JAKARTA – Indonesia is expecting higher inflation after long periods of relatively stable prices under President Joko Widodo.
Signs of an uptrend were confirmed by the country’s statistics agency on Wednesday (Feb 2), when it announced that the annualised inflation rate in January was 2.18 per cent, the highest since May 2020, with food, housing and household equipment being the main drivers. In 2021, inflation was 1.87 per cent.
“Rises in the price of commodities and various food due to wetter weather (that affected harvests) contributed to the higher inflation,” Mr Febrio Kacaribu, head of the fiscal policy office at the finance ministry, said on Thursday when he commented on the January figure.
He also underlined that recovering consumer demand following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions had pushed prices up.
Mr Febrio said the government was trying to keep the situation under control by, among other things, making domestic energy prices, including petrol, affordable at home.
Crude oil prices have jumped, but the Indonesian government has partially absorbed the increase in prices to ensure petrol remains affordable at home. Critics said this ran counter to Mr Widodo’s pledge early in his tenure that such prices would be left to the international market so as not to put pressure on state coffers.
Mr Widodo’s administration, which took office in 2014, has thus far been credited for curbing inflation, primarily by intervening in the market and addressing inefficiencies in logistics in the sprawling archipelago.
Indonesia’s average annual inflation was 4.6 per cent between 2009 and 2020, a sharp improvement from the 9.5 per cent between 2001 and 2008.
Mr Widodo’s administration has issued no fewer than 12 regulations stipulating price caps on food, which is a sensitive issue. Many in the country of 270 million people spend more than half of their expendable income on food, and runaway prices, if not addressed properly, could lead to political instability.
The government under Mr Widodo has also worked to improve distribution in the country, building a total of 1,298km of toll roads in his first five-year term through to 2019, data from the public works ministry showed. In 2020, about 250km was built, and in 2021, about 300km. Between 1978 and 2014, only 795km was built.
On Friday, Mr Widodo inaugurated a new toll road in North Sumatra and, in a live broadcast, said that it would allow orange growers in a village nearby to slash their transportation costs by 75 per cent, making it easier for their products to compete with imports.
Investment bank Mandiri Sekuritas economists Leo Putera Rinaldy and Imanuel Reinaldo, in a Feb 2 note to investors, said: “Inflation will start to elevate to above 2.5 per cent in April, mostly owing to the effective VAT (value-added tax) rate increase and higher seasonal price amid Hari Raya… and is projected to breach the 3 per cent level starting May or June.”
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has also commented on the risks of inflation for Indonesia.
“A wide range of prices were in check, but we have to closely monitor 2022,” she said last month while noting that inflation in the country remained relatively tame, compared with other emerging markets, such as Brazil, where the rate has gone above 10 per cent.
She also pointed out that US inflation had reached a 30-year high at above 6 per cent, Russia at 8.4 per cent, Mexico at 7.4 per cent and South Africa at 5.5 per cent.
She stressed that the government’s main task in 2022 was to support economic recovery and improve the position of the annual state budget, which has been saddled with additional debt following the government’s move on social assistance programmes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Finance Ministry has announced that it will raise the VAT from 10 per cent to 11 per cent, with effect from April 1, and suspend a plan to lower corporate income tax from 22 per cent currently to 20 per cent.
Both moves are clearly aimed at raising revenue for the 2022 budget but would also add to inflationary pressure.
HONG KONG – Hong Kong reported 351 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the highest daily count since the pandemic began more than two years ago.
During a media briefing, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee described the city’s COVID-19 situation as “aggravating” and “extremely worrying”, as Saturday’s virus count more than doubled the 131 cases recorded on Friday.
The cross-family gatherings during the just-concluded Lunar New Year holiday have led to an increase of COVID-19 cases, just as the Centre for Health Protection predicted, Chan said.
“We expect the number of confirmed cases to expand exponentially in the coming days,” she added, appealing for members of the public to stay at home to fight the virus.
In light of the rapid increase in infections, Phase 1 of the government’s Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre will be converted into a community quarantine facility by next week at the earliest to admit asymptomatic patients and those with mild symptoms.
Meanwhile, close contacts of confirmed cases will be isolated at home for four days under the “Stay Home Safe” scheme, Chan said. They will be required to wear a smart waistband and undergo regular testing, she added.
The move will allow more hospital beds to be freed up for COVID-19 patients with more severe symptoms.
Chan added that the government is expediting the procurement of rapid test kits in a bid to provide such kits for all Hong Kong residents this month.
Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, said at the same briefing that Saturday’s new COVID-19 cases comprised eight imported infections and 343 local cases, with the majority of the total being Omicron-variant cases.
The confirmed cases also included more than 20 suspected Delta-variant infections.
Out of the 343 local infections, more than 180 were known to be linked to previous cases while authorities are still investigating the sources of about 160 cases, Chuang said.
The cases were scattered across the city, including Wong Tai Sin, To Kwa Wan and Sham Shui Po districts in Kowloon; as well as Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin, and Tuen Mun districts in the New Territories.
The government will arrange the evacuation of some residents of Hing Ping House at Tai Hing Estate in Tuen Mun, and 104 Fuk Wing Street in Sham Shui Po as officials suspect vertical transmissions in the buildings, Chuang said.
The government has also advised that Yuen Long Plaza be closed for thorough disinfection after a number of people working there were confirmed infected. They included cleaners and security guards as well as employees of home-appliance shop Fortress, Japanese restaurant Gyu-Kaku and Chinese restaurant Chao Inn.
The new infections brought the tally in the financial hub to 14,586. There were also around 200 preliminarily positive cases, Chuang said.
US president Joe Biden said his administration looks forward to working with Cambodia as chair of ASEAN, and that the US hopes ASEAN-US relations will continue to develop.
In a January 14 letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen, Biden wrote: “Under Cambodia’s chairmanship, the United States hopes to both grow our relationship with ASEAN and continue to pursue our common goals in the region.”
He added that the US is committed to ASEAN centrality and remains steadfast in its support for an ASEAN-centered “regional architecture” – a coherent network of bilateral agreements and organizations – at the heart of the Indo-Pacific region.
Biden also reiterated his intent to invite ASEAN leaders to join him in Washington for a special summit in the coming months.
Responding to Joe Biden’s letter, Hun Sen thanked Biden for expressing his intention to invite the bloc’s leaders to attend the summit. He also expressed appreciation for Biden’s desire to further strengthen the relations between ASEAN and the US under Cambodia’s chairmanship of ASEAN in 2022.
The premier reiterated Cambodia’s strong commitment and full support for the US to convene the summit in Washington.
“I am confident that the Summit will provide a good opportunity for us to exchange views on how to further advance the ASEAN-US cooperation. I look forward to working closely with you and seeing you in person in Washington,” he wrote in his letter dated February 1.
Thong Mengdavid, a research fellow at the Asian Vision Institute’s Mekong Centre for Strategic Studies, told The Post on February 6 that ASEAN remains at the heart of US foreign policy and a major trading partner that could help curb the growing influence its strategic rival China. He also expects that the US will increase its presence in ASEAN in the near future.
Mengdavid added that Cambodia should urge the US to support the Kingdom, together with ASEAN, in resolving the ongoing crisis in Myanmar through the provision of humanitarian assistance, support for ASEAN’s five-point consensus – which chiefly seeks to facilitate negotiations and mediation of the dialogue process – and by continuing to support the core principles of ASEAN centrality.
Alongside the Myanmar issue, the summit will see Cambodia and other ASEAN countries discussing the matter of “finding common solutions and mechanisms for post-Covid-19 ASEAN economic recovery and regional security cooperation,” he added.
Amid lax oversight, illegal rental businesses cater to those wanting a pet experience without responsibility or commitment
South Korea’s pet scene is evolving, with over 10 million of the country’s 51 million population owning companion animals. Various businesses cater to pet owners or their beloved animal friends, ranging from high-end clothing to pet funeral services.
Amid a growing interest in pets, however, there are illegal businesses renting out puppies or kittens for those who want the pet experience, minus the responsibility or commitment to a long-term relationship. For them, pets are no different from a one-day toy or props for photo shoots.
“We lend dogs or cats for 35,000 won ($29) per day,” advertises a pet shop based in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, via a blog post on Naver, Korea‘s largest portal website.
When contacted for inquiry, the shop’s owner sent a link to an open chat room on messenger app KakaoTalk, which he apparently uses to communicate with customers and proceed related transactions. “You can borrow dogs and cats for more than a day. The costs vary depending on the animals‘ breeds,” the owner said.
His business of lending pets is illegal under the current Animal Protection Act, which stipulates that a person making profit from renting out domestic animals could face a fine of up to 3 million won.
Despite the ban, there appears to be an unknown number of people like the Gwangjin-gu businessman offering pets for rent in recent years, according to animal rights groups.
“It’s hard to know exactly how many pet rental businesses there are across the nation, but I expect quite a few, boosted by the growing pet market here,” said Chae Il-taek, an official at the Korean Animal Welfare Association, in a phone interview.
Calling pet rentals a dark side of Korea’s pet scene, he shared the case of a father who borrowed a dog for three days because his child kept pestering him to adopt a pet, even though he had allergic rhinitis.
“Temporarily raising and abandoning pets can be a form of animal abuse. Dogs and cats feel extreme stress when being put in a new environment. Also, there are possibilities for abuse by some bad owners,” he said. While individuals’ rental of animals is against the law, there are some exceptions. Animals may be rented for the purpose of filming, experience programs or for other educational purposes.
So the majority of pet rental providers here primarily cater to people in the media and entertainment industry.
One online company, for instance, has recently posted an advertisement to lend a white Pomeranian puppy at 150,000 won for two days. The service is only available for customers who will have photoshoots with the puppy, it said.
“We deliver the puppy by car to those living in in Seoul. If you live outside the city, you should come to our office in Dobong-gu to take it. Our main customers are camera crews at magazine companies as well as advertising agencies,” the company’s owner said.
Another rental shop in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province is lending more various types of animals, ranging from small pets like guinea pigs and corn snakes to bigger ones such as prairie dogs, goats and horses, to individuals and companies who need them for photo or video shoots. All the animals, regardless of species, cost 50,000 won for a three-hour rental, the store said.
A former racehorse who died after falling headfirst to the ground during the filming of a stunt for KBS’ historical drama series “The King of Tears, Lee Bang-won,” was also offered by a local animal rental company specialized in TV and film productions. The rental firm has been in the business for over 20 years, KAWA said.
The death of the horse, which was called Kami back in its racing days, has sparked public outcry over the cruelty behind the scenes of TV shows and films featuring animals.
“Many broadcasting stations don’t have internal guidelines aimed at protecting animals used by filming crews. Considering the lack of their self-help efforts, there’s a great need for the government to add new clauses to the current Animal Protection Act that would place greater responsibility on both animal rental operators and their customers, while strengthening penalties for animal abuse,” said Suh Cooc-hwa, a lawyer at the civic group People for Non-human Rights, established in 2017 to prevent animal cruelty and improve the management of animal rights.
Amid the mounting calls for better treatment of the service animals, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs earlier vowed to draft guidelines on the protection of animals being used on TV drama or movie sets. These guidelines will include care tips by animal type and precautionary measures to prevent mistreatment, the ministry said in a press release on Tuesday.
Some say there needs to be an independent public or private body that conducts onsite inspections of filming sites using animals, like the non-profit American Human Association which has been responsible for monitoring the safety of animals on media sets since the 1940s.
The group grants the “No Animals Were Harmed” end credit certification to Hollywood movies that meet its care standards for animal actors.
“Along with institutional changes, practical steps to prevent animals used at the filming site from getting hurt are urgently needed,” said Kan Hyun-yim, an official at the Korea Animal Rights Advocates.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said he will donate proceeds from his 2021 book “Unbreakable Love” and the $1 million from the 2022 Sunhak Peace Prize Founder’s Award to build homes for veterans.
Hun Sen made the remark at a Council of Ministers session on February 4.
“Unbreakable Love” recounts the premier’s love story with his wife Bun Rany. It is available in Khmer, English, and Chinese.
The South Korean-based Sunhak Peace Prize Foundation recently announced that Hun Sen would receive an award for 2022, for his contributions to peace and economic development in Cambodia and to peace initiatives in the region.
The prime minister will depart for South Korea on February 10 to attend the World Summit on Peace for the Korean Peninsula, organized by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and scheduled for February 12-13.
He will receive the Sunhak Peace Prize Founder’s Award on February 12 in Seoul.
King Norodom Sihamoni lauded Hun Sen for the award, saying the accolade is a great honor for the nation and the people of Cambodia as a whole.
According to the King, the premier deserves the award for making considerable physical, mental and intellectual efforts, along with all manner of sacrifices, in the fundamental duties for the nation, the motherland, and the people of Cambodia.
“His leadership ended the bloodshed in Cambodia and brought the country full peace, national and territorial unity, independence and sovereignty, supports for multi-party democracy, rule of law, and development in all sectors.
“He has elevated the country’s prestige on the international stage,” the King wrote in a letter.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M. A. Sumanthiran, PC, on behalf of several political parties, represented in Parliament, has requested the government to delay the repayment of foreign debt.
Jaffna District MP and the TNA spokesperson Sumanthiran said that he had launched an effort to seek a consensus with his colleagues in his former capacity as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance. The group questioned the government strategy meant to address the deteriorating financial crisis.
The following is the text of the statement titled ‘A collective response to our economic crisis’ issued yesterday: “Sri Lanka is in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis, causing severe hardship to all segments of our society, especially our working people and the poor.
Undoubtedly, the government has a daunting task ahead, and as a country, there is a need for us all to come together to overcome this challenge.
At the same time, the government’s approach to resolving the crisis raises some serious questions. Its focus, almost solely on meeting foreign debt obligations, is draining the country of dollars needed for importing essentials for our people. The government’s emphasis on avoiding a default at any cost appears to be downplaying a fundamental question – can our people eat? After all, a country’s pride rests not only in repaying its loans but also in ensuring no citizen goes to bed hungry.
Recognizing this dire situation, a group of leaders from over half a dozen key political parties in Sri Lanka came together in a closed-door meeting on Thursday 27th January 2022, to brainstorm ways to tide over this crisis, given the responsibility we have towards the Sri Lankan people.
I approached parliamentary colleagues and party leaders, in my capacity as a former chairman of the Committee on Public Finance in Parliament. MPs came together in the knowledge that Parliament is expected to have full control of public finance, and that each MP, therefore, also has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the proper management of public finances in Sri Lanka.
The crisis, we noted, is of a proportion that is historically unprecedented for many reasons:
(1) The country’s ratings have fallen to the level of being blacklisted in international credit markets. Since April 2020, Sri Lanka has been locked out of borrowing using International Sovereign Bonds (ISBs) in the international market
(2) Repaying US dollar debt in this context means that the usable foreign reserves are down to below one month of imports – the lowest on record since independence.
(3) The ratio of interest on debt to government revenue was above 70% in 2020, a historical high for Sri Lanka, and amongst the highest in the world.
(4) The ratio of public debt compared to the value of Sri Lanka’s domestic production (GDP) is also the highest on record, at 120%. It skyrocketed, by almost 25 percentage points, in the last two years.
Each of these situations by themselves would spell a serious economic challenge. Occurring simultaneously, they threaten our future in both the short term and long term.
In this context, the Central Bank’s policy has been to hoard the scarce dollars to pay creditors in full and on time. This has fueled a shortage of dollars for the needs of our own people and reduced imports of essential items such as food, medicines, and fuel. We see the shortage manifesting in long queues for essential items and frequent power outages. The situation will only worsen over the year if the government does not urgently shift gear and ensure adequate dollars are available to the Sri Lankan economy.
Already, the government’s rash chemical fertilizer policy has impacted farmers across Sri Lanka, leaving us with an imminent food crisis. The government’s current policy path on debt management, as it was in the case of fertilizer policy, is exacerbating the crisis, without a sensible or viable solution in sight.
Our recent meeting provided a platform for political leaders to share the concerns of their constituencies and identify the critical issues that require urgent attention. There was the wide acknowledgment that the Central Bank hoarding dollars to make lump-sum debt payments was leading to a shortage of dollars to procure essential supplies within the country. This is resulting in severe economic hardships for the people of Sri Lanka and long-term damage to the economy while providing windfall gains to the holders of Sri Lanka’s Sovereign Bonds.
We agreed that Sri Lanka should take immediate measures to protect the poor from the adverse impact of this economic crisis, and postpone repaying its debt as a first step. Participating MPs also felt that we need sound reform to the national economic policy to address the root causes of the crisis and ensure sustainable solutions.
This group of political leaders agreed to continue engaging and working together towards ensuring justice for the people of Sri Lanka, through solutions that are sustainable. We must steer the country out of this unprecedented economic crisis, and forge an equitable and just future for our future generations.”
Government buildings such as the offices of Agriculture, Fire Service Department, Forest department and Municipal as well as the office of Union Solidarity and Development Party(USDP) and a restaurant were set on fire after the shooting took place in Saw Township, Magway Region.
MAGWAY- 5 FEBRUARY. The shooting started in Saw Township, yesterday early morning and then the government buildings were torched.
“We heard gunfire since 4 am of January 4th. The agriculture department, forest department, fire services department, municipal department as well as USDP office and a restaurant were burnt. We didn’t know whether there will be casualties and injuries or not,” said a local from Saw Township.
“The shooting began over 12 am of January 4th. Later, the gunfire stopped around 6 am. There had been burning but there was no casualty. We heard that the arson attack was carried out by Saw People’s Defence Force,” said another local from Saw Township.
The news saying that USDP’s office and a restaurant were torched in Saw Township already spread through on Social media.
So, the EMG asked USDP’s spokesperson, Dr. Nanda Hla Myint, the set fire to the USDP office and a restaurant. He replied that he found the news about setting fire on the Online Media. But, he didn’t know about the news because he was traveling.
The State Administration Council didn’t release a statement on setting fire to the government building in Saw Township until yesterday evening.
Bhutan’s high altitude dzongkhags including low altitude dzongkhags like Punakha, Wangduephodrang, Trashiyangtse, and Trongsa have been witnessing heavy snowfall since yesterday resulting in extremely cold conditions in these dzongkhags.
Punakha has experienced its first snowfall after decades.
On the account of the first snowfall after a decade in Trongsa, the Dzongkhag administration declared a holiday today. All the offices and financial institutions under Trongsa Dzongkhag will remain closed today.
Trashiyangtse also experienced its first snowfall after a decade.
The Punakha dzong area is under a thin blanket of snow. Punakha located at an altitude of about 1,242 M above sea level is experiencing snowfall after nearly six decades. Locals in Punakha say the last snowfall in the dzong area was about 64 years ago.
Former Tsugla Lopon of Zhung Dratshang Samten Dorji said that he had never witnessed snowfall in Punakha Dzong during his entire monk life.
“It could be true that Punakha is experiencing snowfall after 64 years,” he said.
Mountain districts see moderate to heavy snowfall and lower regions experience rainfall while the Tarai belt witnesses windstorms.
Western disturbances in the last few days have led to extreme cold conditions with the mountainous districts witnessing moderate to heavy snowfall, the lower regions experiencing rainfall and a few Tarai districts have been battered by windstorms. The weather pattern will stay the same until next week, according to the Meteorological Forecasting Division.
“The effect of the westerly winds has brought a change in the weather pattern that started from the Far West region of the country three days ago,” said Prativa Manandhar, a meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division. “Its effect is going to last till Sunday.”
According to a Division report, the effect of the westerly disturbance has resulted in cloudy conditions across the country with light to moderate rain on Friday. The westerly disturbance has caused heavy snowfall, disrupting daily life and bringing the transportation system across the country to a halt.
“Most parts of the country, including Kathmandu Valley, were covered by rain clouds on Friday with light rain and snowfall in the surrounding hills since early morning. The rain clouds will last till Saturday afternoon, and there is likely to be light rain,” said Manandhar.
According to Manandhar, the daily temperature in Kathmandu Valley is likely to decrease by two to three degrees Celsius by Sunday.
On Friday, Kathmandu recorded a minimum temperature of 5.5 degrees Celsius and a maximum temperature of 16.5 degrees Celsius.
The extreme minimum temperature ever recorded in Kathmandu was -2 degrees Celsius on December 31, 1977.
According to the Division, the minimum temperature in the Valley this winter was 5.4 degrees Celsius on December 11 last year.
According to the Division’s chart on Friday, Jumla district witnessed the lowest temperature in the country at minus 1 degree Celsius followed by Dadeldhura, which recorded a temperature of minus o.6 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, the highest temperature was reported in Biratnagar at 23.7 degrees Celsius, followed by Janakpur at 23.6 degrees Celsius.
The weather condition has disrupted transportation, phone, and internet networks in several high altitude districts in six provinces, except for Lumbini.
In Province 1, continuous snowfall in Solukhumbhu for the past two days has led to extreme cold. Khumjung, Namche Bazaar, Lukla, Salleri, and Pattale in the district have been receiving heavy snowfall since Thursday. Namche Bazaar is blanketed in at least two feet of snow with the temperature dipping as low as minus eight degrees Celsius, according to local residents.
Vehicles leaving Solukhumbu on Friday could not move past Patale Bazaar, the entry point to the district.
“More than 45 vehicles used to leave the district every day. But today, not a single one left Pattale because of snowfall,” said District Traffic Police Chief Krishna Katawal.
In Madhes Province, strong winds claimed three lives on Friday. Two boys in Dhanusha died on the spot after a tree fell on them while a 45-year-old woman from Rautahat died after her house collapsed in a windstorm.
Superintendent of Police Tul Bahadur Karki, the spokesperson at the Province Police Office in Janakpur, informed that the two boys, aged 8 and 12, died on the premises of Fakirchand Secondary School in Dhanusha.
Meanwhile, the woman from Rautahat, who had sustained serious injuries after her house collapsed on her, died while being taken to a health center in Maulapur for treatment, said Police Inspector Sushil Kumar Pandey.
The Provincial Police Office also informed that the windstorm blew the roofs of five houses at a Musahar settlement in Khesraha of Pakahamainpur Rural Municipality in Parsa district.
Meanwhile, a program to mark the anniversary of the Province Assembly of Madhes Province was called off after a windstorm swept away the tents set up on the Province Assembly premises in Janakpur on Friday.
In Bagmati Province, high altitude regions such as Rasuwa, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Sindhupalchok, and Makawanpur districts have also been witnessing snowfall for the past few days.
Beding village in Gaurishankar Rural Municipality of Dolakha has been receiving snowfall for the past week while around two dozen villages in the district have been completely blanketed in snow.
“Beding has received around five feet of snow so far,” said Dawa Tsering Sherpa, a local resident. “We have been unable to come out of our homes for the past one week.”
The Daman section of the Tribhuvan Highway has remained disrupted since Friday morning. Police Inspector Shreeram Timilsina informed that around one foot of snow has covered the Golmod-Daman road section of the highway.
Likewise, Helambu Rural Municipality in Sindhupalchok has also witnessed over three feet of snow, according to rural municipality vice-chairperson Kopila Pandit.
Several districts of Gandaki Province also witnessed heavy snowfall and rain on Friday. Temperatures have plummeted in the region as high-altitude districts received heavy snowfall while the hilly areas received rainfall throughout the day.
In Manang, almost all highland settlements have been witnessing snowfall since Thursday afternoon.
Manang Chief District Officer Rabindra Prasad Acharya informed that Manang, Tanki Manang, Humde, Pisang, Nar and Phu, Kyang, Chyakhu and Chame Bazaar, the district headquarters, have been witnessing heavy snowfall.
“Areas including Koto, Thanchok and Timang have been experiencing strong winds coupled with snowfall,” said Acharya. “Telephone, mobile and internet services in Chame, Thanchok and Timang, among other areas, have been disrupted.”
According to Lopsang Gurung of Manang village in upper Manang, the area also experienced strong winds along with snowfall on Friday.
“Around 6-7 inches of snow has blanketed the area while strong winds have led to a dip in temperature,” said Gurung. “Heavy snowfall has disrupted roadways to Thorong La Bhanjyang and Tilicho.”
Sub-Inspector Sitaram Dhamala at the Border Police Post in Dharapani informed that several vehicles are stuck at Danakyu due to road disruption and telephone networks in the area are down.
“There is no telephone connection in Narpabhumi due to heavy snowfall,” said Mingma Tshering Lama, chairman of Narphabhumi Rural Municipality, who is currently in Kathmandu. “The roads leading to Nar and Phu villages have been obstructed by heavy snow.”
In Myagdi district, the vast majority of its local units received heavy snowfall on Friday. Rural roads across the district and foot trails leading to Gurja village have been blocked by snow.
“Almost all parts of the district have witnessed snowfall and the daily lives of all residents have been disrupted,” said DSP Shyam Kumar Rai. “Although there has not been any report of damages and casualties, we urge everyone to remain vigilant and stay indoors.”
In Mustang, snowfall has disrupted air as well as road travel. Pokhara-Jomsom flights have been halted while all roadways, including the Mustang section of the Beni-Jomsom road, have been obstructed due to snowfall.
“Upper Mustang and Lete have received around one foot of snowfall while the Jomsom area is blanketed in around six inches of snow,” said DSP Ram Kumar Dani.
In Tanahun, Chimkeswori Hill in Aanbukhaireni Rural Municipality witnessed snowfall for the first time in 43 years.
Snow has also blanketed Gorkha district’s Barpak, Laprak, Samagaun and Chekampar, among other high-altitude regions. Barpak, situated around 1,900 metres above sea level, witnessed this year’s first snowfall.
Strong winds coupled with snowfall have made life difficult for the locals, said Tenzing Lama, a resident of Chekampar in Chumnubri Rural Municipality.
“We had never witnessed such strong winds and heavy snowfall in the area before,” said Lama.
Likewise, Gupsipakha settlement in Dharche Rural Municipality has also witnessed heavy snowfall. According to local resident Jit Bahadur Gurung, 573 families who were staying in a community settlement constructed after the 2015 earthquakes have returned to their old settlement to escape the cold.
Regions above 1,800 metres in Parbat district, including Jaljala, Modi, Mahashila rural municipalities and Phalebas Municipality, are witnessing snowfall while the lower regions of the district have been receiving rainfall.
Meanwhile, local farmers who rely on rainwater are happy with the current weather conditions.
“We can now expect a good harvest,” said Tara Bahadur Thapa, a farmer from Phalebas.
In Baglung, snow-covered around a 5 km road section from Sip of Nishikhola to Patihalne of the Mid-Hill Highway.
“Around three feet of snow has covered the road section,” said Hari Bahadur Gharti, ward chairman of Nishikhola-6. “Schools have remained closed, cattle herders are stranded in the highlands and vehicular movement has come to a complete halt.”
The fourth snowfall within a year has made life difficult for the residents of Mugu in Karnali Province. Gamgadhi Bazaar, Talcha, Rara, Murma, Talitum, Mathitum, Bam, Rowa, Kotila, Topla, Mugu, Dolphu, Jhayari, Khamale and Sorukot have been experiencing heavy snowfall since Thursday night.
Vehicular movement in the district has been disrupted due to heavy snowfall. Gamgadhi-Nagma, Nagma-Jumla and Kalikot-Nagma roads have been blocked with several vehicles stranded on the way.
The only air service in the district has also come to a halt due to heavy snowfall. Chief of the Rara Civil Aviation Office Bishal Barun said that air service to and from Mugu has been disrupted because of adverse weather conditions.
All seven mountain districts of Sudurpaschim Province—Darchula, Baitadi, Dadeldhura, Bajhang, Bajura, Doti and Achham—have been witnessing heavy snowfall since Thursday while two Tarai districts—Kailali and Kanchanpur—have been experiencing rainfall.
Transportation across Bajhang district has come to a halt with snowfall disrupting vehicular movement along the Jayaprithvi Highway and all feeder roads. Passengers have been stranded on their way to and from the district as the mountain roads have been covered by at least three feet of snow.
Sunsari Dhami, who has been stuck at Dolyamod along the Khopde-Bajhang road section since Thursday, says fellow travellers are falling sick due to extreme cold.
“The local hotels are packed with travellers so we had to spend the night outside around a fire. There are more than 60 public vehicles carrying at least 150 passengers stranded at Dolyamod,” Dhami said.
Clearing the roads is not possible since it’s still snowing in the area, according to the District Police Office in Bajhang.
Phone lines and internet services are also down in Bajhang and will not be back up anytime soon because of the continuous snowfall, according to Harendra Rai Yadav, chief of the distribution centre of Nepal Electricity Authority in Bajhang.
“The cold has affected the elderly and the children the most,” said Milan Dhami, a resident of Saipal Rural Municipality. “This is the first time in three years that we experienced such heavy snowfall. We haven’t been able to step out to graze our cattle or go about our daily lives.”
According to the residents of Darchula, several areas of the district have been witnessing snowfall for the past three days.
“It has been snowing heavily for a couple of days now,” said Navraj Bhatta, a resident of Byas Municipality Ward No 3.
“All the villages in Byas have been receiving heavy snowfall,” said Dilip Singh Budathoki, chairman of Byas Municipality. “Dumling, Rapla, Sunseri and Dhaulakot are covered in at least 3 feet of snow. We haven’t had any communication from Changru and Tinkar villages yet.”
Officials at the Meteorological Forecasting Division said there will be an improvement in the weather conditions only after the third week of February.
“We request the public to avoid long-distance travel till Sunday as it’s going to be very cold,” said Manandhar from the Meteorological Forecasting Division. “We ask them to take extra precautions while using heaters indoors or building a fire to avoid catastrophes this winter.”
KYOTO (Jiji Press) — Japan’s Nintendo Co. said Thursday that cumulative sales of its Nintendo Switch video game console have surpassed the 100-million-unit milestone, reaching 103.54 million units.
In addition to the continued robust sales since the console was released in March 2017, the company managed to capture demand among people staying at home amid the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Nintendo, however, revised down its Switch sales estimate to 23 million units for the current fiscal year to March, down by one million units from its initial plan, with the company forced to cut production due to a worldwide semiconductor shortage.
The downward revision came after Nintendo lowered the annual sales projection by 1.5 million units from 25.5 million units in November last year, reflecting difficulties in procuring parts due to the semiconductor shortage.
“Switch sales remained strong during the (Christmas) holiday season last year,” Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told an online press conference.
With the Switch entering the sixth year since its release, Furukawa said, “While (sales) would normally lose momentum little by little, we hope to break out of such a pattern.”
Cumulative sales of the Switch have surpassed those of Nintendo’s Wii console, which totaled 101.63 million units.
Also on Thursday, Nintendo revised up its consolidated net profit forecast for the current fiscal year from ¥350 billion to ¥400 billion, thanks to its efforts to beef up game software sales and the depreciation of the yen.
For April-December 2021, Nintendo suffered decreases in sales and net profit, following strong results the year before attributed to brisk sales of the “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” game title. In the first nine months of fiscal 2021, Nintendo’s sales fell 6.0% from a year earlier to ¥1,320,219 million, while net profit dropped 2.5% to ¥367,387 million.
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