Hijacking democracy

Published On: March 5, 2020 08:53 AM NPT By: Subarna Shakya and Bimal Pratap Shah

Algorithms will soon be a big part of human society. It is already being used to determine what people see on online platforms, detect traffic violations on the busy streets of cosmopolitan cities, suggest posts on social media, and fire unproductive employees. The general thinking is that the evaluations made by algorithms are objective and unbiased because they analyze huge amounts of data to make decisions.  This, however, is an incorrect assumption. Since people write software codes, human-biases often transfer in algorithms potentially threatening liberal democracy.

How not to leave Afghanistan

Published On: March 5, 2020 08:45 AM NPT By: Richard N Haass

NEW YORK – After nearly two decades, 2,400 soldiers killed, another 20,000 wounded, and as much as $2 trillion spent, the United States is understandably eager to withdraw from Afghanistan. President Donald Trump wants to be able to claim in advance of the November 2020 election that he fulfilled his campaign promise to end the country’s longest war, and his Democratic challengers share his desire to extricate the US from the conflict.

Sensibility for China

Published On: March 5, 2020 08:36 AM NPT By: Hari Prakash Chand

China is fighting against novel coronavirus to mitigate the loss and to save the lives of its citizens. The Chinese government has made all the efforts to prevent the spread of the virus beyond highly impacted areas in China. To fight against this epidemic, China opened 1,000-bed coronavirus hospital just within a week of construction, which is amazing. China is trying to apply all the measures to control the situation. Many countries in the world are expressing solidarity with China in its fight against the virus.

China’s COVID-19 Moment

Published On: March 4, 2020 08:47 AM NPT By: Andrew Sheng/Xiao Geng

HONG KONG – Last October, the 2019 Global Health Security Report included a stark warning: “National health security is fundamentally weak around the world. No country is fully prepared for epidemics or pandemics, and every country has important gaps to address.” Just a couple of months later, a new coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China—and quickly demonstrated the accuracy of the report’s assessment.

Right to Housing

Published On: March 4, 2020 08:40 AM NPT By: Jivesh Jha/Nil Prasad Paneru

Housing has been one of the highlights of constitutional schemes on fundamental rights in Nepal, setting an ambitious target of providing homes for homeless and needy citizens. The parliament enacted Right to Housing Act (2018) to implement Article 37 of the constitution, which guarantees every person the right to appropriate housing.

Are we prepared?

Published On: March 4, 2020 08:32 AM NPT By: Rabindra Adhikary

Humanity is under a constant threat of calamity even though humans think that they are the most intellectual beings on earth. Apart from natural disasters, famines and economic recession, we are exposed to the biological threats of deadly viruses time and again. As we are struggling to keep ourselves away from coronavirus, we should not forget the outbreaks of smallpox, bubonic plague, Anthrax, SARS, H1N1, Zika and EBOLA.

Enhancing chartered accountancy

Published On: March 4, 2020 08:29 AM NPT By: Arun Raut

Chartered accountancy is a challenging profession. Having big four firms in Nepal can help our chartered accountants to develop and excel. But big four firms are not coming to Nepal and the main reason why they have not established their foothold is that they are getting what they want from Nepal without physical presence. Major big four firms have a strong presence in Nepal as a permanent establishment and is taking a big chunk of consultancy services from government agencies.

Enhancing exports to Bangladesh

Published On: March 3, 2020 10:54 AM NPT By: Kshitiz Dahal

Taxes levied on imports at Bangladesh customs is primary obstacle to Nepal’s exports. The high taxes arise from customs duty, para-tariff and overvaluation of certain products for customs purposes

Why Special Service Bill should be amended

Published On: March 3, 2020 10:47 AM NPT By: Taranath Dahal & Dikchya Raut

If Special Service Bill is authenticated in current format, it could lead to self-censorship among the journalists and their sources. Besides, journalists, You Tubers and bloggers may be arrested

Hearing Loss in Nepal can be prevented

Published On: March 3, 2020 10:39 AM NPT By: Milan Maharjan

16.6 percent of Nepalis suffer from hearing problems, one of the highests in Asia