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Pokhara: Minister for Youth and Sports Jagat Bishwakar­ma has said a well-equipped international standard stadium would soon be built in Pokhara. Speaking at a press conference organized by the Nepal Sports Journalists Forum, Kaski, he also pointed out the possibility of linking tourism of the lake city with sports.

Acknowledging that sports can­not progress unless athletes can earn a living through their cho­sen profession, he also prom­ised a cricket ground. He high­lighted the recent success of the national cricket team, which has just earned the right to play international ODI cricket for the next four years. RSS

Lahan: Naya Shakti Party Nepal’s coordinator Baburam Bhattarai has warned that the country may see another conflict if the constitu­tion is not amended. Speaking at a press meet, Bhattarai said the Mad­hesi people were dissatisfied with the constitution, and their demand for amending it must be heard. He also accused the Madhes-based leaders of being opportunists, sug­gesting that they should respect people’s mandate for amending the constitution. RSS

On March 15, in arguably the country’s biggest sporting achievement till date, the Nepali men’s cricket team secured the One Day International status. The new status allows the team to play ODI cricket for the next four years. In this period, besides the ODIs, the men in blue-and-red will also get to play in the InterContinental Cup, a com­petitive four-day precursor to the five-day Test cricket.

On his triumphant return home, skipper Paras Khad­ka said Team Nepal’s next target is the ODI World Cup. With the players having done their bit, he added som­berly, the onus is now on the government to improve Nepali cricket.

He was right on the mark. The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) was suspended by the International Cricket Council in 2016 due to excessive government interference. In its absence, domestic cricket has suffered and Nepal’s international participation been severely curtailed. Without the lifting of the ICC sanctions on CAN, it will be hard to build a robust domestic base, the only surefire way to do well in international cricket.

In the meantime Nepal can play ODIs even with the sanctions. Having secured the ODI status, Nepal gov­ernment can now directly negotiate with other Test- and ODI-playing countries for bilateral (or trilateral) games. During his recent Nepal visit, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had hinted of ‘cricket diplomacy’ with Nepal. This is the perfect time to not only approach Pakistan, but also our other cricketing neighbors like India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Perhaps the biggest signal of the seriousness to improve Nepali cricket would be for the new government to immediately resolve the old row over CAN leadership and appoint a new, non-polit­ical governing body consisting strictly of ex-cricket­ers. No more politicians or their henchmen running Nepali cricket, please. The paltry pays and perks of Nepali cricketers should also be raised. This in turn will prompt other youngsters to take up the game as a viable career option.

The next four years will be make-or-break period for Nepali cricket. If Nepal cannot capitalize on this rare opportunity, there is no shortage of countries that are keen to snatch Nepal’s ODI rights. If that is allowed to happen due to continued neglect and political interfer­ence, it would be a huge breach of trust of millions of Nepali cricket fans.

For the past 40 years, people belonging to the historically downtrodden Dalit community have been deprived of wor­ship rights at the Shiva-Parvati temple in Simraungad municipality of Bara district in the central plains. The local Chamar community has been denied the right to worship because non-Dalits of the area have prevented their entry into the shrine. “The temple was built four decades ago. Dalits have never been allowed in,” says Binod Mahara Chamar, a local resident. The tem­ple is located in Jhawani tol (neighborhood), which has 150 households. Of those, 10 to 12 belong to the Chamar community; the rest belong to Brahmins, Rajputs, Sahani, Teli and Nunia communities.

“Our forefathers helped build the temple as masons and laborers. But when it was built, we were denied entry on the grounds that we are from the ‘lower castes’,” rues Binod. He claims that non-Dalits have barred their entry because they think the presence of Dalits in the temple will defile it.

“We tried hard, but the non-Dalits were determined to keep us out,” says another local Binesh Mahara Chamar. “We are a tiny minority in this neighborhood, so we have little choice but to tolerate such injustice.”

A non-Dalit local leader of Jhawani tol denied such claims. “We haven’t prevented them from entering the temple. But if they worship in that temple, we won’t,” he says.

Another non-Dalit local Jayalal Sahani argued that Dalits are prevented from worshipping in the temple not because they are Dalits per se, but because they are dirty and come to the temple after consuming meat and alcohol. “We won’t stop them if are clean and sober,” says Sahani.

Gagandev Kushwaha, former chairman of Simraungad Village Development Committee (no longer an administrative unit after last year’s local restructuring), for his part says Dal­its have been deprived of their [worship] rights because they aren’t aware of their [civil] rights.

But Ramesh Kushwaha, chairman of Ward 7 (where Jhawani tol lies), pleads ignorance of the discriminatory practice. “I don’t know much about the happenings in the village. I’ll find out,” he says. “If indeed there’s discrimination, I’ll take the initiative to end it.”

 By Kranti Shah | Birgunj

Weekly Editorial Cartoon

The name says it all. CALM occupies a quiet area inside the Tangalwood premises, near Gahanapokhari Tangal.

With plenty of parking space and both indoors and outdoor seating options, the restaurant offers a variety of multi-cuisine dishes and an assortment of drinks.

From breakfast with a vari­ety of coffee choices, to din­ner, CALM covers it all for you. It is also a popular venue for events like birthday par­ties, corporate parties, talk programs, concerts and art exhibitions.

To add to the charm of CALM, there is a night club called Club 25 Hours almost right next to it where you can party and jive till the wee hours of night.  

THE MENU

Specials:

Chicken Sizzler

Lamb Chops

Mango Chicken

Opening hours

8 am to 11 pm

For reservations

01-4443904

Samsung has announced the launch of its latest flagships, the Gal­axy S9 and S9+, in Nepal, priced at Rs 87,900 and Rs 99,900, respec­tively. Pre-bookings for the phones have opened and the cus­tomers will be able to get their hands on the new devices on March 23.

The S9 will be available in only one color—Midnight Black while the S9+ will be available in three distinctive colors—Mid­night Black, Coral Blue and Lilac Purple. The new flagship prod­ucts are packed with innovative features such as ‘Dual Aperture lens’, and personalized ‘AR Emoji.’

Both the Galaxy S9 and S9+ fea­ture a first of its kind dual aperture lens (f1.5/f2.4) which acts similar to the way the iris of a human eye expands and contracts. The new feature automatically lets in more light when it is dark and less when it is too bright, resulting in photos that are crisp and clear.

Samsung smart­phones are well-known for their water and dust resistance with both the latest Galaxy S9 and S9+ receiving an IP68 rating, a gold standard. The devices now support expand­able memory of up to 400GB and powering them are the latest premium application processors.

With every purchase of either the Galaxy S9 or S9+, custom­ers will get 12GB Ncell data free as well as breakage insurance. Those who pre-book can choose to receive a Samsung Wireless charger or discount coupon worth Rs 5,000.

The company is also host­ing a lucky draw among all its pre-booking customers, where the first winner will be awarded a free round-trip ticket to any Turkish Airline destination.  

Civil Bank opened two new branches in Lamjung this week, its 56th in Dudhpokhari VDC 6 and the 57th in Kwhlosothar VDC 2. Ramji Regmi, a member of the board of directors of Nepal Rastra Bank, inaugurated the branches. Civil Bank was able to earn net profit of over Rs 210 million in the second quadrimester of the ongoing fiscal year, which is an increase of 31 percent compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal, according to a press statement