This is about some instances and incidents which may be known or unknown but might be of some interest to those following aviation. The biggest news of all happens to be the worldwide fear created by the emergence of Coronavirus. Thanks to the ease brought in by air travel it has since been traced to far off corners of the world. It is obvious that time spent in an enclosed space with unsuspecting infected fellow passengers only help its spread. And it does not bode well for Visit Nepal Year 2020 as there are quite a few airlines that link Chinese cities with Kathmandu. To that end, launching of Himalaya Airline’s Chongqing (CKG) connection, even if synchronised with Chinese New Year, appears ill timed in retrospect.

The morning started as usual, but by the time I finished my first cup of tea, it turned out to be rather interesting. As I was surfing through the news portals, I came across a report that Apple would soon come up with a single device to charge all its products.  The news was all about wireless charging. Upon sharing this news with my family, the conversation automatically diverted to a discussion on the advancement of science through the years.  This reminded me of my conversation with my eldest son some years ago.  I remember him telling me about one of his friends’ success with the wireless charging technology.

Dan Theeng is a 24-years-old young man striving for success despite a life full of hardships. Originally from Sarlahi, Dan lost her mother when he was a toddler and till now he does not know much about the causes of her death. Her passing is wrapped in a sort of mystery as his father, a local farmer, never wanted to share with him what led to the tragic loss of his wife and Dan was never able to raise the issue. Likewise, when he was really small, like thousands of other people at that time, Dan contracted polio, a condition that defined his life for better.

If Europe does not wake up to the realities of the new Sino-American rivalry, it could find itself in a position of geopolitical irrelevance

Many cases of medical negligence are being reported in Nepali media. The recent case that has been making news is related with a case against Grande International Hospital which has been accused of committing series of acts of negligence pushing a newly born baby to a malnourished life.

Marshall McLuhan, the mid-20th century media visionary, whose statement “medium is the message” has been frequently quoted in the realm of media studies, predicted that people would be allured to using media as the major content than the content itself. In his book The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man, McLuhan writes: “In fact, all man-made material things can be treated as extensions of what man once did with his body or some specialized part of his body.” His expression implies that human beings tend to envision and produce new technologies relevant and necessary for their times.

HONG KONG – On January 15, US President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed a “phase one” agreement aimed at containing the two countries’ long-running bilateral trade war. But no sooner had the deal been concluded than China was confronted with an emergency in the form of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.

Nepal is a very liberal country in terms of recognizing and providing rights to sexual and gender minorities. While many countries around the world are on denial on the existence of these populations in their countries, constitution of Nepal has impressively recognized the rights of Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) as fundamental rights. Nepal currently acknowledges its transgender community by allowing a third category of ‘others’ (meaning gender other than male or female) on passports, citizenship certificates, electoral rolls and immigration forms. Despite being liberal in recognizing and providing rights to this population, there are many issues that are being overlooked.

Recently, a physician affiliated with one of the premier private hospitals in Kathmandu wrote about present day working environment in health sector in a Nepali daily. While he raised some valid issues, including that of mistreatment of service providers, medical college mafia, financial extortions, and improper licensing of facilities and manpower, he argued these matters largely portray physicians as victimized professionals, and likened their predicament to byathaa (an affliction) that they have to endure on a daily basis.

‘Much ado about nothing’ is the title of a play by William Shakespeare which he wrote toward the end of the 16th century to highlight disagreements and bad behavior of newlywed couples in most cases on trivial matters. More formally and generally, the phrase means ‘a great deal of fuss over a thing of little importance’.