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

Vol XXIX No. 338 | 8 pages | Rs.5Friday, January 28, 2022 | 14-10-2078

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POST PHOTO: EliTE JOSHi

A newly-wed couple poses for a photographer at a temple at Bhaktapur Durbar Square on Thursday.

InsIde

BINOD GHIMIRE KATHMANDU, JAN 27

The Nepali Congress has scheduled a Central Working Committee meeting on Friday to constitute what it calls “central work execution committee” which leaders say will discuss various contemporary issues, including the local election, one of the most hotly debated issues over the past few days.

Congress President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba decided to call the meeting after pressure to constitute such a committee, insiders say. Party General Secretary Gagan Thapa said formation of the work exe-cution committee was necessary as holding in-person meetings of Central Working Committee (CWC) is not pos-sible due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Friday’s virtual meeting will con-stitute the central work execution committee as envisioned by the party statute. As it is smaller than the CWC, we can hold even in-person meetings,” Thapa told the Post. “The central work exe-cution committee’s meeting will be called in a couple of days to discuss the burning issues, main-ly the local election date.”

After Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal proposed holding parliamentary elections

in April-May by delaying local polls, confusion has arisen if that is indeed possible, constitutionally and legally.

While the ruling alliance has been mulling over Dahal’s proposal—the government is even considering amending at least two laws—one relat-ed to local election and another about the functioning of local govern-ments—to make them compatible with the constitution—the Nepali Congress has not discussed the issue within the party yet.

Experts and observers as well as some leaders, including those from the Congress, told the Post earlier this week that critical issues like elections must be discussed within the legiti-mate party committees before letting any political committee decide on such issues. They were referring to the high-level political coordination committee, a mechanism formed by the five-party ruling alliance to “assist the government”, which does not have any legal or constitutional standing.

Congress insiders say pressure was building on the leadership to discuss the local election issue.

The 154-member Congress CWC has 134 members at present. The central work execution committee, or CWEC, has 31 members picked by the party president from among the CWC mem-bers in addition to 14 office bearers. >> Continued on page 2

TIKA R PRADHAN & ARJUN POUDEL KATHMANDU, JAN 27

CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli is known as a Covid denier. His public statements during his last tenure as prime minister had met with criti-cism, for he often said the coronavirus could be driven away by sneezing or drinking turmeric water or gargling with an infusion of guava leaves.

But he caught the coronavirus. His PCR test conducted on Saturday returned a positive result, his private secretariat said on Sunday. Given his compromised immunity—he under-went a second kidney transplant in March 2020—he was, according to doc-tors, at a greater risk.

Oli, however, seems to be doing well. At least the images that have made it to the public domain say so.

On Wednesday, five days after he tested positive for Covid-19, he attend-ed a public function—he was in the midst of more than a dozen people.

And he clearly broke the govern-ment-prescribed Covid-19 protocols.

In a video posted on the YouTube channel of news website candanepal.com, Oli appears to be suggesting the need to maintain physical distance. But his followers, standing too close to him, say “we won’t get affected when ‘baa’ is there.”

“Baa”, which translates into father in Nepali, is the term Oli’s followers use to address him purportedly to express their affection for him.

Oli was apparently attending a func-tion organised by the National Youth Association–the youth wing of the CPN-UML–at Balkot on Wednesday.

Members of his private secretariat, however, said the UML chair has not attended any public function.

“He is in isolation at his residence and has not attended any function,” said Ram Sharan Bajgain, one of Oli’s aides. “There could be some low key function at his residence.”

According to Bajgain, Oli may go for a Covid-19 test on Friday, “even though that is not necessary after seven days.”

Amid the spread of Omicron, the highly contagious variant of the coro-navirus, there are different prescrip-tions for isolation. Some say five days of isolation is enough while others say the infected should isolate themselves at least for seven days.

Wednesday was the fifth day since Oli tested positive for the virus.

At Wednesday’s function, Kiran Poudel, chair of the National Youth Association, even said that the entire [UML] party believes the coronavirus cannot affect Oli.

“None of us believe that coronavi-rus can affect or weaken our chair-man, who defeated all national and international attacks,” Poudel said at the inaugural session of the blood donation function.

Poudel on Thursday said that Oli was not invited to the function and that he was just giving instructions to party cadres. But later on, some youths gathered together to take pho-tos with the party chairman.

“He was not invited to the function. He came only to instruct party cadres to maintain distance,” Poudel told the Post. “But youths gathered around Oli to take pictures. It was just a brief moment.”

The government protocol, however, does not say for how long or how brief-ly a virus-infected person could min-gle with people.

In the wake of coronavirus infec-tions, authorities have enforced a slew of measures, including a ban on gath-ering of more than 20 people, a reduc-tion from 25, and public and political functions that can attract crowds.

The order is in place in Bhaktapur, where Oli’s residence is and where he participated in the function on Wednesday, as well.

>> Continued on page 2

Nepali Congress is forming committee to discuss local level election and its date

Oli’s couldn’t-care-less attitude about the coronavirus continues

Ruling party is finally taking up the matter for discussion as it has become a hotly debated national political issue.

A Covid denier while he was prime minister, the UML chair attends a public function when he is supposed to isolate.

RSS

KP Sharma Oli is seen visiting an event in his Bhaktapur locality on Wednesday.

Two new birds sighted in Shuklaphanta as wetlands teem with migratory speciesKANCHANPUR: Shuklaphanta National Park, a protected area in the Tarai of Sudurpaschim Province, is teeming with birds. Greater scaup, locally called Kalo Tauke Hansa, a rare bird found in Nepal, has joined the latest list of rare aquatic birds in the park. A bird count conducted in the nation-al park in the first week of January has reported the first sighting of these rare birds in the park. According to Devraj Joshi, a techni-cian with Shuklaphanta Conservation Programme of the National Trust for Nature Conservation, some Greater scaup birds were found in Shikarital area of the Shuklaphanta National Park during the bird count. “We could not ascertain their number but there were around 10 Greater scaups,” said Joshi, who’s been invol-ved in the bird count. (Details on Pg 2)

Nepal likely to get 6.2 million Pfizer doses from COVAXKATHMANDU: Nepal is most likely to get 6.2 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine from the COVAX facility very soon, a highly placed source at the Ministry of Health and Population said. Officials said talks are in an advanced stage and COVAX, the United Nations-backed international vaccine-sharing scheme, itself has proposed to supply the doses to Nepal. “It has been almost certain that 6.2 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will arrive in Nepal very soon,” an official at the Health Ministry said, asking not to be named, as he is not authorised to speak to the media. “Talks are in an advanced stage, and I think they will conclude in the next couple of days.” Earlier, Nepal had received 100,620 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in October and 664,560 doses in December, from the facility. For a longer-term storage, the vaccine has to be kept at around minus 80 degrees Celsius, and can be stored in normal temperatures (2 to 8 degree Celsius) for up to 31 days. (Details on Pg 3)

WHO staff complaint, email allege abuse in AsiaLONDON: Staffers have accused the top director of the World Health Organisation in the Western Pacific of racist, unethical and abusive behaviour that has undermined the UN health agency’s efforts to curb the coronavirus pandemic. The allega-tions were laid out in an internal complaint filed in October and in an email last week sent by unidentified staff to WHO’s senior leadership and its executive board and obtained by the AP. Two of the authors said more than 30 current and former WHO offi-cials were involved in writing the email. The internal complaint and email describe a “toxic atmosphere” with “a culture of systemic bullying and public ridiculing” at WHO’s Western Pacific headquarters in Manila, led by Dr Takeshi Kasai, director of a vast region that includes China and Japan. (Details on Pg 6)

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>> Continued from page 1While Deuba appears to be

convinced with Dahal’s proposal to delay local election, many leaders in Congress, including Thapa, believe that the election should be held on the date(s) proposed by the Election Commission.

The Election Commission has pro-posed local polls to elect representa-tives for 753 local units on April 27. It has said election can be held on April 27 and May 5 if the government wish-es to hold them in two phases.

Amid the exercise to delay the local polls, there, however, are strong voices within Congress to stick to the com-mission’s proposal.

“I strongly stand for local election in April-May,” Jeevan Pariyar, the par-ty’s deputy general secretary, told the Post. “I am going to demand that the party leadership abide by the Election Commission’s proposal.”

Besides the Maoist Centre, the CPN (Unified Socialist) is also arguing that local polls should be delayed and federal elections should be held in April-May.

The main opposition CPN-UML has already opposed the idea of postpon-ing local election, saying such a move would be against the rule of law.

In the Congress party, some leaders close to Deuba too have been demand-ing that local election should be held on the commission-proposed date(s).

“I am for holding local election in Baisakh (April-May). To my knowl-edge, even the prime minister wants the same. However, he is under pres-sure from the coalition partners,” Ramesh Lekhak, a Congress CWC member who is considered close to Deuba, told the Post.

He said that there is a strong view within the party that there must be an understanding in the party committee on issues like elections.

Constitutional experts say that the Congress, as a democratic party, must reject the idea of postponing the local election. It is unfortunate that the five-party alliance, which the leaders claim was formed to safeguard the constitution, is bent on breaching the constitution, according to the experts.

Dinesh Tripathi, chairperson of the Constitutional Lawyers Forum, said the constitution clearly says the terms of the local representatives will be for five years.

“Various constitutional provisions and laws should be seen in isolation. There is a need to understand the spir-it. The six-month provision in Article 225 of the constitution is for emergen-

cy situations [should they arise],” Tripathi told the Post. “There is still time to announce the poll date. Congress should take a mature deci-sion so that it won’t be blamed for undermining the constitution.”

Article 225 of the constitution says the term of “a village assembly and municipal assembly shall be for five years from the date of elections.”

Another village and municipal assembly should be elected no later than six months of the expiry of such a term, it adds.

Article 215, however, says the terms of chairperson, vice-chairperson, ward chairperson and members would be for five years from the date of being elected.

Many are now saying there is a need to differentiate between assemblies (village and municipal) and elected local representatives. As per the con-stitutional provisions, once local rep-resentatives are elected, they ulti-mately form the village and municipal assemblies.

Experts say Deuba and his party are under pressure not to delay the local election.

“It’s not easy for the Deuba govern-ment to postpone the local election as the voice against the idea is growing louder,” Bipin Adhikari, a professor and a former dean of Kathmandu University School of Law, told the Post. “The government must not get swayed away by pressure from the Maoist Centre and the CPN (Unified Socialist).”

Amid the raging debate over elec-tions, President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Thursday suggested that the gov-ernment hold the polls on time.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Deuba, Bhandari inquired about the government’s position on holding the local election.

“The President called for timely elec-tions as per the spirit of constitution,” Bhesh Raj Adhikari, the President’s personal principal secretary, told the Post. “The prime minister said he will take a decision after holding discus-sions among the parties.”

Nepali Congress is forming committee to discuss local level ...

Two new birds sighted in Shuklaphanta as wetlands teem with migratory speciesGreater scaup, a rare bird found in Nepal, has joined the latest list of rare aquatic birds in the park. Indian spot-billed duck, locally called Nadon Hansa, has also been spotted.

BHAWANI BHATTAKANCHANPUR, JAN 27

The Shuklaphanta National Park, a protected area in the Tarai of Sudurpaschim Province, is teeming with birds.

Greater scaup, locally called Kalo Tauke Hans, a rare bird found in Nepal, has joined the latest list of rare aquatic birds in the park.

A bird count conducted in the national park in the first week of January has reported the first sight-ing of these rare birds in the park. According to Devraj Joshi, a techni-cian with the Shuklaphanta Conservation Programme of the National Trust for Nature Conservation, some Greater scaup birds were found in Shikarital area of the Shuklaphanta National Park dur-ing the bird count.

“We could not ascertain their exact number but there were around 10 Greater scaups,” said Joshi, who has been actively involved in the bird count. “Never before has this bird spe-

cies been seen in the park,” he said.Similarly, Indian spot-billed duck,

locally called Nadon Hans, has also been spotted in Shuklaphanta area of Kanchanpur district after 13 years. The bird species was last seen in the park during the bird count of 2009. Joshi said they sighted two Indian spot-billed ducks in the area during the recent count.

According to bird conservationists, the thriving bird population in Shuklaphanta is a step forward in bird conservation efforts. Compared to last year, winter migratory bird numbers have increased by 50 percent in the park area this year.

A total of 6,478 water birds of 62 different species were recorded dur-ing the week-long bird count conduct-ed through the head tracking method. “Around 4,000 aquatic birds of 60 spe-cies were reported in the Shuklaphanta area last year. The number of birds has increased in the area with two new species this year,” said Joshi.

The bird count was conducted in the national park and around a dozen

wetlands and rivers in and around the protected area. Conservationists counted birds in nine lakes including Shikarital, Babatal, Ranital, Kalikichtal, Bathaniyatal, and Baunne river within the national park. Similarly, the bird count was carried out in Purainital and Bandatal wet-lands and in Beldadi farmland outside the park. According to the Shuklaphanta National Park, the highest number of aquatic birds were found in Kalikichtal inside the nation-al park.

Red-crested pochard, locally called Sunjure Hans, was found in highest numbers. A total of 1,124 such birds were found in the Shuklaphanta area.

The aquatic bird count was jointly conducted by the national park office, the National Trust for Nature Conservation, Zoological Society of London, Himali Prakriti, Bird Conservation Nepal, and Shuklaphanta Nature Guide Association among other conserva-tion organisations. Several groups with 15 people each were formed and deployed in the wetlands area where they spent three hours a day identify-ing and counting birds.

“The teams used cameras, binocu-lars and telescopes to conduct the count,” said Joshi.

According to bird conservationists, migratory birds begin descending to the Shuklaphanta area from October from colder climes and stay on till March.

Although the increase in the number of aquatic birds in the park this year is a good sign, there are still several chal-lenges to overcome in the conservation of birds in the Shuklaphanta area. “There have been instances when mis-creants have poisoned the birds to kill them for meat. Some birds were found dead in the Mahakali river last year. Some critically ill poisoned vultures were also rescued from the area last year,” said Laxmiraj Joshi, chief at Shuklaphanta Conservation Programme of the National Trust for Nature Conservation.

He underscored the importance of regular bird counts to identify chal-lenges in bird conservation and to take preventive measures against threats.

post photo: ElitE Joshi

A woman washes Jhingati tiles, which are to be reused for roofing, in Bhaktapur on Thursday.

photo courtEsy: NatioNal trust for NaturE coNsErvatioN

Indian spot-billed duck, locally called Nadon Hans, pictured at Ranital in the national park.

>> Continued from page 1The function Oli attended had doz-

ens of people.“Every citizen should be aware of

their health,” said Rudra Devi Sharma, chief district officer of Bhaktapur. “I came to know about the function only today. What can we say? Our duty is to warn people and urge them to take precautions.”

Public health experts say that Oli’s participation in a public function just five days after testing positive for the coronavirus is but negligence and vio-lation of the protocol set by the gov-ernment.

“Though the isolation period for the infected have been reduced to seven days by some countries, taking part in public functions just in five days can-not be justified,” Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit at Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, told the Post. “What would ordinary people and his party workers think about the virus infection? They might think that if the virus does not transmit from leaders, it will also not spread from the general public.”

According to experts, people in power should exhibit more responsi-bility and lead by example. If they flout health protocols amid the pan-demic, members of the public would not care much, they say.

Oli in the past has downplayed the virus not once but several times.

He even faced widespread criticism during the second wave of the pan-demic for saying in an interview with CNN that “the virus situation is under control.” It was during the time when hospitals were turning patients away for the lack of oxygen, ventilators and beds and the death rate had gone up.

When people were contracting the virus, Oli was using Parliament or other platforms to undermine the virus threat, even peddling misinfor-mation. In his address to the nation on May 25, 2020, Oli said Nepalis would beat the virus because of their “strong willpower and immunity.”

Oli’ statement came just a month after Tedros Adhanom, director-gen-eral of the World Health Organisation, said that Covid-19 was 10 times deadli-er than the 2009 Swine Flu pandemic. “We can’t treat Covid-19 exactly the same way as we treat the flu because the coronavirus which causes Covid-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity,” Tedros had said.

On June 10, 2020, while responding to lawmakers’ queries on the new budget, Oli spent a significant amount of time talking about the coronavirus and the “immunity” of Nepalis.

When opposition lawmaker Gagan Thapa sought scientific evidence behind his claims, Oli openly ridi-culed him.

“Who said Nepalis have strong immunity?” questioned Thapa, to which Oli said: “I just said a while ago;

did not you hear?” and his party mem-bers burst into laughter.

A little over a week later, Oli lec-tured National Assembly members on the virus.

“Corona is like the flu,” Oli said. “If contracted, one should sneeze, drink hot water and drive the virus away.”

He spoke at length about the bene-fits of turmeric, ginger and garlic and how their consumption would keep Covid at bay.

Oli once even downplayed the num-ber of deaths, saying there was a com-pulsion to attribute the deaths to Covid because of the World Health Organisation protocol.

“Ideally it is expected that leaders of major political parties should be role models to the public,” said Pun. “What would people do, when the lead-ers themselves do not follow the rules?”

Doctors say that Oli was never seri-ous about the virus during his tenure as prime minister. Nor does he seem to have taken the risk seriously even now, according to them.

“If ordinary people violate the rules enforced by the authorities, they are punished,” said Dr Baburam Marasini, former director at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division.

“Oli will be exempted, as he is a powerful person. Rules and regula-tions are only for the poor. But the virus does not distinguish between rich or poor, or powerful or weak.”

Oli’s couldn’t-care-less attitude about ...

Some key leaders including Deuba aides are for timely local election.

One worker missing, another injured in hydel project siteSOLUKHUMBU: A worker has gone missing while another sustained inju-ries in an accident inside the tunnel of the 86 megawatt Solu Khola (Dudh Koshi) Hydroelectric Project in Solukhumbu. The accident occurred at around 3:45am on Thursday when the extension of an excavator carry-ing a pipe snapped inside the tunnel at the project construction site in Panchan. The workers in the carry-ing bucket of the excavator fell into the tunnel. The missing worker has been identified as Rakesh Chaudhary, 24, of Kolhabi Municipality-1 of Bara. According to police, a joint team of Nepal Army and Nepal Police has been mobilised for his search and res-cue. The injured Angat Rai Tharu, 20, of Paterwa Sugauli Rural Municipality-4, Parsa is receiving treatment at Mission Hospital in Okhaldhunga, according to Deputy Superintendent Kabit Katwal of District Police Office, Solukhumbu.

Riverbed materials extraction banned in LudikholaghatGORKHA: Bowing to pressure from the local residents, Gorkha Municipality has imposed a ban on riverbed extrac-tion from the Daraudi river in Ludikholaghat. The area is used as a cremation ground by the local popula-tion. “The municipality immediately stopped the excavation of sand and other riverbed materials at Ludikholaghat after we were informed that it is a cremation ground for the locals,” said Kapil Koirala, sub-engineer at the municipality.

Case filed against Minister Renu Yadav KATHMANDU: After a long hue and cry over the statement of Minister Renu Kumari Yadav, Nepali Congress lead-er Ranjeet Karna has filed a case against her at the District Police Office Rautahat claiming that her statement could incite communal conflict. While addressing a function at Gaur of Rautahat district, Minister for Physical Planning and Transportation Yadav had made a controversial speech warning the CK Raut-led Janamat Party not to try competing with her party. She had warned that the incident that hap-pened at the rice mill of Gaur could be repeated. Some 17 years ago at the rice mill in Gaur, dozens of Maoist cadres were killed by the mob of which most of the members were from the party led by Upendra Yadav’s Madhesi Janadhikar Forum.

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ANUP OJHAKATHMANDU, JAN 27

Nepal’s Bardiya National Park and India’s Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve have jointly won this year’s TX2 Award Tuesday for doubling their tiger populations since 2010.

TX2, which is one of the most ambi-tious conservation goals ever set for a single species and the second Global Tiger Summit in Russia’s Vladivostok in September 2022, offers the opportu-nity to set a new vision to secure the animal’s future.

The Bardiya National Park in Nepal is the largest national park in the low-land Tarai that covers an area of 968 sq km and is a home to the endangered Royal Bengal tiger. The park has also

earned accolades for posting an impressive growth in tiger population by almost five-fold from less than 20 tigers in 2009 to 87 in 2018, when a nationwide tiger census was con-ducted.

Park authorities say the number of tigers in the park has increased because of suitable natural habitats, availability of prey and improved security situations.

Bed Kumar Dhakal, information officer at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation said the award is a huge recognition of Nepal’s conservation efforts. “This global award has made us more responsible in conserving the tiger and its habitats,” said Dhakal.

Earlier, the park was awarded under the best Sustainable Destination in the “Asia-Pacific” category of the

Sustainable Top 100 Destination Award-2019.

“But we also need to work effective-ly to end human-tiger conflict in the area,” said Dhakal.

According to the park’s records, in the fiscal year 2021-22 (2077-78 BS) 12 people were killed in the park area. Bishnu Prasad Shrestha, warden of the park, said of the total death seven were outside the buffer zone.

Meanwhile, in four years up to the fiscal year 2019-20, six people were killed and 12 others were injured in tiger attacks in Bardiya.

“The TX2 Award is a global recogni-tion of our combined efforts and an outcome of our team work by park staff, Nepal Army, local community and all the stakeholders,” said warden

Shrestha on the phone. “The park has made a five-year

action plan to reduce human-tiger conflict, and now we are more focused on resolving the conflict although it’s a challenging one,” he added.

The latest tiger census report released in 2018 put the number of big cats in the country at 235, which is nearly double of the recorded 121 tigers in 2009.

However, in recent times a new trend of tigers being sighted in high hills in the northern Nepal has sur-prised many wildlife experts. It is learnt that improved green cover, less disturbance in the uplands compared to the Tarai, habitat loss and decline in prey have been attributed for the new phenomenon.

As per its commitment to the Global Tiger Recovery Plan (TX2), which was

endorsed by 13 countries that are home to wild tigers, during the 2010 St Petersburg Declaration on Tiger Conservation, Nepal has been work-ing to double its tiger population to 250 or more by 2022 from its base tiger population of around 125 in 2010.

The awards are presented by the Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CATS), Fauna and Flora International (FFI), Global Tiger Forum (GTF), IUCN’s Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme (ITHCP), Panthera, UNDP, The Lion’s Share, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and WWF.

And that acknowledges the efforts by the state government and the local communities for playing their vital role to preserve tiger reserves into one of the source populations of tigers in Nepal and India.

In recent times, the BNP has become a tourist hotspot courtesy of the Royal Bengal tigers.

The co-winner of the TX2 Award, India’s Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve is located in Tamil Nadu state. Sathyamangalam was designated a Tiger Reserve in 2013, was home to only 25 tigers in 2011 but today there are an estimated 80 individuals in the area.

Meanwhile, the associated second award for Tiger Conservation Excellence is to be presented to the incredible transboundary Khata cor-ridor where community based conser-vation efforts, including a network of 74 community forests covering 202 sq km, have secured safe passage for tigers between Bardiya National Park in Nepal and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in India, according to a statement by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Over the last five years, 46 individu-al tigers have been detected using the corridor with other iconic and threat-ened mammal species, including the Asian elephant and the greater one-horned rhino.

The WWF statement said the awards celebrate the upcoming launch of the 2022 Lunar Year of the Tiger.

In September tiger range countries will convene at the second Global Tiger Summit in Vladivostok, Russia, to assess progress towards the ambi-tious TX2 goal, that is to double the number of tigers in the wild—and to identify tiger conservation priorities for the next 12 years.

Nepal likely to get 6.2 million Pfizer doses from COVAXSources say talks are in advanced stage and officials are mulling over administering the vaccine as second dose and booster.ARJUN POUDELKATHMANDU, JAN 27

Nepal is most likely to get 6.2 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine from the COVAX facility very soon, a highly placed source at the Ministry of Health and Population said.

Officials said talks are in an advanced stage and COVAX, the United Nations-backed international vaccine-sharing scheme, itself has proposed to supply the doses to Nepal.

“It has been almost certain that 6.2 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vac-cine will arrive in Nepal very soon,” an official at the Health Ministry said, asking not to be named, as he is not authorised to speak to the media. “Talks are in an advanced stage, and I think they will conclude in the next couple of days.”

Earlier, Nepal had received 100,620 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in October and 664,560 doses in December, from the facility.

For a longer-term storage, the vac-cine has to be kept at around minus 80 degrees Celsius, and can be stored in normal temperatures (2 to 8 degree Celsius) for up to 31 days.

The Health Ministry has decided to provide the jabs from 22 hospitals throughout the country to people with compromised immunity—those suffering from renal failure, cancer and heart patients and those having diabetes.

Later, the vaccine was also adminis-tered to children between 12 and 17 years in 20 districts including three Valley districts of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur.

Pfizer-BioNtech is an mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine developed jointly by the US-based Pfizer and the German firm Biontech. It uses a copy of a mol-ecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to produce an immune response.

It is said that the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine was 95 percent effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed infection with the coronavirus.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was also highly effective at preventing labora-tory-confirmed Covid-19 infection in

adolescents between 12 and 15 years old, and the immune response in these adolescents was at least as strong as the immune response in 16 to 25-year-olds in clinical trials.

“Evidence shows mRNA Covid-19 vaccines offer similar protection in real-world conditions as they have in clinical trial settings—reducing the risk of Covid-19, including severe illness by 90 percent or more, among people who are fully vaccinated,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its website.

Officials at the Department of Health Services said that they are seeking permission to administer the Pfizer vaccine as a second dose and booster shots, as the country lacks sufficient Vero Cell doses to adminis-ter the second dose and booster shots to those above 60 years of age.

“We will request the National Immunisation Advisory Committee for permission to use Pfizer vaccine as second dose and booster shots,” Dr Bibek Kumar Lal, director at the Family Welfare Division, told the Post. “Studies have shown that mix and match of the Covid-19 vaccine will increase the immunity level.”

A meeting of the committee will be convened soon, to discuss mixing and matching Covid vaccines, officials said.

Scientists around the world have been discussing vaccine cocktails and trying to figure out the best mix for better protection against the coro-navirus.

Administering a different Covid-19

vaccine after a single dose of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vac-cine is safe and effective and could boost the immune response, a study of 1,000 volunteers has found, according to a report published on December 7 in the British Medical Journal.

The results, reported in the Lancet, another British journal, showed that having a dose of the Moderna vaccine after an initial AstraZeneca or Pfizer dose induced a higher binding and neutralising antibody response than seen after two doses of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer.

Studies have shown that people who receive two different Covid-19 vac-cines generate potent immune responses, with side effects no worse than those caused by standard regi-mens, according to a report published in the science journal Nature in October.

But now, for the first time, research-ers have shown that such ‘mix and match’ regimens are highly effective at preventing Covid-19—roughly matching or even exceeding the per-formance of mRNA vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

“We will not be needing Vero Cell for second dose and boosters if we are permitted to use other vaccines as second dose and boosters,” said Dr Surendra Chaurasia, chief of the Logistic Management Section of the Department of Health Services. ‘We are seeking such approval.”

Nepal needs to vaccinate around 26 million of the little over 29 million people, as around three million are children under five years of age. Authorities had decided to inoculate children between five and 11 years but no deal has been reached so far to pur-chase vaccines for them.

So far, 13,734,390 people—or45.2 per-cent of the total population—have been fully vaccinated against Covid. The Health Ministry said 282,724 peo-ple have taken booster shots as of Thursday.

On Thursday, 8,017 people tested positive—5,816 in 15,736 polymerase chain reaction tests and 2,201 in 6,072 antigen tests.

In the last 24 hours, 15 people died from Covid-19. Active cases stand at 90,576 as of Thursday.

Post file Photo

Bardiya Park won the best Sustainable Destination award in ‘Asia-Pacific’ category in 2019.

Post Photo: hemanta shrestha

Vendors go round selling plastic pots in Patan, Lalitpur.

Post Photo

Nepal has received Pfizer doses twice so far.

Bardiya National Park wins TX2 Award for tiger conservationThe latest tiger census report released in 2018 put the number of big cats in the country at 235, which is nearly double of the 121 tigers recorded in 2009.

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022 | 04

OpINION

The biography of a nation is deter-mined by a number of factors; most important of them is geographical location. And security relating to exter-nal threats is partly addressed by the location of the country and partly by its reliance on a well-crafted foreign policy supported by adept diplomacy. The geographical location of the United States, for example, is itself a guarantee of its national security as it is physically far away from the hub of external manipulation and conflicts. Separated by the Pacific and the Atlantic, the US and Canada along with some other peripheral countries are to some extent protected from external invasions and occasional incursions unlike their European counterparts including Russia.

Today, the much-hyped activities being displayed by the Western powers against the perceived Russian threat against Ukraine constitutes an offen-sive defence strategy in order to restrain Russia. Russia finds itself sur-rounded by hostile powers including Ukraine and some other smaller repub-lics of Eastern Europe and the Baltic region, so it is determined to counter any such move that might be used in endangering its security. Geography has now given rise to active geo-politics bringing other big powers closer to the Russian border. All wars, big or small, have been fought in the European thea-tre as ambitious countries are physical-ly integral to each other.

Similar situationComing to South Asia, a similar situa-tion exists as all South Asian states constitute a single physical entity despite being separate politically. Among these countries, Nepal and Bhutan are situated between the two biggest countries in Asia who are rival powers, though the two countries have never gone to war since the invasion of Chengiz Khan. With the coming of communist China, particularly with the annexation of Tibet by China, bor-der conflicts have occasionally engulfed these two countries.

In 1962, they experienced a fleeting war that was terminated unilaterally by China. Nevertheless, with a surging ambition to become a world power, and the psychology of being hegemonic in Asia, the scope of conflict has increased in recent times. Other regional powers

opposed to China’s rise, particularly its assertive postures for settling territori-al disputes, are driven to enter into alliance politics against China. India, the original initiator of non-alignment, is now closer to the West showing a departure from its past policies and strategies.

The rise of China and its overall impacts on the Asia-Pacific region have made many countries jittery, thus prompting them to find alternative for-eign and security solutions. S Jaishankar, whose entire career is shaped by his understanding, theoris-ing and practicing the foreign policy of India, has well articulated the changed Indian foreign policy in his book The India Way in which he suggests making a departure from the conventional way of making and executing foreign policy.

Now countries like Nepal face a new context, time and situation in their neighbourhood and the world. Sandwiched between the two competi-tive powers with the mission of domi-nance, how can Nepal calibrate its for-eign policy using geographical location as an opportunity? Can India change its conventional approach to its Nepal policy by entering into a new amicable and practicable relationship?

Today’s Nepal-India relations can be characterised by two theoretical and practical aspects—de jure and de facto. The de jure relationship is confined to treaty provisions that encompass secu-rity, economic and people-to-people relations. India thinks that the 1950 treaty is still relevant, taking into con-sideration perennial interdependence, despite some resentful but ambiguous voices calling for updating the treaty.

Yet, observing the practices of bilat-

eral relationship, the security aspects of the treaty and the letters exchanged with it have eroded with both sides not sticking to it. Political, security and economic interactions with China in particular has reduced the treaty to the de jure level as Nepal cannot join India to invoke the treaty in case China and India, though hypothetically, go to war. Nor can China replace India even if India and Nepal decide to change the framework of their relationship. The overall dominance of India would con-tinue in a de facto sense as nothing has changed but perceptions.

If continuing trends are any guide, Nepal’s imperative is only to use geog-raphy as an opportunity by devoting all its efforts to accelerate development without annoying either of the two neighbours. For, using the same old strategy of politicising relations or making opportunistic tilts to score political advantage would no longer work. Time demands prudence, realis-tic analysis, and sincerity rather than policy brinkmanship.

Recent trade figures and people trek-king to India for job opportunities are on the rise as Nepal is increasingly becoming incapable of absorbing its own people within the country. Governments that come and go very often have no short-term and long-term policies to execute in order to reduce the gap. It is still valid what an American political scientist Myron Weiner wrote in 1971 in which he described India as a “safety-valve” for Nepal.

Dependency syndromeUnless Nepali rulers do not change their thinking drastically to prioritise

greater employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled manpower within the country, and also create a rapid delivery system for poor people during natural calamities, conflicts and other conditions that drive Nepalis to India, the dependency syndrome will be a permanent phenomenon. The poli-ticians’ high-flown idea and slogans or their tendency to curse India for all ailments for underdevelopment will not reduce the stark problems faced by the people. What would happen if India unilaterally withdraws from the treaty relationship but decides to fol-low Most Favoured Nations regime as it has with other countries ending all special arrangements made by the two countries?

Will India remain indifferent to any third country activities which India thinks are prejudicial to its national security? Or hypothetically, can China come down south of the Himalaya to the extent of provoking India and other powers to make moves against China? Such a possibility is remote as China knows full well its own limitations and risks in case it takes such a course. It will be both practically untenable and unwise because such a suicidal course would drive its adversaries to wage war against China. Nevertheless, the man-ner in which Xi Jinping’s China seems to spread its wings in all directions and the response to it may create a danger-ous situation in the region. Nepal’s geo-politics has both opportunities and risks depending on the capability of our leaders.

Baral is a professor of political science and former ambassador of Nepal to India.

Africa’s health systems suffer from serious inefficiencies. Countries across the continent struggle with dis-ruptions in medical equipment and drug supply chains, last-mile health-services delivery, medical data analysis and storage, and financing. But innovations in telemedicine, drones, big data analytics, wearables, and information management have brought the possibility of effec-tive, affordable solutions into view, promising to improve overall health outcomes.

In recent years, African health tech has recorded impressive growth. More than 40 health-tech start-ups on the continent received series A funding in 2020 alone. Recently launched firms cover a range of health-related fields, including genetic sequencing, drug procure-ment, and health literacy. The growth opportunities are enormous. But for health-tech companies to thrive, entre-preneurs must study past successes and failures to determine what works and what does not in the African context.

Wisepill, established in 2007, is one of African health tech’s earliest success stories. The South African company developed a storage contain-er that alerts users via their mobile device when they forget to take their medication. It also notifies doc-tors or researchers when a pill is taken. Multiple studies in South Africa and Uganda showed that Wisepill improved rates of adherence

to medication regimens to more than 90 percent.

Wisepill succeeded because it stayed focused on the problem it wanted to solve. The story of Meditell, a Nigerian health-tech start-up that also hoped to improve medication compliance, is a more cautionary tale. Meditell’s founders developed software that would send text messages from hospi-tals to patients to remind them to take their medicine. To attract interest in

the product, the founders engaged in complex negotiations with insurance systems and pharmaceutical compa-nies. As Meditell tried to modify its product to meet demands from these potential clients, it moved further away from its initial goal and ulti-mately failed.

But it is possible for African health-tech firms to scale up if they start small, grow slowly, and respond to the clients they have. District Health

Information Software (DHIS), which manages health data, began recording patient information on its platform in three small districts in South Africa. As interest in the platform grew, DHIS programmers worked to expand its features and improve its usability in different contexts. Today, the platform has been adopted in 73 countries.

African health-tech entrepreneurs have demonstrated an impressive tal-ent for making the most of the

resources available to them. Internet connectivity was not widespread in the mid-2000s, when the founders of Frontline SMS wanted to improve communication between community health workers and hospital staff. Adapting to infrastructure con-straints, they developed a programme to pass information via simple text-message technology, which also could be used to send images of blood samples taken with a basic camera

phone, thereby allowing patients to be diagnosed without going to a clinic.

Less than a generation later, those constraints on African health-tech firms are rapidly disappearing. Today, Africa has one of the world’s fast-est-growing mobile and internet-pene-tration rates. And the response to Covid-19 has spurred innovation—and investment—in the sector. Health tech in Africa attracted more funding in 2020 than ever before.

African health-tech start-ups can grow quickly because the continent’s health-care systems often face similar challenges. A project that is successful in one country can easily be replicated in many more. For example, the tele-health pioneer mPharma, founded in Ghana, recently received funding to set up 100 virtual clinics in seven new markets.

To encourage this kind of innova-tion and growth, African governments must develop and sustain policies that encourage health-tech innovation. Above all, that means providing devel-opers with the clear rules and stable operating environment they need to attract “patient” capital. And health ministries should use their platforms to amplify the work that is being done.

For their part, start-up founders must identify gaps and shortcomings that can be solved with new technolo-gies. And to attract users and the support of governments, African health-tech firms inevitably must focus on solutions that make health tech accessible and affordable, and continually work to improve the bene-fits to users.

The future of health care in Africa depends on innovation. The adoption of new technology can create opportu-nities to improve health literacy and access to care for all Africans. The pandemic was a catalyst for growth in health tech on the continent. Now entrepreneurs and government must sustain the momentum.

Ogweno is Founder and CEO of Stowelink Inc., which recently launched a mobile app, NCDs 365, to provide information about non-com-municable diseases.

— Project Syndicate

Necessary rise of Africa’s health tech

LOK RAJ BARAL

Opportunity or victim of geo-politicsEDITORIAL

Demographic imbalancesShort-sightedness has led to this imbalanced

distribution of population.

Nepal’s geo-politics has both opportunities and risks depending on the capability of our leaders.

The census conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics concluded on November 25. The head count revealed that the population of Nepal was increasing at a slow pace, in fact, the slowest in the last 80 years. It is growth nonetheless, but the question is whether it is to be taken positively or as an indi-cation that could spell disaster for the country in the years to come. In most developed countries, projections of a fall in population signal economic woes. Statisticians are quick to inform the administration of the economic challenges the government will need to face concerning labour shortages and a possible impact on the housing market.

After an arduous two weeks, the enumerators gathered much-needed information which showed a modest increase in the population by 0.93 percent. Are the authorities worried about possible labour shortages that may affect economic output? It is highly doubtful. The administration has failed miserably to retain the youth and provide a stable, meaning-ful environment. Instead of being able to reap the youth demographic dividend, Nepal is in the business of exporting skilled and unskilled talent abroad in exchange for precious foreign exchange.

While there is nothing wrong with ensuring that citizens find jobs overseas, relying on it ultimately does not bode well for a country. And the hallmark for development has always been in retaining the populace to build one’s country. This lack of policy to retain the youth has led to a mass exodus of young people from the towns and villages, leaving only the elderly, women and children to ensure that they remained a functional place. Those unable to find employment abroad were drawn to the cities.

Thus, it may be fair to assume that the administration’s short-sightedness concerning the development of remote regions in Nepal has led to this imbalanced distribution of population in the country. Lest we forget that the Maoist insurgency acted as a catalyst for the imbalance, but what has the administration done in the last 15 years after secur-ing a peace deal? Possibly even decentralisation of vital administrative functions would help persuade people to fan out across the country, but there have been no such steps.

The census shows a parallel between a drop in the hill pop-ulation and an increase in the Tarai belt population. If this trend continues, it has consequences on two fronts in particu-lar—politics and the economy and a change in socio-econom-ic behaviour. On the economic front, most of the arable land in the Tarai region would have to make way for construction, constricting agricultural output further and adding strain to the existing infrastructure.

And on the political front, an increase in the Tarai popula-tion could pave the way for reduced electoral constituencies in the hills and, in turn, further affect development in the hills and contribute to the existing imbalance. It is not the rate of population that should be ringing the alarm bells for the administration, but rather the lack of policies to correct any of the existing demographic imbalances.

STEPHEN OGWENO

African governments must develop and sustain policies that encourage health tech innovation.

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05 | FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022

MoNeY

gAsolINe wAtch

FoReX

US Dollar 120.42

Euro 134.85

Pound Sterling 161.71

Japanese Yen (10) 10.47

Chinese Yuan 18.93

Qatari Riyal 33.07

Australian Dollar 85.40

Malaysian Ringit 28.69

Saudi Arab Riyal 32.10

Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank

bUllIoNPRIce PeR tolA

SoURCE: FENEGoSIDA

Fine Gold Rs 93,500

Silver Rs 1,290

Myanmar junta reports $3.8 billion FDI since coupNaypyidaw: Myanmar has approved $3.8 billion in foreign investment since a coup a year ago, its military government said on Thursday, owing to what it called a return to stability and confidence in its economic poten-tial. It did not disclose details of the investments, but said the projects approved included $2.5 billion in a liquefied natural gas power plant. That figure accounted for two-thirds of the overall amount cited. China was the top investor, it said, without disclosing the amount. Myanmar received $516.4 million from one Japanese firm, a combined $442.2 million from four Singaporean investments, $75.5 million from two Thai ventures and $66.1 million from five South Korean businesses, it said. (REUTERS)

bRIeFINgs

SANGAM PRASAINKATHMANDU, JAN 27

Technicians are slated to begin testing the newly-installed communi-cation and navigation equipment at Bhairahawa’s upcoming international airport from mid-February, airport officials said.

Located in the central Tarai, the Rs6.22 billion facility has been named Gautam Buddha International Airport. The airport is the gateway to the international pilgrimage destina-tion of Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha. It has a 3,000-metre-long and 45-metre-wide runway.

All new airports have to undergo flight inspection, including tryouts of all infrastructure before they can enter service. These inspections are done in flight by using flight inspec-tion aircraft to analyse and assess the performance and efficiency of the aids to ensure the safety of aircraft that rely on them for navigation and landing guidance.

During the calibration flights, a spe-cially equipped calibration aircraft will check the accuracy of the trans-mitted navigation signals required for safe take-off and landing.

Engineer Pravin Neupane, who is overseeing the communication and navigation component of the project, said testing of all equipment, includ-ing the newly-installed communica-tion and navigation aids, also known as calibration flights, would begin within February 15 to 20.

Technicians say that based on

weather conditions, it may take at least 40 flying hours to complete the calibration of the new airport that will be done with a special aircraft flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet. A twin-turboprop Beechcraft is usually used for this task.

“A four-member team of techni-cians from the Thai govern-ment-owned company Aeronautical Radio of Thailand is currently in Nepal to check all the ground sys-tems,” said Neupane. “They started their work on Wednesday.”

According to project officials, all systems, including power, will be switched on 24/7 from Sunday to check the reliability of the systems. “It may continue for two weeks,” said Neupane.

The installation of all equipment

has been completed at Nepal’s second international airport.

On March 7, 2019, Aeronautical Radio of Thailand was awarded a $4.83 million contract for the supply, delivery, installation and commission-ing of Communication, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management, including meteorologi-cal equipment and other related ser-vices, at Gautam Buddha International Airport. The project was planned to be completed in 2019.

Despite the Covid situation, the Thai company completed the installa-tion of the navigation and communi-cation equipment in August 2021, but informed the airport project that they would begin the calibration and test-ing of the equipment only after the Covid-19 situation in Nepal receded to almost zero. The final phase of the project was then halted.

On November 20 last year, a senior representative of the Thai com-pany arrived in Nepal to assess the situation.

The project was expected to com-plete all tasks, including tests and calibration of the communication and navigation equipment, by October last year; but the second wave of the coro-navirus which started in mid-April upset its revised timetable.

In May last year, the coronavirus positivity rate had reached 45 percent, with nearly 9,000 new cases appearing daily, an increase of about 3,000 per-cent from April.

Following the Thai company’s reluctance to come to Nepal fearing

Covid, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal approached the South Korean and Indian governments and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States to conduct the tests, but only India responded positively.

The FAA, an agency of the US gov-ernment responsible for the regula-tion of aircraft and airports, had conducted flight inspections of the radar system at Bhatte Danda in Lalitpur in 2017.

The civil aviation body then initiat-ed a government-to-government deal with India because it was difficult to bring foreign experts under the coro-navirus circumstances, and that could delay tests at the new airport includ-ing periodic checks at other airports in Nepal.

Nepal had asked the Airports Authority of India to provide periodic airport and flight inspection services for its airports. Nepal had proposed signing a three-year contract with India.

But officials found that would not be necessary as the Thai company eventually came forward to do it. According to a senior official at the Civil Aviation Authority, they had dis-patched a formal letter to the Thai company, informing it of a breach in the agreement.

The company then responded that it was ready to complete the work as Thailand had ended its own corona restrictions and reopened on November 1 last year, a few days after the letter was dispatched.

Testing at Bhairahawa airport slated to begin in mid-FebruaryDuring the calibration flights, a specially equipped aircraft will check the accuracy of the transmitted navigation signals required for safe take-off and landing.

SHUTTERSToCK

The installation of all equipment has been completed at Nepal’s second international airport.

Hong Kong to shorten 21 day quarantine requirement for arrivalsHONG KONG: Hong Kong will shorten its 21-day quaran-tine requirement to 14 days for incoming travellers starting from February 5, leader Carrie Lam said on Thursday, a move that comes after months of pressure from financial executives and foreign diplomats who said the rule was eroding the city’s competitiveness. (REUTERS)

ASSOCIATED PRESSBRUSSELS, JAN 27

The European Union said on Thursday it has launched action against China at world trade’s governing body for engaging in discriminatory practices against Lithuania, saying that Beijing’s spat with the Baltic country is hitting other EU exports.

Lithuania broke with diplomatic custom by agreeing that the Taiwanese office in Vilnius would bear the name Taiwan instead of Chinese Taipei, a term used by other countries to avoid offending Beijing. China considers Taiwan part of its territory with no right to diplomatic recognition.

Beijing expelled the Lithuanian ambassador and withdrew its own

ambassador. Tensions have mounted, and Lithuania accuses Beijing of holding up goods at China’s borders. The EU is now turning to the World Trade Organisation.

“Launching a WTO case is not a step we take lightly. However, after repeated failed attempts to resolve the issue bilaterally, we see no other way forward than to request WTO dispute settlement consultations with China,” European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said. “The EU is determined to act as one and act fast against measures in breach of WTO rules, which threaten the integrity of our single market. We are in parallel pursuing our diplomat-ic efforts to deescalate the situation,” he said. The European Commission

manages trade on behalf of the 27 EU member countries. It says it has built up evidence of Chinese restrictions. They include a refusal to clear Lithuanian goods through customs, the rejection of import applications from Lithuania, and pressuring European firms operating out of EU countries to remove Lithuania from their supply chains when exporting to China. The first stage of the EU’s action under WTO dispute settlement rules involves a “request for consulta-tions” under which the bloc will for-mally ask China for more information about its measures with the aim of resolving the dispute amicably.

If no results are achieved within 60 days, the EU can request that a WTO panel rule on the dispute.

EU launches WTO action against China over Lithuania rowChina is pressuring European companies operating out of other EU countries to remove Lithuania from their supply chains when exporting to China.

REUTERSNEW DELHI, JAN 27

India’s Tata Group took control of state-run carrier Air India on Thursday, regaining ownership of the airline after nearly 70 years and marking a victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s privatisa-tion push.

The auto-to-steel conglomerate in October won the bid to take over Air India in a $2.4 billion equity and debt deal, ending years of struggle to privatise the financially troubled air-line that was kept afloat using taxpay-er funds.

The Air India strategic disinvest-ment transaction has been completed today with the government receiving about $360 million in equity and Tata taking over more than $2 bil-

Tata regains Air India control in privatisation victory for ModiTata gains valuable access to flying rights and landing slots.

lion of Air India’s debt, the finance ministry said in a statement.

“We are excited to have Air India back in the Tata Group and are committed to making this a world-class airline,” Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said in a statement.

The deal includes three entities—full-service carrier Air India, its low-

cost arm Air India Express and AI SATS, which provides ground-han-dling and cargo services.

Tata Group already operates two other airlines—Vistara, in a joint venture with Singapore Airlines, and AirAsia India, which it operates in partnership with AirAsia Group. But both have yet to make money.

The purchase of debt-ridden Air India will give Tata immediate access to valuable flying rights and landing slots, but industry executives say it will be an uphill battle to turnaround the carrier’s financials and service levels.

The airline, with its maharajah mas-cot, was once renowned for its lavishly decorated planes and stellar service championed by founder JRD Tata. Air India was founded in 1932 and nation-alised in 1953.

REUTERS

A view of different flags of the European Union Members at the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France.

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BriefingS

friDAY, JAnUArY 28, 2022 | 06

worlD

ASSOCIATED PRESSLONDON, JAN 27

Staffers have accused the top director of the World Health Organisation in the Western Pacific of racist, unethical and abusive behaviour that has undermined the UN health agen-cy’s efforts to curb the coronavirus pandemic.

The allegations were laid out in an internal complaint filed in October and in an email last week sent by uni-dentified staff to WHO’s senior leader-ship and its executive board and obtained by the AP. Two of the authors said more than 30 current and former WHO officials were involved in writ-ing the email.

The internal complaint and email describe a “toxic atmosphere” with “a culture of systemic bullying and pub-lic ridiculing” at WHO’s Western Pacific headquarters in Manila, led by Dr Takeshi Kasai, director of a vast region that includes China and Japan. The AP also has obtained recorded snippets of meetings where Kasai is heard making derogatory comments about staff based on nationality. Eleven former or current WHO staff-ers who worked for Kasai told the AP he frequently used racist language.

The complaint and message also accused Kasai of improperly sharing potentially sensitive vaccine informa-tion with his home country, Japan.

In an email to the AP, Kasai denied allegations of racism and unethical

behaviour.“I ask a lot of myself, and our staff,”

he said. “This has particularly been the case during the Covid-19 response. But it should not result in people feel-ing disrespected.”

Kasai said he was committed to making changes that would ensure “a positive work environment.” However, an internal WHO message seen by the AP shows that in a meeting last week, Kasai ordered all his senior directors to “reject” the accusations in the email and to “totally support” him.

The internal complaint filed to WHO alleges that Kasai once aggres-sively questioned a Filipino staffer during a coronavirus meeting, saying: “How many people in the Pacific have you killed so far and how many more do you want to kill further?” The com-plaint said he then asked “if she was incapable of delivering good presenta-tions because she was Filipina.”

Several WHO officials present when the statements were made confirmed to the AP that the regional director has made numerous racist comments

in meetings.The email also said Kasai blamed

the rise in Covid cases in some Pacific countries on their “lack of capacity due to their inferior culture, race and socioeconomic level.” Three WHO staffers told the AP Kasai said in numerous WHO discussions that the coronavirus response was hampered by “a lack of sufficiently educated people in the Pacific.”

Kasai rejected allegations that he ever used racist language.

“It is true that I have been hard on staff, but I reject the suggestion that I have targeted staff of any particular nationality,” he said.

The claims add to a litany of inter-nal protests from WHO personnel about the agency’s management of the pandemic, including privately com-plaining about China’s delayed shar-ing of information while publicly praising the government.

“We request your urgent interven-tion to address our serious concerns...which is negatively impacting WHO’s performance,” the staffers wrote.

Kasai is a Japanese doctor who began his career in his country’s pub-lic health system before moving to WHO. He is credited with developing the region’s response to emerging outbreaks after the SARS epidemic in 2003.

Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Public Health Law and Human Rights at Georgetown University, said he was in

contact with many people at the Western Pacific office, and knew they felt “battered” during the pandemic.

Gostin said racism in a WHO office at the centre of the pandemic would be “unconscionable,” and that the alle-gations wounded WHO’s credibility.

WHO staffers also alleged that Kasai abused his position to aid the Japanese government in Covid-19 vac-cination planning by providing confi-dential data. Many countries expect WHO not to share details on sensitive issues like vaccination unless they explicitly consent.

A WHO scientist who worked on Covid-19 immunisation in Asia told the AP that Kasai shared data with Japan so the government could decide how to donate doses to its regional neighbours for a political advantage. The staffer, who asked not to be identi-fied for fear of retaliation, said Kasai also pressured WHO personnel to pri-oritise vaccine donations from Japan over the UN-backed COVAX effort.

Kasai disputed that he had ever inappropriately shared information with Japan.

“At no time have I pressured staff to facilitate donations from Japan rather than COVAX,” he told the AP.

The authors of the WHO email in Asia said most of them had “exhaus-tively” filed complaints through vari-ous WHO mechanisms, including its ombudsman, ethics hotline, and office of internal oversight, but have not been informed of any investigation.

The complaint and message also accused Kasai of improperly sharing potentially sensitive vaccine information with his home country, Japan.

WHO staff complaint, email allege abuse in Asia

REUTERSBEIJING, JAN 27

China has returned an Indian citizen who “illegally” entered into Chinese territory at the disputed border between the two Asian giants, a military official said on Thursday.

Thursday’s announcement from China came after India’s Defence Ministry said last week it had contacted China to request that it locate and return a 17-year-old Indian, MiramTarom, who had been “reportedly captured” by the Chinese military after going missing near the countries’ shared border.

KirenRijiju, an Indian federal minister, said Tarom had been handed over to the Indian army at a border post in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh.

China’s announcement did not confirm the returned Indian citizen was Tarom, but it did add a warning to New Delhi. “We urge the Indian side to strictly implement bilat-eral agreements, strengthen personnel management and control, and earnestly maintain normal order in the border areas.”

Colonel Long Shaohua, spokesman for the Western Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), said the Indian citizen was found in recent days by Chinese border guards during a patrol.

The individual “illegally entered Chinese territory and then was routinely questioned, quarantined and observed in accordance with relevant border control regulations, and given humanitarian assistance”, Long said in the statement posted on WeChat.

India and China have frequently clashed over their disputed Himalayan border.

China returns Indian citizen at disputed border

Minsk: Russian forces will leave Belarus once drills are overMOSCOW: Russian military forces will leave Belarus once joint exercises between the two ex-Soviet countries are over next month, the Belarusian Ministry of Defence said on Thursday. The deployments to Belarus, north of Ukraine, are part of a wider Russian military buildup in the region that has stoked Western fears that Moscow is planning to attack Ukraine. “At the end of the inspection, military units and sub-units of the Russian Federation’s Armed Forces will leave the territory of the Republic of Belarus,” the min-istry said.

North Korea fires two suspected missiles in sixth launch in 2022SEOUL: North Korea on Thursday fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of weapons launches this month, South Korea’s military said. Experts say North Korea’s unusually fast pace in testing activity underscores an intent to pressure the Biden administration over long-stalled negotiations aimed at exchanging a release of crippling US-led sanctions against the North and the North’s denuclearisation steps. Japan said the missiles didn’t reach its exclusive economic zone and that there were no reports of damage to vessels or aircraft around its coast. (AGENCIES)

REUTERSBEIJING, JAN 27

China has told the United States it wants to see all sides involved in Ukraine remain calm and avoid increasing ten-sion while the United States stressed de-escalation and warned of the security and economic risks from Russian aggression.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about Ukraine on a telephone call late on Wednesday.

“We call on all parties to stay calm and refrain from doing things that agitate tensions and hype up the crisis,” Wang told Blinken, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Russia, which has been building up its forces on Ukraine’s borders for months, has demanded NATO pull back troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar Ukraine, a for-mer Soviet state, from ever joining the alliance.

The United States and its NATO allies reject that position but say they are ready to discuss other topics such as arms control and confidence-building measures.

“Secretary Blinken ... conveyed that de-escalation and diplomacy are the responsible way forward,” Blinken was quoted as saying to Wang in a statement issued by the US state department.

Global security and the economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine figured in the talks, the department said.

Wang, apparently referring to Russia’s objections to NATO’s expansion in eastern Europe, told Blinken that one country’s security could not be at the expense of the securi-ty of others and regional security could not be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs, his min-istry said.

The United States has warned Russia not to invade Ukraine and urged both countries to return to a set of pacts known as Minsk I and Minsk II signed in 2014 and 2015, respectively, to end a separatist war by Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine.

But a series of military and political steps set out by the later Minsk II agreement remain unimplemented, with Russia’s insistence that it is not a party to the conflict and therefore is not bound by its terms being a major blockage.

United States, China confer on Ukraine, urge de-escalation and calm

ap/rss

World Health Organisation Regional Director for Western Pacific Takeshi Kasai.

C M Y K

07 | FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022

SpoRtS | MeDleY

BRIeFINg

Wolverhampton sign Hwang Hee-chan on permanent dealLONDON: Wolves have exercised their option to buy South Korea forward Hwang Hee-chan on a permanent deal when his loan from RB Leipzig expires at the end of this season. Hwang has scored four goals in 14 Premier League appearances since arriving at Molineux in August. The 26-year-old will sign a deal keeping him at the club until 2026. “The wing-er is currently five months into a sea-son-long loan at Molineux, but having agreed personal terms before his arrival last summer, Wolves have now activated a clause to make his move from RB Leipzig permanent later this year (on July 1), on a deal until 2026,” the club said in a statement on Wednesday.

Djokovic set to return to action in Dubai next monthMELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic is set to return to action in Dubai next month for the first time since he was deported from Australia over his Covid-19 vaccination status ahead of the Melbourne Park Grand Slam. The 34-year-old Serb, who is unvacci-nated, was deported after an 11-day rollercoaster involving two visa cancellations, two court challenges and five nights in two stints at an immigration detention hotel where asylum seekers are held. Organisers of the ATP 500 Dubai Tennis Championships said the Serb was entered for the tournament, which is scheduled to start on February 21. “We are delighted to see Novak back in Dubai for the 12th time when he will be seeking his sixth title and we wish him the best of luck,” said Colm McLoughlin, chief executive of Dubai Duty Free. (AGENCIES)

YeSteRDAY’S SolUtIoN

CRoSSwoRD

HoRoSCope

SUDokU

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19) ****Your mind will feel like a never-ending stream of consciousness today. You may also begin to feel a bit listless, but try to stay grounded and content. Things will feel better this evening, getting back to your true spirit.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18) ***

The internet will feel more addictive than usual today. While boredom at work could accentuate the temptation to scroll your feed, avoid engaging with targeted ads. Instead look for ways to explore your community today.

PISCES (February 19-March 20) ***You may feel as though you’re not being seen profes-sionally, especially if you’re not receiving fair credit for the work you do. Under today’s skies, make a promise to yourself that you’ll be more assertive in the future.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) ****You’ll feel elevated and emotionally intelligent today. The day will help you tap into your power on a pro-fessional level. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you’re worth, especially if you’ve been feeling undervalued recently.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) ***

You’ll be in a private mood today. Not everyone will be able to read your energy, and you could feel as though your solitude is being disrupted by the people around you. Try to avoid your social media pages to be productive.

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

If there’s someone special in your life, be sure to send them a sweet message this morning to help set the tone for a romantic day. Make a plan to see your sweetie when you’ve both clocked out for the day.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) ***Staying on task will be easy during the first part of your day, though you could hit a slump this after-noon. Try not to let mundane tasks drag down your vibe, and instead, look for ways to improve your sit-uation.

LEO (July 23-August 22) ***

Being unapologetically yourself will come easily right now, though not everyone will be in the mood to deal with your big personality. Watch out for power struggles or jealousy from the people around you today.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22) ****Take some time to appreciate your surrounding, and be sure to admire the details of your home that speak to your personal style. Take some personal space as you finish the day, but be sure to reconnect with your heart’s desire.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22) ***Use today’s cosmic climate to wrap up any discus-sions that could use some closure, but try to avoid tense topics. Make plans to see your best buds later on tonight, as you’ll be in the mood for both adven-ture and socialization.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) ***

While you’ll undoubtedly be feeling yourself, you’ll want to make sure you don’t lose perspective of what’s important. Even if you’re feeling down, avoid emotional spending, and try to bring yourself back up through positive affirmations.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21) ***If you’ve been working remotely, you could begin to get a little stir crazy, which will take a toll on your motivation and energy levels. Try to mix things up by working outside or in a different room than you usually do.

Powell powers West Indies to victoryAgence FrAnce-Presse BRIDGETOWN, JaN 27

Rovman Powell’s blistering century laid the foundation for West Indies’ 20-run win over England in the third Twenty20 international at Bridgetown on Wednesday as they went 2-1 up in a five-match series.

The recalled Powell’s 107 off just 53 balls, as well as his fourth-wicket stand of 122 with Nicholas Pooran (70), helped take the West Indies to an imposing 224-5 after stand-in England captain Moeen Ali won the toss.

Tom Banton hit six sixes in a rapid 73 and Phil Salt 57 on his T20 international debut as England tried to chase down 225, with Ali leading a new-look side after regular captain Eoin Morgan pulled his quad during the warm-up. But they lost wickets steadily before finishing on 204-9 in a remarkable match yielding over 400 runs.

Unusually, England’s attack fea-tured three left-arm quicks in Reece Topley, Tymal Mills and debutant George Garton, whose four overs cost an expensive 57 runs, albeit he bowled opener Brandon King.

Powell, selected in place of Odean Smith in the only change to the West Indies, reached his hundred off 51 balls and then promptly celebrated by heaving Topley out of the ground. But, attempting a repeat, he was caught at long-off.

Banton gave England hope of an improbable win in a 39-ball innings that ended when he holed out off West Indies captain Kieron Pollard.

Salt got the target down to 36 off a last over where he hit the first two legal deliveries for six before being bowled round his legs by Romario Shepherd.

Barty to meet Collins in Australian Open finalAgence FrAnce-Presse MELBOURNE, JaN 27

A ruthless Ashleigh Barty swept into her first Australian Open final on Thursday with a clinical, straight-sets demolition of Madison Keys to set-up a title match with the hard-hitting Danielle Collins.

The world number one over-whelmed 51st-ranked Keys 6-1, 6-3 in just 62 minutes with another American awaiting after the all-business Collins crushed Polish seventh seed Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-1.

Barty is the first Australian woman into the decider of her home Grand Slam since Wendy Turnbull in 1980 and is aiming to become the first winner since Chris O’Neil two years earlier.

But the tenacious Collins stands in her way on Saturday with the 28-year-

old enjoying a second coming after surgery last year for endometriosis left her pain free. Nine months on and she has 32-7 win-loss record, capturing her maiden WTA singles titles last year in Palermo then San Jose. After making the semi-finals at Melbourne in 2019, she is now in a first Slam final and will break into the top 10 for the first time to cap a remarkable comeback.

“To play against the number one player in the world in her home coun-try, it’s going to be spectacular,” said Collins of the final.

Barty, though, has been rampant so far, dropping serve just once through six matches and is yet to drop a set as she powered through the top half of the women’s draw. She is also looking to add to her 2019 French Open and 2021 Wimbledon titles and is on a 10-match win

streak to start the year.“To be in the finals weekend of your

home Grand Slam is what a lot of Aussie players dream of. Yeah, it’s going to be an incredible experience come Saturday,” said Barty.

The top seed was once more in full command of her game with an attack-ing forehand and lethal backhand slice. The Australian immediately pressured Keys’ serve to create a break point that she converted with a cross-court winner to assert early con-trol. She consolidated as Keys strug-gled to get her racquet on the ball and the American was broken again in the fifth game.

Keys finally won her first points on the Barty serve in the next game, but it was a blip as the Australian stormed 5-1 in front before a double fault hand-ed her two set points and she slammed a forehand return to convert. It went

with serve to 2-2 in set two before Barty stepped up a gear, with a pass-ing shot earning another break to 4-2 clear and there was no way back for the American.

Collins also flew out of the blocks against former French Open champion Swiatek, racing to a 4-0 first set lead. A nervous Swiatek double faulted in the opening game to gift Collins an early break and the unrelenting American’s fierce groundstrokes earned her another. But the gutsy Pole fought back as Collins double faulted to give a break-point opportunity.

But the all-action American recom-posed herself to serve out the set. Collins quickly broke to take charge of the second set as she jumped on Swiatek’s second serve, breaking again to race 3-0 clear and it was all over for the 20-year-old.

Ap/Rss

Ashleigh Barty became the first Australian woman to reach the Melbourne final after Wendy Turnbull in 1980 and is bidding to become the first winner since Chris O’Neil in 1978.

MMC edge Army on penalties to enter finalDeePAK PArIYArPOKHaRa, JaN 27

Record six-time champions Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) defeated Tribhuvan Army FC 4-3 on penalties in the 20th Aaha Rara Gold Cup Football Tournament semi-final on Thursday to set up a title clash with APF FC in Pokhara.

MMC goalkeeper Ashok Baral denied Army’s fourth penalty taker Youddha Shahi’s strike after the game headed into a tiebreaker following a 0-0 draw in the regulation period and an additional 30 minutes.

Army captain Bharat Khawas con-verted the first strike from spot before defender Deepak Gurung hit the wood-work when he stepped to take the sec-ond penalty. MMC’s Cameroonian defender Franklin Kutte Tala convert-ed the first shot from the spot but Bishow Adhikari’s second strike cracked on the upright with scores tied at 1-1.

MMC’s Shiva Gurung, Rupesh KC and Olawale Afeez converted the remaining three penalties while Army’s George Prince Karki convert-ed the third and Bibek Basnet the fifth but defender Shahi missed the target taking the fourth shot.

MMC, who also confirmed the record 12th Aaha Rara final, were made to pay for their missed penalty as early as in the ninth minute as the stand-in skipper ended up shooting high above the post from the spot. MMC were awarded the penalty after Shahi handled the ball in his attempt to stop Nigerian forward Adelaja Somide’s cross to compatriot Afeez inside the area.

Army could have scored in late first half before midfielder Basnet applied

a feeble strike from the area and forward Karki’s strike on the same ball was parried by MMC goalie Baral. The ball flew towards skipper Khawas and his header was off the target. Moments later Somide’s header in Rajesh Pariyar’s corner sailed inches above the bar.

Goalie Bikesh Kuthu came to the rescue of Army seven minutes into the restart as he made a long stretch dive to the right side to deny Afeez’s strike as he found

Pariyar’s freekick which was not defended properly by Army players. Somide’s header in Afeez’s pass was again thwarted by goalie Kuthu before Sesehang Angdangbe cleared the danger.

Army coach Raju Tamang rued the missed opportunities. “It was a fif-ty-fifty game, but we faced defeat after failing to capitalise on scoring oppor-tunities,” said Tamang. “We have had weaknesses in the striking depart-ment for a long time. Some of the key

players were also injured.”MMC’s Nigerian coach Fuja

Tope said that they faced a tough time to beat Army. “The game could have gone the other way, had we utilised the early penalty. But we fought until the last moment and final-ly won. The goalie played really well,” he said.

The final against APF FC, who entered the final after 14 years and have yet to win the trophy, will be played on Saturday.

Goalkeeper Ashok Baral denies defender Youddha Shahi’s strike in the shootout to set up a title clash against APF FC.

post photo

Players of Manang Marshyangdi Club celebrate after defeating Tribhuvan Army FC in the semi-final at the Pokhara Stadium on Thursday.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022 | 08

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Ankit khAdgiKaThMaNDu

W

e have relied on cinema since its inception for various rea-sons. There

are movies that we watch to feel inspired. And there are some films that we rely on to feel good about ourselves, learn about society more or just for the sake of enter-tainment.

With the steep increase in the number of filmmakers and the availability of movie streaming platforms, the audience now has access to more bad films, which are a complete waste of time and energy. But transcending even those terrible movies are films that are so bad that one actually starts enjoying the sheer stupidity presented in front of them.

Popularly known as so-bad-they’re-good movies, this genre in recent years has received cult status among movie lovers, and people watch these unintentionally funny films to have a good time and relish its campiness.

At a time when most of us are stuck in isolation (either because of getting infected with Covid-19 or being in contact with an infect-ed person), staying at home can be a challenge. And in such difficult times, watching so-bad-they’re-good movies can help relieve one’s stress, believes Parbati Shrestha, senior project coordinator at Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Nepal.

“With the kind of chaos and unpredictability that we are currently living in, if you are planning to watch movies to spend your time, I suggest you watch light-hearted movies,” says Shrestha. “If we expose ourselves to more funny content, we can feel good about ourselves and better our mood.”

So if you are stuck at your home and don’t know what you should binge-watch, here are eight so-bad-they’re-good movies that you can watch now.

‘Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon’In 2003, if Filmfare Awards (India’s most prominent film awards) had a category for the ‘Most Overacted Film of the Year’, this movie would have definitely won the award.

Directed by Sooraj Barjatya, who’s known for family blockbust-ers like ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ and ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’, every actor in the film except Abhishek Bachchan overacts to a level that one actually starts wondering what the actors ate during the shooting to have such high level of energy.

Sanjana (played by Kareena Kapoor) meets Prem Kishen (played by an over-enthusiastic Hritik Roshan) in an arranged marriage setting. While both of them slowly fall in love, it turns out that Sanjana, the papa ki pari (papa’s princess), was supposed to marry Prem Kumar (played by Bachchan), who is the boss of Prem Kishen.

As the story unfolds, what we see in the name of the plot is not a heartfelt love triangle but a mess of exaggerated acting and writing that even makes a serious scene unintentionally funny.

This film can be a great starter for those who want to explore the so-bad-they’re-good movies in Bollywood.

‘Miss Nepal’I won’t lie, but Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion’ (2007) is my guilty pleasure. Even though the movie is silly and over the top, I still enjoyed watching it.

And the closest Nepali film I have ever found that could match the Bollywood movie’s absurdness is ‘Miss Nepal’.

The film is based on a story of a young woman who dreams of win-ning the title of Miss Nepal, a beauty pageant. However, the film lacks a strong plot that unravels the dark side of such pageants, which are known for setting unrealistic beauty standards. But what the film definitely has in abundance is poor acting and borderline cringe dialogues that make no sense or add any value to the film.

Even during serious moments in the film, the actors’ poor acting makes the scene so funny that one starts laughing at them instead of empathising.

In one of the serious scenes of the film, a supporting character—to convey her sadness—takes a deep breath so many times that it seems like she’s having an asthma attack when in reality, she’s just sad.

Filled with plenty of such equal-ly bad scenes, the film should be applauded for raising the bar of the ‘so-bad-they’re-good’ movies in the Nepali film industry.

‘Jaani Dushmaan: Ek Anokhi Prem Kahani’Manisha Koirala has acted in many critically acclaimed films like ‘Bombay’ and ‘Dil Se’, among others in her two-decade-long career. But she has also been a part of some terrible films, one of which is ‘Jaani Dushmaan: Ek Anokhi Prem Kahani’. I think the movie is a goldmine in her career that shows how she can be decent in so-bad-they’re-good films as well.

But more than her, it’s the thrilling plot, the funny execution, and the kitschy visual effects that make the movie a must-watch Hindi film in this particular genre.

There’s absolutely nothing good about the film; the music, the act-ing, or the script. Everything makes your head spin. And that’s the beauty of this revenge saga where we can see ichchadhari naag (poorly played by Armann Kohli) not only breaking the bones of people but also breaking the laws of physics.

It won’t be wrong to say that this film might inspire Ekta Kapoor to create her own Naagin Universe because, like her naa-gins, our film’s hero also can do anything. Maybe by watching it, you can also get some inspiration.

‘Karzzzz’If you are a fan of Himesh

Reshammiya, you will definitely enjoy the movie ‘Karzzzz’. In the movie, Reshammiya not only sings but also acts.

Released in 2008, the film was a remake of Rishi Kapoor and Simi Garewal’s ‘Karz’. While people appreciated the old version for its interesting tale of reincarnation and the powerful soundtrack that made thousands of people sing and dance to the film’s songs, the newer version was so bad that every critic declared it one of the worst movies in the history of Bollywood.

But that shouldn’t stop you from watching this cult classic because the movie has some of the worst acting that you will ever have in

Bollywood, courtesy of both Reshmmaiya and Urmila Matondkar (she plays the role of Garewal played in the original ‘Karz’).

Apart from the acting, the mov-ie’s songs will always ‘blow your mind’ as well. While most of the songs have equally cringe power, I am sure ‘Tandoori Nights’ will stick to your memory for a life-time if you haven’t heard it already.

‘Tanha tanha hai dil, tanha Tandoori Nights. If loving you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.’ This is one of the lines of the song. I don’t think I need to say anything more about how ‘great’ the overall music of the film is.

‘Kathmandu’ A line from the summary of the movie Kathmandu on the IMDB website states that the film ‘sheds light on the critical problems of family life in Kathmandu’.

I don’t know how successful the film is in shedding light on the critical issues of Kathmandu, but what it definitely succeeds in is shedding light on how one can make a bad film and yet keep view-ers glued to the screen.

The makers touch on several issues in the film–migration, men-tal health, substance abuse, paren-tal style, and others. When they started, they might have been driven with good intentions to make a social commentary film, but in reality, the film has become a laughing stock.

Unintentionally funny dia-logues, misfit actors who do everything except act, a poor story, the film has everything under con-trol and begs for viewing.

‘Aabra ka Dabra’There are Potter heads (fans of Harry Potter). And then there are ‘Aabra ka Dabra’ fans, who I believe are way ahead of the Potter heads because to enjoy a film like ‘Aabra ka Dabra’ requires a lot of energy and mental strength.

Directed by Dheeraj Kumar, this masterpiece beats every other fan-tasy film churned out from Bollywood.

Shanu, a boy, enters a magic school run by an evil magician, Rang Birangi (yes, that’s her name). While studying in the school, the boy discovers that Rang Birangi has captured his father, who he thought died a few years ago.

He then goes on a mission to free his father and, in the process,

makes new friends. For its time, the makers did

make an attempt to try something new. But the poor visual effects, the substandard acting, and the gimmicky production design make it one of the more promising movies to watch from the ‘so-bad-they’re-good’ genre. It seems like every element in the film was either catered to fulfil the cringe needs of the viewers or to promote Parle G (you will understand this joke after watching the film).

‘Dhadkan’I remember one of my English teachers telling me that she thinks ‘The Great Gatsby’ inspired the story of ‘Dhadkan’. As both of them share a typical rag to riches story of the protagonist, she felt the Bollywood movie’s director, Dharmesh Darshan, was inspired by F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel.

I don’t know how much truth there is in what she says, but I agree that both of them are cult-classic in their own ways. While ‘The Great Gatsby’ was a great novel that made a beautiful commentary on the American dream and the growing culture of materialism, ‘Dhadkan’, on the other hand, gave us iconic dialogues, scenes and songs that no Bollywood lover can ever forget.

Whether it is the too-good-to-be-true characters of Ram (played by Akshay Kumar), his evil family who hates Anjali (played by Shilpa Shetty), or even minute things like lighting and Anjali’s lip makeup, the film has overdramatic tones on every layer. But it is Dev (played by Suniel Shetty), the show-steal-er, who makes everyone’s dhadkan (heartbeat) faster with his iconic cringe dialogues.

If you want to watch a trashy movie–especially if you are a bud-ding entrepreneur, I recommend watching this masterpiece. Witnessing the speed with which Dev earns his money in the film, you can get some motivation from him.

‘Gunda’This list wouldn’t have been com-plete if there wasn’t ‘Gunda’ in it.

I don’t know what to write about the film that hasn’t already been written. In my opinion, ‘Gunda’ (1998) is not a film. It’s an experi-ence that transcends the laws of filmmaking.

At its core, the movie is a revenge saga that features Mithun Chakravarty, Mukesh Rishi and Shakti Kapoor—some of the most known faces of Hindi cinema of the time. But it’s beyond an ordi-nary film. It’s a saga of cringe dialogues and some unintentional-ly funny action scenes that defy the laws of the universe.

In the film, every character speaks as if they are reciting a poem; they end their sentences in rhymes. And to add to that, the dialogues are so funny and poorly written that even in serious scenes, one can’t control their laughter.

There’s a reason why people call it the ‘Citizen Kane’ of bad films. And to be honest, no film has come closer to challenging its title.

Stuck in isolation? We got you covered with these so-bad-they’re-good movies

From Mithun’s ‘Gunda’ to Manisha Koirala’s ‘Jaani Dushman’, here are eight movies that you can watch now to relish their campiness.

With the increasing number of filmmakers and the availability of streaming platforms, the audience now has access to more bad films.

ScreengrabS via Youtube

The so-bad-they’re-good movies genre in recent years has received cult status among movie lovers.