BINOD GHIMIREKATHMANDU, JUNE 23

When Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli dissolved the House of Representatives last December, lawyers arguing on behalf of the 13 petitioners demand-ing its restoration had questioned his intention. They said that Oli dissolved the House without exhausting all the constitutional provisions for forming a government.

Months later, after Oli dissolved the House for a second time on May 21, lawyers on Wednesday questioned President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s intention for endorsing the dissolu-tion recommendation.

The House dissolution recommenda-tion on May 21 followed President Bhandari’s move of disqualifying

claims by Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and Oli him-self to form a government under Article 76 (5) of the constitution.

“Bhandari’s rejection of Deuba’s claim makes it clear that she didn’t want anybody except KP Sharma Oli as prime minister,” said advo-cate Govinda Bandi on Wednesday while arguing on behalf of the petitioners against the House dis-solution.

The final hearing on the House dissolution began on Wednesday.

As many as 30 petitions, including one by the opposition alliance led by Deuba, against the House dissolution have been filed at the Supreme Court.

The Constitutional Bench has said it would first settle the petition filed by Deuba, which is backed by 146 law-makers, including 23 of Oli’s CPN-UML, of the dissolved House.

The opposition alliance has demanded that the House be restored and Deuba appointed prime minister because he had presented the signa-tures of 149 lawmakers before the President on the afternoon of May 21, laying claim to the government.

After Prime Minister Oli lost a con-fidence vote on May 10, the President appointed him prime minister again on May 13 as per Article 76 (3) of the constitution. Oli needed to win the confidence of the House within 30 days—by June 12—as per Article 76 (4). But instead of seeking a vote, Oli on May 20 recommended that the President call for the formation of a new government as per Article 76 (5).

On May 21, Deuba staked his claim to government with signatures of 149 lawmakers—61 of Nepali Congress, 49 of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), 26 of a UML faction, 12 of a faction of Janata Samajbadi Party and one from Rastriya Janamorcha. >> Continued on page 2

Lawyers question President’s intent as hearing on House dissolution startsThe way Bhandari acted on May 21 makes it clear that she wanted Oli—and no other person—as prime minister, advocates argue. Hence she rejected Deuba’s claim.

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Chandeshwar Pandey embroiders a figure of Ganesh, a Hindu god, on a piece of cloth at Swayambhu, Kathmandu. The 56-year-old, who has been honing his embroidery skill for more than three decades, sells the artwork for a living.

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ANIL GIRIKATHMANDU, JUNE 23

Tuesday’s Supreme Court order quashing KP Sharma Oli’s two expan-sions of his Council of Ministers after the May 21 House dissolution has left the Mahantha Thakur-Rajendra Mahato faction of the Janata Samajbadi Party stunned.

As many as 10 ministers and two ministers of state of the faction lost their jobs in less than three weeks.

But the setback is not just that the faction is not in the government any-more. The faction’s decision to sup-port Oli has sowed the seeds of divi-sion in the party, and it looks like the Janata Samajbadi has reached the point of no return.

Analysts say the party was already headed for a split and the court order is not going to change anything. According to them, the Janata Samajbadi Party is going through a testing time just a little over a year after it came up as a united force.

Oli started to cultivate the Janata Samajbadi Party after his earlier House dissolution of December 20 was overturned by the Supreme Court. The Thakur-Mahato faction rose to Oli’s bait that he would address the party’s long-standing concerns, including constitutional amendments and the release of some of party mem-bers and cadres, including Resham Chaudhary.

The Upendra Yadav-Baburam Bhattarai faction, however, was suspi-cious. When Oli went for a floor test on May 10, the division in Janata Samajbadi was clear. The Yadav-Bhattarai faction (15) voted against, the Thakur-Mahato group (17) stayed neutral. On June 4, Mahato and eight

others were appointed ministers and state ministers. On June 10, Raj Kishwor Yadhav was appointed a min-ister in the Oli Cabinet.

Tula Narayan Shah, a political observer who has followed Madhes politics for long, says Tuesday’s court order won’t narrow down the gap between the two factions of the Janata Samajbadi.

“A split is inevitable,” Shah told the Post.

For now, both factions are likely to try to consolidate strength, as they wait for the Supreme Court to pass a decision on the May 21 House dissolu-tion. The Constitutional Bench start-ed the final hearing on petitions against the House dissolution on Wednesday.

“Even if the House is reinstated, more manoeuvrings are likely, which would rather increase the possibility of a split in the Janata Samajbadi,” said Shah. “As national politics is completely polarised, it will definitely have an impact on small parties like Janata Samajbadi.”

There are many who believe the formation of the Janata Samajbadi itself was not organic. A merger between the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, led by Thakur and Mahato, and Samajbadi Party Nepal, led by Yadav and Bhattarai, was prompted by Oli’s decision to issue an ordinance in April last year.

The ordinance on Political Parties Act aimed at easing party splits and registration of new parties. The two parties decided to merge to pre-empt any split.

Observers say Oli, who became the cause of the merger last year, has now become the cause of the split. >> Continued on page 2

Testing times for the Janata Samajbadi Party, as a faction supporting Oli faces setback Thakur-Mahato group’s ministers lost their jobs after Tuesday’s court order, but division in the party is so deep that a formal split looks like just a matter of time.

FILE PHOTO: RSS

The Supreme Court relieved 20 ministers, who were appointed less than three weeks ago, of their duties.

Siltation in Kaligandaki affects settlements and arable landMYAGDI: Decades of siltation on the Kaligandaki riverbed and the simul-taneous erosion of its riverbanks have put the settlements along the river in Mustang at risk of floods and inundation. “Kaligandaki in Mustang is an aggrading river, as it collects sediment and deposits it in the river, leading to increase in its bed height. The swift tributary streams that merge into the river bring debris while flowing through the higher reaches. When the debris reaches downstream, it settles down and piles up over the years,” said Jhalak Mohan Ojha, the chief at the Drinking Water, Water Resources and Irrigation Sub-Division Office in Mustang. The Kaligandaki turns shallow and slow as it meanders south through the hills and moun-tains and loses its ability to wash the debris away. (Details on Pg 2)

Anti-graft body files Rs1 billion graft case against three for granting illegal tax waiversKATHMANDU: The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority on Wednesday filed an additional cor-ruption case at the Special Court against former officer bearers of the Tax Settlement Commission for alleg-edly causing financial losses to the state while settling tax liabilities of dozens of businesses. Former direc-tor general of the Inland Revenue Department Chudamani Sharma, who was a member of the Tax Settlement Commission, its chairper-son Lumba Dhwaj Mahat and mem-ber Umesh Prasad Dhakal again face corruption charges for a second time in nearly four years in the same scam. The anti-graft body on Wednesday filed the case accusing them of embezzling over Rs1 billion. Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Risal said a new case was filed against the trio as the earlier investi-gation had not incorporated all the decisions taken by the Tax Settlement Commission. (Details on Pg 3)

State-owned companies end discounts on groceriesKATHMANDU: State-owned Salt Trading Corporation and Food Management and Trading Company have with-drawn discounts on groceries citing the end of the lockdown, while the Finance Ministry says it has given no such instruction as the pandemic per-sists. The two companies have been selling selected food products with a 20 percent discount, which they stopped from Tuesday after the gov-ernment eased virus restrictions. Mahesh Acharya, spokesperson for the Finance Ministry, said they had written to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies on June 15 to continue the discount offers on food items until further notice. “Last Monday, we reminded the Industry Ministry to maintain reduced prices,” he added. (Details on Pg 5)

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THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2021 | 02

NATIONAL

>> CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“Both factions now will fight at the Election Commission to claim theirs is the authentic party,” said Shah.

As both Rastriya Janata Party and Samajbadi Party had 17 seats each in Parliament, after their merger, the Janata Samajbadi Party was the third largest force in Parliament with 34 seats. However, one member from each constituent party remained suspended.

When the Supreme Court on March 7 invalidated the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and revived the CPN-UML and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), the Janata Samajbadi became the fourth largest party in the House. But it emerged as the kingmaker.

While it could save Oli, it could also unseat Oli. Observers say Oli tricked a faction into supporting him, while also sowing the seeds of division in the Janata Samajbadi.

According to insiders, Yadav is cur-rently taking an aggressive approach to consolidate his strength. A leader close to Yadav said he is now trying to turn the tables on Thakur.

“We are in talks with some of those members who supported Thakur but were not happy,” the central member of the party told the Post. “If we can

have 20 members on our side, we can have a majority in the Parliamentary Party [when the House is revived].”

Before the Thakur-Mahato faction joined the government, the Janata Samajbadi had a 50-member Central Committee, and Yadav commanded the majority.

But after June 4, the Thakur faction had removed Yadav and other leaders from the Central Committee and added 51 new faces to prove his faction’s majority. Yadav contested the move.

The dispute is currently at the Election Commission, which has asked both factions to submit their claims within 15 days from Monday.

Raj Kishwor Yadhav, one of the min-isters to lose the job after the court order, said they [Thakur faction] have not thought of any future strategy yet.

“We will start holding consultations with all sides,” he told the Post. “We

are also waiting for the Supreme Court’s verdict on House dissolution.”

Keshav Jha, another central mem-ber of the party, ruled out the possibil-ity of any reconciliation between the two factions.

“All eyes are on the Supreme Court right now,” Jha, who is close to Thakur, told the Post. “I do not see the chances of any rapprochement, as we are not going to join the Yadav faction and Yadav is not going to come to us.”

The Thakur faction, according to insiders, is planning to call a meeting to chart out its future course.

Tuesday’s court order may have come as a blow to Oli, but analysts say it has put the Thakur-Mahato faction in a fix. Observers had told the Post that Thakur could face a tough time convincing his constituency why he decided to support Oli.

“Thakur’s position has definitely weakened in his constituency… the Tarai-Madhes,” said Vijay Kant Karna, a professor of political science at the Tribhuvan University who keenly follows national and Madhes politics.

“There is little likelihood of the Janata Samajbadi remaining a united party. For Thakur, it’s a major setback. As far as Upendra Yadav is concerned, he has more room to manoeuvre.”

Testing times for the Janata Samajbadi Party, as a faction supporting Oli faces ...

Survivors of Melamchi floods wait to see missing family membersANISH TIWARIHELAMBU (SINDHUPALCHOK), JUNE 23

Chitra Kumari and her daughter were rescued by Kumari’s husband from the flooded Melamchi river on July 15 but he could not save himself.

“We were at the farm at Kiul bazaar when the flood hit. My husband was trying to steer us towards safety. He asked me and our daughter to start running. He was running towards us when he disappeared in the floods,” said Kumari, a resident of Churetar in Helambu Rural Municipality-2.

Her husband is still missing.Nila Bahadur Khadka, another resi-

dent of the same ward, is waiting for news of his mother who has also gone missing in the floods from Kiul area.

“I go to the river every day in search of my mother. I hope to find her soon,” said Khadka.

According to Sorbang Tamang, a local resident of Helambu Ward No. 1, at least six individuals from the Halde area who work in various fish farms are missing in the flooded river.

“Workers at the fish farms save many lives by warning villagers of

floods. But many have gone missing in last week’s floods. I was one of the lucky few who survived when the floods hit the farm in Kiul,” said Uttam Mani Bhandari, a fish farm operator in Helambu Ward No. 2.

Last week, continuous rainfall had raised the water level in the Melamchi river, which inundated the Melamchi Bazaar area and caused massive dam-age to the surrounding settlements.

“Until Wednesday, 20 people have gone missing and five individuals have died in Melamchi floods,” SP Rajan Adhikari told the Post. “More than 500 security personnel have been mobilised to search for the missing people.”

Around 600 people in Melamchi and 300 in Helambu, which lies upstream, have been affected by the flooding, according to the district office in Sindhupalchok.

According to the District Police Office, the raging river swept away eight resorts, two motorable bridges and six suspension bridges from Helambu to Melamchi Bazaar. More than 150 houses were inundated, dis-placing hundreds of people.

Siltation in Kaligandaki river affects settlements and arable lands in MustangErosion of the banks and siltation gain momentum during the monsoon, which can lead to floods and inundation.GHANSHYAM KHADKAMYAGDI, JUNE 23

Decades of siltation on the Kaligandaki riverbed and the simulta-neous erosion of its riverbanks have put the settlements along the river in Mustang at risk of floods and inundation.

“Kaligandaki in Mustang is an aggrading river, as it collects sediment and deposits it in the river, leading to increase in its bed height. The swift tributary streams that merge into the river bring debris while flowing through the higher reaches. When the debris reaches downstream, it settles down and piles up over the years,” said Jhalak Mohan Ojha, the chief at the Drinking Water, Water Resources and Irrigation Sub-Division Office in Mustang.

The Kaligandaki turns shallow and slow as it meanders south through the hills and mountains and loses its abil-ity to wash the debris away.

According to Ojha, the erosion and siltation of the river gain momentum during the monsoon season which can lead to floods and inundation. “Climate change can also have an impact on the rivers. An integrated conservation programme is the need of the hour to lessen the impacts of climate change on mountains, streams and rivers,” he said.

Every year, the increased flow of water in the river during the monsoon season inundates the surrounding settlements.

“The river overflows and floodwa-ters enter our villages every year,” said Raju Gauchan, a local resident of Sauru in Ward No. 3 of Thasang. “The monsoon season is harsh on us. We can’t cross the river in the absence of

a bridge. We have to walk for a day to reach Kobang across the river.”

Both human settlements and arable lands are at high risk of floods and inundation during the monsoon sea-son but no concrete steps have been taken to mitigate the risks.

According to Rishi Baral, chief at the Jomsom Annapurna Conservation Area Project, the Kaligandaki river in Mustang does not have permanent embankments and the riverbed settlements receive little protection from the floodwaters from the tempo-rary ones.

“Setting up temporary embank-ments is not the solution. The govern-ment should build permanent embankments so as to avoid disasters in the future,” said Baral. “It is time to conduct an environmental impact assessment of the Kaligandaki area to protect the settlements along the riverbanks.”

Villages in Jomsom, Tukche, Kobang, Sauru and Dhampu among others in Mustang stand to be affected by the Kaligandaki river if measures are not taken to mitigate the risk of floods in the area.

“Tukche, Kowang, Chiwang, Sauru, Marpha, Syang, Jomsom, Puthang, Kagbeni and Chhukchhan are at risk of floods, as the riverbed is gaining height due to siltation,” said Niraj Thakali of Jomsom, the district head-quarters of Mustang.

Several fast flowing streams like Lete, Sete, Laikyu, Thapa, Chimang, Boksi, Tama, Tukche, Marpha, Syang, Thini, Panda, Jhong, Narsing and Sangta, among others, empty into the Kaligandaki river. These streams orig-inate from Nilgiri South and North, Dhawalagiri and Tukche peaks.

>> CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

However, Oli too laid claim to gov-ernment, saying he had the support of all 121 lawmakers of his party and all 32 members of the Janata Samajbadi Party.

Near midnight of May 21 Bhandari, however, invalidated both the claims saying they were “insufficient”. An emergency Cabinet meeting recom-mended the dissolution of the lower house and holding mid-term polls on November 12 and November 19.

The President swiftly endorsed it. After the President invalidated his

claim under Article 76 (5), Deuba and 145 other lawmakers went to the Supreme Court on May 24.

When arguments began on Wednesday, lawyers questioned the impartiality of the Office of the President.

“The President gave extra-constitu-tional justification to invalidate the claim of Nepali Congress President Deuba who had the support of 149 lawmakers,” said Bandi. “It shows she wanted to see Oli as a prime minister based on Articles 76 (1), 76 (2), 76 (3) and 76 (5).”

Article 76 (1) allows the formation of the government by the leader of the party that has a majority in the House, Article 76 (2) allows for a coalition government, and Article 76 (3) allows the formation of a minority govern-ment by the leader of the largest party in the House. Article 76 (5) allows any lawmaker who can potentially prove a majority to lead a government.

While questions have been asked about Oli’s decision to lay claim to government a day after he had said there were no circumstances for him to secure a vote of confidence, lawyers now are questioning President Bhandari’s integrity.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers claim that the President endorsed the House dis-solution well past midnight despite

knowing that Deuba’s claim was valid. “The dissolution was a result of an

ill-intention,” said senior advocate Khamba Bahadur Khati. “The court should issue a writ [of mandamus] to appoint Deuba, who had the support of 149 lawmakers [of the dissolved House], prime minister.”

Lawyers argued that the signatures of 149 lawmakers were enough for Bhandari to appoint Deuba prime minister and if she had doubts about the misuse of the signatures, she could have left the matter to the House to decide.

Had Deuba been appointed prime minister, he would have to have secured a vote of confidence within 30 days of appointment. Experts on con-stitutional matters argue that the President robbed the House of its prerogative.

Before the final hearing began on Wednesday, the Office of the President, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the secretar-iat of the Speaker had submitted their written clarifications on June 17, as per the court’s June 9 order.

While President Bhandari’s clarifi-cation argued that any action carried out by the President cannot come under a judicial review, Oli argued that government formation is a politi-cal process and that the court cannot decide on the matter. Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota, on the other hand, called the House dissolution unconstitutional.

Lawyers of the plaintiffs, however, said on Wednesday that the President had encroached upon the jurisdiction of the legislature by rejecting Deuba’s claim to form a government.

Senior advocate Shambhu Thapa said that nobody has the authority to bar the people’s representatives from staking claim to form a government.

“Who are you [to reject] when 149 lawmakers signed for Deuba?” he

asked, referring to the President. “There is a floor test in Parliament to decide if someone holds a majority.”

Senior advocate Mahadev Yadav said Oli’s claim that he had support of 153 lawmakers as per their respective party’s decisions is flawed, as Article 76 (5) allows individual lawmakers to make their choices.

“Article 76 (5) doesn’t entertain the Political Parties Act-2017 which means the party whip is not applica-ble,” said Yadav.

He argued that the provision of Article 76 (5) was introduced in the Constitution of Nepal to allow indi-vidual lawmakers to make efforts to form a government so that the House doesn’t face untimely dissolution.

However, when Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana asked if there was any documentation of dis-cussions in the Constituent Assembly on the article, so as to know the legis-lative intent, Yadav said he was una-ware of it.

“The President should have rejected Oli’s claim,” said senior advocate Badri Bahadur Karki. “The prime minister and the President who should be finding solutions to prob-lems in the country are actually creat-ing problems.”

Six of the lawyers arguing on behalf of the plaintiffs presented their argu-ments for four hours on Wednesday.

The two sides have been allotted 15 hours each to present their cases. The four members of the amicus curiae have 30 minutes each to give their expert opinions.

The hearing will continue on Thursday and will go on until all argu-ments are complete.

“The plaintiffs’ lawyers will con-clude their arguments in the next two days,” Kishwor Poudel, a communica-tion expert at the Supreme Court, told the Post. “Then comes the turn of the defendants.”

Lawyers question President’s intent ...

Insiders say Yadav is taking an aggressive approach to consolidate strength.

POST PHOTO: GHANSHYAM KHADKA

Several villages in Mustang will be affected by the Kaligandaki river if measures are not taken to mitigate the risk of floods.

POST PHOTO: ANISH TIWARI

Around 600 people in Melamchi and 300 in Helambu have been affected by last week’s floods.

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03 | THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2021

NATIONAL

BRIEFING

Congress members disrupt Provincial Assembly meetDHANGADHI: Lawmakers of the Nepali Congress, the main opposition party, disrupted the provincial assembly meeting of Sudurpaschim on Wednesday stating that the provincial executive presented an ‘unconstitu-tional’ budget. The lawmakers stood up and protested soon after Speaker Arjun Bahadur Thapa commenced the assembly meeting. The assembly meeting has been postponed to Friday following the obstruction.

Government hospitals get oxygen concentrators BIRTAMOD: Various communities and private organisations have distribut-ed oxygen concentrators to govern-ment and community hospitals in the eastern region. Twenty five oxygen concentrators have been distributed in various districts of Mechi, includ-ing Ilam, Panchthar and Taplejung. Nepali Congress leader Bishwo Prakash Sharma had taken initia-tives to make government and com-munity hospitals technology friendly.

Landslides obstruct road MUGU: Vehicular movement along the Gamgadhi-Nagma road has been obstructed due to multiple landslides in Ghuchchilek and Talcha areas. According to Lila Bahadur Bhandari, chief at the Division Road Office, security personnel from the Armed Police Force have been deployed to clear landslide debris. The road links Mugu with Surkhet and Nepalgunj.

Senior citizens made to stand for hours for vaccine in Lalitpur

ANUP OJHAKATHMANDU, JUNE 23

Lalitpur Metropolitan City on Wednesday gave the second dose of the Covishield vaccine to its residents aged 75 and above, but the vaccine recipients and their relatives who accompanied them to the vaccination centres criticised the poor manage-ment of the centres as ‘insensitive.’

At 9 am on Wednesday, the Patan Secondary School, Patan Dhoka, which is one of the vaccination cen-tres, saw masked elderly people, many with grey heads and sticks on their hands, making a long line that extend-ed to the road. Police and volunteers were deployed to manage around 500 people gathered at the centre.

Vaccines were administered from 10 am to 4pm.

Unable to stand in the sun, many elderly in their 70s, 80s and more sat in the shade while the persons accompa-nying them stood in the queue on their behalf. But those who came unaccompanied, like 82-year-old Rabindra Shrestha and his 80-year-old wife Asha Maya, had no option but to keep standing in the queue for a long time.

“It’s too hot here and they didn’t even manage chairs. How can an old man like me stand for hours,” ques-tioned Rabindra, who said he suffers from knee pain.

It is insensitive of them not to arrange chairs, said Asha Maya, who was holding their vaccination cards issued after they were administered their first jabs in the second week of March.

Asha Maya said there was no crowd when they received their first jabs at their ward office at Patan Durbar Square. “How can one maintain social distancing in such a crowd?”

Situ Shrestha, who was accompany-ing her 94-year-old grandmother Durga Shrestha, was equally irritated by the mismanagement. “They have left us standing for two and a half hours. This is sheer injustice to the elderly,” said the 17-year-old, who came from Jawalakhel.

People aged 65 years and above across the country had been adminis-tered the first dose of AstraZeneca type vaccine between March 7 and 15 but their second doses still remain uncertain. In such a situation the Lalitpur Metropolitan City taking a lead to vaccinate its residents aged over 75 is quite appreciable but it also

deserves a fair share of criticism for the poor management.

“There was so much quarrel among people as the queue was dismantled several times,” complained Shailaja Sharma, 62, who was standing in the queue on behalf of her 75-year-old husband, who suffers from Parkinson’s.

“Most of those who are here for the second dose are in poor health. The authorities should have made proper arrangements before starting vaccina-tion,” said Sharma, who is also a human rights activist, from Bakhundole. “I am really surprised why they didn’t give jabs from the ward offices. It’s very stressful here.”

Nepal had begun its vaccination campaign on January 27 with Covishield (Oxford/AstraZeneca) vac-cine manufactured in India, but until now it is still undecided when the country is going to get the second dose of the vaccine, after India banned exports of the vaccine amid rising Covid-19 cases there. Another suppli-er, the COVAX facility, has informed that it will not be able to provide the vaccine anytime soon citing shortages.

When the Post contacted Raju Maharjan, spokesperson of the Lalitpur Metropolitan City to inquire on the lax arrangements at the vacci-nation centres, he said the City made the decision in a ‘haste.’

He said the City only received 2,500 doses from the District Public Health Office two days ago, and decided to vaccinate its 75-plus population.

“The expiry date of the jabs is near-ing so we wasted no time,” said Maharjan.

When the post suggested the elderly would not have to suffer standing in long queues if the vaccines had been administered from ward offices, Maharjan said it was almost impossi-ble to distribute the vaccines to all 29 wards as the number of vaccines was very low.

“The crowding was caused because we decided to vaccinate them within a day from eight different places,” said Maharjan.

Vaccines were administered at the Department of Livestock Services Lagankhel, Lalitpur Metropolitan City office, Balkumari School at Sunakothi, and Karyabinayak School at Bungamati, among other places.

The City’s data show that it had given the first dose of the Covishield vaccine to 11,300 people over 65 years.

Wildlife workers not vaccinated despite being in risk groupPark officials engage with wildlife and local communities, so it is important to protect them as well as animals from infection, conservationists say.

CHANDAN KUMAR MANDALKATHMANDU, JUNE 23

Chitwan National Park has carried on with its conservation activities as if there was no pandemic.

In recent months, they have nabbed many poachers involved in the killing endangered one-horned rhinos and kept a check on illegal activities in and around the park area.

The park authorities even managed to count nearly 700 rhinos dwelling in various parts of the protected area as part of the nationwide rhino census in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But working during such a difficult time, which has multiplied challenges for the wildlife conservation sector, has also invited the risk of Covid-19 infection for the officials of the Chitwan National Park and other parks.

A significant number of park offi-cials are not vaccinated.

The Chitwan National Park has a total of 376 staff members. However, even after nearly five months of the nationwide vaccination drive, nearly half of them have not received any dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

When government officials were being vaccinated, many of the park’s staff members could not receive the vaccine for various reasons.

“Some staff members were deep inside the jungle, where the phone network is unreachable, when the vac-cine was being administered,” Ananath Baral, chief conservation officer of the park, told the Post. “It was the time when there were fre-

quent rhino deaths inside the park and poachers were active. So they were busy dealing with such incidents and other conservation activities.”

Many park officials, including Baral himself, are waiting for their turn to get inoculated.

“While the vaccine was being administered, we thought that the gov-ernment would announce other vacci-nation dates, but that was not to be, ”said Baral.

The government has failed to secure vaccines to inoculate the population against Covid-19.

With the uncertainty over the arriv-al of vaccines, park officials working on the ground level in various protect-ed areas across the country are wor-ried that they might contract the coro-navirus.

According to them, working with people in communities living around the park on a day-to-day basis and han-dling wildlife species make them prone to contracting the infection, as well as transmitting the virus to animals.

“Sometimes we have to go out to nab suspected poachers. We also run into people from nearby villages while patrolling the park area,” said Baral. “Frequent interaction with people can increase the risk of infections for both officials and the people of local com-munities.”

Nepal’s 20 protected areas—six con-servation areas, one hunting reserve, 12 national parks and one wildlife reserve—have over 10,000 human resources, which includes nearly 2,000 park officials and nearly 8,800 security personnel.

Due to their day-to-day activities involving locals and valuable wildlife, they should be prioritised for Covid-19 vaccination, say wildlife conserva-tionists.

“The kind of work they do on a daily basis requires them to be safe from Covid-19. They have to arrest people involved in prohibited activi-ties inside the park, patrol the park area and engage with local communi-ties, making them highly susceptible to the coronavirus infection,” said Haribhadra Acharya, spokesperson for the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.

Wildlife conservationists argue ensuring the vaccine to park officials is also imperative to prevent infection among wild animals.

As the coronavirus started making people sick across the globe, the virus spillover, the process of transmitting from one species to another, has been reported in various species like pet cats and dogs and multiple zoo ani-mals, including big cats and gorillas.

Reports have shown that such infec-tions had occurred even when the personnel involved in their caretaking were wearing personal protective gear.

Recently, a lion died of Covid-19 infection in a zoo in Chennai, India.

“Wildlife workers are working 24-hours to protect the wildlife. Every now and then, they also need to rescue wild animals. During such times, the virus can easily transfer from humans to animals,” said Acharya, who is also an ecologist.

“When government officials were being vaccinated, many wildlife con-servation workers were busy doing their jobs deep inside jungles of pro-tected areas. They were deprived of the vaccine then. The government should put them on its vaccine priority list.”

According to a recent study that assessed the risk of Covid-19 in wild-life, wild animal populations emerg-ing as a reservoir of infection would pose a significant risk to public health.

The study report warns of a poten-tial infection spillback into communi-ties where “the burden of infection had been reduced through control measures and/or herd immunity.”

Besides, the report states, sustained transmission in a wild host popula-tion would provide an opportunity for evolutionary adaptation of the virus that could potentially—positively or negatively—influence transmission dynamics and the effectiveness of diagnostics and vaccines.

The report calls for broader surveil-lance and risk assessment of other coronaviruses in wildlife, domestic animals and human populations at high risk of exposure to remain better prepared to prevent and control their potential impacts on human and ani-mal health in the future.

Transmission of the virus from humans to wildlife and again from wildlife to human is a major concern raised by wildlife conservationists.

Vaccine is the only solution to protect humans as well as wildlife, but many people working in the field of wildlife conservation remain unvaccinated.

Despite being one of the first coun-tries in the world to launch its vacci-nation drive in January, Nepal’s vac-cine crisis has deepened now, as it has not been able to acquire the required vaccine doses.

Government data show 2,500,196 people had taken the first dose of the vaccine and 731,653 had taken the required two doses as of Monday.

The Ministry of Forests and Environment does not know how many people working in protected parks have been vaccinated so far, but agrees that they should be vaccinated at the earliest.

“The concerned agencies must coordinate with the Health Ministry to ensure the vaccine to those park officials who missed out earlier,” Buddi Sagar Poudel, spokesperson for the ministry, told the Post.

He said that the Environment Ministry would start collecting data on vaccinated and not-vaccinated offi-cials from all the parks before taking the matter to the Health Ministry

“If wild animals are our valuable assets, then we must protect those protecting these national treasures. Keeping them safe means protecting wildlife, which they frequently han-dle, and also stopping such outbreaks from wildlife,” Poudel told the Post.

Anti-graft body files Rs1 billion graft case against three for granting illegal tax waiversChudamani Sharma, Lumba Dhwaj Mahat and Umesh Dhakal face corruption charges for a second time in nearly four years.PRITHVI MAN SHRESTHAKATHMANDU, JUNE 23

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority on Wednesday filed an additional corruption case at the Special Court against former officer bearers of the Tax Settlement Commission for allegedly causing financial losses to the state while set-tling tax liabilities of dozens of busi-nesses.

Former director general of the Inland Revenue Department Chudamani Sharma, who was a mem-ber of the Tax Settlement Commission, its chairperson Lumba Dhwaj Mahat and member Umesh Prasad Dhakal again face corruption charges for a second time in nearly four years in the same scam.

The anti-graft body on Wednesday filed the case accusing them of embez-zling over Rs1 billion.

The spokesperson for the anti-graft body, Narayan Prasad Risal, said a new case was filed against the trio as the earlier investigation had not incorporated all the decisions taken by the Tax Settlement Commission.

“The fresh corruption case was brought after investigating the tax settlement conducted by the commis-sion regarding additional taxpayers,” he said.

The first case filed four years ago

included tax settlements involving 46 taxpayers. “Now this new case was brought after investigating tax waiv-ers granted to 71 additional taxpay-ers,” said Risal. “This is the final case regarding the scandal.”

According to a statement issued by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the officer bearers of the Tax Settlement Commission settled tax liabilities of the business enterprises with malafide intention as they prioritised personal benefits to cause harm to the state.

Investigation found that tax liabili-ties of many enterprises were waived based on negotiations with the taxpay-ers without following the criteria for tax waiver set by the Tax Settlement Commission Act. “The bad intention of the commission’s office bearers has been exposed as they overstepped their jurisdictions and settled the taxes with a malafide intention,” said Risal.

Earlier, on July 16, 2017, the CIAA had filed cases against the trio on the charge of embezzling Rs10.02 billion in the same episode. That was the larg-est corruption case ever filed at the court by the anti-graft body.

The Tax Settlement Commission, formed in February 2015, had run into controversy after a report of the Office of the Auditor General in April 2016 called into question the Rs21 bil-lion tax exemption granted to various

enterprises. The CIAA investigation shows the commission had given tax waivers even to the enterprises that were willing to pay their tax dues. Even those firms which had missed the deadline to apply for tax settle-ment were given tax waivers by assigning prior dates to their applica-tions, according to CIAA officials.

As per the Tax Settlement Commission Act, which has now been scrapped, the commission could han-dle tax disputes only after such cases were withdrawn from the Revenue Tribunal. However, the commission was found to have settled taxes of sev-eral enterprises that had not with-drawn their appeals from the Revenue Tribunal, according to the CIAA.

In an earlier investigation it was found that the commission had also waived the Value Added Tax (VAT) liabilities even though VAT is paid by customers and business enterprises have the responsibility to deposit it to

the state coffers. Even those who were involved in a fake VAT receipt scandal in the past were granted tax waivers by the commission.

The auditor general’s report had also questioned the intent of the com-mission’s office bearers after they were found to have waived almost all tax liabilities of some businesses. Some firms had been granted tax waivers of over 99 percent.

The auditor general’s report also said that most of the enterprises were granted tax exemptions not because their disputes had reached the court but they were instead unwilling to abide by the instructions of the tax authorities. The CIAA had initiated investigation into the matter after the then parliamentary Public Accounts Committee instructed it to do so fol-lowing a discussion on the auditor general’s report.

This is the third corruption case against Sharma, a former director general of the Inland Revenue Department.

Besides two corruption cases involving tax settlement, the anti-graft body in January, 2018 had filed yet another corruption case against Sharma on the charge of amassing property amounting to Rs42.95 mil-lion, which the commission said was disproportionate to his known sources of income.

POST FILE PHOTO

Lalitpur Metropolitan City had received 2,500 doses of the Covishield vaccine from the District Public Health Office to inoculate the population above 75 years of age.

POST PHOTO: ANISH REGMI

A man helps a woman lift a sack of freshly cut grass on her back at Jadibuti, Kathmandu on Wednesday.

In 2017, the CIAA had charged the trio with embezzling Rs10.02 billion.

Transmission of the virus from humans to animals has been a cause for concern.

C M Y K

THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2021 | 04

OPINION

Foreign and domestic policies are two separate domains having to comple-ment each other. For Nepal in particu-lar, domestic politics overshadows for-eign policy objectives when foreign policy becomes subservient to the rul-ers’ interest. During the Rana and Shah regimes, there was only a thin differ-ence between domestic and foreign pol-icies. Though such foreign and domes-tic policies continue cheek by jowl today to some extent, there has been a growing tendency to domesticate for-eign policy.

Nevertheless, it must be admitted that Nepal has neither a well-articulat-ed foreign policy nor an effective mech-anism to execute it, if any. First, issue-areas need to be identified to be fitted into the policy framework. Some issues existing between Nepal and its neighbours remain perennially unad-dressed as no concrete plan of action has ever been worked out by any govern-ment. For domestic political consump-tion and image projection, issues are often brought to the fore, but are soon forgotten or kept in abeyance. Some issues concerning Nepal-India are structural in nature, and other instant issues such as border problems, damage caused by floods, inundation, trade and transit problems and others that crop up from time to time lack sustained efforts for resolution. For both structural and immediate issues, Nepali politicians take opportunistic approaches that suit their immediate interests.

Second, Nepal’s foreign policy as of today is based on ad hoc arrangements, often punctuated by hyper populism, not dictated by principles. Prime Minister KP Oli, who came to power on the crest of ‘populist nationalism’ after the Modi government imposed an unannounced blockade in 2015, has taken a U-turn following the alleged Chinese advice to compromise with his party detractors for retaining the unity of the Communist Party of Nepal. As Oli didn’t like to secede from his com-bined role of prime minister and party president, he is believed to have changed the partner (China) for India for no plausible reason but to get the southern neighbour’s support for res-cuing him from the developing crises in the country.

His failure to manage his own party and the crisis of governance that has prevented him from delivering has added to his troubles. Oli’s new reli-gious proclivities and his other efforts

to be closer to the present Indian estab-lishment might be beneficial for the short run, but they would not address the issues affecting bilateral relations. Taking a cue from such developments, some senior former diplomats of India have cautioned the Modi government against putting all their eggs into the Oli basket as other forces opposed to him would be equally important for bilateral interests.

Third, Nepal’s foreign policy today is an abandoned area as policy has been hijacked by the priority accorded to the selection of party workers to fill up diplomatic posts. Since communication is the desirable qualification for such posts, most new ambassadors appoint-ed by Prime Minister Oli are not only novices but also lack minimum stand-ards and knowledge of diplomacy. Language, respectability, acceptance of persons and confidence are the quali-ties of a diplomat. If an ambassador does not possess these qualities, how can we expect good performances in diplomatic assignments?

Diplomatic assignment in India is particularly challenging both diplo-matically and personally. The stature of a diplomat is judged by his ability to communicate to as many constituen-cies as possible. And the recognition of his ability and the trust put in him matters a lot. My short tenure as ambassador in New Delhi has contrib-uted to my knowledge of Nepal-India relations. The ambassador in India is not only a diplomatic representative in the classical sense of diplomacy, but he has many other roles to play. His per-sonal contacts and the respect he com-mands in South Block and from other

persons and institutions enables the ambassador to communicate, persuade and convince. The first thing needed to earn trust and confidence in Nepal’s ambassador is his image as a friend of India who promotes his country’s inter-ests without being prejudiced against Indian concerns.

Thus, diplomatic performance is part of the successful communication of foreign policy objectives and strate-gies needed to achieve them. Nepal for-eign policy suffers from ambivalence, ad hoc actions and lack of short- and long-term policies relating to the bilat-eral, regional and multinational aspects of relations. Internationally, Nepal is virtually isolated and ignored due to both domestic political bicker-ing and lack of direction and vision. It is well demonstrated by the way Prime Minister Oli used the president to com-municate with foreign heads of state for addressing the Covid-19 pandemic. Even Nepal’s northern neighbour China seems to be irked by the Oli gov-ernment’s mishandling of the Covid vaccine deal.

Nepal has no stable policy based on well-defined objectives and strategies for achieving them. First, issues are taken to the street for mobilising public opinion which is fed by nationalist-pop-ulism and emotion. Thus, the sustained efforts needed to resolve problems fall prey to the immediate interest of lead-ers. KP Oli cashed in on India’s sugges-tion to make an inclusive constitution that could accommodate the demands of Madhesis. Oli immediately turned into a thoroughbred nationalist and cajoled the Nepali people in the 2017 elections. Oli seems to be playing the

Hindu card for electoral purposes. Some politicians and religious gurus were inducted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to persuade Nepali leaders to not include secular-ism in the new constitution. This mis-sion failed with Nepal adopting secu-larism, though a dubious version of it. Now Oli sends signals of his religious views that do not conflict with the BJP agenda taking him closer to the Indian objective. This has prompted the five former prime ministers of Nepal to raise the bogey of foreign interference, though they themselves play the same tune as played by Oli when they are in power.

Finally, the conventional approach to foreign affairs continues to influence Nepali politicians and rulers. So no reasonable pragmatic thinking based on the contours of geo-political reali-ties guide the rulers. Nepal’s relations with India demand a deeper and objec-tive understanding to turn them into a cooperative relationship as the ties with India cannot be equated with those with any other country. The poli-cy of equidistance between India and China, which is often repeated by no other persons than some foreign minis-ters of the country themselves, is not only unrealistic but also absurd. It is unfortunate that political leaders have failed to understand such a deep, wide-ranging relationship because they are always guided by immediate interests of their own rather than those of the country.

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

In a recent essay on Samantha Power, President Joe Biden’s new administra-tor of the United States Agency for International Development, Michelle Goldberg of The New York Times writes—correctly—that Power’s ‘first big test … lies in what America does to help vaccinate the rest of the world against Covid-19.’ And Power herself is quoted as saying that, ‘It’s about a very, very tangible, results-oriented agenda.’

Results seemed to follow. At the G7 summit, Goldberg duly reports, Biden announced that the US would contrib-ute 500 million vaccine doses for use in ‘low- and middle-income countries.’ According to Goldberg, this ‘spurred other countries to step up their contri-butions,’ ensuring ‘a billion doses by 2022.’

Except that it didn’t. According to the World Health Organization, the actual new commitment was for 870 million additional doses, not a billion, ‘with the aim to deliver at least half by the end of 2021.’ In other words, the ‘aim’ would be to get ‘at least’ 435 mil-lion additional vaccine doses to the COVAX facility (the international mechanism established to ensure vac-cine access in poorer countries) ‘by 2022.’ Even if all billion come in over the course of 2022, Agnès Callamard, the Secretary-General of Amnesty International, has called it a ‘drop in the ocean,’ made of ‘paltry half-meas-ures and insufficient gestures.’ As Gavin Yamey of Duke University summed up the outcome for a Lancet working group, the ‘rich countries

behaved worse than anyone’s worst nightmares.’

And there is a further problem: the G7 commitments are only promises, and the G7’s track record on meeting its promises is not especially good. Here the language of the G7 commu-niqué is telling: ‘aim to deliver.’ Even if one believes that those words were chosen in good faith, they are not exactly precise or categorical.

Today, Africa and India have vacci-nated barely 3 percent of their com-bined populations of about 2.5 billion people. Why is that? The US alone is reputed to have the capacity to pro-duce 4.7 billion doses by the end of 2021—four billion more than America needs. Again, according to Amnesty International, the G7 will have ‘three

billion doses surplus to requirement by the end [of 2021].’

Where are those doses going? Apparently to wealthy customers. This includes 1.8 billion doses com-mitted to the EU for ‘booster shots,’ as reported by Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla of Progressive International. Meanwhile, outside the rich-country bubble, the virus can spread, mutate, sicken, and kill.

This is not merely a humanitarian issue. If viruses are not eradicated, they evolve. Already, multiple variants of the coronavirus have appeared. As far as we know, none can overcome the available vaccines. But no one can say for sure that such a variant will not emerge, and the more time lost, the greater the risk—and not merely for

the world’s poor.One obvious solution is to get the

hoarded stockpile into arms all around the world. A second would be to waive patent protection and supply restrictions on the Western vaccines, so that they can be produced more rapidly in other countries. If India alone—the world’s largest vaccine producer—could overcome current production difficulties, it could resume exports and start supplying doses to the rest of Asia and to Africa, while meeting its own requirements by the end of this year. And enough doses could be produced to end the pandemic, for practical purposes, by the end of 2022.

In early May, the Biden administra-tion announced its support for a pro-

posal, advanced by India and South Africa, to waive Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) enforcement on Covid-19 sup-plies, including vaccines. But what does this amount to? So far, just sup-port for negotiations. With whom? Over what?

It was government, not the big drug companies, that underwrote the basic research used to invent these vac-cines. The companies have patents only because they were granted as an ‘incentive’ to produce them. The claim that otherwise they would not do so is absurd: the US government has the power of compulsion under the Defense Production Act, which it has already used to get vaccine production ramped up—including in a way that

briefly disrupted Indian production.Meanwhile, there’s China, and at a

smaller scale, Russia. China currently is vaccinating more than ten million people per day—an accelerating pace that will cover their entire population this year. In 2022, China could produce up to five billion doses for the world—enough for India and Africa combined. Meanwhile, Chinese producers are determined to build production sites worldwide, beginning recently in Egypt. And Russia has plans to pro-duce over 850 million doses of Sputnik V in India alone this year. That’s just about the same as the entire G7 com-mitment—and it will happen sooner.

Not everything we read on these matters is necessarily reliable. Not every projection will work out. It may be true, as reported, that the Chinese vaccines are less effective than those produced by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Sputnik V.

But for now, where this is heading is obvious. The US and Europe are offer-ing crumbs, protecting their billion-aires, their pharmaceutical lobbies, and their politicians’ campaign con-tributions. Meanwhile, China and Russia have other ideas—and the capacity to realise them. So, before too long, when the back of this pandemic is finally broken, the world will have fresh evidence about who is reliable and who is not.

I would say that all of this is unprec-edented, but it’s not. In the cold and hungry European winter of 1947-48, Jan Masaryk, the Czechoslovak foreign minister, pleaded with the US for food shipments. The US dithered, imposing conditions. Klement Gottwald, head of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, appealed to Joseph Stalin, who put 300,000 tons of wheat onto trains. Czechoslovakia fell under full commu-nist control in February 1948.

Samantha Power is right. It is all about tangible results.

Galbraith holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

— Project Syndicate

The G7 vaccine charade

The oft-repeated policy of equidistance between India and China is unrealistic.

LOK RAJ BARAL

Nepal’s foreign policy failureEDITORIAL

Twenty ministers have been relieved of their responsibilities following the Supreme Court’s interim order on Tuesday. Responding to a petition against the two Cabinet expansions by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, a division bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and Justice Prakash Kumar Dhungana said the Cabinet expansions were unconstitutional after the House was dissolved. Following a series of Supreme Court rulings over the past two weeks that assert the Oli admin-istration to be a caretaker government, Tuesday’s order has come as the biggest blow for Oli, reducing his Cabinet to just five ministers as Nepal tries to emerge out of a deadly second wave while cascading disasters have ravaged the country in the first week of the monsoon.

Interpretations as to how the political landscape will evolve hereon will vary; but similar to disasters, a string of political developments and legal battles have pushed the country further into uncertainty and threatened the constitution. Oli’s gambit was destined to fail when he roped in the Mahanta Thakur-Rajendra Mahato faction of the Janata Samajwadi Party after dissolving the House on May 21 for a second time. The denial that he is a caretaker prime minister has only come to haunt him now. And the latest interim order that has quashed the appointments of 17 ministers and three ministers of state comes as the Constitutional Bench starts the final hearing on petitions against Oli’s May 21 dissolution itself.

The deepening political crisis results from the politicians’ lust for power and a clash of egos that have back-burnered gov-ernance more than anything else. Both the leadership and the opposition have lost all political and moral grounds and failed to rise on every occasion to show mature statesmanship. For Oli, everything has been about consolidating power from the very start. He has openly challenged the provisions in the con-stitution and hard-won freedoms, no matter what is at stake or the repercussions, to establish his point. As for the opposition, the political course of vengeance and unseating opponents has never before witnessed the level of complexities and vulgarity we see now, where rival factions are at each other’s throats.

These are ominous developments for a fledgling republic, one that threatens Nepal’s federal ambitions and development goals. Time will tell if the current political course to nowhere will seek a timely correction and how politicians will reinvent themselves to address the pressing issues; but make no mistake, the recent chain of events has disillusioned the public. It is, therefore, the duty of politicians who have the burden of rep-resentation to serve their electorate and keep up with their election promises, especially when citizens are at the risk of dying due to Covid-19.

Poor governance, by far, is Nepal’s biggest epidemic for which the public has been put to the test for decades of instability and bloody war by incompetent and power-hungry politicians who disregard democratic values and the constitution, which they took an oath to protect and abide by. This state of chaos results from the politicians’ failure to deliver on their primary duty to serve the people. The need of the hour is to secure life-saving vaccines and implement the budget to attain practical goals after being haemorrhaged by the pandemic. Regardless of the final verdict on the May 21 dissolution, both the Oli administra-tion and the opposition need to keep aside their arrogance and vested interests to restore the political course and do what a government does—provide governance.

Restore political courseThe administration has a lot on its plate amid

vaccine deal fiascos and natural disaster alerts.

SHUTTERSTOCK

The US and Europe are offering low- and middle-income countries crumbs.

SHUTTERSTOCK

JAMES K GALBRAITH

C M Y K

05 | THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2021

MONEY

GASOLINE WATCH

FOREX

US Dollar 119.14

Euro 142.26

Pound Sterling 166.33

Japanese Yen 10.74

Chinese Yuan 18.39

Qatari Riyal 32.18

Australian Dollar 90.08

Malaysian Ringit 28.63

Saudi Arab Riyal 31.77

Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank

BULLIONPRICE PER TOLA

SOURCE: FENEGOSIDA

Fine Gold Rs 90,700

Silver Rs 1,295

Nepse2,859.96pts

-1.85%

MDB PPCL HPPL GRDBL MLBL CHDC-4.75% -4.72% -4.63% -4.63% -4.5% -4.39%

KPCL NFS MFIL NHDL AKPL MPFL-5.6% -5.48% -5.14% -5.08% -5% -4.82%

HIGHEST LOSERS

SMATA EBLCP ICFCD83 NHPC HIDCL GIMES11.8% 1.91% 1.92% 2.22% 3.1% 3.63%

AKJCL GHL NICL CHL NGPL RADHI4.23% 6.02% 6.16% 6.56% 9.09% 9.71%

HIGHEST GAINERS

MODERATE GAINERS

MODERATE LOSERS

Shares

Himalayan Bank customers to receive discount on DarazKATHMANDU: Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) and online e-commerce site Daraz have entered into an agree-ment to provide discounts to the cus-tomers of HBL during Daraz’s “Bank Day’’ offer on Thursday. Customers of HBL will receive a 15 percent dis-count or a maximum Rs500 on Thursday when they purchase any goods and prepay through their credit or prepaid card. The bank has been promoting its digital banking plat-form and initiated the discount offer to secure its customers from the Covid-19 pandemic, reads the press release issued by the bank. Customers can enjoy dual benefit of discount while purchasing through Daraz and safe home delivery facility. Customers can apply for credit or prepaid card through the nearest branch of the bank. Presently, HBL has 71 branches, more than 5000 POS terminals, more than 600 ecommerce merchants and 142 ATMs spread over the country.

State-owned companies withdraw discount on groceries citing end of lockdownKRISHANA PRASAINKATHMANDU, JUNE 23

State-owned Salt Trading Corporation and Food Management and Trading Company have withdrawn discounts on groceries citing the end of the lock-down, while the Finance Ministry says it has given no such instruction as the pandemic persists.

The two companies have been sell-ing selected food products with a 20 percent discount, which they stopped from Tuesday after the government eased virus restrictions.

Mahesh Acharya, spokesperson for the Finance Ministry, said they had written to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies on June 15 to continue the discount offers on food items until further notice.

“Last Monday, we also reminded the Industry Ministry to maintain the reduced prices,” he added.

But Industry Ministry spokesper-son Narayan Regmi said they hadn’t received any instructions. “The dis-count offer was meant for the lock-down period. Since the lockdown has been lifted, we stopped it from Tuesday,” he said. “I do not know what the Finance Ministry is talking about,” he told the Post.

Consumer rights activists said the lockdown in Kathmandu Valley was not over, and that it had been extended till June 28.

“It has been eased, but it has not been lifted,” said Madhav Timalsina, president of the Consumer Rights Investigation Forum. “There is a lack of coordination between the ministries.”

Timalsina said the Industry Ministry probably thought there would be a stampede to buy the dis-counted groceries due to the loosened lockdown, and that this would increase losses to the government.

“This is a completely irresponsible behaviour on the part of the Industry Ministry. This shows how sincere the government is about providing relief to consumers during the pandemic.”

The budget for the next fiscal year 2021-22 announced on May 29 had said a 20 percent discount would be provid-ed on rice, flour, lentils, iodised salt, edible oil, sugar and cooking fuel at stores maintained by Food Management and Trading Company

and Salt Trading Corporation under a relief subsidy and economic revival programme for the duration of the pandemic.

The two government-owned compa-nies have been issuing the groceries at discounted prices from their outlets in the valley and across the country since June 4.

Kumar Rajbhandari, deputy chief executive of Salt Trading Corporation, said they had received a letter from the Ministry of Industry directing them to discontinue the discount offer. “We stopped it accordingly.”

The corporation issued a notice on Monday informing consumers that the discount offer would end from Tuesday.

“We are not aware of the Finance Ministry’s instruction. We do what the Industry Ministry tells us,” Rajbhandari said.

Salt Trading had set a quota of 2 kg of flour, 1 litre of soybean oil, one cyl-inder of cooking gas, sugar and salt for a family of five. Shoppers had to bring a photocopy of their citizenship certificate to get the discount.

The corporation was selling flour at Rs44 per kg, sugar at Rs63 per kg, salt at Rs16 per kg, soybean oil at Rs188 per litre and cooking gas at Rs1,120 per cylinder.

Mohan Prakash Chand, chief exec-utive officer of Food Management and Trading Company, said they didn’t have enough food stocks to provide relief to people hit by the pandemic, besides victims of natural disasters.

“It became difficult for us to contin-ue the discount offers,” Chand told the Post. Sharmila Neupane, spokesper-son for the company, said they decided to terminate the scheme on their own. “The markets had reopened from

Tuesday and most economic activities had resumed, so there was no point in continuing the offer,” Neupane said.

“The discounts add up to a large amount, and it will be difficult for us to adjust the financial losses,” she said.

Food Management and Trading Company has not issued any notice about discontinuing the offer. The company was providing a 20 percent discount on seven types of rice and Karnali beans, and had set a quota of 30 kg of rice and 2 kg of Karnali beans per family.

Consumers were asked to show their identity card while shopping at the company’s outlets. The discount schemes were available at its outlets at Thapathali and Ramshah Path in Kathmandu, Nakhu in Lalitpur and Suryabinayak in Bhaktapur, and in different districts outside the valley.

Finance Ministry says it has given no such instruction as general public continues to suffer from pandemic curbs.

India e-commerce rules cast cloud over Amazon, Walmart and local rivalsREUTERSNEW DELHI, JUNE 23

New Indian e-commerce rules will raise costs for all online retailers but particularly Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart as they may have to review their business structures, senior industry sources told Reuters.

India’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs outlined plans on Monday which include limiting “flash sales” by online retailers, reining in a pri-vate label push, compelling them to appoint compliance officers and impose a “fall-back liability” if a sell-er is negligent.

The new rules are expected to have an impact across the board in an e-re-tail market India forecasts will be worth $200 billion by 2026, with play-ers including from Tata’s BigBasket, Reliance Industries’ JioMart and Softbank-backed Snapdeal to market leaders Amazon and Flipkart.

The rules are the latest in a growing confrontation between US tech giants and New Delhi over a host of poli-cy-related issues which are seen by some as protectionist. “The rules will have a wider impact on all forms of e-commerce and will increase busi-ness costs. Entities, even beyond big players, are analysing the policy and will share concerns with the govern-ment,” Arjun Sinha, a partner at Indian law firm AP & Partners, told Reuters. The companies have until July 6 to respond to the proposals, after which time they may be reviewed further or implemented.

Snapdeal said it was reviewing the rules. BigBasket declined to comment. Reliance did not respond to a request for comment. One aspect of the pro-posed new rules which is likely to have a particular impact is one which gives the customer “suggestions of alternatives to ensure a fair opportu-nity for domestic goods” if a retailer is showing imported goods for sale.

“The concept is about promotion of local goods. It’s good for Made-in-India products, but not for the platforms,” said Salman Waris, a partner at TechLegis Advocates.

Non-compliance with the rules, if implemented, could be punishable with prison terms, and fines of at least 25,000 Indian rupees under the India’s consumer law, Waris added.

As costs rise, companies pass them on to customersREUTERSCHICAGO, JUNE 23

In 2018, Whirlpool Corp swung to a loss after a tariff-fuelled rally in US steel prices drove up its raw-mate-rials costs.

This year, it is paying $1 billion for steel and other materials, but the West Michigan appliance maker is on track to post its highest profit in decades.

The difference? Booming demand, spurred by nearly $6 trillion in pan-demic stimulus from Washington—more than the country’s World War Two budget—and consumers flush with savings.

With so much money coursing through the economy at a time when the pandemic-induced disruptions have constrained supplies and pre-vented a buildup in inventories, com-panies are able to charge higher prices without hurting sales.

Whirlpool has raised prices by as much as 12 percent this year in vari-ous markets to compensate for increased raw-material costs. Many other manufacturers that make goods ranging from heavy equipment to SUVs are using a similar playbook.

It helps explain why corporate prof-its have soared to the highest level in a decade, even though factories across the United States are starved of com-ponents and prices for everything from steel to oil to labour and comput-er chips are surging.

An analysis by Bank of America Corp shows S&P 500 companies sur-

passed analysts’ profit expectations in the first quarter by the biggest margin in history even as “inflation” found more mentions on earnings confer-ence calls than at any time since 2011.

“We’re in this weird market where there’s a shortage of everything,” said Stephen Volkmann, an analyst at Jefferies. “When you’re in that sort of shortage situation ... you’re willing to pay more.”

Soaring prices are testing the US Federal Reserve’s jobs-first monetary policy as inflation is now projected to exceed its 2 percent target by a wide margin this year and remain slightly

elevated for the next two years. The Fed, however, still attributes the run-up in prices to “transitory” factors.

A sharp correction in lumber prices has raised hopes that other commodi-ties would follow a similar trajectory once demand and supply start to rebalance. Raw-materials producers, however, say a roaring economy will keep prices relatively high.

The current economy fulfils, almost too well, the ubiquitous dream of manufacturers—a world in which sup-ply and demand are finely balanced so that prices always stay firm and sales do not collapse.

For manufacturers serving the Big Six appliance categories—washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers and ranges and ovens—demand is the strongest in at least 12 years, according to data from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.

But it is taking appliance makers at least two to three months to fill new orders because steel, semiconductors and resins are in short supply, said Kevin Messner, head of AHAM’s gov-ernment relations and policy.

Whirlpool’s average order backlog is about six to seven weeks, compared with one to two weeks normally. The company did not respond to requests for an interview. But Chief Executive Marc Bitzer told investors in late April that the order backlog would remain elevated because of “uncon-strained” consumer demand and restricted access to components.

Data from Goldman Sachs shows the average discount on appliances around Memorial Day weekend this year was just 7 percent, lower than 19 percent a year ago. Whirlpool was the least promotional, with discounts of only 2 percent, down from 9 percent a year ago, the data showed.

The price cuts are expected to be equally modest for the Fourth of July holiday, according to sales executives at Home Depot and Best Buy stores in Chicago.

“Prices have gone up and some items are out of stock,” said one of the sales executives.

Cash loses its shine in pandemic but still king in SwitzerlandREUTERSBERN, JUNE 23

Cash is still king in Switzerland, a Swiss National Bank study published on Wednesday found, although the wealthy country’s citizens are increas-ingly turning to cards and apps for payments during the pandemic.

Around 43 percent of one-off pay-ments in supermarkets and restau-rants are made with cash, the most popular payment instrument, the sur-vey said. But cash has lost some of its appeal, with the figure dropping from the 70 percent level in the last SNB survey in 2017.

“In terms of the number of pay-ments made, cash continues to be the payment instrument most frequently used by the Swiss population,” SNB

Vice Chairman Fritz Zurbruegg said.“Compared with 2017... its usage

share has dropped significantly. The coronavirus pandemic has given addi-tional impetus to this shift from cash to non-cash payment methods.”

Now a third of payments are made via debit cards, up from 22 percent four years ago, while credit cards are also becoming increasingly popular. Both are benefiting from the rising use of contactless payments.

Mobile payment apps like Twint and Paypal now make up 5 percent of transactions in Switzerland, up from almost none in 2017.

“Non-cash payment methods have...come to be considered, at least in part, as easier to use than cash,” said the study, which was carried out between August and November 2020.

Increased online shopping has boosted the popularity of cards and apps during the pandemic, as has the tendency to buy more at supermarkets during lockdowns.

While Swiss may be gradually fall-ing out of love with using cash, the number of banknotes in circulation is on the rise. This suggests cash is increasingly being used as a store of value, the SNB said.

The report estimated individuals have stashed away cash reserves of around 10 billion francs or 12 percent of the notes in circulation.

Some 70 percent of the population keeps cash at home or in a safety deposit box, with most (77 percent) holding up to 1,000 francs to deal with unforeseen expenses or as a long-term store of value.

Save Our Summer: UK pilots and cabin crew issue travel sector rescue plea

REUTERSLONDON, JUNE 23

British pilots, cabin crew, travel agents and other workers are urging politicians to save the summer holiday season by reopening routes abroad or risk destroying tens of thousands of jobs as companies fail.

Workers from the travel industry will demonstrate across Britain on Wednesday, protesting outside parlia-ment, meeting politicians, and hold-ing events at airports to highlight the threat to their jobs from the govern-ment’s strict rules.

England is expected to re-open from a third Covid-19 lockdown in July but the travel sector remains effectively shut, with the government advising against travel except to a handful of destinations.

British government ministers are examining ways to re-open travel more broadly, and are considering plans to ditch quarantine require-ments for vaccinated adults and their children to some destinations.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that whatever happens, it will be a difficult year for travel.

The industry says the rules need to be eased as soon as possible or tens of thousands more jobs will be lost as companies fail.

“The government has to decide if this summer it will make or break the UK travel industry,” said Brian Strutton, acting General Secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA).

To survive more than 15 months of travel restrictions, companies including British Airways, easyJet, TUI and Jet2, have taken on billions of pounds of debt.

“Airlines are at the absolute limit of what they can borrow and without a genuine reopening this summer they will require government support to survive,” the chief executive of industry group Airlines UK Tim Alderslade said.

Under the government’s traffic light system, only travellers to a small num-ber of green-list countries can avoid quarantine.

Popular European holiday destina-tions for Britons, including France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United States, are rated amber and require returning passengers to take three expensive Covid-19 tests and iso-late for 10 days on return.

The industry urged the government to expand the green list when the sys-tem is reviewed on June 28.

EasyJet’s head of cabin crew Tina Milton said her staff were joining events on Wednesday “to speak up for travel and show support for the indus-try we all work for and love”.

Airline bosses have said that they could be ready for a wider re-opening of travel within weeks should govern-ment rules change.

But even if Britain eases its rules, airlines and tour operators could still face a challenge as the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 has prompt-ed other countries to place restric-tions on British arrivals.

REUTERS

A file photo shows washing machines for sale inside a department store in California, US.

REUTERS

An aircraft takes off at Heathrow Airport in London.

POST FILE PHOTO

Two government-owned companies sold groceries at discounted prices from their outlets in the Valley and across the country since June 4.

C M Y K

BRIEFING

Bangladesh set for Zimbabwe tour despite restrictionsDHAKA: The Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Wednesday the national team will leave for Zimbabwe on June 29 for a full series despite heavy corona-virus restrictions in the African country. The tour will feature a Test, three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals. Players will be in a bio-secure bubble. “We have been assured of highest Covid-19 protocol by the Zimbabwean authorities,” said Ahmed Sazzadul Alam, a BCB director who will head the delegation. Zimbabwe on Tuesday released the itinerary of the series after it received clearance from the country’s Sports and Recreation Commission. All the matches between July 7 to 27 will be behind closed doors, Cricket Zimbabwe said. The tour will begin with the Test match scheduled for July 7-11.

Yastremska cleared to play after doping ban squashed PARIS: Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska was on Tuesday cleared of doping after a failed test last November that ruled her out of the Australian Open. The 21-year-old, ranked 29 in the world at the end of 2020, received an initial ban after test-ing positive for a banned anabolic agent, mesterolone metabolite, used in male infertility treatment. She first appealed to the International Tennis Federation (ITF)’s independ-ent tribunal which upheld her ban on January 23. Following a secondary hearing, the tribunal said on Tuesday that it “accepted Ms Yastremska’s account of how the mesterolone entered her system and determined that she bore no fault or negligence for the violation”. Yastremska’s pro-visional suspension was lifted with immediate effect, and “she will not serve any period of ineligibility for her violation”, the ITF said.

UK Police officer convicted of killing ex-Villa player Atkinson LONDON: A British police officer who tasered ex-Aston Villa footballer Dalian Atkinson and then kicked him twice in the head was Wednesday con-victed of manslaughter but cleared of murder. Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court took nearly 19 hours to reach unanimous verdicts on Benjamin Monk, who said he was put in fear of his life by the actions of the former player on August 15, 2016. Jurors are still deliberating on an assault charge relating to Monk’s col-league and former girlfriend, police constable Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith. Monk told the court he ran in fear after Atkinson, who appeared to be having a mental health crisis, made death threats and smashed a glass door pane at his childhood home in the town of Telford, about 30 miles from Birmingham. (AGENCIES)

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION

CROSSWORD

HOROSCOPE

SUDOKU

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19) ***You’re in the spotlight today, Capricorn. This time of year sends all your energy outward towards your partnerships, as you work to explore new horizons around the art of relating. Today’s skies put a momentary pause on that outward focus.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18) ****

This time of year finds you working harder than ever, Aquarius. You’ve needed to sink your teeth into cultivating organisation and initiative action on the work front. Today’s skies momen-tarily pull you out of this realistic headspace.

PISCES (February 19-March 20) *****As a Pisces, you come equipped with a well of creative potency. This time of year tends to find you tapping back into that playful, artistic head-space. You’ve also been focusing on romance and sexuality, and anything else that helps you prioritise joy.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) ***As an Aries, your home base isn’t typically your first priority. Yet, this time of year finds you focused on the state of your roots and founda-tions. Today to reach for the stars, you need to have a secure and supportive base beneath you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) ****

You’re learning to speak from the heart, Taurus. It’s not always easy for you to be so vulnerable with your self-expression, but you’ve needed to go back and focus on the little details of your world that contribute to the whole.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21) ***

As a Gemini, you’re something of a jack of all trades. This time of year asks you to hone in on your variety of skills and focus on one worth honing. You’re also likely wrestling with issues around your self-confidence and feelings of validity.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) ****Thursday’s skies bring revelations to behold, Cancer. You’ve only just begun to hone in your-self, as you’ve entered into the process of reim-agining your identity and embracing a new side of your self-expression.

LEO (July 23-August 22) ***

This is one of the trickiest times of year for you to navigate, Leo. You’re asked to seek solitude, shed outgrown elements of your life, and active-ly dismantle self-created blockages during this season.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22) ****You have a drive like no other, Virgo. That comes in handy this time of year, as you’re actively pushing yourself toward new goals. You’ve also been enmeshing yourself in your social life, as you re-evaluate friendships and community involvement.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22) ***You’re ploughing straight ahead towards your ambitions Libra, even if it means needing to revise or course-correct them in the process. In order for you to continue to climb, it’s impor-tant that you have a supportive base beneath you.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21) ****

This time of year has you refreshing your belief systems, Scorpio. What misconceptions seem to block your path forward? You’ve also been busy embarking on comfort-zone breaking opportuni-ties that offer greater growth and self-expansion.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21) ***As a Sagittarius, you typically hold an optimis-tic view of life. That natural positivity has been challenged, as you move through a season that asks you to wrestle with your own demons and explore therapy-worthy relationship hang-ups.

Tokyo 2020 bans alcohol, high-fives to curb coronavirusREUTERSTOKYO, JUNE 23

Alcohol, high-fives and talking loudly will be banned for the reduced num-bers of Olympic ticket holders allowed into venues as organisers concede a “sense of celebration” will be limited at a Games already postponed by a year due the coronavirus.

Organisers have pushed ahead with preparations for the Olympics, still called Tokyo 2020, despite strong con-cerns among the Japanese public that hosting competitors from around the world could result in further Covid-19 outbreaks. Compounding those wor-ries, a second member of Team Uganda, an athlete, has tested positive after being given a clean bill of health just days ago upon arrival in Japan.

Media reports that organisers were considering allowing alcohol con-sumption in Olympic venues when sales have been restricted in and

around Toyko over concerns it would increase contact and mingling in bars provoked an outcry this week. The hashtag “cancel the Olympic Games” garnered tens of thousands of tweets, adding to wave of protests online and on the streets over the past months.

A crowd of people gathered in front of the metropolitan government head-quarters on Wednesday evening to protest against the Games, with par-ticipants chanting “cancel Olympics”, “stop the torch”, “save lives”, and “protect livelihoods”. A month before the opening ceremony on July 23, Tokyo Olympics President Seiko Hashimoto reiterated that organisers wanted a safe and secure Games. “If our citizens have concerns (over serv-ing alcohol at the Olympics), I think we have to give up on that. That’s why we have decided to ban the sale of alcohol,” she told reporters.

Sponsor Asahi Breweries said it agreed with the decision, calling the

move natural. Ticket holders, to be selected in a new lottery after domes-tic spectators were capped at up to 10,000 per venue, will also be asked to go straight to venues and straight home, to refrain from talking en route and should not ask athletes for autographs.

“The major challenge at the Tokyo Games is to curb a flow of people and limit a sense of celebration,” Hashimoto said. “We are striving to make the Tokyo Games safe and secure, so it won’t be full of celebration.”

When Toyko won the Games back in 2013, it was greeted with a roar of approval and an outpouring of emo-tion from a country hailing the deci-sion as the final step of the country’s recovery from a devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami that set off multiple reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Eight years on, that joy has been dimmed by the

pandemic.Japanese medical experts have said

banning spectators is the least risky option but also given recommenda-tions on how best to host the Games if spectators are admitted. Spectators from overseas have already been barred.

Hashimoto has defended the deci-sion to allow spectators. “I understand that holding the event without specta-tors would lower the risk, but there is evidence that there have been no clusters at other events and tourna-ments,” Hashimoto told reporters on Tuesday.

Organisers said on Wednesday they would decide on whether to allow spectators at night sessions, taking infections into account, by July 12 when virus curbs are due to be lifted in Tokyo and some other areas.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has still not ruled out holding the Games without spectators if Tokyo is put

back under a state of emergency, from which it only emerged on June 21. The positive test for the Ugandan athlete followed a positive test for a coach upon arrival in Japan on Saturday, and after the rest of the delegation were quarantined.

Their cases underscore the chal-lenges ahead for organisers to make the Games safe, with daily testing of athletes, who will be confined to a “bubble” and kept away from the pub-lic. The second positive test was announced by the team’s host city Izumisano in western Japan, confirm-ing the rest of Team Uganda and a local city official who accompanied them from the country were close contacts.

Many Japanese remain sceptical about the possibility of holding even a scaled-down Games safely during a pandemic, with 619 infections report-ed for Wednesday in Tokyo, up 118 cases versus a week ago.

THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2021 | 06

SPORTS | MEDLEY

New Zealand claim inaugural World Test ChampionshipAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE SOUTHAMPTON, JUNE 23

New Zealand enjoyed the greatest tri-umph in their cricket history as they beat India by eight wickets in the inaugural World Test Championship final at Southampton on Wednesday.

Two years on from their agonising Super Over loss to England in the 50-over World Cup final at Lord’s, the Blackcaps claimed their first major global title. Set a modest target of 139 in 53 overs, New Zealand finished on 140-2 with plenty of time to spare in a match extended into a reserve sixth day following two days lost to rain.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reduced New Zealand to 44-2 by remov-ing openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway to the delight of India fans. But New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, the team’s most-experienced batsmen, set-tled any lingering nerves in an unbro-ken stand of 96.

Williamson, who won plaudits for the sporting way he dealt with defeat in the 2019 World Cup final, was 52 not out following his first-innings 49, with Taylor -- who hit the winning bounda-ry -- unbeaten on 47.

India’s last hope of turning the tide evaporated when, with New Zealand 55 runs shy of victory at 84-2, Cheteshwar Pujara dropped a regula-tion slip catch off the luckless Jasprit Bumrah to reprieve Taylor on 26. Bumrah dropped Williamson shortly before one of the most outstanding batsmen of his era completed an 86-ball fifty, including eight fours. Taylor ended the match in the 46th over when he whipped Mohammed Shami off his pads for four.

In a match in which bowlers held

sway it was New Zealand’s all-pace attack that did most damage Wednesday by dismissing India for just 170 in their second innings despite blue skies providing the best batting conditions of the game. Tim Southee took wickets at both ends of the

innings in a return of 4-48 in 19 overs, with longtime new-ball partner Trent Boult striking twice in an over during his 3-39.

And the towering Kyle Jamieson followed his first-innings 5-31, by snar-ing India captain Virat Kohli for the

second time in the match during a miserly 2-30 in 24 overs. New Zealand, whose only previous men’s title in an International Cricket Council tourna-ment was their 2000 Champions Trophy one-day final win over India, would have confronted an even

smaller target had Rishabh Pant not been dropped on five during his innings of 41.

Few cricket lovers would begrudge New Zealand, a country with a popula-tion of around five million compared with cricket powerhouse’s India’s 1.3 billion, their success. But they entered a final worth $1.6 million to the win-ners, hardened by a recent 1-0 series win in England, whereas India were playing their first Test since March.

The reserve day, the first time a Test has gone into a sixth day since the 2005 Super Series in Australia, was deployed in the hope a two-year effort to crown red-ball cricket’s first official world champions would end with an outright winner.

India resumed on 64-2, with key batsman Kohli adding just five runs to his overnight eight when he again fell to Royal Challengers Bangalore team-mate Jamieson, edging to BJ Watling in the wicketkeeper’s final match before retirement. India’s 71-3 became 72-4 when Pujara edged Jamieson low to a diving Taylor at first slip.

In came Pant, whose batting heroics helped India achieve a remarkable come-from-behind series win in Australia earlier this year. But the wicketkeeper should have been out soon afterwards when he edged Jamieson, only for Southee to drop a routine slip chance. Pant, however, eventually fell when a skied edge off left-armer Boult was brilliantly caught by Henry Nicholls, running back from point.

The match was running New Zealand’s way, a point emphasised when tailender Shami was caught by Latham at fly-slip off Southee a ball after Williamson had moved the field-er to the rarely used position.

The Blackcaps secure their first major global title with an eight wicket victory over India in the match extended to reserved sixth day.

AP/RSS

New Zealand’s captain Kane Williamson (right) and Ross Taylor played vital unbeaten knocks in their second innings to beat India on Wednesday.

REUTERSSEVILLE, JUNE 23

Spain crushed a hapless Slovakia 5-0 in their first Euro 2020 win on Wednesday, setting up a last-16 clash against Croatia, after being set on their way by a calamitous own-goal from keeper Martin Dubravka.

Aymeric Laporte headed in a second goal on the stroke of halftime before second-half goals from Sarabia, Ferran Torres and a Juraj Kucka own goal rounded off an emphatic win that saw them finish second in Group E on five points behind Sweden.

Luis Enrique’s side will next meet Croatia in Copenhagen on Monday while Slovakia, who came third with three points and a goal difference of minus five, are heading home.

Dubravka had made a stunning save to keep out an Alvaro Morata penalty but gave Spain the lead on the half-hour mark when he palmed the ball into his own net after a Sarabia shot had cannoned off the crossbar and looped back towards goal.

The goal, which came about after a mis-placed pass from Slovakia’s shaky defence, eased any nerves Spain had of a shock exit after disappointing draws with Sweden and Poland, and they went on to record the big-gest win of the tournament.

Cesar Azpilicueta had said ahead of the crunch game that it was “do or die” for Spain but coach Luis Enrique was more optimistic, likening his side to a bottle of champagne that was about to be uncorked.

Influential captain Sergio Busquets returned as one of four changes, yet there was a familiar feeling as Spain squandered several early chances including the penalty,

which was the fifth consecutive spot-kick they have failed to convert and followed Gerard Moreno’s miss against Poland.

It took Dubravka’s moment of madness for the Spaniards to take the lead, but there was no letting up after that.

Laporte nodded home a Gerard Moreno cross following a corner right before half-time and the party continued after the interval when Sarabia calmly tucked in a Jordi Alba cross in the 56th minute.

Ferran added to the festive mood by scor-ing with a classy backheel immediately after coming off the bench, converting a cross from the electric Sarabia, while fel-low substitute Pau Torres played a big part in the scrappy fifth goal, which went in off Slovakia midfielder Kucka.

It sealed a miserable afternoon for Slovakia, who had hopes of getting into the

knockout stages for the second time in their second appearance in Euros but were overwhelmed by a Spain side that finally found their feet.

Heartbreaking endIn Saint Petersburg, Sweden winger Emil Forsberg scored a double including the second fastest strike in European Championship history before Viktor Claesson’s stoppage-time goal helped them seal a 3-2 win over Poland and top Group E.

It was a heartbreaking end to Poland’s campaign after they twice drew level through talismanic skipper Robert Lewandowski, whose 84th minute equalis-er for 2-2 gave them a glimmer of hope.

Sweden made a blistering start through the lively Forsberg. After Robin Quaison controlled the ball on the edge of the penal-

ty area, Forsberg collected a pass and took advantage of some poor defending to fire past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny with 82 seconds on the clock. He doubled their lead with a powerful drive for his third goal of the tournament after substi-tute Dejan Kulusevski weaved his way into the box to lay it on a platter in the 59th minute.

Lewandowski pulled a goal back two minutes later with a curling shot. The Poland captain, who missed chances to make it 1-1 in the first half after rising above Sweden’s defence only to thunder two headers onto the crossbar, fired in the equaliser from close range after a pass from Frankowski.

But Kulusevski slipped the ball to Claesson who slotted past Szczesny to secure the win.

C M Y K

THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2021 | 07

AP/RSS

Robert Lewandowski reacts after Poland were eliminated from the group stage on Wednesday. Lewandowski hit the bar twice and scored two times but Poland lost to Sweden 3-2 to exit the tournament.

Modric shows his class in Croatia’s hour of needASSOCIATED PRESSGLASGOW, JUNE 23

Luka Modric lurked on the edge of the area, waiting for the ball to come to him before perfectly stroking it into the top corner with the outside of his boot.

At 35, this may well be the Croatia captain’s last European Championship, and he doesn’t want to go home just yet. Modric’s majestic goal in the 62nd minute helped Croatia beat Scotland 3-1 on Tuesday and give the team a spot in the round of 16 at Euro 2020 by finishing second in Group D.

“This goal means a lot to me but our play means more, from the beginning until the end,” Modric said. “I am happy that my goal helped, but it’s most important that the team won.”

Modric, who also picked up an assist on Croatia’s third goal, had a quiet first two group matches, with the midfielder forced into deeper posi-tions and Croatia facing criticism for lacking spark in attack. But the play-maker showed his class and why he won the Ballon d’Or in 2018—the same year he helped his team reach the World Cup final.

He fell to his knees at the final whis-tle for about a minute before rising to his feet and pumping his fists in cele-bration. He then went over with a big

smile on his face to hug Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic.

“No one is sure how Luka manages it,” Dalic said. “We all expect that Luka’s levels would go down and he would lose his strength. But he doesn’t give up. I’m very proud to have such a player and to have him as a part of this team.”

Modric is now the youngest and oldest player to score for Croatia at the European Championship. He scored when he was 22 years and 273 days against Austria in 2008. On Tuesday, he was 35 years and 286 days.

Croatia’s two other goals came from winger Nikola Vlasic’s low shot from close range in the 17th minute and Ivan Perisic’s flicked header in the 77th from a corner taken by Modric. Vlasic’s took two touches for his goal and fired a low shot past Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall. It was

Croatia’s first real attack of the match after Scotland dominated the opening stages.

It was poor defending by wingback Stephen O’Donnell, who let Perisic jump above him unchallenged. Scotland sat back on occasions after the goal, inviting Croatia to push for-ward in dangerous positions.

“I’m devastated we’re not through,” Scotland midfielder John McGinn said. “Extremely proud of the effort, but we came up against an excellent team and their experience showed.”

Callum McGregor equalised for Scotland just before halftime, drilling the ball from just outside the penalty area into the left corner. Scotland’s first goal of the tournament—and their first in a major men’s competi-tion since the 1998 World Cup—electri-fied the atmosphere at Hampden Park, with the Tartan Army jumping and hugging in the stands.

“The fans were amazing,” McGregor said. “They (Croatia) just had too much quality in the end. It’s a tough lesson.”

Scotland exited the tournament in last place in the group with only one point.

“They knew had to play a third game of the tournament,” Scotland coach Steve Clarke said. “They knew better than we did. A lot to learn from, coach included.”

Modric turned the tide in Croatia’s favour with a goal and picked up an assist on third.

Spain thrash Slovakia 5-0 to set up Croatia dateLuis Enrique’s side finish second in Group E behind Sweden, who beat Poland 3-2 with Claesson’s last-gasp winner in the other group match.

AP/RSS

After a Slovakia goalkeeper own goal, Aymeric Laporte (white) added to Spain’s lead before Sarabia, Ferran Torres and another own-goal made it five for La Roja.

Results

Saka stands tall for England at EuroASSOCIATED PRESSLONDON, JUNE 23

Bukayo Saka was put on the field to turn possession into penetration, to create chanc-es for an England team that had scored only one goal in two matches at the European Championship.

He did all that and more, but he still came up short in one particular area.

Raheem Sterling scored the only goal in England’s 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic on Tuesday by heading in a cross from Jack Grealish that flew just over the jumping Saka’s own head. “It was a great cross from Jack and Raheem was there for the goal,” the 19-year-old midfielder said. “I almost got there but I’m just not quite tall enough.”

He was good enough, how-ever. Good enough to get UEFA’s player of the match award. And maybe even good enough to stay in the starting lineup when England play their next Euro 2020 match in the round of 16. “He earned that opportunity [to play] tonight and he has grabbed it,” England coach Gareth Southgate said.

England already knew they had advanced to the round of 16 before the game at Wembley Stadium had started, allowing Southgate to try something new with an attack that has created very little since the tourna-ment began. The two new somethings were Saka and Grealish.

“The instructions were just to play, you know, have fun, play with freedom, express yourself,” Saka said. “We’ve already quali-

fied, there’s no pressure on us, just have fun out there and that’s what I tried to do.”

Saka did for England what he had been doing all season for Arsenal, and it worked. Now Southgate will have to decide if the teen stays in the starting lineup, something that could depend on the team’s next opponents.

“He [Southgate] said that’s one of my qualities, it’s what I’ve done all season at my club,” Saka said. “He just told me to play how I do at my club. Play confi-dent, play free and express yourself and that’s what I did.”

It was Saka’s first start in a major international tour-nament and only his sixth appearance for England. But, remarkably, it was his second man of the match award.

The young man who grew up in nearby Ealing earned the other in his third appearance for the national team—a 3-0 victory over Ireland in November.

“I am a local boy. I’ve gone past the stadium millions of times,” Saka said. “It’s real-ly special. It’s amazing. I’ve played here before and got a man of the match perfor-mance before but that was without the fans and with-out my family.”

EURO 2020 STANDINGS

Teams P W D L GF GA PTSEngland* 3 2 1 0 2 0 7Croatia* 3 1 1 1 4 3 4Czech Republic* 3 1 1 1 3 2 4Scotland** 3 0 1 2 1 5 1

Teams P W D L GF GA PTSSweden* 3 2 1 0 4 2 7Spain* 3 1 2 0 6 1 5Slovakia** 3 1 0 2 2 7 3Poland** 3 0 1 2 4 6 1

*qualified **elimilated

GROUP D

GROUP E

Croatia 3 - 1 Scotland Czech Republic 0 - 1 England Sweden 3 - 2 Poland Slovakia 0 - 5 Spain

Own goal? Belgium’s Vermaelen feels he scoredREUTERSBRUSSELS, JUNE 23

Defender Thomas Vermaelen has not had much playing time for Belgium in recent years, never mind scored, so the disappointment of not being credited with a goal against Finland was still rankling 24 hours later.

Vermaelen, making his first start of the tournament, powered a header from Kevin De Bruyne’s corner against the join of the post and the

bar with 16 minutes left of the Group B match in St Petersburg. The ball bounced back, hit the hand of Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and fell back over the goal line to break the deadlock—despite Hradecky’s desperate attempt to scoop it out back out.

“Honestly speaking, at the moment it went in, I thought it was my goal but I didn’t spend the rest of the game worrying about it,” the 35-year-old Vermaelen. “After the final whis-

tle, looking up at the big screen, I saw it was given as an own goal. But I see it as my goal, although officially it might not be.”

It is generally considered that if an effort on goal was on target before any deflection, the goal is credited to the striker of the ball, while if an effort was clearly going off target, but is then deflected into the goal, that is an own goal.

Sadly for the defender, it really was an own goal.

Saka was declared man of the match in his first start.

THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2021 | 08

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

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JAKE COYLE

I

n 20 years and 10 movies the ‘Fast and Furious’ series has relentlessly insisted that its saga is really, truly about family.

With all due respect to Vin Diesel’s Toretto clan, I must disagree. The

‘Fast and Furious’ movies are really about reaching new nitro-injected realms of absurdity. If you can stomach the macho melodrama, these movies are ridiculous big-screen ballets, with cars shooting out of skyscrapers and airplanes, that at their best are the right kind of stupid. More than family or cars, they’re about the mov-ies’ whiz-bang capacity for ludicrous gran-diosity—for stepping on the gas and leav-ing logic in the rearview.

It wasn’t always like this. The ‘Fast and Furious’ movies, which have moved so speedily that their original articles flew out the window somewhere along the way (the first entry was 2001’s ‘The Fast and the Furious’), began more humbly on the road-racing streets of Southern California. But, particularly by the time of Justin Lin’s ‘Fast Five,’ the series grew ever more expansive, reaching around the globe and, finally, by ‘F9,’ into space. As if always searching for another gear of outrageous-ness, the franchise has hunted new, implausible roads for gravity-defying mayhem and unexplainable traction. Cars here, cars there. Cars everywhere.

So when I sat down for ‘F9,’ which opens Friday in theaters, I was looking forward to some of that good, old stupid fun. ‘F9,’ gets there eventually, courtesy of a comic, cosmic foray by Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges) in a rocket-fueled Pontiac Fiero. But for a healthy amount of the movie’s 145-minute running time, it feels more like a fran-chise running low on gas. There’s a bit of a hangover to ‘F9,’ and not just because it

sat on the shelf for the past year while waiting until the pandemic was more blockbuster-ready. ‘F9,’ in which Lin returns as director after a seven-year break from the franchise, follows the most dramatic chapter in the ‘Fast and Furious’ run, when real-life tragedy added an echo of pathos in the death of Paul Walker and off-screen squabbles led to a spinoff for Dwayne Johnson, with Jason Statham, in ‘Hobbs and Shaw.’

But if it feels like the dust has settled, ‘F9’ promptly sets about rekindling old beefs, introducing new ones and, within the first half-an-hour, detouring to Central America to let the autos of ‘Fast and Furious’ swing through the jungle like Tarzan. But first we have a flashback that Lin and co-writer Daniel Casey return to throughout the film. It’s 1989 and Dominic Toretto (Diesel as an adult, an absorbing

Vinnie Bennett when younger) and his younger brother (John Cena later, Finn Cole here) are teenagers working with their racing father at a speedway when he dies in a fiery crash. A possibility of foul play is there, and the fallout sends one brother to jail and their acrimony over their father’s fate drives them apart.

Years later, Jakob (Cena) turns out to have designs on taking over the world in order to show up his older, estranged

brother. (Family dramas aren’t small pota-toes in the world of ‘Fast and Furious.’) Part of those plans is Cipher (Charlize Theron), a villain from the last one returned here as a glass-box captive who’s nevertheless sure of her powers. It’s a limiting position for the potent Theron, whose presence in these movies mostly serves as a reminder that if you want gas-guzzling action, the magnificent ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ is still idling nearby.

Both the rock-jawed Cena and a steely Theron don’t open the movie up to much fun, nor does the often-returned-to back-story that saps some of the movie’s veloci-ty. What gives ‘F9’ a boost? Well, Helen Mirren does, in a stop over in London. Best are Ludacris and Gibson, who, more than anyone else, lend ‘F9’ a much-needed wink of self-awareness. It’s Taj who says one of the most defining lines for a fran-

chise that never brakes for scientific reali-ty: “As long as we obey the laws of physics, we’ll be fine.”

They’re at that moment preparing to launch into orbit in a car/rocket ship that makes Doc’s time-travelling DeLorean look like a comparatively sensible vehicle. I don’t know why exactly they shoot into space—something about destroying a satel-lite—but I loved every minute of it. Much of ‘F9’ is kind of a slog. There are some not very dynamic car chases, a lot of flash-backs, ho-hum villains and an oddly promi-nent role for magnets. But when Taj and Roman reach zero gravity, the movie finally takes flight with goofy grandeur. Some, surely, will be less enthused about ‘Fast & Furious’ turning into a full-on cartoon, but I’d take that over the solemn speeches about family any day. The ‘Fast and Furious’ mov-ies are best when they’re neither fast nor furious but kind of foolish.

At some point, when some combination of four-wheelers was soaring through the air, I started to wonder how these movies will look to future generations—possibly generations that will have moved beyond the car, at least the gasoline variety, or that are living with more dire effects of climate change. Will ‘Fast and Furious’ seem like a reflection of our dubious belief in the lim-itless capabilities of automobiles, of our propensity to live through our cars? Or an acknowledgement of just how preposter-ous that addiction is? Either way, the joy ride probably can’t last forever. Vin Diesel’s contract will one day run out.

— Associated Press

In ‘F9,’ finding a new gear for ridiculousnessThe movie promptly sets about rekindling old beefs, introducing new ones and, within the first half-an-hour, detouring to Central America.

Both the rock-jawed Cena and a steely Theron don’t open the movie up to much fun.

F9

Starring: Vin Diesel, John Cena, Michelle Rodriguez,

Tyrese Gibson

Director: Justine Lin

KELLI KENNEDY FORT LAUDERDALE

R

emember that longing you felt after an epi-sode of ‘Sex and the City’ to shop at the characters’ favorite New York haunts and

drink cosmopolitans at the same bars? Or that sense of wanderlust for the seaside cliffs of Ireland after watching ‘Game of Thrones?’

Hollywood’s flattering spotlight has put small towns on the map, like Wilmington, North Carolina, from ‘Dawson’s Creek’ and the woods of Senoia, Georgia, from ‘The Walking Dead.’ And that’s exactly what travel marketers in St Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida, were hoping to capitalise on when they commissioned an original, scripted TV series, seek-ing to draw quarantine-weary tourists to the area’s sugar sand beaches.

‘Life’s Rewards’ aired on Amazon Prime last month. The eight-episode show is based on a charming yet cavalier wealth manager who loses his money and uses travel rewards points to stay at the posh, pink Don CeSar hotel while rebuilding his life.

Each episode is only eight to 14 minutes long, and was filmed using a local production company, director and actors. The series cost roughly a million dollars to create, with contributions from the city and the state’s tourism arm.

Some of the ‘ad’ spots woven throughout the dialogue are obvious, like the random episode about the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center. But the charac-ters quickly pivot back to plot-for-warding dialogue. It’s a quick-hit ad versus the sustained 15- to 30-second hard sell of convention-al commercials.

At other times, the settings feel natural, like the gay nightclub

Blur or a tour of the colourful WhimzeyLand ‘bowling ball house’ in an episode featuring a scavenger hunt. Even the count-less gratuitous beach shots mostly feel believable.

“I’m watching something and I’m drawn into the show because of the story line, but also the plac-es I’m seeing in front of me,” said Steve Hayes, president of Visit St Pete Clearwater, who noted that he and his wife frequently talked

about visiting Wyoming while watching their favorite show, ‘Yellowstone.’

While sometimes awkward, the characters in ‘Life’s Rewards’

refer to every destination in the scene by name. There were no fake dive bars or coffee shops.

“You start to build, ‘Hey, this looks like a really cool place I want

to visit,’ and it’s in the back-ground,” said Hayes. “It’s not in the front where you want to go through and hit the fast-forward button.”

It’s too soon to gauge whether the series has impacted tourism, or even how widely it was viewed.

The hospitality industry was hit hard by the pandemic, and tourist towns are eager to seize on the new willingness to travel. That’s put more pressure on destinations

to market outside the box.“Every single destination in the

world is now looking for that tour-ism boom. I think it’s more impor-tant than it ever has been,” said Alexandra Delf, executive vice president for London-based Grifco, a travel marketing firm.

Movie- and TV-inspired travel is so popular that the firm is using pandemic binge shows to promote its biggest clients. Promotional ads note that scenes from Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ were filmed near The Gainsborough Bath Spa. ‘Game of Thrones’ packages at Slieve Donard Resort and Spa tout tours where notable scenes were filmed nearby, including Robb Stark’s bat-tle camp and ‘Red Wedding.’

With travel halted during the pandemic, scenic destinations felt even more aspirational.

“A lot of what we do in travel marketing is selling that dream of relaxation,” said Delf. “It gives them something to look for-ward to.”

The production company behind the Florida show said scripted shows are a new genre for travel marketing, and that they’re already in talks to shoot some for other cities in the state.

“We don’t want people to feel marketed to. We want them to feel lost in the story line and get invest-ed in the characters like any other show on streaming or TV, but we’re providing a positive context for our destination,” said Brianne Maciejowski, director of film and video for Odyssey Studios.

Consumers retain far more from branded content compared to traditional advertising, she said. The Florida TV series ended with a cliffhanger, so a sequel is still possible.

“Part of our business model is to help destinations find a voice in this entertainment-first world,” said Maciejowski. “There’s a lot more in our future.”

— Associated Press.

Florida beach town writes Amazon TV series to lure tourists‘Life’s Rewards’ is an eight-episode show about a charming wealth manager who loses his money and uses travel rewards points to stay at a posh hotel.

The production company behind the Florida show says scripted shows are a new genre for travel marketing.

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