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The magnitude-7.8 Turkey-Syria quake has triggered a humanitarian disaster, with around 16,000 people already killed, thousands missing, a huge population without supplies and  many people awaiting rescue under the rubble. Against this backdrop, experts say, Nepal, an earthquake-prone country, should learn lessons from the 7.8 tremor and step up disaster preparedness. The quake on the far-off shores of Turkey and Syria has brought back memories from the 2015 Great Gorkha Earthquake (magnitude-7.6), which left more than 600,000 houses destroyed and nearly 9,000 people dead. Jolts of lesser magnitudes have followed the Gorkha quake, including the recent ones in the Sudurpaschim Province. Despite these rude shocks, not much has changed in Nepal in terms of disaster preparedness, point experts. Lack of open spaces, a crowded outcrop of high-rises and a large population in core city areas pose a huge threat to lives and properties. Learning lessons from the past, Nepal should shore up disaster preparedness, experts say, warning that casualties could rise in Nepal in the event of a massive quake. “The Turkey-Syria earthquake and the 2015 Gorkha earthquake have shown that we need trained rescue workers, cutters and equipment to break the building chunks to rescue people caught under the rubble,” says Anil Pokhrel, chief executive at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. Increase in the number of concrete buildings should also be a cause for concern as the collapse of such structures can cause increased losses of lives and properties, per experts. They stress that the country needs radars to locate people under the debris and trained human resources for rescue operations. “We lack trained human resources and equipment. We need to address this shortfall by producing trained human resources and adding equipment needed for search and rescue across the country,” says Pokhrel. The government should invest in study to assess the safety status of schools, health centers and government buildings. “These structures should be categorized on the basis of their safety status.” “The government should invest in research to find out why many buildings did not collapse in the 2015 earthquake. Policies on construction of homes should be revised on time,” observes Amod Mani Dixit, chair at National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET). Other expert prescriptions include the construction of earthquake-resistant buildings and shoring up of disaster preparedness at local levels, apart from management of safe places for the rehabilitation of rescued people. “This is a wake-up call for all Nepalis. We have forgotten the 2015 earthquake altogether. Building construction codes are not followed and we have no knowledge about technologies that can minimize the impact of a quake. We are ill-prepared to deal with natural disasters,” says Dixit.

With the number of people being obese and getting fatter, health centers in Kathmandu have started weight loss surgery. Heard until a few years ago in Kathmandu, the weight loss surgery has been one of the attractions for people to help them look attractive, keeping their weight maintained. Sedentary life and work, changing lifestyles and modes of transportation, intake of foods rich in fat and sugar, rapid urbanization, imbalance between calories consumed and expended are some of the causes for overweight and obesity in Nepal, health experts say. Situation in Nepal   A nationwide population-based 2022 survey conducted in Nepal found prevalence of diabetes mellitus to be 8.5 percent. The research paper published in National Library of Medicine by Namuna Shrestha and others sampled 13,200 participants aged 20 years and above in 400 clusters of 72 districts of Nepal. The research findings revealed that the prevalence of diabetes was 8.5 percent in the country. The occurrence of diabetes was higher in the upper age groups (40-59) and 60+ years compared with the group aged 20-39 years. Overweight and obesity are important risk factors for diabetes, the research revealed. It showed that participants who were overweight and obese had about two times higher odds of having diabetes than those with a normal BMI. A cross-sectional study conducted among 266 students of class 9 and 10 in Chitwan found 9.77 percent students overweight and three percent obese. The paper published in the Journal of College of Medical Science-Nepal found that the majority of overweight was among female students of 13-15 years age group from private school. Also eating snacks while watching television is associated with being overweight. Students who take snacks while watching television were significantly overweight as compared to those who do not 13.33 percent vs 6.11 percent. The National Demographic Health Survey 2016 concluded that overweight/obesity in men and women increases with wealth and household food security. Obesity The World Health Organization has defined overweight and obesity as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. A body mass index (BMI) over 25 is considered overweight, and over 30 is obese. It has said that 39 million children under the age of five were overweight or obese in 2020. For adults, WHO defines overweight as BMI greater than or equal to 25 and obesity as BMI greater than or equal to 30.   “Body-mass index is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults. It is defined as a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters (kg/m2).” Childhood obesity The prevalence of overweight or obese children and adolescents aged 5–19 years increased more than four-fold from 4 percent to 18 percent globally from 1975 to 2016, the WHO says. One in 13 children and adolescents in Nepal between the age of 5 and 19 are obese in Nepal. Obesity among children and adolescents (between the age of 5 and 19) has increased 29 times in the past four decades, UNICEF says. Keeping in view the increasing number of obese children and adolescents, the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued its first guideline on childhood obesity. Children struggling with obesity should be treated early, including with medication and surgery, the new US guidelines says. Health problems Excessive weight gain has numerous health problems. “People who are obese are under a risk to develop diabetes, sleep apnoea, heart problems, raised cholesterol level, blood pressure, problems during pregnancy, etc,” said Dr Alark Devkota, Rajouria DM diabetes and endocrinology, Nepal Diabetes Endocrine Polyclinic, Baneshwor. Dr Devkota also points to psychological stress, difficulty during pregnancy and the risks of obesity. Lifestyle modification and regular exercises are recommended to maintain weight. But those who have tried all the measures of losing weight and have failed there are weight loss surgeries available. Bariatric surgery Nepal’s health centers are providing weight loss surgery for people who are very obese. This surgery is also called bariatric or metabolic surgery. The process involves surgery of the stomach and making it smaller in size. “The treatment helps to decrease one’s appetite, changes hunger hormones and control hunger cravings. It restricts the amount of food which can be consumed and also decreases hunger,” said Dr Koshish Pokharel, bariatric and metabolic surgeon at HAMS Hospital. A total of 15 such surgeries have been conducted at HAMS hospital in the past three months. The cost for the surgery is between Rs 350,000 and 400,000. “The surgery is conducted on persons with more than 35 BMI,” informed Dr Pokharel. “It is also beneficial for people with obesity, diabetes, have sleep apnoea, etc,” said Dr Shail Rupakheti, gastrointestinal surgeon and director at Star Hospital. Junk food popular among children Children craving for foods rich in sugar and savoring to their hearts’ content is what we see each day. Consumption of junk food such as noodles, chips, cakes and similar other items are the causes of obesity in children, point the doctors. “When children grow up eating such junk food, they suffer from diseases such as diabetes, back pain, high blood pressure from a young age,” said Dr Aruna Uprety, a nutritionist and public health expert. Eat local   Consumption of locally available foods is healthy and nutritious. Children should be given foods rich in protein, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and fiber. Prof Dr Uma Koirala said, “Baked items should be avoided as they have trans fat. There is trans fat in processed and baked items such as cakes, breads, cookies, pizza, fried foods, French fries, doughnuts, instant noodles, etc. Consumption of such foods poses risks to cardiovascular diseases.” The nutritionists advise eating healthy and balanced diets to maintain good health. They advise eating foods we have been consuming for ages. “Rice, lentils, green leafy vegetables, roti, pickles and our seasonal foods are both nutritious and healthy,” said Uprety. They advise regular exercises to maintain weight and stay healthy.

Recently, Nepal gifted its neighboring state India two huge ‘sacred’ Shila (believed to date back crores of years) sourced from the Kaligandaki river, known the world over as the only river on whose banks the sacred Shaligram are found. The two Shila are to be sculpted into the images of Lord Ram and Mata Janaki and installed at the Ram Temple, under construction in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.  During their journey, the Shila won the hearts and minds of more than a billion Sanatana dharma believers. The devotees stood in queues for hours in both the countries waiting for the procession to pass by. Both the Nepalis and the Indians stood hand-in-hand for their audition with the holy Shila. The Shila have been bejeweled not only with garlands of flowers and fruits found on their way to Ayodhya, but also loved by the peoples of both the countries with ample hope that Nepal and India will never be at loggerheads. Love and respect for the Shila poured in as they passed the believers by on their way to Ayodhya. Chanting of the cadences Jay Shree Ram, Jay Sita Ram with sudden jerks and thrills resonated through the hills and the valleys, the gorges and the gullies making their kinesis a timeless convoy. The Vedic verses echoed through the serpentine highways. Some of the devotees, enchanted with devotion, joined whereas others were charmed with glimmering shreekhanda paste and saffron ramanami shawl bejeweling the Shilas. The highways along the holy rivers of Nepal became sanctified as the Shila moved on, while the snow-capped Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Machhapuchhre and other Himalayan peaks seemed to be watching over the holy procession. What the believers of all colors, classes and castes loved the most was the spirit, the transcendent and fiery expression of thoughts and ardent resolve they overwhelmed with the calling of the Creator, the earthly but non-anthropomorphic countenance of the Lord Vishnu whose seventh of the ten avatars, according to the Vedic scriptures, was Lord Ram. However, Nepal-India relations may not flow like the waves of the Kaligandaki or glister like the Shaligram found on its banks. Diplomacy moves through multiple undertakings. The characters, natures and features of it get multiplied, enriched and groomed along the journey it covers, and gathers timely attributes. If not rendered timely, it may gather dirt. Tools and skills of diplomacy work for preserving peace and preventing conflicts. The procession of two heavy-duty trucks bearing the holy boulders on their payload carriage from Shalagram kshetra (Nepal) to Ayodhya (India) through the holy places of Nepal brandished a fresh journey of Nepal-India relations—the Shaligram Diplomacy. In fact, Nepal-India relations have witnessed a constant ebb and flow. Nepal has survived multiple nakabandi (blockades) imposed by India. Nakabandi against a country, 91 percent (almost) of whose population consists of Sanatana believers. The last one was during the holy season of Dashain and Tihar festivals of 2015 creating crises and shortages of everything in Nepal. The strategic blunders that Indian states persons committed through the blockades against Nepal did not yield their country any favorable return. Rather, they led to the erosion of India’s image in the global community. It was the Indian blockade of 1969 that resulted in Nepal’s first trade deal with China. In 1989, India again imposed a trade embargo on Nepal, which lasted more than a year—a foreign policy blunder on the part of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi that further enhanced Nepal’s ties with China and quickened the erosion of India’s global posture of fraternity. The cinematic display of goodwill by PM Narendra Modi during his visit to Nepal fooled the Nepali Hindus as his government imposed a blockade in 2015. It resulted in the Nepal-China transit and trade agreements that offered Nepal strategic ports for export and import of Nepali goods. The Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Nepal in 2019, which further emboldened the ties. Hence, every generation of Nepali people has beheld such Indian moves against them. Relations between nations may face high and low tides but that have to be dealt with diplomatic prowess acting like the states persons and swiftly opening all diplomatic corridors for peaceful resolution of the crises. Since Nepali people do not harbor the animosity of any color, character or composition against the Indians, they expect the same from India. Both of the friendly countries have been rejoicing people-to-people ties for ages. Open borders, cross-border landholdings and homogeneous civilizational sorority are evident for the preceding premise. What issues exist between them are the socioeconomic and political economic hitches—record high export-import disparity, unsettled border disputes and long-standing unresolved snags regarding bilateral treaties and agreements. Nepalis deserve respect abiding by the spirit of bilateral treaties. India needs to contribute to the reasonable progress and development of Nepal with its economic and social splendor and prosperity. Nepal-India ties should never meet with vehement opposition. India’s diplomatic moves through bureaucrats, political figures, Bollywood icons, prominent individuals or institutions should stop engendering resentment in Nepali hearts. Nepal-India ties should be without paradoxes. Nepalis cannot tolerate any external involvement in their domestic affairs, a fundamental ground for preserving sovereignty of a state. India, as the ‘best friend in need’, should neither pose a threat nor be a sole source of security. Fraternal rhetoric must breed the friendlier reality—Nepal-India relations require it to be as sacred and inviolable as Shaligram Shila themselves. The author is the PhD scholar at DIRD, TU

The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against five commercial banks for non-compliance with rules and directives related to anti-money laundering (AML). The central bank has slapped a fine of Rs 5 million each on four commercial banks while warning a commercial bank. NRB has taken enforcement action against nine commercial banks till the second quarter of the current fiscal year. Of them, Prabhu Bank, Kumari Bank, Bank of Kathmandu (BOK) (now merged with Global IME Bank) and Prime Commercial Bank have been fined Rs 5 million each for violating the law related to money laundering. According to the NRB, Nabil Bank has been cautioned after it was found that the bank failed to implement provisions related to know-your-customer (KYC). NRB Executive Director Dev Kumar Dhakal said that fines have been slapped so that they correct their ways in the coming days. "The four banks have been fined and one bank has been cautioned for their non-compliance to the directives issued by the central bank," said Dhakal. According to NRB sources, actions were taken against these four banks after they did not follow the central bank order to freeze the bank account of Prithvi Bahadur Shah who attempted to bring undisclosed funds earned from criminal activities abroad. Citing some suspicious activities, the central bank had frozen Rs 400 million Shah brought from the US as per the request of a US government agency. Stating that the money sent in the name of Shah was illegally earned, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a US government agency under the Department of Treasury, had asked the Financial Information Unit (FIU) of the NRB to freeze the amount and return it to the US. FinCEN collects and analyses information about financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police arrested Shah and five others on January 7 on a charge of defrauding millions of dollars through unauthorized entry into the computer systems of foreign nationals. Similarly, NRB has cautioned the CEO of Machhapuchhre Bank for not reporting the correct details of the capital fund according to the capital adequacy framework. Likewise, the central bank has also cautioned Sanima Bank for providing additional facilities to the then CEO Bhuvan Dahal contrary to the provisions of the Bank and Financial Institution Act 2073. The central bank has also cautioned CEOs of Machhapuchhre Bank, Civil Bank and Nepal Investment Bank (now Nepal Investment Mega Bank), on the charge of collecting more interest from borrowers by increasing premiums contrary to the instructions of the regulatory body.