<figure><img width="906" height="1943" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06499c7e80680e0a5f54jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: UMA THAPA MAGAR</figcaption></figure>Third grader Sona Lama lives in the uplands of Rasuwa and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-the-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has not been to school for more than a year</a>. But since Nepal Telecom built a cellphone tower on a nearby peak, there is now 3G connection — enough for her to attend class on her mobile phone.Her teachers have partnered with a school in Kathmandu that offers volunteers to guide students like Sona to use <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/back-to-school-season-goes-remote/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Classroom or Zoom</a>, and also offer tuition so they can catch up with school work.“This is no substitution for going to an actual school and meeting friends and teachers face-to-face, of course, but at least the online classes partly make up for the disruption, and has introduced the students to new technology,” says Samata Regmi, a Grade 12 student herself, who is a volunteer mentor for Sona and others like her. Regmi lists many <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/online-classes-may-widen-digital-divide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">challenges</a>: the network often goes off in the middle of class, video uses too much bandwidth, the children are frequently distracted by household chores. “Many of the parents are out of work, so the children have to help at home, and it is difficult to get them to concentrate. They have very short attention spans on screen,” adds Regmi, who despite the challenges, is glad to be helping children in remote areas with remote learning. Sona Lama shares her mobile with three other older siblings, and since the tower brought data internet it is now in high demand for browsing TikTok videos and Facebook as well. She is still luckier than most Nepali children — a recent survey showed that 80% of students have neither been to school since March 2020, nor do they have access to classes online or by radio/tv.There was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/ministry-of-education-gets-an-f/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a class divide</a> among Nepal’s 6 million school students even before Covid-19. But there is now also a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/digital-divide-exposes-class-divide-in-nepal-schools/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">digital divide</a> that has widened the gap between private and government schools. While most urban private schools have been conducting classes quite smoothly, government schools have had less success because their students are from poorer families. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-z9K0iuDdoStill, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lockdown-gives-distance-learning-a-boost-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">distance learning</a> is catching up and where young students are logging on for online classes, the process has made them more tech-savvy and more confident with digital technology.  In Mangal Prasad School in Nepalganj has been encouraging its children to get online so they can catch up with missed school. Says teacher Sandhya Sharma: “Those who are attending digital classrooms are doing well, we are happy with their progress. But I am sorry to say that there are many who have just not been logging on.”The Annapurna School in Bharatpur trained its teachers using online tools like Google Classroom and Zoom, but only half the students are attending online classes. The school did a survey and found out why: of its 700 students, less than 20% had wifi and only 10% could access mobile data.Even after Yasodhara School in Lalitpur offered to pay data fees for mobiles of students to take online classes, only half the children did. The parent body of the school is mainly made up of daily wage earners. After last year’s lockdown, a Unicef survey showed that 95% of families surveyed said their children had stopped going to school. A third of the respondents said their children had <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lockdown-gives-distance-learning-a-boost-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">access to distance learning</a>, but only half were using it. ‘The continued loss of access to education in low-income families might have an irreversible negative impact on the country’s economy,’ Unicef said then. However, students did attend schools for about two months between the two Covid waves earlier this year, and the uptake of online glasses has gone up.As <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-real-cost-of-nepals-second-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the second wave crests</a>, the government has eased the lockdown. Public transport, shops, airlines are back in operation and only restaurants, bars, cinemas and schools are still closed. But in Kathmandu Valley many schools are preparing to reopen even as the infection rate continues to remain high, with a quarter of those being tested being positive for Covid-19.  <figure><img width="640" height="746" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d064c9c7e80680e0a5f55jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Public health experts are also warning of a second peak in the second wave because the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-covid-19-lockdown-relaxed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lockdown is being relaxed too quickly</a>. Crowding in buses and markets without adequate precaution, they say, could mean that the Delta variant could spread rapidly again among <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/vaccines-too-little-too-late-for-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the unvaccinated</a>. This week, the total confirmed Covid-19 cases in Nepal crossed 650,000, and the daily active cases started rising again after the lockdown was lifted to total 26,500. The daily fatality total also rose again to 28 after dipping below 20 for the first time in the second wave. There is also a warning out that the new variant is mostly infecting people in the 21-40 age group, which means schools may have to rethink re-opening. However, other experts say a blanket nationwide ban on schools reopening does not make sense, especially in areas where new infections are negligible, and enough precautions are taken.

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Nepal’s class divide widens

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce7549c7e80680e0967b9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1200"/><figcaption>(clockwise) Acer's Spin 7 laptops, Apple's Macbook Air, and the Asus VivoBook 14.</figcaption></figure>In 2020 the acronym WFH (Work from Home) entered the vocabulary. Since then, our second-best lockdown buddy has been our trusty laptop. Can you guess what is your first? Hint: it fits in your palm.School children, college students and office-going grown-ups all need laptops to stay connected, attend class or meetings, and spend time learning or working on something all day.Before searching for the perfect laptop model, you might want to focus on what is more important: understanding your options and making an informed buying choice. Let me hit ‘Enter’:Lenovo – The Ambitious One The Chinese Lenovo beat reputed names like HP to become the leading PC brand in India. It has a reputation for making a solid device that delivers good performance. There are various lines of Lenovo laptops available in Nepal, each one appropriate for a slightly different audience. The Ideapad series is affordable, decent without superior specs and good for those who need it for heavy web browsing, writing, using some software applications and watching video content. The Ideapad S145 is a great example of a budget laptop that checks all the boxes.The Lenovo Flex series is defined by its two-in-one style of working as both a laptop and a tablet. Slim yet strong, these are great for artistic types looking to draw on their device screen. The popular Yoga series is the most flexible with 360-degree hinges, a touch screen and a Halo keyboard that makes the laptop efficient as well as something of an arm candy. For a fast, good-looking yet quality investment, consider the Lenovo Yoga C940 which will survive into the post-pandemic era as well.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce7579c7e80680e0967bapng.png" alt="" width="830" height="625"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce75a9c7e80680e0967bbpng.png" alt="" width="725" height="515"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>For business people looking for a less-talk-more-work machine, the ThinkPad series is your go-to partner. With T series (for the typical worker bee who is also the boss), X series (PC-level performance with portability) and E series (for agile and free-wheeling startup founders) within the ThinkPad range, Lenovo’s got something for every kind of business user.The X1 Carbon Gen 8 is a great flagship business laptop that prioritises function over design. If you are looking to upgrade to a durable device for work, and most of your work happens from your computer, it is worth saving up for.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/right-gizmos-at-the-right-time/"> Right gizmos at the right time</a>, Saniaa ShahAsus – The Creative Type Asus is a Taiwanese company that has quickly risen to become the fifth-largest PC vendor worldwide.Moving past its gaming series, the Asus VivoBook collection is the best choice if you are looking to buy a budget business laptop (try the VivoBook X409JA). It is commute-friendly, which may not be the priority right now given the pandemic, but since it is light for the arms as well as on the wallet, it is a practical purchase for the budget-conscious Nepali.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce75d9c7e80680e0967bcpng.png" alt="" width="800" height="800"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce7609c7e80680e0967bdpng.png" alt="" width="800" height="800"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>For double the budget, consider the ZenBook series, a great Ultrabook for everyday use. The Asus ZenBook 14 is a world record-breaking super-slim laptop with excellent battery life, awesome graphics cards, an aluminium chassis and an innovative lifted keyboard for higher efficiency typing.Acer – The Budget BeastAcer is a veteran manufacturer that impressively ranks third in global laptop sales. Aggressively priced and often armed with just enough features to grab the buyer’s attention, Acer’s prime audience is students of all ages, sponsored by their parents who want to buy them a sturdy laptop packed with all the necessities, no bells and whistles required. The Acer Aspire series understands its target group well, hitting a balance between technical strength and competitive price.The Acer Spin series is the dark horse of this make: an all-rounder affordable laptop that is best suited to students and teachers who log into Zoom for classes on weekdays and enjoy watching movies on their small screen on weekends. An Intel Core processor, touchscreen display with full HD, a 2-in-1 stylish foldable body, a quality webcam and ample storage space together make it an underrated performer for sure.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce7649c7e80680e0967bejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1440" height="800"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Acer Swift series (the Swift 3 is a popular choice) is another range made for MS-suite and Internet users, but with a less than par battery, a heavier device and no touchscreen. The only upside to the Swift series laptops is the considerably better, comfortable keyboard and smooth, precise touchpad.However, users have complained about keyboard issues, chipset quality and small repairs that suggest below-average parts. That said, durability is a question that can only be solved with time, and even the most reputed brands come with hardware hiccups.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/home-work-during-the-lockdown/">Home work during the lockdown</a>, Saniaa ShahDell – The Classic ChoiceAn American company that has major market control in Asia, Dell is the most widely distributed laptop in Nepal for sure, with most corporates buying it from the authorised seller Neoteric Nepal, which also offers a warranty that leans on its robust after-sales service in Kathmandu. Dell has never been for a trendy audience that cares about looks and colours more than performance and durability. The practical, professional manufacturer makes this clear with the budget-friendly Dell Vostro series and the constantly updated, vast range of models in the Inspiron series.Both these collections sport a bright display quality, easy keyboard, excellent trackpad and solid internals (powered by Intel and with plenty of RAM and HDD). Inspiron models (look up Inspiron 7391) even come with a 4K display and an impressive 10th gen Intel core.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce7669c7e80680e0967bfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="578" height="402"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce76a9c7e80680e0967c0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3334" height="2017"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Test Dell’s superior power, sleekness and design with the Dell XPS series--a premium range that flaunts some of the best Ultrabooks around. The XPS gives the Apple Macbook a run for its money, with its competitive specs, powerful processor and desirable looks - making it the ultimate beauty with brains (exhibit A: Dell XPS 13 9300).Good for indoors, outdoors, desk-based as well as on the move: you can safely close your eyes and pick any Dell XPS - you won’t go wrong with this series. That said, the pricing of this best-in-class series is not for the fainthearted, at times costing more than an Apple. Still, Dell is like that old friend who, year after year, sticks around and supports you.Apple – The Queen of HeartsThe showstopper of this laptop list is obviously the Apple MacBook, a line of laptops that is unlike any other when it comes to beauty, efficiency and simplicity. Apple has earned its position at the top, past Microsoft, HP and other computer giants, all because of its consistent efforts in research, design and innovation in the product development process.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce76d9c7e80680e0967c1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="816" height="459"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The MacBook Air wins on all fronts: ultra-slim, featherlight body, amazing display quality, impressive battery life and strong security systems. Naturally, a MacBook does require saving up beforehand, but it will last you for years, saving you time and money you may otherwise end up spend repairing bugs or replacing parts on a Microsoft-based device. The 13.3-inch Retina display of a MacBook Air is worth the downgrade from a larger 15.5 inches offered by any other brand, thanks to True Tone technology and great screen resolution.MacBook Pro is for working professionals who can maximise productivity and save time with the Magic keyboard, massive storage upgrade (bye-bye, external hard disk) and Touch Bar with quick shortcuts that can help you achieve more, saving valuable time for fun stuff like Netflix and FaceTime with friends and family.Stay safe, stay remote and stay savvy!Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/privacy-is-power/">Privacy is power</a>, Saniaa Shah

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Laptops for lockdowns

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111011114/636ccd0c9c7e80680e08bc55jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1375"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Now that I have one year of practice of Zooming around, the wealth of experience I have amassed makes me a self-appointed expert on conducting webinars, video conferencing, e-meetings and bar crawling in augmented reality.Which must be why some of your eager beavers out there want to know about do’s and don’t do’s on Zoom. My general answer is that all behavioural traits we exhibit in physical meetings apply equally during virtual interactions.So, for instance, if you are rude and grumpy in face-to-face meetings you are perfectly within your rights to be an e-jerk on Google Meet. The idea is to be your true self, and not deceive anyone by being someone you are not, just because you are meeting in cyberspace.And that brings me to FAQs from readers who have specific queries, and in the interest of public harmony and world peace, I will endeavour to answer some of them below:Q: What is the proper dress code during a Zoom meeting?This depends on a case-by-case basis, and subject matter of the aforementioned Zoom conclave. For example, if one is partaking in an online Annual General Meeting of the All-Nepal Nudist Colony, it is perfectly a-ok to be stark raving naked. In fact, it would be a statutory requirement in such a situation to be completely disrobed on camera.However, if it is your weekly Rotary Club meeting, then it is acceptable to attend the Zoom in one’s undies. The rule of thumb is that being topless is a big no-no, whereas no one will notice if you are bottomless. For gentlemen, the recommended dress code would be tie, business jacket, boxer shorts and flip-flops. For ladies, a satin party wear top with a comfortable micro-fibre hipster undergarment and pink indoor fur sandals.I hope that answers your question.Q: What is the proper etiquette while Zooming on one’s mobile?The advantage about Zooming on a phone is that you are not tied to your desk, and can move about freely within the cosy confines of your own home. This adds a nice touch of intimacy and an element of informality to monotonous Board Meetings that go on and on. It is perfectly possible, therefore, that you have the urge to attend to a call from nature while on an endless Zoom call. If such a scenario should transpire it is perfectly acceptable to walk over to the loo while holding your mobile at selfie distance with one hand. However, it is considered rude to turn your video off while in the restroom.Q: Is it also rude to be muted during an online class?Yes, it is very rude. In fact, your entire undergrad class should be able to participate with the ambient sound in every home to give the lecture a degree of authenticity, and the professors an idea of what their students are up to. After all, communication is a two-way process and the teacher would like to hear important feedback from your dog. Or the vacuum cleaner.

The Ass

Zoomed out

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b5a9c7e80680e06b293jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1830" height="1190"/>In my back yard is an aging apple tree. Moss cloaked and bare, unlikely again to bear its seasonal crop of the green succulents. The last time my children and I picked a juicy ripe one was before my youngest got married under its shade.In its time, it has blessed three unions under the sunshine of different summers, accommodated countless encroachments on its branches during birthday barbecues and withstood the assault of harsh winters and the insult of our benign neglect.Of course, it has grown older and resigned to its fate in the 26 years since we first set eyes on it. The past two weeks, I have looked at it more and more, during my evening ambles around the perimeter of our garden. I have stretched my fingers to touch and pause over its weather beaten bark, for I find something soothing and wise in its silence -- an ancient assurance in its stoop of solitude. I need a lot of that, these days.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/diary-of-a-soul-in-semi-isolation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Diary of a soul in semi-lockdown</a>, Tashi T SherpaOf recent, much as I want to look at the glass as half full, the grim reality of our worsening pandemic forces a damning realisation that we are literally living in the worst of times. There is nowhere to escape to, no Shangrila of safety. The only possible path to our emancipation lies in a retreat to our own corner. And staying there.In the ensuing weeks since the first numbers trickled in, we have seen our mighty nation state buckling fatally, hopelessly out of sync, and woefully under prepared. With the onslaught in full vicious mode, words like apocalypse and end-of-days have entered our daily discourse. The once vaunted trope of our civic supremacy is being battered by our inability to stem the spread or beat the scourge into submission. Massive death tolls are recorded in most cities across the US. We do not need to believe it because the evidence is being hammered into our consciousness from New York’s daily tally of tragedy.Meanwhile, hope for better days comes, not from some miracle cure or a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/countries-cooperating-to-find-covid-19-cure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vaccine</a> but from examples of wise crisis governance, proactive and efficient response systems elsewhere. The rapid ability to group together in a singular mission, the agile harnessing of technology for the hour and a cohesive unity in approach for solutions come from the tiny Asian country of Taiwan and its neighbours of South Korea and Singapore.Lessons in saving lives and the strictures implemented, that we could have learnt from and adopted were ignored in the hubris of wilful ignorance and know it all narcissism. We missed our chance and how dearly we are all paying for this. It is intolerable that we missed the signs, but even more galling is that the chaos and self-serving tactics still prevail within the highest levels. But more on that for another day.The increasing immediacy and painful spike of daily deaths is now numbing our collective minds to read them as statistical blips. The US has already crossed the benchmark of having the highest number of cases and it is growing exponentially by the day. Each day’s announcement portends more ominous days ahead. When will it end? And even more poignantly, how will it end for all of us?If there are any heroes in this infernal scenario, it has to be the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-those-who-protect-us-from-the-epidemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">battered health care workers</a>  Without exception, we are filled with unabashed, unbiased admiration and sympathy for all those unsung sentinels of health, the ones in the fearful frontline against the venomous assault of the virus.While we remain safely but grudgingly ensconced in our self-imposed isolation, someone’s sister, daughter, friend, brother, son, father, mother is in the hospitals and makeshift triages, in a never ending mortal combat against an omnipotent invisible enemy. How do you fight a legion that swoops in like unseen mist?But enough of morbid talk and more about the new normal. Our three weeks of self-quarantine have now segued into Day 27. Weekdays have lost their primacy, work no longer seems demandingly urgent, and lazy PJ mornings are no longer just the purview of our weekend. My work outfit is the same as my walking gear which is the same as the heather knit sleepwear on which I spilt my breakfast tchampa. For me, sweat pant grey is the new black.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/home-work-during-the-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Home work during the lockdown</a>, Saniaa ShahTime is of the essence they say. And by the way, who is ‘they’? Regardless, I have plenty of that essence now and then some to spare. For someone who once blew a gasket when the office didn’t get populated at the stroke of 8.55am, I’ve become pretty zen about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/home-work-during-the-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zoom meetings</a> at 11.30am. It’s must be a revelation to my youthful team of digital diligents that the old man has to be reminded twice via texts that the meeting is to start.So without further ado, I zoom in. Sorry, that pun was just waiting.<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-winter-of-our-spring,1331" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-winter-of-our-spring,1331&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586673008642000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGxTJMBy-u0uOiTcEI1WXy6o2QB-w">Tashi T Sherpa</a> is Creative Director and CEO of Khangri Sourcing based in Seattle.

Being zen about Zoom

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110911110/636b7a469c7e80680e06474fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="508"/>While working from home seems like a great idea, the curfew does skew our work-life balance. Working with the TV, fridge, and our dear pets nearby is a challenge, no doubt, and it doesn’t help that there are no nosy co-workers or scary supervisors to check on our productivity levels every once in a few hours.That said, working remotely and feeling in it is totally possible with the support of a few free apps that make everything easier to compute and control.Whether we consider pre-Corona days or during, it’s safe to say that using Skype, Viber, Whatsapp or Google Hangouts for official purposes is passé now. In bored times like these, leave those to your super active family group chats and friends’ circles where random memes and text screenshots take centerstage.Professional teams need professional apps that are built to imitate our real-life working styles. Buckle up and get familiar with awesome apps that will turn you into a smooth worker bee, never mind that you’re wearing pajamas to work now –<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110911110/636b7a499c7e80680e064750jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="640">ZOOMDubbed ‘king of the quarantine economy’, Zoom was perfectly poised for the work-from-home situation that many of us have found ourselves in. The Nepali Times editorial team itself has become a champion of this video conferencing platform, that makes team meetings, catch-ups, problem solving and work discussions all possible in a virtual space.With fun features like a library of interesting virtual backgrounds to choose from, your daily online meetings get a light, fresh mood. Besides, it’s kind of a relief to have a fallback when your zoom room is a mess and between cooking and working, you just haven’t had the time for that ever-expanding pile of clothes.Zoom’s ‘freemium’ pricing model is useful for startups and established businesses alike, especially those just beginning to wrap their heads around the idea of working out of the den. Thoughtfully programmed touches like being able to mute select participants and having a digital whiteboard function makes Zoom a clear winner in the online conference room category.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110911110/636b7a4c9c7e80680e064751jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="335">SLACKAn app that the pandemic has given new life to is Slack: a mobile, desktop and web application (multi-platform) that feels like a cross between an instant messaging space and an email thread. Slack recently announced that it gained 7,000 new customers between Feb 1 and March 18 due to office-goers around the world suddenly working remotely. (For context, it found 5,000 new customers in all of the last quarter.)With separate #channels (chat threads) representing various business departments, ‘@ person’ tagging features for easy one-on-one communication, digital memos (reminder feature) and dozens of apps integrated into the system, Slack makes for an ideal virtual office that entire companies run out of. Zoom, Google Drive, Google and Outlook Calendars, Giphy, Twitter and Dropbox are just some of the popular integrations that make Slack a one-stop shop for working remotely. While Zoom enables larger meetings, Slack video calls are more useful for the agile, tightly knit teams that successful startups are made of.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110911110/636b7a4e9c7e80680e064752jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480">TRELLOPlanning and communication are essential to efficiency and productivity, yes, but where is the app that puts the ‘work’ in teamwork? Enter Trello – a project management app that makes emailed task lists and physical sticky notes on desktops look like cute, vintage ways of working. Trello offers digital bulletin boards that allow actionable items to travel from one category to another. For example, you can shift a card from ‘Concept Stage’ to ‘Implementation Stage’, which is like virtually passing the baton (read: project) from one team member to another.This app is made for taskmasters who take control of a project and see it through to the finish line. Software developers, designers, marketers, college educators, retailers, and Internet companies flock to it for a reason: it is a terrific productivity tool that, if used well, can help chart out not just one’s business activities, but even personal life.If you are not sure Trello is all that it is made out to be, it helps to know that large companies like Google, Adobe, PayPal, Spotify, Tumblr and even offline-heavy organisations like the UNICEF and the New York Times have their teams using it every day to get work done.Next week on An App a Day: Free workout apps for exercising without leaving your bedroom.

Home work during the lockdown

Who is accountable for teacher-student relationships?

Of the nearly 19 million eligible voters in next week’s election in Nepal, an estimated 5 million are abroad and cannot cast their ballots. Many others within Nepal must travel to their home districts, and might decide not to because of the cost.
Flights into Kathmandu these days are full of global Nepalis returning just to vote, but almost as many are leaving for overseas jobs. Most of those coming or going are in the 20-40 age group, and a majority want Nepal to see a change in leadership.
Bangladesh held an election this month in which citizens overseas could vote by mail.&nbsp;
“Bangladesh made maximum use of technology not just for campaigning but also for polling itself. We could have also managed this, so people within Nepal did not have to travel to their home districts to vote,” says Mohna Ansari, former head of Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission who was an election observer in Bangladesh.
A 3-day holiday has been declared so people can travel to their home constituencies to cast ballots. Even if there was not enough time to manage ballots for overseas Nepalis, it could have been done for Nepalis within Nepal.
Former Chief Election Commissioner Bhojraj Pokharel reckons that physical voting in countries with a large Nepali diaspora would have been a logistical nightmare, but in the PR system, using electronic voting machines or paper ballot could have been piloted in some places. It is not possible to manage the entire voting process until we introduce the internet voting system.
“First of all, there needs to be political will to bring the policy and be ready to undertake that level of investment and it is not a one-time cost,” Pokharel says. “A government formed by the GenZ could have atr least issed an ordinance ensuring this right, piloted out-of-country voting where possible, which could have built pressure for the future Parliament and the government. It would have given people hope. It is a lost opportunity.”
All major political parties called for voting rights for global Nepalis in their manifestos, but these very leaders blocked legislation allowing it despite a 2017 Supreme Court ruling out of fear that it would be anti-incumbent.&nbsp;
<h2>Why so late?</h2>
Bangladesh delivered election results in just one day, but the final results of Nepal's last local polls in 2022 including that of Kathmandu constituencies took nearly a month.
Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said this week that the results of the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) ballot counting would “likely” be published within 24 hours of the poll closing at 5PM on 5 March. But many are skeptical.
“I wonder if we lack the capacity or know-how to announce results as quickly as possible,” says Mohna Ansari.
Former Chief Election Commissioner Pokharel says manual ballot paper counting in Nepal is inherently slow because of the large numner of political parties and/or candidates on the ballot, the counting mechanism, the political behaviour of the candidates/parties and some managerial issues during counting.
“Our present policy is to count all the ballot papers at the returning officers' officies, located at the district headquarters. It requires collecting ballot boxes safetly first. This takes time, and there have been cases of ballot boxes being damaged or stolen during transport. In a few highly difficult, geographically remote polling centres, we use a helicopter or transport. But sometimes, accommodating the party and candidates' representatives remains challenging,” explains Pokharel. A solution could be counting ballots at the very booths where they are cast.
Another reason for the delay is simply the number of political parties, and the need for each ballot paper to be examined by booth representatives for consensus. In close races, the smallest difference can lead to tense situations, further delaying results, even though counting centres are protected by metal fencing so there is no disruption.
After this, then it is the turn of Proportional Representation (PR) ballots to be counted. Weeks pass by the time the results of candidates and parties are tallied and verified. But the most common delay is because election officers think ballot counting is a nine-to-five job.&nbsp;
“The efficiency of poll station officers is most important, and they are incentivised for this,” says Ansari, adding that counting can even start within an hour after voting closes.
In remote areas, local resources could be mobilised to make counting quicker, but there is a crisis of trust, adds Ansari.&nbsp;
That could be easily solved with electronic voting which the EC implemented in the 2008 polls but discontinued because political parties felt the machines could be hacked or manipulated.

Nepalis Select Who To Elect

On Saturday, Iran retaliated with missile strikes on Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar, a region where there are an estimated 2 million Nepalis working to send money home. In addition, thousands of Nepalis were preparing to board flights to Kathmandu from West Asian cities this weekend to vote in the 5 March election. Many are said to be stranded at various aviation hubs. A Qatar Airways flight from Doha took off just before the air space was closed, while Air Arabia and Kuwait Airways have diverted or cancelled flights. Nepalis in the West Asian region said things were relatively calm where they were, although some heard loud explosions at about noon local time. In Dubai, some thought they were Ramadan fireworks.&nbsp; In Kuwait, nearly 2,000 Nepalis working in the US military base as security guards and cleaners were evacuated before the strikes. In Bahrain where the US Fifth Fleet naval base is located and which was hit by two Iranian missiles, workers contacted by Nepali Times said the situation was under control and the authorities had told everyone to stay indoors and not use highways. The conflict also coincided with the beginning of Nepal’s trekking and mountaineering season, and tourists were either on their way or planning to leave European and North American cities for Himalayan hikes. Most of them transit through Doha, Dubai or Kuwait and all three airports are closed. Turkish Airlines flights via Istanbul are still operating.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260228130212_ab5e132d56da1df6a3fb1b6919648f845a168ad2c51d79f7587fb85a6e913b97.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260228130212_ab5e132d56da1df6a3fb1b6919648f845a168ad2c51d79f7587fb85a6e913b97" data-rendition-name="original" width="1864" height="826" loading="lazy" alt="Qatar and UAE airspace closed"> <figcaption>Qatar and UAE airspace closed. Credit: Flightradar24</figcaption> </figure>  However, the main impact for the world could be a spike in the price of petroleum products if the strategic Strait of Hormuz is blocked. China relies on Iranian oil for their refineries, and Nepal could be affected indirectly if the economies of its neighbours are hit. Nepal imports all its diesel, petrol, LPG and aviation fuel from India which sources it mainly from the Gulf, and until recently from Russia. Petroleum makes up 25% of the value of all imports, and that is more than Nepal earns from all its exports. Saudi Arabia this year overtook the UAE as the main destination for Nepali workers, with the number now totalling 400,000. There are said to be as many in the UAE, and another 350,000 in Qatar. There are another 100,000 mostly women in Kuwait, and 50,000 each in Oman and Bahrain.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260228130220_d24ae633ff84f283835434becdb2f1351f84c415ce87ca34378bd4e2669661b3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260228130220_d24ae633ff84f283835434becdb2f1351f84c415ce87ca34378bd4e2669661b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="West Asia Iran conflict"> <figcaption>Iran retaliated with missile strikes on Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar on Saturday.</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal receives nearly $11 billion a year in remittances from overseas Nepalis (not counting India) through official channels, although the total is said to be much more. &nbsp;This makes up more than a quarter of Nepal’s GDP equivalent — one of the highest proportions in the world. More than half of the overseas remittances to Nepal comes from its workers in the Gulf, and it is the mainstay of the country’s economy. Nepalis in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE alone send home more than $3 billion a year, much of that helping support their families back home. An average Nepali worker in the Gulf sends home nearly $2,500 a year, and this is spent mainly for household supplies, children’s education and healthcare. There are also an estimated 7,000 Nepali caregivers and healthcare workers in Israel, and most of them are women. The Nepal Embassy has asked Nepalis in Israel to take caution and move to bomb shelters.

West Asia war and Nepalis

If you did not watch the understated movie उनको स्विटर / (The Woolen Sweater) after it was released in May last year, you missed a major turning point in Nepali cinema. Much-hyped films fall short of expectations, but here is an exquisitely acted and directed production with a strong underlying message of tolerance. What a contrast from formulaic melodramatic Kollywood fare — a love story so simple, cinematography so subtle in capturing the beauty of the monsoon on mountain pastures, and a background folk song accompaniment that evokes the flavour and tenor of multi-ethnic eastern Nepal. Since its release, Unko Sweater received praise in Nepal, but it was in multiplexes across Nepaliphone India where the movie became a rage. Positive reviews spread by word of mouth on social media, where the script, performance and camera work were praised for reflecting a genuine and unsullied rural Nepal. The movie is a layered portrayal of caste, ethnicity, gender and culture with the tender romance between the shy Dharanidhar Kafle (Bipin Karki) and Phool Gurung (Miruna Magar) in which the two, despite being soulmates, have to deal with societal norms and gossip. They do this without rebelling, in their own quiet way. In the first scene in a crowded jeep, people are seen discussing an election. An elderly greying Kafle is headed home, and the rest of the movie has back and forth flashbacks revealing the story of his unspoken affection for Phool. But there is an undercurrent of ethnic rigidity. When Kafle’s brother Dambar elopes with Iksha Limbu, the repercussions are borne by both families. Then Kafle’s uncle is banished for being an outcast.&nbsp; Miruna Magar as Phool, as an ebullient woman, is in contrast to the introverted Kafle, who does not say much but has a melodious singing voice. As the plot thickens, Kafle is shown to be bound by circumstances that pose obstacles to his love for Phool. The storyline delicately shows how life and situations constantly force people to shift direction. Despite underlying differences, the various castes and ethnicities in this fictitious village near the Sikkim border get along because they have to. There is an interdependence between highland farmers and other ethnicities living down the valley that is at the heart of Nepal’s ethnic harmony. Despite taboos about interethnic and intercaste relationships, people still have trust and faith amongst each other. There is no time reference to the story, but it does speak of a nostalgic era decades ago when rural Nepal was not yet connected by roads and phones, when people had no choice but to get along. Things have changed now with outmigration, and education has blurred ethnic lines. A QUIET LOVE Director Nabin Chauhan is not in your face with his message, giving viewers a hint of deep rooted traditional values that still govern society. Each character adds to the storyline, validating the way they behave, pushing the plot forward.&nbsp; There are many emotions that are intricately woven into the plot, and the most prominent, of course, is love. Not the showy, lustful way it is shown in flamboyant formula films, but a quiet bond that does not need words, a silence, a glance and a gesture conveying the universe of love. When Phool asks Kafle what he will do if they cannot be together, he says he will build her a house with a beautiful garden of flowers in the meadows where he herds livestock. He builds it awaiting her return, while Phool knits him a sweater, the symbol of their interwoven love. In screenings of the film in Nepal and India, there has not been a dry eye in the audience. The background score and music by Kobid Bazra and the powerful rendition by Jhuma Limbu of the ‘Kafle’ strike a strong chord. The cinematography by Chintan Rajbhandari does not glamourise Nepal’s rural landscape, it is shown in its raw misty beauty as a constant backdrop. The viewer is uplifted by the notion that love transcends social restrictions and orthodoxies.&nbsp; The ending is left deliberately unfinished, possibly to make way for a sequel which we can only hope will be as compelling as उनको स्विटर. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260301060348_42480e8b6934c9a5c518c44c2970748b341bbbf290c2b303b6aa6359d883567b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260301060348_42480e8b6934c9a5c518c44c2970748b341bbbf290c2b303b6aa6359d883567b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="560" loading="lazy" alt="Unko Sweater"> </figure>  उनको स्विटर / (The Woolen Sweater) Artmandu Nepal, 2025 Directed by Nabin Chauhan 145 minutes Available now on YouTube <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lCgtmgiII7M?si=MirwKOwKmxE3jLS6" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

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