A woman's tireless bid to arrange plasma for critically ill patients

If any critically ill COVID-19 patient requires plasma, be it in Banke, or in any part of western Nepal, or even in the federal capital Kathmandu, the person everyone remembers is Madhawi Shah.

Exhibition hall in Pokhara to become isolation centre

The Pokhara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has decided to allow the use of the dome at its exhibition centre at Pokhara-9, Nayabazar as an isolation centre. The decision was taken at a meeting of office bearers chaired by the association's president Narayan Koirala on Sunday. Secretary-General Surendra Man Bijukchhe informed that the decision was taken under social responsibility due to the growing COVID-19 infection in Kaski and the shortage of beds in the hospital. "We urge the state...

Pfizer COVID-19 shot expanded to US children as young as 12

Shots could begin as soon as Thursday, after a federal vaccine advisory committee issues recommendations for using the two-dose vaccine in 12- to 15-year-olds. An announcement is expected Wednesday.

Couple switches to alternative profession in lockdown

Most of the businesses in Banke have come to a standstill as the lockdown imposed to prevent and control COVID-19 has been extended. Many have started doing alternative work after the closure of their profession and business due to the lockdown. One of those is Prem Kharel's couple of Khajura in Banke. The hotel business they had been running in Khajura has been shut down due to the lockdown and now they have been busy in vegetable farming and poultry farming instead of staying at home. Prem Kharel...

Food stock enough in Salyan

he food available in the district will meet the demand at least for two months. District Administration Office, Salyan has stated that there will be no problem despite the fear of food shortage as soon as the restriction order is announced. At present, there is 2,135 quintals of rice, 895 quintals of salt, 2,490 quintals of oil and 233 sacks of pulses. Kumar Budhathoki, president of the Salyan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that there were 260 sacks of flour, 425 quintals of sugar, 135...

Arrange Oxygen Supply

WITH an unexpected surge in the number of COVID-19 infections in the urban centres of Nepal, including the Kathmandu Valley, the demand for hospital beds with oxygen and ventilator support has been increasing over the past few weeks. About 15 per cent of the total patients infected with the new variants of COVID-19 require oxygen support. But it is sad to note that most of the hospitals are reported to have been unable to provide beds to new patients suffering from the virus. This has forced even...

Regaining Lost Credibility

AT nostalgic moments an intriguing question recurs to my mind “Can we ever make political norms and values as readily acceptable as currency and calendar?” A quick retort would be “probably not”. Yet, there is ample ground to argue that we can make them minimally acceptable if we make relentless effort. Just as some facts relating to natural phenomena are immutable, so some assumptions relating to social phenomena are also undeniable. Nobody can alter some universal truths: the earth is...

Long COVID: Sequelae Of COVID-19

THE COVID-19 pandemic has not shown any sign abatement ever since it first emerged in China in December 2019. If anything, the second wave of the pandemic has been wreaking havoc with Nepal and the rest of the world. Only seven countries have remained unaffected by the disease: North Korea, Turkmenistan, Kiribati, Tonga, Palau, Tuvalu and Nauru. Most COVID-19 patients are recovering even without medication. As per data, only a little over two per cent of the patients have died of the respiratory...

Rise Of Micro-credentials

WHILE there is no agreed definition on what a micro-credential is, and they take many forms, it is clear their growth in recent years has been exponential. Leading the way in these new educational offerings are employer-driven platforms as well as general providers such as edX and Coursera. In general, these qualifications are conferred for short course training, often known as "digital badges" across a wide range of subjects and skill areas, especially in technology related areas such as coding,...

Prez calls to form coalition govt

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has called for the political parties to submit the name of a party leader, who could garner majority votes in the support of two or more political parties representing the House of Representatives for the appointment to the post of the Prime Minister of Nepal as per the Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal by May 13. After Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota wrote to the Office of the President on Monday informing the latter that the vote of confidence proposal tabled...