At War With a Virus

Published On: April 9, 2020 08:52 AM NPT By: Richard N Haass

NEW YORK – US President Donald Trump has labeled himself a wartime president, and many others around the world are using similar language. It’s a description that raises an obvious question: What does the history and nature of war tell us about fighting a virus?

When pandemic rules the world

Published On: April 9, 2020 08:29 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Every great disaster wrecks humanity to its core but it also makes us aware of our mortality, lays bare our arrogance, prejudice, pride, fear of death and the desire to stand supreme despite the predictable vulnerabilities. This is what has happened since the illness that broke out in early January that has now become the global pandemic.

Learning for Nepal

Published On: April 8, 2020 09:37 AM NPT By: Navin Raj Kaini

Over the last three months, humanity has witnessed something unprecedented which is changing the way we live and look at things. Starting from China, then Europe and the Middle East and now all over, including North America, we are trying to cope with this highly contagious Novel Corona Virus. Within a short period of time, it has transformed into a pandemic, infecting more than a million people around the world with the disease we call COVID-19. Before we could realize the magnitude of the problem we are facing, and prepare our health care systems to deal with it, this disease has made a monumental impact on our daily lives whether we are infected with it or not. Leaders around the world, scientists and healthcare professionals are making efforts to help contain or lessen its toll on human lives.

China and America Are Failing the Pandemic Test

Published On: April 8, 2020 09:17 AM NPT By: Joseph S Nye, Jr

CAMBRIDGE – COVID-19 is confronting humanity with its most severe test since 1918 when an influenza pandemic killed more people than died in World War I. Yet the top leaders of the world’s two largest economies, China and the United States, have failed the first round.

Life under lockdown

Published On: April 7, 2020 09:26 AM NPT By: Shantanu Sharma

It is not an understatement to say that the COVID-19 virus has changed the world. The whole world is in panic and disorder right now. The fact that we don’t know when this will come to an end is even scarier to contemplate. The majority of the countries across the globe are in lockdown. People are told to stay indoors to minimize the spread of the coronavirus as much as possible. Being in lockdown might seem unsettling for the majority of people right now, but I am used to it. I have been on mental and physical lockdown for the last four and a half years. However, I am still fighting to not let the lockdown lock my life down.

World is changing

Published On: April 7, 2020 09:07 AM NPT By: Abijit Sharma

The casualty figures show no sign of stopping anytime soon. With the number of COVID-19 infected and deceased going up by the day, governments across Europe and North America are scrambling to put measures in place. At the same time, talks of how the world will look like after the containment of the virus are slowly starting to emerge. New York Times columnist Thomas Freidman writes that the world will now have a new historical divide, BC—before corona and AC—after corona—while acclaimed author Yuval Noah Harrari feels that in the post COVID world, people might have to forgo their privacy for the sake of their health. Many others have their own arguments.

China’s Global Leadership Moment?

Published On: April 6, 2020 10:03 AM NPT By: Keyu Jin

BEIJING – When he welcomed US President Donald Trump to Beijing’s Forbidden City in 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed to the character “peace” in the names of all three halls of the great complex, emphasizing the Confucian maxim “Peace is prized above all.”

On lockdown

Published On: April 6, 2020 09:37 AM NPT By: Abhishek Hang Rai

Fourteen days for death to rear its head, 14 days for life, 14 days for a breath of fresh air, 14 days to hide.

Protect frontline healthcare workers

Published On: April 6, 2020 09:02 AM NPT By: Dr Sushil Koirala and Dr Suraj Bhattarai

There has been a lot of discussion and news about shortages of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) not only in Nepal but globally. In some hospitals, including in the US, health care workers are compelled to work without PPE. Due to looming shortages of PPEs globally, the US President has ordered the companies not to export any PPEs to other countries.

Time to revive agriculture

Published On: April 5, 2020 09:52 AM NPT By: Bhairab Raj Kaini

Although the COVID-19 pandemic is primarily a public health crisis, experts are now voicing their concerns that the virus could have a much broader impact on the global economy. The UN's trade and development agency says the slowdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak could cost the global economy up to two trillion dollars this year. It will certainly impact agriculture as well. Some agriculture experts and entrepreneurs have made some observations that social distancing, reduced social and religious functions, minimizing travel, avoiding crowds, closures, and other protective practices will have impact on markets and prices of food items, dairy products, meat, flowers, and ornamental plants. There is a supply chain slowdown affecting the transportation of fertilizer, fuel, and other production inputs.