Santosh Kalwar's Blog, page 3

What a game

On December 18th, Argentina made history by becoming the champions after winning against France for the first time since 1986. Captain cool and popularly called "goat", led by superstar Lionel Messi, the team battled its way through the tournament, eventually edging out France in a thrilling match that ended in a penalty kick-out win 4-2.

The entire country of Argentina will now celebrate the World Cup's victory, as the team was seen as underdogs when they lost the game against Saudi Arabia.

The tournament was a roller coaster for the team, which had to overcome several tough opponents, including powerhouse Netherlands and Croatia. But Argentina was able to rise to the challenge and ultimately emerged victorious.

Messi has recreated history in Argentina Football with about a thousand games, 789 goals and 300 assists by winning the La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Olympics Gold, Copa America, and finally, FIFA World Cup 2022.

 

Kylian Mbappe, who is only 23 years old and has scored 12 world goals in 14 games, is the sixthhighest men's World Cup scorer He scored their first hat-trick in the men's final since 1966 and almost led France to the back-to-back title in the final World Cup match.

There may be no winners or losers in the final match as both teams in the Qatari desert showed incredible play, one of the greatest games ever played. France had the better play for much of the second half of the game, and it seemed like they were on track to win the World Cup. Mbappe's penalty kick-out in the extra minute changed everything, sending both countries' supporters into a frenzy.

There was a lot of noise about Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, and Modric's last World Cup, but who can forget it was also Angel Di Maria's final World Cup? It may be Messi's last game of the World Cup, and Argentina's performance showed there is always hope, and dreams do come true.

The victory is crucial to Argentina, as it is a chance for the country to unite and celebrate something that had been a long time in coming.

Football is a team game, and it is not the individual who wins the matches. In addition, football teaches vital life lessons, such as discipline, perseverance and sportsmanship.

Congratulations to Argentina's World Cup victory, which will be remembered for years. The team's victory is a sign of hope for the future and the upcoming New Year, 2023 — a moment that will be remembered for generations to come.

 

Published: The Himalayan Times
Nepal's leading daily newspaper

No place called home

The term "Sukumbasi" does not directly translate to homelessness; however, it is often used pejoratively for "people living in slums". In general terms, homelessness is a growing problem in Nepal. With the country's population increasing and its economy struggling, more and more people are being forced to be homeless.

According to a recent informal report, an estimated 200,000 people are homeless in Nepal. The causes of homelessness in Nepal are complex and interrelated.

Many inhabitants and people live near the Bagmati riverbank without proper homes and mainly in slums. Poverty and economic inequality are the primary culprits of homelessness.

In addition, a lack of access to education and employment opportunities and limited access to health care contribute to the problem. Other factors include gender-based discrimination, displacement due to natural disasters or conflict, and the country's civil war effects.

 

 

Homelessness is a complex and persistent problem in Nepal, and it is essential that all levels of society – from the government to individuals – work together to address this global challenge. There is an urgent need for more resources, including housing, jobs and health care, as well as targeted measures to reduce poverty and inequality.

To address this issue, it is essential to understand the root causes of homelessness. Many people are homeless due to poverty, unemployment and displacement due to natural disasters or civil conflict.

One solution to this issue is to provide safe and affordable housing for people who are homeless. This could include building shelters or providing access to existing housing. Additionally, it is crucial to provide access to essential services, such as healthcare, sanitation and education. This will ensure that homeless people can access and get the resources they need to live healthy lives.

Another solution is to create job opportunities for those who are homeless. This could include setting up job training and placement programmes and providing access to microloans for starting a business.

Additionally, government programmes such as food stamps and other social safety nets could be used to help those in need.

Finally, it is crucial to provide resources and support to homeless people. This could include providing access to mental health services, addiction treatment, and other forms of support. By providing access to safe and affordable housing, essential services, job opportunities, and resources and support, it is possible to make a difference for those who are homeless in Nepal.

 

Published: The Himalayan Times
Nepal's leading daily newspaper

The Fall

I was reading a short novel by I Camus, "The Fall", which immediately started me to question a visualisation portrayed in the book when Camus sees a crying young woman on the bridge, and he passes by her. The young woman is alone and watches him pass by. He hesitates to turn his head back to her. Finally, after some time, he turns his head and tries to look back at the young woman but cannot see her on the bridge.

The gist of this short story is clear: life may seem absurd; however, never be afraid to talk to someone. Recently, there have been many reported cases of people jumping and committing suicide from the Narayani Bridge in Chitwan, which is alarming. Over August this year, there were reported cases of more than five such incidents where people jumped off the Narayani Bridge. The suicide rate in the country is slowly on the rise. According to some informal estimates, the suicide rate has escalated by 72 per cent in a decade, where about 19 people commit suicide almost every day.

 

WHO reports that more than 700,000 people die of suicide across the globe every year. In addition, the UN says one in four people worldwide is affected by mental health problems, and about 450 million people currently have a mental disorder.

I will not go deeper into the minds of those people having hard times in their lives and the causes behind them. However, you may already be aware that there could be many reasons behind these upticks: mental health, neurological disorder, substance abuse, emotional turmoil, loneliness, chronic diseases, the COVID-19 pandemic, economic woes, migration, urbanizations, and social and financial misbalance, and so on.

There are no easy solutions to suicide and mental health problems, and the suicide solution song by Ozzy Osbourne, which goes "Wine is fine, but whiskeys quicker. Suicide is slow with liquor. Take a bottle, drown your sorrow. Then it floods away tomorrows...", is not going to help either. We don't live in a perfect world. We live in a fragile and sometimes meaningless world where reality is questioned.
Some even question our very existence and argue that we may live in a simulation where there has been a debate about the nature of our reality. As a result, life is hard and killing yourself or feeling like things will never get better may not be the solution.

In conclusion, I argue that, as Camus claims in his novel, men are guilty of something. We are guilty not only of our actions but of our inactions or failure to act. Crimes we fail to stop are just as much our fault as those we commit ourselves. Hopefully, in our general election, we will elect someone who will make mental health issues their priority, not with words but with action.

 

Published: The Himalayan Times (THT)
Nepal's leading daily newspaper

End of our world?

We mark Dashain and Tihar to celebrate the victory of good over evil. But, on the other side of this world, the West and Russia may start a nuclear or winter war, which would be devastating for the new world order after all the COVID-19 sufferings.

The other day, I checked Twitter, and no wonder "World War III" was trending. We live amid this new world order and geo-political crisis. While listening to one of my friend's podcasts, he mentioned that we live in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world. Something fishy is happening in this new world order, and it feels heavy what's happening elsewhere.

Recently, the Nord Stream gas pipeline was blasted by an unknown country, and this is the beginning of a "hybrid war" between the West and Russia. And Germany is bracing for an unthinkable scenario - an "energy crisis".

 

Europe is living in difficult times with the Ukraine war still continuing. In addition, there were persistent heatwaves across several countries in Europe. Those heatwaves killed people, and thousands of ordinary people died. Yet several months have passed since the Ukraine war, and Russia is not budging. Instead it has annexed large territories of Ukraine.

Just a few days ago, Putin threatened the West with its tactical nuclear bomb if the West kept interfering in his "special military operation".

Russian President Putin is closely watching what the free world leaders are doing with their strategic, political and so-called "democratic values". No wonder he does not care about the Western sanction, which has failed. All this has resulted in high inflation, and rising food and gas prices can be seen and felt everywhere worldwide, including in our homes.

And Finland and Sweden are in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) ratification process. NATO, however, does not represent only the world power of several developed countries. When its members get involved in a war between two countries, supplying weapons, resources, money, soldiers, and all unseen support, they are also at war with another country without being on "enemy" territory. As a result, it feels as if World War III has already started.

I am unsure if democracy is failing us as the winter approaches or if our discontent will lead to World War III. On the other hand, it looks like as if the free world's leaders are intent on escalating this situation against Russia and China. The very fact that we are flirting with a nuclear conflict with Russia is dangerous, and yet there has been no effort to avoid it in practical ways. Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," and if a nuclear war were to begin that will be the end of this world as we know it.

 

Published: The Himalayan Times (THT)
Nepal's leading daily newspaper

 

Dengue spreads in cities

A European friend wanted to travel to Kathmandu a few months ago when I accidentally met him in a doctor's clinic where he was taking precautionary medicine and injection for dengue and malaria. It is a well-known fact that Dengue cases are rising in the Kathmandu Valley and elsewhere.

Dengue, a mosquito-borne disease, is spread through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito with four types: DENV-1 to DENV-4. The identical infected mosquito is also reported to transmit chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika viruses based on reports by the WHO. The incubation period of dengue is between 3-10 days, showing very little or no symptoms like fever, digestive problems, and fatigue. Therefore, it seems that dengue cannot spread directly from person to person, like the COVID virus. However, someone infected can infect mosquitoes, which can infect another human. According to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, almost forty per cent of the world's population lives in areas at risk of dengue with over 100 countries.

 

Climate plays one of the crucial drivers of the current distribution and incidence of dengue. However, dengue in Nepal is found regardless of climate and weather situations. Dengue is not necessary to spread because of the monsoon season, but the country has also seen the spread in pre- and post-monsoon seasons. Based on the data from EDCD (Epidemiology and Disease Control Division), dengue cases are rising and have been reported in more than sixty districts this year alone. Besides climate, there are other socioeconomic factors at play as well. Examples include unplanned urbanisation, travel, increase in breeding sites, intensive farming, dams, irrigation, poor housing in urban areas and improper solid waste management.

Several campaigns against dengue from 2010 onwards have not been very effective because of a lack of active public participation. Raising awareness and allocating a budget is one thing, but the actual implementation must come from people and the community. Unfortunately, our typical Nepalese nature is not to take things seriously until they battered us.

It isn't easy to eliminate Aedes mosquitoes because of their adaptive nature. However, introducing an "early warning system" can be used to predict and prevent dengue outbreaks with public health interventions. The awareness campaign can start in schools where learners can be taught effective mosquito and repellent strategies. Some preventive measures can include: keeping water containers adequately covered to prevent mosquitoes from entering, regularly cleaning spaces where water is logged and becomes a breeding ground, wearing clothes with full sleeves, or regularly cleaning nearby areas where mosquito eggs might be rotting.

 

Published: The Himalayan Times
Nepal's leading daily newspaper

Electronic Voting

I visited Estonia during the summer break to check on my accountants who were doing the fiscal year closing. My accountant told me that they have the local election, and he was doing online internet-based voting, which excited me to delve into the prospect of such a mechanism.

Elections are the bedrock of democracy; however, it is a costly endeavour. As the Nepali general election will be held on November 20, 2022, the government has allocated about Rs 8 billion for it. Imagine how much we could save if only we invested and created an electronic voting mechanism (EVM).

Many countries are exploring and experimenting with different approaches to enable more streamlined voting that is secure, efficient and auditable. There are some advantages of e-voting, such as increased efficiency and improved accuracy.

Technically, to implement e-voting, we can use e-identification through the banking system to identify a person. Second, we could implement deep facial recognition together with biometrics. Finally, voters can identify with their digital voter ID card through future e-voting platforms. No vote should be recorded for those who could not pass through the eligibility verification process (it should not be that somebody else votes on my behalf). All ballots must be kept confidential during and even after the polling.

Still, there are some disadvantages of e-voting. For example, there is no guarantee if voter turnout will be more or less because of online voting. The technology solution will only make things messy if not done right. And there are high chances that technology is constructed without giving due thought and diligence. As a result, it may inevitably create more problems, so the solution lies in designing the process rather than the tech of e-voting itself. Perhaps, blockchain can provide cryptographic solid verifiability and solutions if appropriately used, which could increase transparency while allowing more fluid and decentralised decision-making.

The government should start a feasibility study on internet and electronic voting, to produce information that can be used to define the premise and possible acquisition of e-voting platforms. Besides, a working group should be formed to collect international experiences related to the digitalisation of elections and monitor such activities in the future.

Every citizen should be allowed to participate through online voting regardless of where they live, travel or work. Possibly e-voting will be the right solution to choose the best candidate and will hit hard on those politicians who are now playing "musical chairs" in the game of politics.

Published: The Himalayan Times
Nepal's leading daily newspaper

Getting Rid Of Garbage Mess For Good

 Many developing countries are presently facing severe environmental degradation and health risk associated with mismanagement of domestic waste. The overall status of garbage problems is now a challenging ecological issue in Katmandu. Over the past decade, the Katmandu Valley has encountered rapid population growth, dumping of garbage near water bodies, unplanned waste disposal, excessive urbanisation, and an imperfect solid waste management system. In addition, issues in the reliable waste management systems have now encountered a lack of public understanding of the stable waste system, unplanned urbanisation, the introduction of environmentally unfriendly commodities, and changing consumer habits.

 

 

Crucial role

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is a tiny area with more than a million individuals. The garbage management system is mainly a door-to-door waste pickup service by KMC. Still, much garbage is unmanaged and ends in rivers or dumped near streets. A landfill site near Kathmandu is said to have already reached capacity despite a spread of over 37.65 hectares. According to KMC, the Kathmandu Valley generates about 853 tons of waste daily and 70,080 tons annually.  The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) plays a crucial role in developing plans and policies, including sanitation and drainage. For Katmandu, the KMC Office is the principal jurisdiction in executing the solid waste management (SWM) system. 

The majority of households (89 per cent) want to segregate the organic and non-organic portions of their waste. Lack of proper lining, raw solid waste from the city's dumpsites leaches into river water, causing contamination and degrading the quality of the water. Despite the initial effort made by the newly-elected Mayor of KMC Balendra Shah, city dwellers are still facing many problems due to garbage. Tourists suffer from the bad smell while passing the massive piles of rubbish. Every day, the 18 municipalities in KMC generate over 1,200 metric tons of solid waste. Recently, as the Bancharedanda road has been under construction, Kathmandu has now been unable to collect garbage for several days. 

With continuous growth in population density and urbanisation, waste generation in Katmandu is rising dramatically. In 2014, the Ministry of Health and Population had identified SWM as the country’s most crucial challenge. There is only one waste collection and transfer station at Teku, where wastes from Kathmandu and other cities are transported. This station transports waste to the Bancharedanda Landfill now. Kathmanduites have been facing problems with garbage transportation during rainy and monsoon seasons along the 27-km road that stretches to Sisdole and Bancharedanda. Because of the rainy season and transport issues, the city uses 40,000 square feet of plastic tarp to cover the ever-growing garbage problem at Teku transfer station.

The segregation of garbage is also a big problem. Furthermore, many remote areas and slums of Katmandu do not have sufficient financial capacity to collect and manage waste. Moreover, open dumping is a common practice in Kathmandu. As a result, waste is scattered on roads, drainage, and open spaces. To solve the problem of garbage segregation, a pilot project was started in 2020 but did not work correctly. Besides municipal solid waste, healthcare waste is another major challenge for KMC. According to the Health Management Information System of Nepal, within the small city of Kathmandu, the number of registered public and private healthcare facilities (HCFs) in 2019 is more than 1,070 and combined with unregistered HCFs, the number is around double, and these HCFs produce more than a ton of hazardous wastes.

In addition, Metro City Waste Management picks up on-hazardous waste generated from these HCFs. Still, no central management system is practised for dangerous wastes in the KMC. Moreover, few HCFs are individually practising incinerations for hazardous waste; in many cases, body parts have been found to mix with general waste. Nepal has adopted numerous legal facilitating regarding solid waste management in KMC, for instance, Solid Waste (Management and Resource Mobilisation) Act and rules, 1987, Solid Waste Management National Policy, 1996, Solid Waste Management Act, 2011 and Solid Waste Management Rules 2013. Despite having laws and policies, KMC has considerably not guaranteed a sound management system primarily because of a lack of economical implementation of actions and policies. 

Eventually, the garbage situation within Katmandu has reached a critical level. KMC has now taken initiatives to work with private agencies for solid waste management systems like private sector participation (PSP) as a crucial role for SWM. But unfortunately, it is not working well due to insufficient funding. According to the world population review (2021), like other cities, Katmandu will protect its individuals by providing a healthy environment, a good solid waste management policy and economic opportunities. In some areas of Katmandu, private organisations and local communities work together for waste management. 

Suggestions

In conclusion, KMC must integrate solid waste management from collection to final disposal to minimise environmental impacts and facilitate clean city and resource recovery materials. It is necessary to sort waste at home before taking it to a waste container and create good collection points and sorting containers. Sorting should be based on biowaste, paper, cartoon, glass, metal, plastic, mixed waste. There is also need to create separate collection points for hazardous waste, e.g. batteries, broken computers, electrical equipment. 

We should learn from Scandinavian nations like Finland and Sweden on how to implement an efficient waste management system where the overarching mission is simple - to stop sending waste to recycling in the first place. Finally, KMC must plan to transform the waste disposal system from open dumping to an engineered landfill site which may require investment with a commercial vision to address and align tech, policy, and environmental possibilities. Hopefully, with everyone's concerted efforts, Kathmandu will become garbage-free metropolis, where sustainability and a smart city vision can prosper in the future. 

 

Published: The Rising Nepal
Nepal's first English broadsheet daily

Shady cooperatives’ practices

Lately, a friend who deposited millions in a cooperative bank came to me and said he had lost his life savings because the owner had run away with all the money. He said more than a thousand depositors had lost their money in the scam, and a police complaint had been filed. This is not an isolated incident. They are happening across the country for multiple reasons.

Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate, created the concept of Grameen Bank, a cooperative banking system in Bangladesh. It became widespread, providing micro loans to the marginalised, average and lower middleclass people. More than 16 million people who had no access to the traditional bank loans benefitted from the scheme. Somewhat inspired by the popularity of these cooperative banks, aspiring bankers and Nepali entrepreneurs started to found cooperatives here, too.

According to recent government data, there are more than 25,000 cooperatives (saving and credit as well as multi-purpose cooperatives) with more than 7 million members across the country. One regulatory body, the Department of Cooperatives, governs these co-op organisations. However, thanks to nominal or no monitoring by the so-called Department of Cooperatives, many depositors are being cheated almost daily.

 

Perhaps, it is a debatable and controversial topic. But are the Class A banks, categorised by the Nepal Rastra Bank as such, any better or worse than the coops? Still, of the many sectors and industries, the banking sector is an outlier and one of the most-profitable businesses. Among the many reasons, co-ops became highly popular here because of the higher interest rates that were provided than the big banks, which was lucrative for the middle and lower-middle income people. As a result, the number of cooperatives has mushroomed in recent times, and depositors' complaints have also increased drastically.

Moreover, once there were enough deposits, some of the founders of these co-ops started to invest for their personal benefit, such as real estate property, contributing to political parties, and building big shopping complexes and malls. Consequently, some ran away, swindling depositors of their money. I know that my friend's life savings are now lost forever, and it will be a dream to recover any of that amount.

In a nutshell, some other reasons that result in market fraud are weak or no monitoring or lack thereof, unethical co-op practices, lack of effective regulations, way too many co-ops in the provincial and local units, syndicated markets with cartels, political influence on lawmakers and shady business practices.

 

Published: The Himalayan Times
Nepal's leading daily newspaper

Legalise cannabis

Recently, I had travelled to California, where I saw that cannabis is entirely legal in the state and is also allowed for medical use. However, one Nepali doctor asked me a question that haunted me for days.

He asked, "Why have we made cannabis illegal in our country?" Cannabis was and currently is a vital part of Nepal's society and culture; however, it has been banned by law since 1976.

Ayurveda began thousands of years ago with cannabis use by saints and yogis. We worship Lord Shiva, but why do we ban cannabis use? The use of cannabis, especially during festivities, rituals and social gatherings, as in Shivaratri, is tolerated.

About 50 years back, people from all over the world used to come and visit government-licensed stores on "Freak Street", a popular destination for cannabis use. Now, the West has moved on and liberalised the prohibition of cannabis, and almost half of U.S. states are decriminalising its use. Recently, Thailand has become the first Asian country to legalise cannabis.



As Nepal's trade export has faltered in recent times, a rejuvenated cannabis trade tailored to the export demand can not only boost the "brand value" of the country but also prove a highly lucrative business for the agriculture sector in Nepal. In addition, some lawmakers and experts have claimed cannabis possesses "medicinal property" that will boost Nepal's fragile tourism industry and benefit those with chronic mental illnesses.

According to some estimates, by 2030, the global cannabis market is projected to be more than $120 billion. Therefore, the Nepal government should consider how much foreign exchange it can bring if we allow farming and legalise it in the future.

Furthermore, it will boost innovative products and services for future medical products in cannabis and pave the path for new and emerging businesses that could arise from the agricultural sector.

A Californian Nepali friend said he had found excellent benefits from cannabis. Not only has it treated migraine, headaches, pain, anxiety and insomnia in some cases, but it has also allowed him to slow down in some situations. I believe Nepal should take advantage of this untapped market as soon as possible by carrying out research on cannabis for scientific and medicinal purposes, which will bring colossal royalty income to our country.

Nepali lawmakers must create a pathway for cannabis cultivation and legalise it for recreational and medical use. Legalising marijuana/cannabis is a way forward for Nepal, but policymakers in our country do not care much about public issues, I jokingly told a friend.


Published: The Himalayan Times
Nepal's leading daily newspaper

Why Nepal Fails

I have completed writing a new non-fiction book entitled "Why Nepal Fails", which is now in the final stages of publication. Here are some questions and answers in-line:

 

What is the book about?

"Why Nepal Fails" discusses entrepreneurship in Nepal. The way people are doing business in Nepal, for example. It attempts to look into various perspectives, although the book is solely based on my own experiences. 

What is the genre of the book?

The book is non-fiction based on real-life events. 

Who is the target audience?

The target audience is everyone above 18+ age and all the young people who are doing business in Nepal or thinking of doing business in Nepal.

 

What is the word count?
The total word count of the book is approx 55k+ words with references.

What is the print format?

The book will be available in both paperback and hardback.

Where to purchase the book?

The book can be purchased from the bookstore in Nepal, e.g. B B Book Store, phone +977 986-9257210 and also available online soon.

Can I pre-order the book?

Yes, you can. Don't hesitate to get in touch with the bookseller through email here: bajrangbalibooks@gmail.com

or via phone at +977 986-9257210

Do you have the concept cover of the book?

Yes, the concept cover of the book looks like above, but this may not be the final book cover.