Submit your Article

Birth: 16 March 1961, Achham
Death: 20 June 2021, Lalitpur

Tapta Bahadur Bista witnessed all the recent political upheavals in Nepal, including the decade-long Maoist insurgency, from the front seat from his perch in the Karnali province.  

Bista, who led the people of the Karnali region during both first and second Jana Andolans, was arrested several times for his participation in pro-democracy protests. He also faced many hassles from the Maoists who had made western Nepal the launchpad of their rebellion.

Bista is credited with playing a key role in making the people of western Nepal politically aware.

At a young age of 35, Bista was elected leader of the Surkhet district committee of the Nepali Congress, a position he held for 20 years. During his long tenure, he worked to mobilize party cadres, and helped establish a strong Nepali Congress base in the whole of western Nepal.

In 2013, he was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Surkhet Constituency No.3. In 2017, Bista was appointed Minister of State for Communication by then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. At this time his special focus was on making Karnali Province a ‘wi-fi internet zone’, whereby all public areas in the province would be connected by free wi-fi internet.  

Thousands of Nepali Congress members looked up to Bista as a role model. He is remembered by his friends and supporters alike as an honest, down-to-earth, development-friendly, and exemplary leader.

On May 30, Bista, who was infected by Covid-19, was admitted to the provincial hospital in Surkhet. But as his health deteriorated, he was airlifted to a hospital in Lalitpur. He breathed his last on June 20.

Skoda, the European automotive brand having 125 years long history, is set to launch the all-new Skoda Kushaq in Nepal in the second week of July. The new mid-size SUV will be powered by the most awarded Turbo-charged Stratified Injection (TSI) that produces the highest torque in the segment.

Skoda Kushaq will be the first made-in-India SUV that is underpinned by the VW group's much popular MQB-A0 platform. It will be powered by a 1.0L TSI engine that produces a power of 115 PS and torque of 175 Nm which is best in the segment. It will be available with a 6-speed manual and automatic transmission. Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos are the core competitors of Skoda Kushaq.

150 bookings till date

“The advent of Skoda Kushaq in Nepal has excited the SUV-lovers,” says Raunak Agarwal, Executive Director of Skoda Nepal, “Till now, we have over 500 inquiries in our social media and showroom and 150 of them have already been booked. We are overwhelmed by the response from customers.”

According to Agrawal, Skoda Nepal has a target of selling 800 units of Kushaq in the coming fiscal year. “We believe that the highest torque in the segment, longest wheelbase and other first in class features might have attracted customers to Kushaq,” he adds, “We have been witnessing that mid-size SUV segment is constantly growing as we hope that this new product will win a major share as it is launched in Nepal.”

The most awarded TSI engine

The all-new Skoda Kushaq will have TSI petrol engine from the Volkswagen group that won the “Engine of the Year Award” for the eighth consecutive time. This makes TSI the most successful engine.

The jury for this award is made up of 65 motoring journalists from 32 countries. The jury said about Skoda Kushaq, “TSI Engine not only attained an overall victory, but also won the ‘Best Green Engine' award. This shows that driving fun and fuel efficiency can certainly be unified in one package.”

Compared to its predecessor, fuel consumption and CO2 emission values of the TSI engines were reduced to 9 per cent in part also by such measures as reducing internal friction, lowering weight and optimising thermal management. 

“Their combination of reduced displacement, direct injection and intelligent engine boosting enables top dynamic performance while keeping emissions and fuel consumption low. TSI engines are genuine trendsetters,” Dr Rüdiger Szengel, Head of Volkswagen Petrol Engine Development, says. 

Volkswagen Group is the global leader in charging strategies for engines with direct fuel injection, and to date it has produced over 3.8 million TSI engines at five production sites worldwide. 

Best-in-segment loaded Kushaq

At a glance, the Kushaq gets a smart design with decent proportions for an SUV. Highlights include the familiar Skoda butterfly grille, Karoq-inspired LED headlamps and fog lamps, L-shaped LED tail lamps with crystalline effect, and 17-inch alloy wheels. Upto five body shades will be on offer: Candy White, Brilliant Silver, Carbon Steel, Honey Orange, and Tornado Red. 

While the cabin is neat and minimalistic, make no mistake, it has got a vast number of features. They include a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a 6-speaker sound system, ambient lighting, connected car tech, wireless phone charger, ventilated seats, and automatic climate control. Safety features will include six airbags, electronic stability control, parking sensors with a rear-view camera, ABS with EBD, and hill hold control.

Birth: April 17, 1928, Nawalparasi
Death: May 19, 2021, Kathmandu

Khadgajeet Baral’s Nepal Police career was truly memorable. One of the first officers in the force with a postgraduate degree, Baral commanded Nepal Police for six years—when most police chiefs don’t get to serve out their four-year tenure due to age restrictions.

Baral, who got his MA from Patna University, India, joined the Mukti Sena (Liberation Army) that had launched an armed struggle against the Rana autocracy in Nepal in the latter half of the 1940s. 

After the ouster of the Rana regime, many members of the Liberation Army joined Nepal Police. Baral too became an inspector in 1957 and climbed the ladder to reach the force’s top position after 14 years of service. 

According to the then rules, an officer would be eligible for state pension only after completing 20 years in service. This meant that Baral, who was to complete his four-year tenure in office, would retire from service without pensions. Then King Birendra thought this would be unfair for a man who had served the country for such a long time, and added two more years to his tenure.

Until Baral became chief, police offices across the country didn’t have proper buildings. He started a campaign to change this and lobbied with the government to provide food and clothing allowance to police personnel. 

Baral established the Nepal Police Mountaineering & Adventure Foundation whose trainees have climbed many Himalayan peaks such as Tukuche Himal (6921m) and Pabil Himal (7,104m), conquered in 1976 and 1978 respectively.

The credit for establishing the first border outpost in the country also goes to Baral. He did it back in 1968 when stationed in Nepalgunj as deputy inspector general. He then worked on a detailed protocol to establish over 30 BOPs across the country.

Baral was successful not just in Nepal. His diplomatic skills and acumen also helped the country in the international arena. It was during Baral’s tenure that Nepal Police obtained membership of INTERPOL. Following his time in the police force, he was appointed ambassador of Nepal to Myanmar (1980-86). He lobbied with the Myanmar government to provide citizenship to people of Nepali origin and establish scholarship programs for Nepali students. Baral also served as Nepal’s ambassador to Indonesia, Singapore, and French Indo-China (Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam).

Apart from his bureaucratic and diplomatic work, he played an instrumental role in promoting sports. He invited a judo trainer from Japan and a hockey trainer from Pakistan to promote the two sports in Nepal.

Even in his retired life, he was concerned about the welfare of Nepal Police, offering valuable inputs to generations of police officers. 

He passed away peacefully at his Maharajgunj residence of natural causes on May 19. He was 93. 

A proposal to permit a company to trade electricity has raised eyebrows of those in the government as well as the private sector. As per a proposal tabled at the Ministry of Finance by Nepal Infrastructure Bank Ltd (NIFRA), Vishal Group aims to control electricity trading worth billions of rupees through the proposed company, according to a news report by ekagaj.com last week.

Nepal Electricity Authority’s (NEA) annual electricity trading was worth over Rs 76 billion last year, and this permission may allow the new company to cash in on trading surplus electricity in Indian markets, says the story. If the proposal gets through, the group will get the business without competition.  

The bank chairman is Anuj Agrawal, who is also the director of Vishal Group, with the business group owning a big stake in the bank directly or indirectly.

The bank, with Rs 20 billion rupees in paid capital, is a public private partnership institution, in which the government owns 10 percent. Its primary objective is to finance mega infrastructure projects but its current move is a deviation from its basic role. Bank Chairman Agrawal is thought of as close to PM KP Oli and has tried to get into the license of buying and selling electricity. The proposal may be tabled at the cabinet after the opinion of the Ministry of Finance.

On the other hand, a government-owned Nepal Power Exchange Limited’s proposal for electricity trading is gathering dust due to lack of law to license electricity trading for new companies. A new electricity bill with the provision of giving license for electricity trading awaits parliament’s approval.

According to the news report, the business group has a hidden agenda of exploiting NEA’s robust transmission lines.

The bank has not disclosed the new company’s proposed share structure. It has also denied that the trading company will be owned by certain groups but says it will rather be a mix of the government, NEA, commercial banks, financial institutions and general shareholders owing it.

The bank has also stated that this trading company will pave the way for the entry of the private sector in cross-border electricity lines.

Meanwhile, former NEA managing director Kulman Ghising, who ended the country’s acute load-shedding in 2016, has said electricity trading, a strategic service, should not be given to a private company.

Ghising said the government’s own company should be given priority for trading electricity. In response to the proposal of a new trading company, the trade union at NEA has warned of protests if this new company is allowed to trade electricity.

This is not the first time the current government has favored this company. Last year, Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada had leaked tax rates on electricity vehicles to the Vishal Group, secretly giving it time to import electrical vehicles at cheaper tax rates before making public tax rates. The group also was favored with lower tax rates on import of chocolates.  

Singer, director and journalist Phurba Sherpa has managed to set yet another record. Recently, while accepting the certificate for his previous record, Sherpa made another one: accepting the certificate of his record at a world-record height of 5,364 meters from the sea level. 

Sherpa had made it to the Guinness Book of World Records in 2004 by singing an entire song with only one letter of the Devanagari script “Ma” on the album “Geet Ek Akshar Ko.” Recently, the UK’s World Book of Records had accepted it as a record as well. Phurba got the official certificate of the World Book of Records at the Everest base camp.

Singer, director and journalist Phurba Sherpa has managed to set yet another record. Recently, while accepting the certificate for his previous record, Sherpa made another one: accepting the certificate of his record at a world-record height of 5,364 meters from the sea level. 

Sherpa had made it to the Guinness Book of World Records in 2004 by singing an entire song with only one letter of the Devanagari script “Ma” on the album “Geet Ek Akshar Ko.” Recently, the UK’s World Book of Records had accepted it as a record as well. Phurba got the official certificate of the World Book of Records at the Everest base camp.

Birth: 11 April 1946, Kurseong
Death: 23 May 2021, Kathmandu

Banira Giri had wanted to study Nepali literature since her early school days. But on completing her Bachelor’s degree from North Bengal University in India, she learned that she didn’t have the option of studying Nepali there. As luck would have it, she would travel to Nepal in 1965 for an award ceremony. 

Giri had submitted a poem for a competition held by the then Royal Academy. She eventually stood second and got a medal at the hands of King Mahendra.

During a short meeting with the king, Giri conveyed her interest in pursuing an MA in Nepali literature from Tribhuvan University, and the difficulties she faced in doing so. Soon, the Royal Secretariat invited her to Kathmandu with a scholarship to study at Nepal’s only university.

After a year in Nepal, she met Shankar Giri, an engineer who always motivated her to publish. They fell in love and tied the knot in 1967. Shankar played a key role in establishing Banira in Nepali literature. In 2019, he set up the Banira Foundation—a non-profit to help writers financially and in other ways. The foundation also aims to archive photo galleries, published books, manuscripts, awards, and Giri’s every unpublished piece.

After getting her Master’s degree, Giri started teaching at Padma Kanya Campus. For her doctorate, she studied the poetry of Gopal Prasad Rimal and soon became the first woman to complete a PhD in Nepali Literature. She continued teaching at various colleges affiliated to Tribhuvan University.

Although she published countless pieces in magazines in both Nepal and India, her first published book was Euta Euta Juido Jung Bahadur. She got positive reviews for her work and soon came up with the next poem collection, Jiwan Thayamaru. Her third book was a novel, Kaaragar, a 1985 bestseller. 

She is one of the few Nepali female writers celebrated outside Nepal as well. In 1975, she was invited to attend the Afro-Asian Poet Conference in Russia, becoming only the second Nepali writer to get the honor, after Laxmi Prasad Devkota. In 1997, the Japan Foundation Asia Center decorated Giri with the Takeshi Kaiko Memorial Award for her solo poetry recitation in three major Japanese cities. The American Library of Congress has archived eight of her literary works.

Shabdatit Shantanu, a poetic fantasy, helped her win the Shajha Puraskar in 1999, again becoming the first woman to do so. The government also recognized her with Suprabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu, the second highest honor in the Kingdom of Nepal.

Of late Giri had been busy with her autobiography before dementia hit her three years ago. She had been infected by Covid-19 but it was a cardiac arrest that killed her at 75. 

Giri is survived by her husband, a son and a daughter.  

Birth: 27 January 1976, Mahottari
Death: 13 May 2021, Lalitpur

It was late September 2019 when Manavsewa Ashram—a social organization dedicated to rescuing homeless people—was managing logistics to start its new branch in Bhaktapur. A large sum of money was needed. But no one knew where it would come from.

Bijay Jalan, executive director and co-founder of Worldlink Communications, heard about it and donated a million rupees to the charity. Manavsewa Ashram has since considered him its advisor and guardian. 

Jalan didn’t hesitate to get actively involved in a good cause. He also didn’t hesitate when he had the idea of launching an internet service provider company in the country—even when the internet was in its nascent stage.

In 1995, Jalan, along with one of his cousins, started Worldlink—one of the pioneer internet service providers in Nepal. In the early days, the duo used to visit customers’ houses and install the service. More and more people subscribed to Worldlink in the years to come.

But in 2008, the ISP business in Nepal witnessed a slump, and Worldlink was no exception. Nepal Telecom started its ADSL service, which provided better internet connectivity compared to other companies. The situation worsened so much that Jalan and the team almost shut down the company. 

But Jalan didn’t give up. His company invested heavily in new technology and ensuring faster connectivity. Things improved gradually with the introduction of optical fiber networks and NTC’s ADSL would be no match against the new services.

Worldlink is now the largest ISP in the country as well as the largest taxpayer from the ICT sector. Almost 45 percent of internet traffic in Nepal passes through Worldlink.

Jalan recently showed mild symptoms of Covid-19. When he got himself tested, he was immediately admitted to a hospital in Lalitpur and kept on a ventilator for a week. The 45-year-old passed away on May 13. 

He is survived by his wife Anupa Jalan and son Ashwin.