TIKA R PRADHANKATHMANDU, MAY 31

The Supreme Court for years has been trying to ease the burden of backlog cases, some pending for more than five years. As of Monday’s data, there were 17,529 cases pending for more than two years and 4,819 cases that are older than five years.

There are close to 29,991 backlog cases. According to Supreme Court officials, on an average, 70 cases are heard in a day but on Fridays the num-ber is fewer. Last Friday only 61 cases were heard.

As the government has enforced a two-day weekend starting May 15, the court is set to get clogged even more. If 65 cases per day are taken in view, as many as 3,380 cases cannot be heard in a year, adding to the caseload of an already overwhelmed Supreme Court.

A report by Justice Hari Krishna Karki in July 2021 also pointed out that the Supreme Court is overburdened by cases as old as two decades.

Experts say the two-day week-ly holiday system is going to increase backlog cases, which will affect the public’s right to justice. According to them, jus-tice delivery alone is not enough in a country that believes in rule of law; for justice to be meaning-ful, it must be delivered on time.

Officials at the Supreme Court

say the case-settlement rate had gone down for two years after the Covid pandemic hit the country. Then in October last year, justices launched an agitation, refusing to hear cases. Then lawyers joined in the justices’ protest. The imbroglio hugely affected hear-ings. Months after the benches resumed fully, the government intro-duced the two-day public holiday rule.

In April, Sushil Koirala, a joint sec-retary at the Law Ministry, who led a seven-member study panel to find ways to decrease the existing case-load, had presented a report to the then law minister Dilendra Badu.

According to the report, the case-load of the Supreme Court is 3,347 per bench, compared to 706 per bench at high courts and 743 for each of the district court judges.

Nepal’s judge to population ratio is one of the worst in the world, with just 15 judges per one million people.

The Supreme Court currently has 19 judges and 10 benches, as Mira Khadka has retired and Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana remains suspended since February 13.

There are a total of seven High Courts with 18 benches [seven perma-nent and 11 temporary] across the country, which have a total of 160 judg-es. Currently the positions for five chief judges and 19 judges are vacant, according to Man Bahadur Karki, spokesperson for the Judicial Council.

>> Continued on page 2

How 2-day weekend could add to case backlog, impacting justice deliveryNepal’s courts are burdened with a huge pile of cases.

C M Y K

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A man takes rest on his way to Swayambhu Stupa in the Capital on Tuesday.

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BINOD GHIMIREKATHMANDU, MAY 31

For the last 19 years, Lila Tamang from Morang has been continuously voicing to know the whereabouts of her hus-band Tanka, who was forcibly disap-peared during the Maoist insurgency.

Tanka was arrested by a team of security forces comprising then Royal Nepal Army and Nepal Police person-

nel on October 19, 2003 from Sunawarsi Municipality never to be released again.

Lila’s cries to find her husband—or tell the truth about him—for the last two decades have been lost in the din of repeated commitments by politicians.

When the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Person was constituted in 2015, she was hopeful that she would sooner

rather than later learn about her hus-band. It has been seven years since the formation of the commission, and she has not received any information on Tanka. The commission has done pre-cious little, nothing more than collect-ing the complaints.

The government has now once again started consultations with the victims of the ten-year long “people’s war” in a bid to take the transitional justice process forward and conclude it effectively.

Lila was one the participants in the consultations held in Biratnagar in Province 1. “This is not the first con-sultation held by the government, nor is this the first time I have participat-ed in such consultations,” Lila told the Post over the phone from Biratnagar.

She, however, sounded optimistic. “I sense the government is more

serious compared to the past. I hope the government will implement our suggestions this time.”

Some 30 victims and 15 representa-tives from different organisations from Province 1 provided their feed-back at Tuesday’s consultations attended by Minister for Law and Justice Govinda Sharma Bandi. >> Continued on page 2

PRITHVI MAN SHRESTHAKATHMANDU, MAY 31

The government has decided to slash customs duty on sanitary pads and low-end motorcycles in a bid to make them cheaper and affordable to a larg-er section of the population.

Both petrol-powered and electric four-wheelers, high-end motorcycles, alcohol and tobacco products will become pricier due to higher taxes, as per the Financial Bill presented along with the budget statement for fiscal 2022-23 on Sunday.

The import duty on sanitary pads will be cut by 90 percent in response to a growing outcry against what has been called period tax.

Last year, protests erupted following reports that the import duty on sani-tary pads, which are essential for men-strual hygiene of women and girls, had been hiked by the then KP Sharma Oli administration.

The government responded that no such thing had been done, but the demonstrations helped to rally public

support against the tax.The ruling Nepali Congress govern-

ment had stated in its election mani-festo that sanitary towels would be provided free of cost. Currently, the government imposes 15 percent cus-

toms duty and 13 percent value added tax on sanitary pads.

Presenting the budget to Parliament, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said the taxes would be reduced.

>> Continued on page 5

Conflict victims have high hopes amid fresh bid to deliver transitional justice

Things get pricier after new budget when people are already hit hard by inflation

Two decades since the end of the war, not much has been done to address the concerns of those who faced atrocities at the hands of the state and Maoists.

Both petrol-powered and electric four-wheelers, high-end motorcycles, alcohol and tobacco products will become pricier due to higher taxes.

POST filE PHOTO

The government has decided to slash customs duty on low-end motorcycles.

POST filE PHOTO

The decade-long conflict has been blamed for the disappearance of more than 1,300 people.

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 01, 2022 | 02

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BriEfiNg

>> Continued from page 1In 77 district courts, there are a total

of 287 judges. Currently 43 district judges positions are vacant.

The Koirala-led panel’s report has made a number of recommendations for settling the cases quickly and effi-

ciently, including determining the

duration for bench-es and strictly

implementing it; setting a time limit to manage hear-ings, making a r r a n g e -ments for having only one lead law-yer; classify-ing cases on the basis of

their impor-tance; and adopt-

ing a system of h e a r i n g

them continuously.It is not that Nepal’s chief justices

are not aware of the high number of pending cases at the Supreme Court.

On Sunday, while speaking at a func-tion organised by the Nepal Bar Council, acting Chief Justice Deepak Kumar Karki said that after he took over, the case clearance rate increased from 8 percent to 15 percent.

“When I took over the leadership, the clearance rate of backlogs stood at 8 percent. But I have increased it by two percentage points every month and now it has reached 15 percent as of yes-terday [Saturday],” said Karki at the function on Sunday. “There have been complaints that the backlog cases are more at the Supreme Court compared to district and high courts. Since many cases remain to be disposed of, we are working to improve it.”

Karki became acting chief justice on February 13 after Rana’s automatic sus-pension following the registration of an impeachment motion by 98 lawmak-ers in Parliament.

According to an official at the Supreme Court, the benches that used to start hearing cases at 11am, these days begin at 10:30am and the closing time has been increased by half an hour from 4:30pm to around 5pm. This has resulted in an increase of one hour of work for five days.

Observers, however, say that barely scratches the surface as the court does not hear a single case on Sundays.

Balaram KC, a former justice at the Supreme Court, said opening the benches half an hour early and closing them half an hour late won’t help in case clearance rate.

“The two-day work off will certainly lead to a rise in backlog cases,” said KC. “Anyway in Nepal, service seekers on Fridays are often told to visit the office on Sundays, which effectively means no work on Fridays.”

According to former chief justice

Anup Raj Sharma, the two days of holi-day effectively means three days of holiday, as there has been a tendency across the government offices, includ-ing the courts, to consider Friday as “half day.”

The five-day work policy was imple-mented in the Supreme Court in the past too.

According to former justices, during the time of the then chief justice Bishwanath Upadhyaya [1991-1995], the Supreme Court had declared two days of holidays. The objective then was allowing justices Sundays to write their decisions. But it was not practised even for six months.

“The two-day holiday is already a failed practice,” said KC. “The judici-ary must not rely on the trial and error method.”

This time’s two-day holiday system, however, is not implemented by the Supreme Court on its own, as the policy was declared by the government.

According to Sharma, having a five-day work schedule can be termed good only if it increases efficiency.

Officials say they are aware of the pending cases at the Supreme Court and that they are working to reduce the caseload. Some of the measures being discussed are diverting cases to lower courts.

Koirala, the joint secretary at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, said the govern-ment is working to amend some laws so that some cases coming to the Supreme Court could be finalised by high courts and other specialised courts like the Special Court, Administrative Court, Labour Court and some tribunals–Foreign Employment, Revenue and Debt Recovery.

“We are trying to lessen the burden of the Supreme Court and increase the capacity of the existing specialised courts,” Koirala told the Post. “We have not recommended amending constitu-

tional provisions yet, but have pro-posed revising as many as 24 existing laws for the purpose.”

The number of justices for the Supreme Court has been fixed by the constitution.

Article 129 (1) of the constitution says that the Supreme Court shall con-sist of a maximum of 20 Judges, in addition to the chief justice.

Sharma, the former chief justice, said there is a need to have a proper and detailed study to know why the number of backlog cases has been rising. The judiciary then should try to find out what measures can be taken to increase the case clearance rate, according to him. The judiciary is the only institu-tion in Nepal that remains closed for a longer period of time compared to other government institutions. The Supreme Court is closed for a straight 15 days during the Dashain festival while other government offices remain closed for four-five days.

According to the Home Ministry, the number of annual public holidays after the government’s decision to enforce a two-day weekend has increased to 136 days from the previous 84, which includes 32 public holidays including religious holidays.

There are already some holidays for judges—earned leaves or casual leaves or medical ones.

Observers say Nepal’s judiciary has already been facing controversy and it could face more crisis—a crisis of cred-ibility—if it continues to have pending cases piled up. Settling cases on a time-ly basis not only helps maintain the rule of law but also ensures swift jus-tice delivery, the people’s fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution.

“All of us know that failure to pro-vide justice on time amounts to denial of justice,” said KC, the former justice at the Supreme Court. “But not much has been done towards reducing back-log cases.”

How 2-day weekend could add to case backlog ...

Rape-accused teacher sent to jailSUNSARI: Raj Khadka, the former prin-cipal of an Itahari-based private school, has been sent to prison on the charge of raping a school student. The Sunsari District Court on Monday issued an order to send the accused to prison. Khadka, who was the principal of the school seven years ago, repeatedly raped a school girl, aged 16 then. The suspect was at large after the victim lodged a com-plaint at the district police office in Sunsari in 2017. Police detained Khadka from Kathmandu on Thursday after the victim revealed the rape incident on social media two weeks ago.

Man held on charge of attempted rape of minorKHOTANG: A 26-year-old man has been arrested on attempted rape charge of a minor. Police detained the suspect from his residence in Khotehang Rural Municipality-7, Khotang, on Monday for investigation. The man allegedly took an eight-year-old girl behind a bush and attempted to rape her on May 25.

Shortage of books affects courseworkTANAHUN: Only 25 percent of the required textbooks for the current academic year that started in mid-May have arrived in Tanahun dis-trict, according to traders. There are 441 community schools and 134 pri-vate schools in the district. The short-age of books has affected the course-work in most of these schools, stake-holders say.

Man’s journey from office assistant to ward chiefNetra Bhattarai, 29, impressed many when he was employed at the ward office of Chishankhugadhi-5 as an office assistant. People’s encouragement led him to win the local polls and return to the same office as ward chairman.KUMBHA RAJ RAIOKHALDHUNGA, MAY 31

When Netra Bhattarai joined the ward office of Chishankhugadhi-5 as an office assistant three years ago, he hadn’t imagined he would one day become the ward chairman operating out of the same office.

Netra Bhattarai, 29, passed his School Leaving Certificate examination in 2009. He continued his high school education but could not pass the boards so he flew to Qatar for foreign employment and stayed there for three years before moving to Malaysia. He lived and worked in Malaysia for two more years and returned to his village in Chishankhugadhi Rural Municipality-5, Okhaldhunga around four years ago.

Upon returning, he opened an eatery in the village with the money he had earned abroad. He says he wanted to become a hotelier but fate had different plans for him.

Netra’s father, Laxmi Bhattarai, was the office assistant at the ward office of Chishankhugadhi-5. When Laxmi retired three years ago after 25 years of service, he insisted Netra apply for the same position.

“I was not interested in working as a job

holder. But my father said it would be good to have a job in a government office. He started working as an office assistant at a salary of Rs 200 per month and said that the current salary of Rs 16,000 for an office assistant post was lucrative,” said Netra. “I still wasn’t convinced but I couldn’t go against his wishes so I joined the ward

office as an office assistant.” Netra, though an office assistant, had to

fulfil many other responsibilities due to the shortage of government employees in the local unit. He frequently visited the ward chairperson’s office with the recom-mendations and documents of the service seekers. The locals were happy with his work as he prioritised the elderly, disabled and incapacitated people.

But one day, he had a heated confronta-tion with a local leader regarding the work at the ward office. As a result, he was transferred to another centre in Serna, a few hours walk from his house.

He quit his job in September last year since he felt mistreated by his seniors. He then purchased a vehicle and started working as a driver.

As the local elections neared, Netra’s village, like most places in the country, got gripped by election fever. In a casual elec-tion conversation with the passengers of his vehicle and the locals to whom he had provided services during his government service, the locals encouraged him to con-test the local elections. Since Netra was not affiliated with any political party then, the CPN (Maoist Centre), which was a relatively weak political force in his ward, offered him the party’s ticket to compete for the post of ward chairperson

of Chishankhugadhi-3. After filing his candidacy for the ward

chairman, Netra launched a door-to-door campaign with the support of his father, friends, relatives and party supporters. Many did not believe him at first but he emerged victorious in the local election conducted on May 13 by defeating the nearest rival with a margin of 115 votes.

According to the local people of his ward, Netra was elected as the ward chair-man for the good work and service that he performed while working at the ward office as the office assistant.

Netra, who is also called Anil in his vil-lage, has been elected as the ward chief at the same office where he used to work as an office assistant.

“The ward secretary and the former ward chairperson feel uneasy when they meet me. But I respect all of them. I plan to work successfully by taking their sug-gestions,” said the new ward chief. He plans to upgrade the rural roads in his village and strengthen health services as his ward lies in a remote area.

“I won’t engage in cheap populist pro-grammes. The ward will focus on upgrad-ing roads so that the villagers can easily access health institutions,” said Netra. “I will do what I can with the available means and resources.”

Sagarmatha Next opens in Everest region

POST REPORTKATHMANDU, MAY 31

Sagarmatha Next, a centre ded-icated to restoring mountains and promoting sustainable tourism by addressing waste management, has thrown its door open for visitors.

The project located at 3,775 metres at Syangboche, Solukhumbu, at the foot of Mt Everest was opened last week after seven years of planning and construction, the company

said in a press statement.At Sagarmatha Next, visitors

can witness the journey of mountain waste, from trash to beautiful art and design prod-ucts, the company said.

Sagamartha Next will trans-form “waste into art and create wonderful rays of hope for those who live under the gaze of the highest peaks on earth,” the company added.

The centre has an interactive exhibition which includes digi-tal touch screens where visitors

can learn about climbing, cul-ture and challenges of the regions, and VR headsets which allow people to walk the Khumbu icefall.

The film salon has two films and the Waste Lab has upcy-cling workshops where artists and designers can explore their innovative side. The centre also features a Shop by Moware and a café.

Sagarmatha Next supports Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) and assists

them in developing solutions for the waste challenges that the community faces.

Sagarmatha Next hopes to make locals and visitors aware of their environmental foot-print and offer them an oppor-tunity to be part of the solu-tion, according to the company.

‘Carry me Back’ is one such initiative where Sagarmatha Next and SPCC have worked together to create a crowd-sourced waste removal system which uses the movement of people to keep the national park clean.

Everyone is encouraged to take a 1kg bag of waste [which is packed and kept ready] on their way down from the moun-tain, the company said.

The inauguration ceremony was hosted by the non-profit distributing Himalayan Museum and Sustainable Park.

Sonam Gyaltzen, member of Parliament, Arun Saraf of Saraf Foundation, Reinhold Messner, renowned mountain climber, Phurba Tashi Sherpa, a local climber with 21 Everest summits were the chief guests for the ceremony which was held on May 23.

Over 300 local people from across the Khumbu region attended the event.

Varun Saraf and Tommy Gustafsson, co-founders of Sagarmatha Next, were also present at the opening event.

The Saraf Foundation is the sponsor of Sagarmatha Next.

Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, Dell Technologies, and the Denali Foundation are the partners.

Photo courtesy: Bhattarai’s faceBook

Netra Bhattarai

Photo courtesy: himalayan museum

The project site located at 3,775 metres at Syangboche, Solukhumbu, at the foot of Mt Everest was opened last week.

>> Continued from page 1Such consultations, accord-

ing to the ministry, will be held in all seven provinces.

Even two decades after the end of the war that led to 13,000 deaths and 1,333 disap-pearances, victims are still awaiting justice, as Nepali politicians have failed to demonstrate the required political will to conclude the transitional justice process.

International rights bodies including the United Nations have continuously pressed Nepal to address the concerns of the victims and ensure jus-tice to them.

Representatives of the con-flict victims, human rights activists and officials from the ministry had prepared ques-tions under four themes--truth seeking, justice delivery, reparation and institutional reform—setting the basis for the consultations. The list of questions includes the sugges-tion to reform the commis-sions, change in the jurisdic-tion of the commissions and basis for reparations.

Suggestions for creating an environment for reconcilia-tion in the cases other than serious human rights viola-tions, and to form the basis for coordination between the National Human Rights Commission and the transitional justice commis-sions too have been sought from the victims.

Organising a press meet on May 23, Bandi had said the transitional justice process will move ahead by taking the victims into confidence and the consultations were a step towards that direction.

He said Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act, 2014 will be amended based on the feed-back and the Supreme Court’s verdict.

“We are committed to con-cluding the transitional jus-tice process. Transitional jus-tice is my only major priority as a minister,” he said. “A bill to amend the Act will be registered in Parliament by mid-July.”

A five-member special bench led by then chief justice Kalyan Shrestha in February 2015, ordered the government to revise the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act-2014 saying that it failed to adhere to the principles of transitional jus-tice and related international practices. The bench struck down almost a dozen provi-sions in the law and directed the government to ensure amnesty is not granted in cases of serious human rights violations committed during the decade-long insurgency.

However, the successive governments took no concrete steps towards its amendment despite repeated calls from

international human rights organisations.

Conflict victims say ever since becoming minister, Bandi has been reaching out to the victims and human rights activists to adopt a credible process to ensure justice.

“We have clearly told the minister that removal of chairpersons and members from both the transitional jus-tice commissions are our bot-tom line,” Suman Adhikari, founding chairperson of the Conflict Victim’s Common Platform, told the Post. “Seeing him working proac-tively has made us hopeful. However, it is the result that matters ultimately.”

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has received 63,718 complaints while the number of cases registered with the disappear-ance commission stands at 3,223.

Except for recommending reparations in 424 cases, the truth commission hasn’t made any significant progress in investigating the com-plaints.

The disappearance commis-sion which is conducting investigations into only 2,484 cases saying others do not fall under its jurisdiction too hasn’t made any remarkable progress towards revealing the whereabouts of those for-cibly disappeared during the insurgency.

“The government seems serious this time. Let’s hope the commitments from the law minister translate into results,” Charan Prasai, a human rights activist, told the Post. “The transitional justice process will move on a credi-ble path if the Act is amended as per the Supreme Court’s verdict. There is also a need to appoint teams in the two com-missions by following a trans-parent process.”

The conflict victims, who participated in Tuesday’s con-sultations, say they expect that they don’t have to wait for long for justice now.

“My father was killed by then Maoist cadres on January 16, 2002. I have been fighting for justice for the last two decades,” Krishna Govinda Chemjong from Dhankuta told the Post over the phone. “The consultations have raised hope that we will get justice soon. I want to see the government walk the talk.”

Lila, whose husband was disappeared, said conflict vic-tims have communicated to government officials in no uncertain terms that this is the last time they are participating in the consulta-tion process.

“Victims will lose faith in the transition justice process completely,” Lila told the Post, “if they are betrayed this time again.”

Conflict victims have high hopes amid ...

C M Y K

03 | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 01, 2022

NAtioNAl

Post Photo: ElitE Joshi

A woman with a baggage and a mask drawn down to her chin shields herself with an umbrella from a heavy rain at Bauddha in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

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Another panel formed to probe Harijan’s custody deathPOST REPORTKATHMANDU, MAY 31

The Home Ministry has formed another committee to probe the death of Sundar Harijan, a Dalit youth, in Rolpa Prison after an earlier probe report came into ques-tion. A study panel formed under the leadership of the director of the Department of Prison Management, Jharendra Chapagain, on May 20 submitted its report on Monday. Harijan had died in Rolpa Prison on May 18 under suspicious circum-stances. He was said to have died by suicide.

“A five-member probe com-mittee has been formed under the leadership of Joint Secretary Surya Prasad Sedhai to find out how the incident happened,” said a press statement issued by Home Ministry Spokesperson Fanindra Mani Pokharel on Tuesday. “The panel has been asked to submit its report in seven days after it starts to work.” Pokharel said the new panel was formed after know-ing that the incident was more serious than the minis-try had earlier thought. “We have decided to form another panel comprised of senior officials after we came to know that the issue was much more serious that what we had previously imagined,” Pokharel told the Post.

Waste and dust management in Kathmandu a challenge for new people’s representativesSeven broomer machines remain garaged in lack of drivers. Local obstructions continue at Nuwakot landfill sites.ANUP OJHAKATHMANDU, MAY 31

Last Friday, soon after winning the mayoral election, independent can-didate Balendra Shah rushed to the Sisdole and Banchare Danda land-fill sites and announced that he would not accept felicitation scarfs or garlands from anyone until the Sisdole residents’ problems were solved.

He was well aware of the fact that the door-to-door garbage collection in Kathmandu remains halted for the past one month due to protests by the villagers on the way to the landfill sites in Nuwakot.

But the mayor seems to be una-ware of the dust problem in Kathmandu streets. Although the Kathmandu Metropolitan City has nine broomer machines, most of the residents have not seen the machines on the streets since the start of the Covid pandemic.

City officials say seven of the nine broomers remain garaged for a lack of drivers. “The contracts of seven drivers expired on March 26 and new hirings have not started,” said Purna Chandra Bhatta, in-charge of broomer machines.

He said just two machines are in operation.

Dust has become synonymous with Kathmandu for the past few years, especially after the govern-ment launched a road widening drive in 2011 and after the digging of roads by the Melamchi Water Supply Project to lay drinking water pipes. Now most of the roads in Kathmandu are full of dust due to lack of maintenance, and perpet-ual construction activities along the roadsides.

In his first municipal executive meeting on Monday, Mayor Shah announced to set up a “a call center” within a week to hear com-plaints of Kathmandu residents, and operate an “infrastructure ambulance service,” which will fix problems like potholes on the road, and leaking water mains and sew-ers, among other things.

With the onset of pre-monsoon, Kathmandu’s roads become muddy when it rains, and dusty when it is sunny.

Environmentalists and city urban planners have long been crit-icising the inability of the City’s previous leadership to hire drivers to operate broomer machines as

“irresponsible”.“The earlier leadership of the

City was a failure when it came to addressing the garbage and dust problems. Now that the City has got new elected representatives, they should work seriously to address these problems,” said Bhusan Tuladhar, an environmentalist who closely follows urban issues including pollution.

However, this is not the first time that the broomer machines are out of duty. Last November, the machines were garaged for over a month and City officials gave vari-ous excuses including that some were broken and the drivers of some machines had not returned to work after the Dashain festival.

In his conversation with the Post last November, urban planner Suman Meher Shrestha had said the reason behind Kathmandu’s roads being full of dust was because the wrong people were in the wrong positions.

“The former leadership of the city should have hired new drivers on time. They were not sincere about their basic responsibilities, like managing garbage and keeping the City’s streets are dust-free,”

said Shrestha. But Pramod Dangol, mechanical

engineer and acting chief of the Mechanical Equipment Division of the City, said the problems will be resolved soon since the City has got new representatives.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City had bought five Dulevo-6000 machines in 2019 at the cost of Rs 108 million, and in the same year two were bought from the same company. In the same year, the Chinese government had gifted two more broomers machines, but that came into operation a year later as it didn’t get operators.

The City still deploys 750 sweep-ers daily to clean the road at Ratnapark, Lainchaur, Bagdurbar, Old Baneshwar, Putalisadak, Tripureshwar, Bhadrakali and other parts of the City but it has been making do with just two broomer machines.

Sarita Rai, chief of the environ-ment department, said the City is working to hire new drivers for the broomer machines. “On Tuesday we briefed Mayor Shah on the prob-lems. We will soon hire drivers for the broomers, as the procurement process is underway,” said Rai.

Pre-monsoon rise in dengue and scrub typhus cases alarms entomologists

ARJUN POUDELKATHMANDU, MAY 31

Although diseases like dengue and scrub typhus have become common in Nepal in recent years, the increased frequency of their infections before the onset of mon-soon is alarming, entomologists warn.

As many as 51 districts throughout the country, including districts in the Kathmandu Valley, have reported infection of dengue and scrub typhus since January this year.

All three districts of Kathmandu Valley have reported cases of scrub typhus and Kathmandu and Lalitpur have reported cases of dengue infection, according to Gokarna Dahal, chief of Vector-borne Disease Control Section at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease that is transmitted by female Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. The same vector also transmits chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika viruses, according to the World Health Organisation.

Likewise, scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is an infectious disease caused by the parasite Orientia tsutsugamushi, a mite-borne bacterium. It spreads in humans when bitten by infected chiggers (larval mites) found in mice.

The division said that at least 22 districts have reported dengue infection, and scrub typhus has been reported from 29 districts. Officials said that since January, 22 cases of scrub typhus have been reported in Kathmandu Valley—16 in Kathmandu, five in Lalitpur and one in Bhaktapur districts. Similarly, Kathmandu district recorded three cases of dengue infection and Lalitpur one.

“Monsoon is yet to start and we already have so many cases of scrub typhus and dengue infection,” said Sishir Panta, an entomologist at Vector-borne Disease Research and Training Center in Hetauda. “This is not a good sign as a major outbreak can happen at any time. Authorities con-cerned should take precautionary meas-ures against the risk of major outbreaks.”

Dengue-transmitting mosquitoes breed in clean water and bite people in daylight.

Due to the drinking water crisis, people in the Valley collect water in various types of containers to last for several days. Uncovered water tanks and discarded plas-tic cups and bottles could become breeding grounds for dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

“Our own studies show that dengue out-break occurred both in the pre monsoon, monsoon, and post monsoon months,” said Panta. “We can lessen the risks by focusing on cleanliness in big cities and launching awareness about the risk of discarded tires,

uncovered water tanks, plastic cups, and bottles.”

Experts warn that garbage piling up on the streets of Kathmandu Valley for many days increases the risk of a major outbreak of dengue virus, as the vector that spreads the virus could easily breed in the rainwater collected in discarded cups, bot-tles and tyres.

According to doctors, mild to high fever, severe muscle pain, rashes, severe head-ache, and pain in the eyes are some of the symptoms of dengue, and treatment should be sought immediately if anyone experienc-es those symptoms. While there is no specif-ic cure for the disease, early detection and access to proper medical care can lower fatalities.

Similarly, infection of scrub typhus can lead to respiratory distress, infection of brain, lungs, kidney failure and then multiorgan failure. If left untreated, it could be fatal.

High fever, headache, abdominal pain, backache, joint and muscle pain, red rash-es, nausea and vomiting are some of the symptoms of scrub typhus infection, according to doctors.

Nepal saw a surge in scrub typhus cases after the calamitous 2015 earthquakes that killed nearly 9,000 people.

Three months after the quakes, the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan had alerted the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division about six children with unusual fever and severe respiratory problems.

Serum samples were collected for subse-quent tests in Kathmandu and Bangkok that confirmed a scrub typhus outbreak.

By then, four children had already died during treatment. By the end of the year, 101 cases were confirmed in 16 districts and four more people succumbed to the disease.

The magnitude of the outbreak escalated in 2016—831 cases of scrub typhus were reported in 47 districts and 14 people died by the end of that year.

The Ministry of Health and Population said that 296 cases of scrub typhus have been reported since January this year.

Officials at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division said that the newly elected local government representatives should take outbreak risks seriously and take measures accordingly.

“We have allocated funds to the local gov-ernments to launch dengue search-and-de-stroy campaigns at the local level,” said Dahal of the division. “Awareness drive also plays a crucial role in mitigating the risks.”

Experts ask local units to launch awareness drives and focus on cleanliness to lessen outbreak risk.

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 01, 2022 | 04

OpiNiON

Stocks’ reaction to the just-concluded local elections in Nepal can be described as ranging from nonchalant to downright depressing. The NEPSE, the country’s sole stock exchange, was already caught in a downward spiral after peaking at 3227 last August. The outcome of the election did not change the trend. In fact, between the day before the May 13 election and the pub-lication of the results on May 27, the NEPSE fell 5.4 percent. From its high to the recent low, it tumbled 32.1 percent. Ordinarily, the stock market can be viewed as a voting machine. It is a way in which the collective wisdom of mar-kets, comprised of both bulls and bears, pass judgement. Viewed this way, it has been a thumbs down.

The counterargument to this is that these are local elections. Major deci-sions impacting the stock market, or the investing environment in general, are made at the federal level, be it through the legislature or through cab-inet decisions. With that said, of the 753 local seats contested, the Nepali Congress won 43.4 percent, with the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) a distant second at 27.2 percent. The Nepali Congress achieved this feat thanks primarily to an electoral alliance it was in along with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist) and Janata Samajbadi Party; the latter three respectively won 16.1 percent, 2.7 per-cent and 4 percent of the seats.

Independents fared wellThe Nepali Congress is a centrist party with a centre-left policy on social issues, and a centre-right when it comes to the economy. The party is expected to vouch for a market-friendly approach. Given that the alliance did so well in the local elections, one would think the coalition partners would use this as a template in the federal and provincial polls in November this year. In this scenario, it is conceivable the coalition once again forms the govern-ment, raising the odds for mar-ket-friendly measures. But the apathy shown by investors can be interpreted as saying they do not think the coali-tion would survive by then. Or, they are saying the Nepali Congress had no chance of winning these many seats if it had gone to the polls alone.

Despite the adverse investor reac-tion, this was also an election that raised hopes for change. Nepal is a

nation searching for direction. The Maoists were voted as the largest party in the first Constituent Assembly elec-tions in 2008, followed by a humiliating defeat five years later when the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML emerged as the two largest parties. In the 2017 general elections, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Maoist chairman, was forced to tie up with the KP Oli-led UML. Subsequently, Oli tried to dissolve Parliament twice in December 2020 and May 2021, and was shown the door by the Supreme Court, which ordered the appointment of Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minis-ter.

It is a young democracy. The current constitution, which came into effect in September 2015, introduced a three-tier federal system. Growing pains are aplenty. Corruption remains high. The rule of law gets tested often. Leaders of the major political parties themselves struggle to practice genuine democracy in-house. Voters, for the most part, are turned off. It is no wonder they are beginning to grope for alternatives. As a matter of fact, independents did very well in these elections, as they cashed in on the anti-incumbent sentiment. Three of the 11 sub-metropolitan (Dhangadhi, Dharan and Janakpurdham) and one of the six met-ropolitan mayorships (Kathmandu) went to independents.

‘Balen’ win not just a whimThe whole nation was keenly watching

how things would turn out in Kathmandu. The excitement generated by the candidacy of Balendra Shah was like no other. He got 61,767 votes, versus 38,341 for Srijana Singh (Nepali Congress) and 38,117 for the UML’s Keshav Sthapit. “Balen”, as he is fondly called, had the advantage of being a rapper and a structural engineer. The former helped him get the youth vote, while the latter helped him assure the average voter that he had the goods. Over the years, political shenanigans have left a bad taste in people’s mouths. Kathmanduites wanted a change. This is not the first time they have rebelled against the powers that be.

In the 1981 Rastriya Panchayat elec-tion, Nani Maiya Dahal, 37 at the time, was one of the two elected from Kathmandu. She was blunt, had no formal education, and cared for the oppressed. An anti-establishment wave won her nearly 66,000 votes, more than twice what Jog Mehar Shrestha, a sea-soned politician, could muster. In 2017, in the mayoral election for Kathmandu, Bibeksheel Nepali Party’s Ranju Darshana, only 22, was thrown into the limelight, coming third with more than 23,000 votes; the UML’s Bidya Sundar Shakya was elected with nearly 65,000 votes. Such anti-establishment waves routinely take place globally as well, causing ripples of change for years and decades to come.

Born out of the 2011 anti-corruption movement in India, the Aam Aadmi Party was founded in 2012 by Arvind

Kejriwal, Delhi’s current chief minis-ter. The party portrays itself as an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress, India’s two leading national parties. Besides Delhi, Aam Admi cur-rently rules the state of Punjab. In France, where electoral alliances and coalition governments are normal, Emmanuel Macron came out of nowhere to win the French presidency in May 2017. He ran under the banner of En Marche!, renamed La Republique La Marche, a centrist and pro-Europe-an political movement he launched in 2016. He just won his second five-year term.

Balen has the potential to pull off a similar masterstroke. Nepal desperate-ly needs to free itself from the shackles of dogmatic leaders in their 60s and 70s, who are driven by self-interests and have given their parties a bad name. The sooner Balen institutional-ises his victory, the better. One way he achieves this is by giving his movement a name and forming a party. Winning the mayor’s election was one hurdle. Many more tests await him. One such is if he convinces the three independ-ent sub-metro mayors to join his cause. If it turns out it is Balen who ends up shaking up Nepal’s political system, so be it. Any signs of political stability should gradually begin to draw positive reactions in the nascent stock market.

Pandey talks markets, money and macroeconomics on hedgopia.com.

For at least three decades, researchers have gathered evidence that chronic stress puts pressure on the body to constantly adjust itself to restore physiological stability. This process is known as allostatic load and it creates a cascade of toxic metabolic activities that cause wear and tear on the body.

Allostatic load makes people vul-nerable to various types of cardiac, gastrointestinal, endocrinological, immunological, neurological, meta-bolic and psychiatric problems.

Evidence is emerging to show that psychosocial and economic stressors influence health outcomes. But nei-ther our physicians, nor our health-care systems, have the necessary tools and methods to integrate those social and economic factors into our diagno-ses or preventive care.

Here is a personal example: Recently, I called my physician to report mysterious new pains. The thorough investigation and note-tak-ing that followed would have been very useful if I had suffered a specific infection or injury, or if my blood work was imperfect. But I had symp-toms that began slowly and were increasing in frequency with Covid-19 and work-related stresses.

The more she pressed for identify-ing how, where and when exactly my pains had begun, the more I felt guilty about my imprecise condition. When I joked that I just needed a month to

hang out with Freud in the Alps, she suggested prescribing antidepres-sants. Falling back to self-blaming humour: “Maybe this is all psychoso-matic,” I said.

Stigma of unexplained painsFar too many people have these expe-riences. The stigma and implicit bias-es against those who suffer chronic and unexplained pains (as complain-ers, malingerers and drug-seekers) are deeply rooted. They are gendered. They are racial, too.

While it is known that stress and social and economic disparities make people sick, physicians do not have the necessary tools to fix those causes of illness. At best, next to medications, they can offer psychotherapy, which remains inaccessible and unafforda-ble to most. Our health-care system is also unequipped to address the psy-chosocial determinants of health, which are situational and cultural, so they require more than a clinical approach to care.

For example, research on prescrip-tion of pain killers for racial and eth-nic minorities shows that Black patients’ pain is undertreated. This reflects a lack of trust in the symp-toms reported by those who may already be suffering other forms of socio-economic disparity. The 2020 death of Joyce Echaquan, enduring abuse and untreated pain in a Québec hospital, made it impossible to ignore the problem of health inequity any longer.

How combative approaches create stigmaSince at least the publication of the first epidemiological study in 1662, we have been trying to predict and mini-mise causes of mortality. Science and technology are expected to help us win the battle against disease and disabili-ty. There is a particular structural worldview that shapes our current medical culture. It takes a combative approach to illness: It fights cancer, opioid epidemics, depression, diabetes and other conditions.

Implicitly, combative cultures value and reward winners. When we praise heroes (for example, 100-year-old peo-ple who enjoy active lives), we implic-itly turn those who fail to losers. This is how patients and their caregivers co-create stigma and shame associated with chronic illness or even aging.

Fortunately, a shift has begun towards epistemic justice, which rec-ognises culturally appropriate prac-tices and traditional knowledge, and patient-centred health-care practices are emerging. Indigenous leadership in de-colonising health care will accel-erate these efforts. For the health-care system to begin acting on those princi-ples, a shift towards more flexible, qualitative and ecological research methodologies is needed.

Why play mattersIn 1509, the Renaissance scholar Erasmus wrote In Praise of Folly to argue that play is an existential neces-

sity that helps humans confront the inevitability of aging and death by becoming forgetful and carefree (like children).

Different forms of play are offered by therapists or hospices to facilitate communication over difficult or ter-minal health conditions.

In Steps To an Ecology of Mind (1971), anthropologist Gregory Bateson offered play as an experimen-tal space for communication and learning from learning where people can simulate, interpret and evaluate the outcomes of their choices in a framed, but flexible, playground.

Indeed, play is a well-known research tool in developmental psy-chology, anthropology, economics and military strategies.

In the context of a global drive for digital tracking and profiling of poten-tial causes of illness, my research col-leagues and I have recently suggested that play offers an alternative way of

approaching research and taking action in this digital ecosystem.

Prescribing playTwenty percent of people suffer from chronic pain. What do we do when we cannot “win” the battle against pain? Often, drug prescriptions offer the cheapest and fastest-acting remedies. But they don’t always work and the side-effects can be disastrous. This is why consensus is growing among the World Health Organization members to invest in researching alternative ways of care.

In Homoludens (1938), historian Johan Huizinga showed that play is a uniquely human tendency to create imaginative aesthetics and rituals that give different meanings to the acts of satisfying biological needs such as shelter, food and safety.

Indeed, play can become a creative and knowledge-generating act. Creative art therapy or expressive

writings can help track and control what causes pain.

Imagine if instead of pushing me to provide precise numbers for the intensity and frequency of my pain, I were allowed to use metaphor and be playful about explaining my symp-toms and needs to my physician. Imagine if the frame of caring for me was a bit more flexible to allow my doctor to prescribe a yoga regime, or help me explore a mindfulness pro-gramme.

Imagine if clinicians incorporated Indigenous ways of knowing to LISTEN to pain (language, individual, share, teachable moments, engage and navigate).

Imagine if public health officials did not wait until chronic stress made the population prone to illness, and instead invested in happiness policies like those in the Netherlands, the country of Erasmus and Huizinga.

Turning play to actionWhen knowledge and care are lacking (for example, for women with endomet-rosis), social media becomes a space for knowledge generation. In Coping with Illness Digitally, health and digi-tal communications researcher Stephan Rains illustrates that people connect to communities that offer information and care through shared experiences.

The Covid-19 pandemic illustrated the capacity of social media for gener-ating data about coping with stress. However, if we are to be governed by numbers, we need a playground where we are safe and not passively sur-veyed. In a real playground, partici-pants are not under surveillance, but are engaged in generating knowledge about psychosocial stressors that make them ill. Platforms such as Patients Like Me provide a blueprint for adding our narratives of stress-gen-erated illnesses and coping strategies.

Khalili-Mahani is researcher and the director of Media-Health/Game-Clinic laboratory at Concordia University.

—The Conversation

Diagnosing stress-related illness

PABAN RAJ PANDEY

The tests that await independentsEDiTORiAL

Killing by other meansThe criminal system that takes in young, healthy

humans and returns dead bodies must stop.

Nepal needs to free itself from the shackles of dogmatic leaders in their 60s and 70s.

A young Dalit man is locked up in Rolpa prison for a crime he did not commit. He tells his family members that he is being tortured in custody, but he assures them that he will come out of jail soon. He does come out—or is carried out—not as the young man that he was, but as a cadaver.

This is a tragic story of democratic republic that has a policing system that functions with a medieval mentality. This is also a story of social inequality and oppression, as most of the individuals who die in custody under sus-picious conditions belong to marginalised groups.

That Sundar Harijan was locked up instead of the actu-al perpetrator Bijay Bikram Shah itself speaks volumes about the injustices that belie Nepal’s criminal justice system. Harijan is the quintessential Nepali marginal figure whose right to freedom was constrained while hav-ing to serve time for a crime committed by someone else. But his very right to live was taken away when he alleg-edly committed suicide inside the prison on May 16.

The very use of the term “suicide” to speak about cus-todial deaths, even if that results from self-inflicted harm, masks the immense physical and psychological violence that inmates are routinely subjected to. What unearthly force otherwise inspires a youth to take his own life just days after he expresses his hope of walking out free, if not for the violence he allegedly suffered while in custody?

The police and prison authorities that have yet to learn the basic tenets of humanity will get away by claiming that they had no role in the death of the youth. After all, they have hardly had to face the consequences of seeing the deaths of Durgesh Yadav in July 2020, of Shambhu Sada in June 2020, of Hem Bahadur Rawat in January 2020, and of Kumar Paudel in June 2019—just to name a few.

As with the previous instances of custodial deaths, the government panel formed to probe Harijan’s death gave a clean chit to prison authorities, claiming that there was no involvement of the prison administration in the youth’s death. For those still seeking the Kafkaesque touch in the tragic story, the panel was led by a director of the Prison Department! An insult to an injury, a trav-esty of justice, a conclusion foretold. A human life taken under the watch of the system that is mandated to safe-guard them, and yet no one to face the repercussions, legal or moral.

This must change. There should be an independent probe in each death—“natural” or “unnatural”—inside prison cells and in police custodies. The criminal system that takes in young, healthy humans and returns dead bodies must stop. Or we should stop calling ourselves a modern society altogether.

NAJMEH KHALILI-MAHANI

The patient-centred approach helps to address the situational and cultural determinants of health.

ShutterStock

PoSt file Photo: AngAd dhAkAl

C M Y K

05 | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 01, 2022

MoNEY

gASoliNE WAtch

FoREX

US Dollar 124.53

Euro 133.58

Pound Sterling 156.92

Japanese Yen (10) 9.73

Chinese Yuan 18.70

Qatari Riyal 34.07

Australian Dollar 89.47

Malaysian Ringit 28.44

Saudi Arab Riyal 33.20

Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank

bUllioNPRicE PER tolA

SoURCE: FENEGoSIDA

Fine Gold Rs 98,000

Silver Rs 1,270

Nepse2,137.92pts

-1.63%

NICBF SKBBL GIC PIC USLB NMB-2.62% -2.59% -2.58% -2.53% -2.53% -2.51%

NIBPO NIB NLG CORBL MPFL PRIN-10% -9.98% -6.5% -5.75% -5.38% -5.28%

highESt loSERS

SDLBSL PPCL KEF NICAD8182 VLBS MFLD850.24% 0.19% 0.11% 0.11% 0.1% 0.03%

ULBSL NMB50 SPC NICGF LICN SFMF8.23% 4.1% 4.02% 3.73% 3.35% 2.46%

highESt gAiNERS

MoDERAtE gAiNERS

MoDERAtE loSERS

Shares

>> Continued from page 1The import duty on raw materials

for producing sanitary pads will be brought down to 1 percent, which will make them cheaper and more accessible.

The government also announced that the excise and customs duties on raw materials and parts for manufac-turing four-wheelers would be cut by 50 percent and 25 percent respectively.

Customs duty of only 1 percent will be levied on parts and raw materials used in manufacturing electric three-wheelers and two-wheelers in a bid to promote domestic production of electric vehicles.

But the government has decided to levy excise duty on top of the existing customs duty on high performance electric vehicles which will make them more expensive, insiders say. Previously, excise duty was not levied on electric vehicles.

According to the Financial Bill, the government has decided to charge 30 percent excise duty on vehicles fitted with 100-200 kW motors.

The government will impose 45 per-cent excise duty on the import of electric vehicles equipped with motors of 201-300 kW capacity. Excise duty has been maintained at 60 percent on electric vehicles with a motor capacity of more than 300 kW.

In 2020, when the Oli-led govern-ment increased taxes on electric vehi-

cles, there were protests arguing that the move was against the govern-ment’s own policy of promoting elec-tric vehicles in the country.

The government had hiked excise duty on e-vehicles in the range of 30-80 percent depending on their capacity, and levied customs duty of 60 percent.

It later reversed the decision.Though the government has banned

the import of automobiles till the end of current fiscal year 2021-22, it has either hiked or reduced duties on dif-ferent types of vehicles.

The government has increased excise duty on micro bus with a capac-

ity of 11-14 seats to 55 percent from 40 percent which will make them dearer.

The excise duty on cars with a capacity of 1,500 cc to 2,000 cc has been increased from 70 percent to 75 percent. The duty on 2,000-2,500 cc cars has been increased from 80 per-cent to 85 percent.

The excise duty on automobiles with an engine capacity of more than 3000 cc has been raised by 5 per-cent to 105 percent, according to the Financial Bill.

The government has hiked the excise duty on high-end two-wheelers with a capacity of more than 200 cc. The excise duty on motorcycles with a capacity of 125 cc to 200 cc has been reduced from 50 percent to 40 percent.

The excise duty on motorcycles with a capacity of 200 cc to 250 cc will be charged at the rate of 80 percent, up from 60 percent earlier. The excise duty on motorcycles with a capacity over 250 cc has also been hiked.

The excise duty on billets has been increased to Rs3,500 per tonne from Rs2,500 per tonne. Last September, when the excise duty was raised to Rs2,500 from Rs1,650 through a replacement bill, there were charges that the decision had been taken in the interest of certain groups.

The government has also hiked the excise duty on steel pins from Rs2,500 per tonne to Rs10,000 per tonne.

The excise duty on sponge iron,

which is needed to produce billets, has been eliminated. Billet, used to manu-facture iron and steel, is one of the largest import items of the country.

A hike in the excise duty on billet will affect the country’s iron and steel industry which depends on imported billets, insiders said.

Finance Minister Sharma has got tough on alcohol consumption. He has increased the excise duty on beer to Rs228 per litre from Rs198 per litre. The excise duty on beer without alco-hol has been hiked to Rs30 per litre from Rs20 per litre.

The excise duty on whisky with alcohol up to 48.5 percent has been increased to a minimum of Rs1,750 per litre from Rs1,592 per litre. The maximum excise duty in this category of whisky has also been increased to Rs2,059 per litre from Rs1,872 per litre.

The excise duty on whisky with 42.8 percent alcohol has been increased to a minimum of Rs1,306 per litre from Rs1,188 per litre. The maximum duty has been hiked to Rs1,741 from Rs1,584 per litre.

The excise duty on whisky with 39.94 percent alcohol has been increased to a minimum of Rs1,215 per litre from Rs1,105 per litre earlier. The maximum rate has been increased to Rs1,735 per litre from Rs1,578 per litre. The prices of tobacco products are set to rise as the excise duty has been increased.

Things get pricier after new budget

Kathmandu: Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Limited has inaugurated its new branch at Naxal Plaza, Narayan Chaur. The branch relocated from Lazimpat was inaugurated by the British Ambassador to Nepal, Nicola Pollitt at a function with the bank’s Director Bharat Kunwar, clients and senior staff in attendance. The bank’s CEO, Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar said, “We are delighted to serve our existing and new clients from the new branch. The new location will be equipped with smart working spaces and superior digital capabilities to enhance the services provided by the bank to its clients.” The bank has also launched various offers for customers visiting the new branch.

PoSt FIlE Photo

Import of several goods has been banned until this fiscal year end citing falling forex reserves.

Standard Chartered Bank opens new branch at Naxal

Agence FrAnce-PresseNEW DELHI, May 31

India’s growth slowed further in the first three months of 2022, the National Statistics Office said Tuesday, with inflation and higher oil prices denting a post-pandemic recovery.

Asia’s third-largest economy grew 4.1 percent, year-on-year, in the last quarter, NSO data showed.

Annual growth for the 12 months to the end of March stood at 8.7 percent.

Rising global commodity prices have sparked concern among policy-makers, with India’s central bank announcing its first interest rate hike in nearly four years this month.

The country of 1.4 billion people imports more than 80 percent of its crude oil and the cost of meeting domestic fuel demand has soared since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. India is also the world’s

largest importer of edible oils, prices of which are at record highs since the conflict began.

“The pandemic may be receding, but growth has not returned,” econo-mist Mihir Swarup Sharma of the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation told AFP.

“Instead, imports as a proportion of GDP—driven by higher prices for food, fuel, and other commodi-ties—are rising.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government this month announced tax breaks to offset higher food and petrol costs. Higher-than-expected rev-enues could give New Delhi some “headroom” to cushion consumers from inflation, Sharma said.

But the $26 billion cost of the scheme will likely blow out the gov-ernment’s budget deficit beyond its target for 2022-23, which it put at 6.4 percent of GDP.

Consumer inflation hit 6.95 percent in March, according to the Reserve Bank of India, which slashed its own growth forecast to 7.2 percent for the year ending March 2022.

“Alarmingly, persistent and spread-ing inflationary pressures are becom-ing more acute with every passing day,” Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das said this month.

India saw a dramatic uptick in eco-nomic activity in the second half of 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic

sparked its worst recession since inde-pendence from Britain 75 years ago.

Extended lockdowns hit consumer spending and brought factories to a standstill during the Covid-19 out-break, which at its peak saw thou-sands of people dying across the coun-try each day, overwhelming hospitals and crematoriums.

Several Indian states briefly imposed mild restrictions on public gatherings and commercial activity after an outbreak of the highly infec-tious Omicron variant of the virus.

Further headwinds are likely to hit growth in the June quarter, with India this month announcing a sudden ban on wheat exports and a cap on the overseas sale of sugar.

India is the world’s second-largest producer of both crops but scorching temperatures and the country’s hot-test March on record—blamed on cli-mate change—have dented yields.

India growth slows on inflation, higher oil prices

Rising temperatures and India’s hottest March on record have dented yields.

C M Y K

Briefing

WeDneSDAY, JUne 01, 2022 | 06

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ap/rss

Afghan boys play cricket at a cemetery in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 4. There are cemeteries all over Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, many of them filled with the dead from the country’s decades of war. They are incorporated casually into Afghans’ lives. They provide open spaces where children play football or cricket or fly kites, where adults hang out, smoking, talking and joking, since there are few public parks.

ap/rss

A volunteer helps a man leaving his home in a building damaged by an overnight missile strike, in Sloviansk, Ukraine, on Tuesday.

afp/rss

Volunteers join an awareness rally against the use of tobacco in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Sievierodonetsk mayor says Russian forces seize half of cityAssociAted PressSLOVIANSK, UKrAINe, MAy 31

Russian forces in a “frenzied push” have seized half of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk that is key to Moscow’s efforts to quickly complete the capture of the industrial Donbas region, the mayor told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

“The city is essentially being destroyed ruthlessly block by block,” Oleksandr Striuk said. He said heavy street fighting continues and artillery bombardments threaten the lives of the estimated 13,000 civilians still sheltering in the ruined city that once was home to more than 100,000.

It’s impossible to track civilian casualties amid the round-the-clock shelling, said the mayor, who believes that more than 1,500 residents have died of various causes since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.

Evacuation efforts from Sievierodonetsk have been halted because of shelling.

“Civilians are dying from direct strikes, from fragmentation wounds and under the rubble of destroyed buildings, since most of the inhabit-ants are hiding in basements and shelters,” Striuk said.

Electricity to the city has been cut off and people need water, food and medicine, the mayor said: “There are food supplies for several more days, but the issue is how to distribute them.”

Sievierodonetsk is important to Russian efforts to capture the Donbas before more Western arms arrive to bolster Ukraine’s defence. Moscow-backed separatists already held terri-tory in the region and have been fight-ing Ukrainian troops for eight years.

Military analysts described the fight for Sievierodonetsk as part of a

race against time for the Kremlin. The city. which is 145 kilometres south of the Russian border, is in an area that is the last pocket of Ukrainian govern-ment control in the Luhansk region.

In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation in the Donbas remains “extremely difficult” as Russia has put its army’s “maxi-mum combat power” there.

At least three people were killed and six more wounded overnight in a Russian missile strike on the city of Sloviansk, west of Sievierodonetsk, Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning. A school was among several buildings damaged. A crater marked the road between two apartment buildings heavily pockmarked by shrapnel.

Blood smeared the floor and stairwell of one building.

Thousands mourn murdered Indian rapperAgence FrAnce-PresseAMrITSAr, MAy 31

Thousands of mourners gathered Tuesday for the cremation of Indian hip hop star Sidhu Moose Wala, whose murder at the weekend shocked fans at home and in Punjabi communities from Canada to Britain.

Moose Wala—whose real name is Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu—was shot dead in his car by unidentified assail-ants in the northern state of Punjab on Sunday. He was 28.

Police said the murder was linked to inter-gang rivalry, and that a Canada-based gangster known as Goldy Brar had claimed responsibili-ty. Crowds thronged Moose Wala’s hearse as it reached the rapper’s pala-tial house in his native village of Moosa in Punjab.

Thousands then lined the roads as his body was taken for cremation on a trolley decorated with flowers and pulled by a tractor—reportedly the singer’s favourite one.

Moose Wala rose to fame with catchy songs that attacked rival rap-pers and politicians, portraying him as a man who fought for his communi-ty’s pride, delivered justice and gunned down enemies.

Moose Wala was a big star not just in India but also abroad, especially in Canada and Britain—home to large Punjabi-origin communities.

WHO says big tobacco’s environmental impact is ‘devastating’

Agence FrAnce-PresseGeNeVA, MAy 31

The tobacco industry is a far greater threat than many realise as it is one of the world’s biggest polluters, from leaving mountains of waste to driving global warming, the WHO said on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization accused the industry of causing wide-spread deforestation, diverting badly needed land and water in poor coun-tries away from food production, spewing out plastic and chemical waste as well as emitting millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide.

In its report released on World No Tobacco Day, the agency called for the tobacco industry to be held to account and foot the bill for the cleanup. The report, “Tobacco: poisoning our plan-et”, looks at the impacts of the whole cycle, from the growth of plants to the manufacturing of tobacco products, to consumption and waste.

While tobacco’s health impacts have been well documented for decades—with smoking still causing more than eight million deaths worldwide every year—the report focuses on its broad-er environmental consequences.

The findings are “quite devastat-ing,” Ruediger Krech, WHO director of health promotion, told AFP, charg-ing that the industry is “one of the biggest polluters that we know of.”

Krech slammed tobacco companies’ frequent efforts to rehabilitate their image through beach cleanups and funding environmental and disaster relief organisations as “greenwash-ing”. “The tobacco industry dumps toxic waste into communities and depletes natural resources,” he told a press conference.

“Tobacco is not only poisoning peo-ple, it’s poisoning our planet.”

The industry is responsible for the loss of some 600 million trees each year—or five percent of global deforestation—while tobacco growing and production uses 200,000 hectares of land and 22 billion tonnes of water annually, the report found.

It also emits around 84 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, it said.

In addition, “tobacco products are the most littered item on the planet, containing over 7,000 toxic chemicals, which leech into our environment when discarded,” Krech said.

He pointed out that each one of the estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts that end up in the oceans, rivers, side-walks and beaches every year can pollute 100 litres of water.

And up to a quarter of all tobacco farmers contract so-called green tobacco sickness, or poisoning from the nicotine they absorb through the skin. Farmers who handle tobacco leaves all day consume the equivalent of 50 cigarettes worth of nicotine a day, Krech said.

This is especially worrying for the many children involved in tobacco farming.

“Just imagine a 12-year-old being exposed to 50 cigarettes a day,” he said.

Most tobacco is grown in poorer countries, where water and farmland are often in short supply, and where such crops are often grown at the expense of vital food production, the report said. UN agencies have launched a project to try to help farm-ers transition to other crops.

At the same time the processing and transportation of tobacco account for a significant share of global green-house gas emissions—with the equiv-alent of one-fifth of the global airline industry’s carbon footprint.

In addition, products like cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes also contribute significantly to the global build-up of plastic pollution, WHO warned.

Cigarette filters contain microplas-tics—the tiny fragments that have been detected in every ocean and even at the bottom of the world’s deepest trench—and make up the second-high-est form of plastic pollution world-wide, the report said.

Stressing that there is no evidence filters provide any proven health ben-efits over smoking non-filtered ciga-rettes, the UN agency urged policy makers worldwide to consider ban-ning them. The WHO also called for governments to immediately halt the some $500 billion in subsidies the tobacco industry receives each year, and also urged them to stop allowing taxpayers to foot the bill for cleaning up the industry’s mess.

Each year, China for instance dishes out around $2.6 billion and India around $766 million, while Brazil and Germany pay some $200 million each to clean up littered tobacco products, the report found.

Israel accuses Iran of stealing documents from UN nuclear watchdogJERUSALEM: Israel on Tuesday accused its arch-foe Iran of stealing classified documents from the International Atomic Energy Agency to help it hide evidence of its nuclear programme. The Jewish state believes Iran is seeking to produce atomic weapons, a claim Tehran strongly denies. “Iran stole classified documents from the UN’s Atomic Agency IAEA and used that information to systematically evade nuclear probes,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett wrote on Twitter. “How do we know? Because we got our hands on Iran’s deception plan,” Bennett wrote. His tweet included a link to eight files of docu-ments in English and Farsi, as well as photographs. The files were part of a cache allegedly taken by Israeli agents from an Iranian nuclear site in 2018.

China-backed Myanmar rebels call on junta to embrace peace talksYANGON: A powerful Myanmar ethnic rebel group with close ties to China called on Tuesday for the junta to engage in dialogue with anti-coup fighters to end 15 months of blood-shed. With a standing force of around 25,000, the United Wa State Army is one of the world’s largest non-state militaries, manufacturing its own guns and conscripting a member from each household in areas under its control. But the UWSA largely sticks to its autonomous enclave on Myanmar’s northern border with China, and has so far had little involvement in the fighting sparked by the toppling of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government by the military last year. The UWSA made an “appeal to all parties in the conflict for resolving it by negotiation as soon as possible”, it said in a statement following talks with junta officials in the capital Naypyidaw.

Group urges ICC to probe use of mines in Libya warCAIRO: Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called for the International Criminal Court to investigate allega-tions of the use of landmines in 2019 by Russian paramilitaries fighting in Libya. According to the New York-based watchdog, new data has emerged from Libyan demining groups linking mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group to the use of “banned booby traps” in Libya during an offensive by east-based Libyan forces trying to capture the capital of Tripoli from rival militias. The Wagner Group backed the offensive of the east-based forces led by com-mander Khalifa Hifter, who was also supported at the time by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia. Hifter’s offensive collapsed in the spring of 2020, when Turkey and Qatar stepped up their military sup-port to his rivals in western Libya. Libya plunged into turmoil after a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 top-pled dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed.

Rare antelope population now over a million in KazakhstanNUR-SULTAN: The population of endan-gered Saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan is now over 1.3 million, the ecology ministry said Tuesday, in the latest boost to a species threatened by poaching and disease. In 2015, around 200,000 of the antelopes—well over half the total global population at the time—were wiped out by what scien-tists later determined was a nasal bacterium that spread in unusually warm and humid conditions. But last year brought good news as the num-bers rebounded from 334,000 in 2019 to 842,000 across the centre, west and northwest of the vast Central Asian state. The April aerial count ahead of this year’s spring calving took the population to 1,318,000. (Agencies)

It’s impossible to track civilian casualties amid the round-the-clock shelling, Striuk says.

Tsai says US National Guard planning ‘cooperation’ with Taiwan military

reutersTAIPeI, MAy 31

The United States is planning on “coop-eration” between its National Guard and Taiwan’s military, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday, deepening security ties in the face of what Taipei’s government complains is a rising threat from China.

The United States is Chinese-claimed Taiwan’s most important international supporter and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties. China has been stepping up its military activities near Taiwan and its military said last week it had recently conduct-ed an exercise around Taiwan as a “solemn warning” against “collusion” with the United States.

Meeting visiting US Senator Tammy Duckworth in Taipei, Tsai noted that

Duckworth was one of the main spon-sors of the Taiwan Partnership Act, which has received bipartisan support though has yet to become law.

“As a result, the US Department of Defence is now proactively planning cooperation between the US National Guard and Taiwan’s defence forces,” Tsai said, without giving details.

“We look forward to closer and deep-er Taiwan-US cooperation on matters of regional security,” she added.

Taiwanese media has previously reported that Taiwan could partner with Hawaii’s National Guard for the programme.

The exercise by China’s military came after US President Joe Biden angered China by appearing to signal a change in a US policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan by saying the United States would become involved

militarily if China were to attack the island. US officials said there had been no change in policy.

Tsai has been overseeing the mod-ernisation of Taiwan’s armed forces, including reforming its reserve forces to make them more combat capable.

Speaking later with Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang, Duckworth said she had brought with her the director of the US National Guard’s State Partnership Program “which will be working with you on setting up your all-out defence”.

She did not elaborate. The State Partnership Program pairs US National Guard units with other countries to help with training and interoperability.

Taiwan was, however, not included in the US’ Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, or IPEF, last week despite its lobbying efforts.

Washington is Taiwan’s most important international supporter and arms supplier.

Farmers who handle tobacco leaves all day consume the equivalent of ‘50 cigarettes worth of nicotine a day’.

C M Y K

07 | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 01, 2022

SportS | MEDlEY

BriEfiNg

Three Star’s Nakarmi joins Kidderpore Sporting ClubKathmandu: Three Star Club midfield-er Managya Nakarmi has joined Culcutta Premier Division club Kidderpore Sporting. Nakarmi has signed a deal for a season. “If you need pace then go for wingers and that’s the reason we hired Managya Nakarmi,” the club said in a state-ment on Tuesday. The ANFA Academy product had joined Nepal’s top-tier club Three Star in 2019, and made his debut in the Martyrs Memorial ‘A’ Division League football match against Saraswoti Youth Club the same year. “I am grateful to Kidderpore Sporting Club for giving me this opportunity,” said Nakarmi. “I hope I could learn a lot playing in the foreign league.” Although Culcutta Football League is expected to begin in July, no official fixtures have been unveiled yet. (SB)

Di Maria to retire from international footballBuEnOS aIRES: Argentina’s Angel Di Maria will retire from international football after this year’s World Cup in Qatar, the former Paris Saint Germain and Manchester United for-ward said on Monday. “After this World Cup it will be time, there are a lot of lads who are at international level, who are getting better and little by little they are going to show that they are at this standard,” Di Maria told reporters ahead of Argentina’s match against Italy on Wednesday at Wembley. Di Maria, 34, played 121 times for the national side and scored 24 goals. He scored the winner last July as Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 to win the Copa America. Di Maria will leave PSG this summer and he has yet to decide where he will play his club football next season. (REutERS)

Benzema named Champions League Player of the SeasonLOndOn: Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has been named the Champions League Player of the Season after a stellar 2021-22 cam-paign where he finished as top scorer, UEFA said on Tuesday. France international Benzema, 34, won the competition for the fifth time as Real beat Liverpool 1-0 in the final, having netted 15 goals in 12 games including hat-tricks against Paris St Germain and Chelsea in the knockout stages. Vinicius Junior was named the tournament’s Young Player of the Season. The duo were also named in the Team of the Season alongside Luka Modric and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Runners-up Liverpool were represented by defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson and midfielder Fabinho. PSG’s Kylian Mbappe, Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne completed the lineup. (REutERS)

YEStErDAY’S SolUtioN

CroSSWorD

HoroSCopE

SUDokU

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19) ****You may wake up feeling emotionally and energeti-cally depleted. Watch out for arguments with your significant other, which could fan the flames of any tension building up within your relationship today.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18) ***

Your mouth could get you into trouble this morning. Avoid posting anything negative online and try not to get sucked into gossip, or you could regret it later. Today’s skies makes it a great time to connect with your loved ones.

PISCES (February 19-March 20) ***Try not to let feelings of insecurity stand in your way. These vibes could be particularly problematic if your friends seem more judgmental or negative than usual. Creative inspiration will find you as the evening rolls in.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) ****You should wake up feeling refreshed and optimistic. Unfortunately, your motivation to take a hit today. You may need to force yourself to clock in for the day, especially if calling in could ruffle some feathers with your boss.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) ***

Take some time to tap into your gratitude and embrace. Your energy levels could take a hit. This cosmic climate could also bring out your snappy side, making it important to hold on to patience when dealing with people.

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

Your social life could feel overwhelming and poten-tially exhausting. Avoid getting sucked into drama that doesn’t concern you. Dedicate your evening to some serious self-care, indulging in your favorite foods and coziest PJs.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) ***The vibe at work could feel a little rocky today. Small problems could quickly snowball into bigger issues, making it important that you double-check your work and stay on task. Today, look for ways to prior-itize your needs

LEO (July 23-August 22) ***

You may become emotionally and energetically over-stimulated. This cosmic climate will elevate your intuition, making it important that you take a moment to ground, separating your own emotions from foreign ones.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22) ****The internet could be an overwhelming and trigger-ing place. But the cosmic vibes can take you away from these sometimes-toxic avenues of entertain-ment. Watch out for power struggles amongst your colleagues or friends.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22) ***Getting out of bed could be a challenge today. The day can help you shake off this funk, though you’ll need to open your heart, find grace, and tap into your gratitude. Your professional motivation and energy levels could take a hit.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) ***

You’ll feel open-hearted and at peace today. Unfortunately, this cosmic climate could push you to give too much of yourself to others, making it impor-tant that you protect your energy and focus on your own needs first.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21) ***Getting ready for work this morning could feel more disorganized or overwhelming. Don’t overthink your appearance and dress practically. Your ego could take a slight hit, but try not to let the embarrassment ruin your day.

Trevisan reaches first Grand Slam semis

Agence FrAnce-PressePARIS, MAy 31

Italy’s Martina Trevisan reached her first Grand Slam semi-final on Tuesday with a straight sets win over Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.

World number 59 Trevisan downed the 17th seeded Canadian, a fellow left-hander, 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3.

Trevisan was a shock quarter-final-ist at Roland Garros as a qualifier in 2020.

Despite her lowly ranking this year, she returned to the tournament with a maiden WTA title under her belt in Rabat and went into Tuesday’s tie on a nine-match winning streak. She made that 10 when she claimed victory on a second match point having wasted one in the second set.

“I was very nervous on that first match point, I thought I was already in the semi-final,” said Trevisan, the first Italian woman to make the last four since Sara Errani in 2013.

After being broken in the first game, US Open runner-up Fernandez needed lengthy treatment on a right foot inju-ry after the fifth game. At 5-4 in the second set, Trevisan was unable to convert a match point and Fernandez seized her lifeline by taking the tie-

break. The Italian went a double break up on her teenage opponent to lead 4-0 in the decider before securing victory on a second match point with a sweep-ing crosscourt forehand.

Swiatek extends winning streakWomen’s top seed Iga Swiatek took her winning streak to 32 matches after surviving a huge scare.

Swiatek survived a scare at the hands of injured Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen, dropping the first set before going on to make the quarter-fi-nals. Swiatek prevailed 6-7 (5/7), 6-0, 6-2 to equal the third best winning streak this century of 32 matches set by Justine Henin 14 years ago.

In an 82-minute opening set, 74th-ranked Zheng saved five set points, had two of her own and then clawed her way back from 2/5 down in the tiebreak to stun the top seed.

Zheng, who had defeated 2018 cham-pion Simona Halep on her way to the fourth round, returned with her right thigh heavily strapped and quickly dropped the second set.

Swiatek carved out a double break in the decider against her tiring oppo-nent, whose injury contributed to her 46 unforced errors, and will face US 11th seed Jessica Pegula for a place in

the semi-finals.Pegula downed Romania’s Irina-

Camelia Begu 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.Daria Kasatkina and compatriot

Veronika Kudermetova ensured there will be a Russian in the semi-finals after they set-up a last-eight clash. Kasatkina, seeded 20th, beat Italian Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-2.

Kudermetova reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final as the world number 29 came back from a set down to defeat 2018 semi-finalist Madison Keys of the United States, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Medvedev, Tsitsipas crash outWorld number two Daniil Medvedev and fourth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of the French Open in the fourth round.

US Open champion Medvedev was beaten by 20th seed Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in just 1hr 45 min on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Tsitsipas, the 2021 runner-up to Novak Djokovic, was defeated by Danish teenager Holger Rune 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 earlier in the day.

Cilic will face Russia’s Andrey Rublev in his third career Roland Garros quarter-final.

Medvedev had enjoyed his best run in Paris 12 months ago when he

reached the quarter-finals. He hadn’t dropped a set at this year’s tourna-ment but was completely outplayed by the 33-year-old Cilic who broke serve five times. Medvedev was unable to carve out a single break point as the Croatian got the better of the Russian for the first time in four meetings.

Rublev made the quarter-finals for the second time when Italian oppo-nent Jannik Sinner retired with a left knee injury with the Russian 1-6, 6-4, 2-0 ahead.

Rune became the first Danish man to reach the French Open quarter-fi-nals when he shocked Tsitsipas. Rune, just 19 and ranked 40, swept to a mem-orable win on the back of 54 winners.

With fellow 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz already into the quarter-fi-nals, it’s the first time two teenagers have made it this far in Paris since Hendrik Dreekman and Andrei Medvedev 28 years ago. In a tense fourth set, Rune gave up a 5-2 lead and fought off three more break points in the 10th game before securing victory when Tsitsipas hit long.

Rune will next face eighth-seeded Casper Ruud who became the first Norwegian man to reach the last eight with a 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.

The World number 59 becomes the first Italian woman to make the last four since Sara Errani in 2013.

Ap/Rss

Italy’s Martina Trevisan (pictured) plays a shot against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez during their French Open quarter-final match at the Roland Garros Stadium in Paris on Tuesday.

Boehly eyes Chelsea success after sealing takeoverAgence FrAnce-PresseLONDON, MAy 31

Chelsea’s new owner Todd Boehly promised to build on the team’s “remarkable history of success” after the American completed his takeover of the Premier League club on Monday.

Boehly’s consortium agreed a deal to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich for £4.25 billion ($5.3 bil-lion) on May 7 and the sale has now been officially rubber-stamped.

“We are honoured to become the new custodians of Chelsea Football Club. We’re all in, 100 percent, every minute of every match,” Boehly told Chelsea’s website.

Boehly’s takeover ends Abramovich’s 19-year reign as Chelsea owner after the Russian put the club up for sale in March. Abramovich was sanctioned by the British government for his alleged links to Russian President Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.

Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Boehly has set his sights on emulating Chelsea’s success during the Abramovich era, which included five Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns among 19 major trophies.

“Our vision as owners is clear: we want to make the fans proud,” Boehly said. “Along with our commitment to developing the youth squad and acquiring the best talent, our plan of action is to invest in the club for the long-term and build on Chelsea’s remarkable history of success.”

Chelsea had been operating under a special government licence which would have expired on May 31 if Boehly had been unable to seal the purchase. That would have put Chelsea’s future in doubt, but they are now able to look forward to next sea-son as the Boehly regime takes the keys to Stamford Bridge.

Boehly’s arrival in west London will turn the page on Chelsea’s remarkable transformation from underachievers to serial winners under Abramovich.

Crucially, the takeover completion should give Blues boss Thomas Tuchel the financial support to mount a chal-lenge to Premier League champions Manchester City.

Chelsea finished third in the Premier League this term.

Tuchel’s side also reached the FA Cup and League Cup finals—losing both matches to Liverpool on penal-ties—and won the Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.

Chelsea were unable to sign players or offer contracts to existing stars because of the sanctions on Abramovich. They are set to lose Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid on a free transfer, while Andreas Christensen is set to join Barcelona when his contract expires in the close-season.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 01, 2022 | 08

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