes, who last scored in unfortunate but he’s getting in the November 2019, put the Clarets ahead positions—when one [goal] goes in it 10 minutes before the break, heading Turkish Airlines joins hands will be a run for him,” Lampard told in at the back post after Charlie Taylor with NSJF for Sports Award the BBC. “Tammy and Oli [Giroud] burst to the byline and floated in a KATHMANDU: Turkish Airlines has both bring different things, Tammy high cross. Burnley had their second inked a co-sponsorship deal with did his thing today and that’s what we when Ben Mee rose to head a free-kick Nepal Sports Journalists Forum for needed.” Chelsea bounced back from across the face of goal and, with NSJF Pulsar Sports Award to be held two successive league defeats and Barnes causing havoc in the Wolves on January 12 in Lalitpur. As per the closed in on the top four as they moved defence, the ball fell to New Zealander deal, the airlines will provide round- up to fifth in the standings one point Wood who fired home. trip tickets worth Rs 500,000 for male behind fourth-placed Everton and six Burnley looked more determined and female players on any destination adrift of champions and leaders with Westwood and Brownhill relent- it flies to. NSJF will promote the com- Liverpool. less in midfield but, having failed to pany during the award ceremony. West Ham’s Declan Rice had a goal take their chances to kill off the game, After inking the sponsorship deal, the disallowed for offside before 36-year- were forced to sweat in the final min- Airlines general manager for Nepal old centre back Thiago Silva planted a utes after an 89th minute Fabio Silva Abdullah Tuncer Kececi said: “We thumping header past visiting goal- penalty gave Wolves hope. Burnley thank NSJF for encouraging sports keeper Lukasz Fabianski in the 10th Reuters brought on young midfielder Josh persons to be more successful by this minute as he met a Mason Mount cor- Germany forward Timo Werner (left), who failed to find net in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over West Ham on Monday, has not scored in his last eight starts. Benson and, before the substitute had initiation. We believe in the youth of ner. The Hammers twice came close as even touched the ball, he brought the country and we are ready to sup- Aaron Cresswell shot across the face in the 78th minute after Werner’s rebound from a tight angle after run and assist by N’Golo Kante. down Silva in the box and the 18-year- port every kind of sports related of goal and Chelsea centre back Kurt scuffed shot from the edge of the pen- Christian Pulisic’s close-range header West Ham boss David Moyes con- old club-record signing converted. But event.” (SB) Zouma cleared a dangerous raid alty area fell kindly for the England was parried by Fabianski. Misfiring ceded his team, who stay 10th, were the Clarets, who now have just one before Fabianski denied Timo Werner forward, who diverted it into the net Germany international Werner punished for lapses at both ends of the defeat in their last seven, held on for at the other end in the closing stages with the slightest of touches. missed a chance to make it 4-0 in the pitch. “It was a harsh scoreline but we three vital points in what looks set to Playing without fans horrible of the first half. But Abraham settled Abraham added the third two min- dying minutes when he rattled the were not good enough in our box, hav- be a tight battle at the bottom end of and ugly, says Lionel Messi Chelsea’s nerves when he made it 2-0 utes later when he side-footed in a crossbar from close range after a fine ing to defend a couple of times, we the table. BARCELONA: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has explained how tough it has been to play without fans in the last year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, likening the experience to Ministry honours seven players Pakistan deny New Zealand T20 sweep a training session. “It’s horrible to play without fans, it’s a very ugly SPORT BUREAU race during the 13th SAG. Agence France-Presse said after his man-of-the-match T20 performance. sensation,” Barcelona captain Messi KATHMANDU, Dec 22 Two coaches, two judges, a coach, a sports NAPIER, Dec 22 Rizwan said the T20 victory was an important told newspaper Marca on Monday association and a doctor were also rewarded on morale booster ahead of the two-Test series after receiving the ‘Pichichi’ award The Ministry of Youth and Sports on Tuesday the occasion. Mohammad Rizwan celebrated his elevation to against the Black Caps. “We want to take momen- for the top scorer in La Liga last sea- honoured seven players with the Talented Taekwondo chief coach Nabin Kumar Shrestha the Pakistan Test captaincy in style on Tuesday, tum from this into the Test match, so this is very son. “Seeing no-one in the stadium is Players Award. Six of the players were the gold and karate coach Kushal Shrestha, who trained smashing a career-best 89 to stop New Zealand important for us,” he said. like a training session and it is very medalists in the 13th South Asian Games held in the Nepali team during the SAG, were rewarded claiming a series sweep in the third Twenty20 After two losses when batting first, Pakistan tough to really get going at the start Nepal last year. Rs 50,000 each. in Napier. changed tactics and opted to bowl when they won of a game.” The 33-year-old Messi is Golfer Subash Tamang, biker Laxmi Magar, Taekwondo secured 12 gold, six silver and 11 Pakistan reached New Zealand’s target of 174 the toss, restricting New Zealand to 173 for seven, having his worst individual season karateka Manday Kaji Shrestha and taekwondo’s bronze while karate earned 10 gold, four silver with two balls to spare, ending on 177 after with Devon Conway top-scoring on 63. Faheem since the 2007/08 campaign, scoring Ayasha Shakya were awarded Rs 100,000 each and five bronze medals in the South Asian sports Iftikhar Ahmed sealed the win with a six in the Ashraf was the pick of the Pakistan attack, tak- only nine goals in all competitions, along with appreciation letters. meet. Judo judge Dharam Kumar Shrestha, doc- final over. But it was Rizwan’s 89 from 59 balls, ing three for 20. The strategy of chasing down five of which have been penalties. All three except biker Magar, who won down- tor Gyanendra Bikram Shah and Nepal Golf with support from 41-run Mohammad Hafeez, New Zealand’s total paid off as Rizwan and “The truth is it’s very ugly and that’s hill gold medal in the subcontinental sports even Association were also rewarded Rs 100,000 each that inspired the victory. It was a hard-fought win Hafeez forged a 72-run partnership that laid the why we are seeing such evenly last year, had secured two gold medals apiece in for their contribution. for the tourists, who suffered heavy defeats in the foundation for the win. Hafeez, who was stranded matched games. It’s very difficult to the SAG. Sports sponsors Qatar Airlines and Kathmandu two opening matches after a rocky preparation on 99 in Hamilton, made 41 from 29 balls includ- win, regardless of who you are Bodybuilder Samir Shrestha, weightlifter Metropolitan City were also feted on the that included Covid-19 quarantine in ing three sixes. playing against,” Messi added. “The Bikash Thapa and athlete Santosh Shrestha were occasion. Minister for Youth and Sports Jagar Christchurch with no training. Rizwan’s innings, the sixth-highest by a pandemic has caused football to also feted with a purse of Rs 66,666 each. Bahadur Bishwakarma, Secretary Ram Prasad The win was particularly sweet for Rizwan, Pakistan batsman in T20s, included a booming change a lot, and for the worse. Shrestha had won gold in the 13th South Asian Thapaliya and National Sports Council member who was named on Monday as captain for the six that bounced off the roof of a stand and out You can see it in the matches, and I Bodybuilding and Sports Physique Championship secretary Ramesh Kumar Silwal, among others, first Test against New Zealand starting December of the ground, forcing the umpires to select a hope this all ends soon and we along with bronze in the Mr Himalayan distributed the prizes. 26 after regular skipper Babar Azam was ruled replacement ball. Daryl Mitchell, on as a fielding can get fans back into the Bodybuilding Championship. Meanwhile, two sponsors were also recognised out with a broken thumb. substitute for the injured Martin Guptill, took stadiums and return to Lifter Thapa had secured gold in the men’s on the occasion for their support to sporting “I never thought I’d be made the captain of three catches for the Black Caps and Pakistan normality.” (REUTERS) 89kg category and athlete Shrestha in the 10,000m activities. Pakistan and I can’t explain my happiness,” he made a nervy finish to the match. HOROSCOPE ARIES (March 21-April 19) **** CANCER (June 22-July 22) *** LIBRA (September 23-October 22) *** CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19) **** When it comes to a sign as outgoing, and personable You know that well-deserved reputation you’ve Your sign has been amply endowed with charm, the Your financial situation feels a bit shaky at the as yours, it’s easy to see how staying at home might acquired for being considerate, cooperative, and ability to persuade, and an absolutely illegal amount moment, or are you just distracted by important not be your favorite activity, at least, not on a regular extremely easy to get along with? Let’s just say it of allure. Not surprisingly, others find those quali- professional matters? Regardless of how or why it’s basis, and absolutely not now, when the heavens are might temporarily be in danger. You’re about to have ties irresistibly attractive. But you need to be careful happened, return your attention to your career just bursting with rebellious energy. a serious urge to fight on behalf of a loved one. where you point that charm. for a bit.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) *** LEO (July 23-August 22) *** SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) *** AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18) *** There’s nothing like the company of family. You’ll be For some reason, individuals of a certain type seem Your feelings are as deep-seated as they come, and Every now and then your rebellious streak gets out of reminded of that now, via an insatiable urge to to be gravitating toward you. You’ve just about had it you don’t usually share them, not unless you have to control and tough to handle. For now, though, since connect with like-minded others who just so happen with listening to sad stories, pleas for redemption, or someone you know needs to hear them to feel bet- you’re perfectly entitled to let someone have it who’s to share your bloodline and your most intimate and promises to do better next time. It’s not just you ter or you know that it’s impossible to keep them had it coming for some time, why not indulge your- memories. either. It’s just your turn, and we all get one. hidden any longer. self ?

GEMINI (May 21-June 21) **** VIRGO (August 23-September 22) **** SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21) *** PISCES (February 19-March 20) *** The universe has sent along exactly what you need to After yet another day of teasing you with lingering When you reach the end of your rope and you’re Sometime soon, you’ll need to make a decision change your work situation. Even if you haven’t been glances that last just a tad too long to go unnoticed or done trying to bring your usual brand of humor to a whether or not to let a secret see the light of day. consciously thinking along those lines, you can still be written off as something else, a certain person tricky situation, you tend to spout off a bit more That’s not an easy thing for you because you can become self-employed, at least part of the time. will finally be ready to say exactly what’s on their candidly than usual. That may be what happens over usually see both sides of the issue. Use that famous mind. the next day or so. intuition of yours to make the decision. Crossword Sudoku

Yesterday’s Solution

C M Y K WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 | 08 Culture & Lifestyle (C.R.P.D.) - 3/052/053 Here’s why Christmas movies are so appealing this holiday season Holiday movies are popular not simply because they are ‘escapes’. Rather, these films offer viewers a glimpse into the world as it could be.

S Brent Rodriguez offers the “quintessential expres- N ew York sion” of the holidays, a world which “has no dark side”—one in ith the pan- which “war is forgotten.” demic limit- In subsequent Christmas ing travel movies, the main plots have not over the been set in the context of war, yet holiday sea- there is nonetheless often a battle: son, many that of overcoming a materialis- WAmericans will be settling in front tic, gift-buying and gift-giving of the television to watch their kind of holiday. favourite holiday movies, along Movies like “Jingle all the Way,” with their favourite drink—a cup “Deck the Halls” and “How the of hot apple cider or a glass of Grinch Stole Christmas!” centre wine—to add some cheer. around the idea that the true Holiday movies have become an meaning of Christmas is not in essential part of the winter cele- rampant consumerism but in brations and are likely to be more goodwill and family love. so for those quarantining this Dr Seuss’ famously grouchy year. The entertainment site Grinch thinks he can ruin Vulture reports 82 new holiday Christmas by taking all the gifts movie releases in 2020. But, even away. But as the people gather before the lockdown, production together, giftless, they join hands of annual Christmas movies was and sing while the narrator tells reported to be up by at least 20 viewers, “Christmas came any- percent since 2017 on a single way.” cable network. Holiday movies are popular not ‘All’s right with the world’ simply because they are “escapes,” Though Christmas is a Christian as my research on the relation holiday, most holiday films are between religion and cinema not religious in the traditional argues. Rather, these films offer sense. There is hardly ever a men- viewers a glimpse into the world tion of Jesus or the biblical setting as it could be. of his birth. As media studies scholar John Christmas movies as reflection Mundy writes in a 2008 essay This is particularly true with “Christmas and the Movies,” Christmas movies. “Hollywood movies continue to In his 2016 book “Christmas as construct Christmas as an alterna- Religion,” the religious studies tive reality.” scholar Christopher Deacy states These movies create on-screen that Christmas movies act as a worlds that kindle positive emo- “barometer of how we might want s hutterstock tions while offering a few laughs. to live and how we might see and brings to viewers the perennial various versions of Charles “A Christmas Story,” from 1983, measure ourselves.” theme of romance and the trials Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”— waxes nostalgic for childhood hol- These movies offer a variety of of relationships. These movies offer a variety of where the plot used Christmas as a idays when life seemed simpler portraits of everyday life while backdrop, telling the story of a and the desire for a Red Ryder air affirming ethical values and social Movie-watching as ritual portraits of everyday life while group of entertainers who have rifle was the most important thing mores along the way. practice affirming ethical values along the way. gathered at a country inn. in the world. The plot of 2003’s The 1946 classic “It’s a As holiday movies bring viewers In reality, it was a deeply secu- “Elf” centres on the quest to reu- Wonderful Life”—a fantasy film into a fictional world, people are lar film about romantic interests, nite with a lost father. about a man named George Bailey, able to work through their own couched in a desire to sing and In the end, as the narrator says who has touched the lives of many, fears and desires about self-worth actions that transform people’s their fellow believers. dance. When it was released, the late in “A Christmas Story”—after despite all his problems—repre- and relationships. Such movies everyday lives. Rituals can open Holiday movies do something United States had been fully the family has overcome a series sents visions of a community in can provide solace, reaffirmation up “ordinary life to ultimate reali- similar, except that the “transcend- involved in World War II for a year of risible mishaps, the presents which every citizen is a vital com- and sometimes even courage to ty or some transcendent being or ent force” they make viewers feel and national spirits were not high. have been unwrapped and they’ve ponent. continue working through diffi- force,” he writes in the collection is not about God or another The movie hasn’t endured as a gathered for Christmas goose— Another movie commonly cult situations. The movies offer “Anthropology of Religion.” supreme being. Instead, this force classic. But Bing Crosby’s song these are times when “all’s right replayed this time of year is 2005’s hope in believing it all might turn For example, for Jews and is more secular: It’s the power of “White Christmas,” which with the world.” “The Family Stone,” which por- out alright in the end. Christians, ritually observing the family, true love, the meaning of appeared in it, quickly became At the end of a troubled 2020, trays the clashes of a mostly aver- When people see some part of Sabbath day by sharing meals home or the reconciliation of rela- etched in the holiday conscious- and as so many families are physi- age family but shows viewers that their own lives unfold on screen, with family and not working con- tionships. ness of many Americans, and a cally isolated from their loved quarrels can be worked through the act of viewing operates in a nects them with the creation of 1954 film called “White Christmas” ones, people need to believe in and harmony is possible. fashion that’s strikingly similar to the world. Prayer rituals in the Movies create an idealised world became better known. worlds in which all’s right. Holiday The 2003 British holiday film how a religious ritual works. Muslim, Christian and Jewish tra- Take the case of the 1942 musical As historian Penne Restad puts movies allow a glimpse of such a “Love Actually,” which follows the As anthropologist Bobby ditions connect those praying “Holiday Inn.” It was one of the it in her 1995 book “Christmas in place. lives of eight couples in London, Alexander explains, rituals are with their God, as well as with first movies—after the silent era’s America,” Crosby’s crooning — Associated Press From his home, Attenborough Finneas on Bond theme song, shows viewers ‘A Perfect Planet’ the Grammys and the Weeknd ‘No Time to Die’ was released in February though the film has been pushed Despite staying home, Attenborough has recorded his trademark voiceover for back until April 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. the new BBC and Discovery series that arrives in early January. MESFIN FEKADU NEY W ORK H ILARY FOX essential roles played by the sun, LONDON ocean, volcanoes, weather and of he path to Billie Eilish and Finneas get- course, humans. ting the “yes” to compose a song for the ir David Attenborough is Everything Attenborough does upcoming James Bond film was almost as a globetrotter, discovering addresses the climate crisis and thrilling and exhilarating as watching the far-flung lands and exotic what people can do, and what they action-packed movie on screen. species for TV audiences should stop doing, to help save this “We said to our team, ‘If anyone has since the 1950s. The pan- delicate ecosystem. Tanyone who knows anyone, just convey that we would demic may have kept him Initially disappointed the love to do this,’” Finneas explained. “We’ve always Sat home for much of 2020, but it United Nations Climate Change been trying to write a Bond song.” hasn’t stopped the legendary host Conference was postponed until The siblings eventually met with a producer on the from continuing his work to get the next year, the presenter and activ- film who let them read some of the script. And while world to act on climate change. ist hopes “A Perfect Planet” will in Texas for Austin City Limits for live shows, Finneas Attenborough recorded one of give the event a “push.” and Eilish wrote and recorded “No Time to Die” just his trademark voiceovers—warm, “It’s very important to give peo- in time to meet the deadline. calm and full of contagious fasci- ple solutions. I think otherwise “I have a mobile studio and I started playing that nation for the natural world—for people stick their head in the sand. piano part, like, well that’s really pretty. Over a couple the new BBC and Discovery series AP/RSS You need to tell them what they of days, we wrote the whole song and recorded the “A Perfect Planet,” which arrives This image released by Discovery shows can do to help turn things around,” whole vocal and sent it in. That was October 2019. We in early January. David Attenborough who narrates a new said Fothergill, who is a long-time were waiting with bated breath for a while. They Staying home hasn’t completely TV show called ‘A Perfect Planet’, which Attenborough collaborator. deliberate. A lot of people have to say yes.” cut Attenborough, 94, off from celebrates the harmony of the natural As for how nature has been Then came a phone call from the icon Hans Zimmer, nature. world and warns of human disruption to healing during the pandemic, who invited Finneas and Eilish to London to see the “I’ve seen the world go by in the this delicate ecosystem. Attenborough knows it’s at a high film and record the track with an orchestra. natural world in my garden with a cost: “People are dying by the “I was like, ‘Done. Let’s go,’” Finneas exclaimed. “It continuity and intensity that I thousands of flamingos nesting in thousands. Let’s not minimise it. was a pretty intense week. We were in London. We had haven’t been able to give it for, the hostile salt lakes of Central “It should cause the rest of us, (film producer) Barbara (Broccoli). We had the direc- almost forever, really.” Africa to Christmas Island’s red the survivors as it were, to pull tor, Cary (Joji Fukunaga), who’s become a friend of He’s only left the house twice, to crabs migrating from the forest to ourselves together and see that we mine. We had Hans. We had Stephen Lipson. We had a go to the dentist. the Indian Ocean—was also can act together,” he said. “We can 70-piece orchestra at AIR Studios, and I was still like, AP/RSS Recording “A Perfect Planet” recorded at a distance. think of solutions, analysis, and ‘Do we have the job? Is it going to be our song?’ I don’t Finneas O’Connell (left) and Billie Eilish. required some redecorating of the “Our amazing composer (Ilan apply them internationally.” think we knew if it was going to be our song or not dining room at Attenborough’s Ishkeri) worked with an orchestra It’s a message he believes people until basically when it was announced that it was inations. “In the aftermath of it, I’ve felt a couple of west London home. in Iceland because Iceland was not are listening to. going to be our song.” things. I’ve talked about this a bit—being nominated is Comforters or duvets were hung very locked down. They had very “If the human race is to survive “I don’t fault them at all, I think that they want really wonderful on its own. In some ways, winning, around the walls to muffle any little Covid. He actually directed without major catastrophes, now what’s best for the film,” Finneas continued. although very humbling and a huge honour, is not even echo and a technical set up allowed and conducted that orchestra from is the time to do so.” Attenborough “They want to make sure that everyone is totally as good as being nominated because of the peer group. Attenborough to view the footage, the UK,” says Fothergill. said he’s grateful that he’s still happy with it. I think that’s a good way to make sure Album of the year last year, there were so many while Executive Producer Alastair “It’s been challenging. But I able to tell the planet’s story. that everything’s good. It was definitely last minute albums in that category that I personally loved. Being Fothergill advised him, from over think that the final product is “It’s nice to actually feel that and pretty stressful. It was a long process.” nominated among them was like, ‘Wow, what an incred- 100 miles away in Bristol. absolutely up to the really high you’re still competent to do it. I’m “No Time to Die” was released in February though ible team to be on.’ Winning is like, ‘I’m not better. I love The microphone cable went out standards we set ourselves.” waiting for them to tell me I’m not. the film has been pushed back until April 2021 because these albums. Any of them deserve this award to me’ is the window so the sound could be The premise of the series is a But I mean I am very lucky,” of the coronavirus pandemic. The song, which has the kind of feeling that I had. It also is a huge honour. recorded by a crew member in the celebration of why Earth is the Attenborough told The Associated reached gold status, has peaked at No. 16 on Billboard’s One that I’ll be grateful for the rest of my life. garden. ideal environment for so many Press. “An awful lot of my friends, Hot 100 chart and is nominated for best song written “At its essence, we’re seeing it this year with The “He’s now got a caboose because different species to live and co-ex- no fault of their own, they can’t do for visual media at the 2021 Grammy Awards, to take Weeknd—every year there’s some artist or two, or a the winter came, we got a hut for ist. Shot in 31 countries, it took 4 it and they can’t get about.” place on January 31. bunch, who are not recognised in the way that they him. But in the summer he was years and six volcanic eruptions Asked whether there’s a secret Finneas and Eilish also picked up Grammy nomina- probably by rights deservedly would be recognised,” sitting out in the rain and he was to collect up-close footage that to his longevity, Attenborough tions for song and record of the year for “Everything he continued. “It’s tricky. I think by that metric, the listening to what I was saying and includes river turtles laying eggs considers the question and says, I Wanted,” a song about their relationship as siblings Grammys and all award show—the Oscars, AMAs— recording it,” Attenborough said. in the Amazon’s sand bars, brown “Well...” leaning conspiratorially and being there for one another. The new nominations they all should be taken with a grain of salt in that This wasn’t the only remote-con- bears fishing for salmon in Russia toward the screen. come almost a year after the duo won 11 Grammys at direction because the fact that (The Weeknd’s) ‘After trolled achievement on the series. and the swinging gibbons of South “No, there’s not,” he finishes, the 2020 show. Hours’ wasn’t nominated for album of the year doesn’t The musical soundtrack— East Asia’s tropical forests. laughing. “So gratifying and wonderful and hard to articulate make it any less of an impressive album.” accompanying anything from Different episodes look at the — Associated Press how meaningful it is to me,” Finneas said of their nom- — Associated Press

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