Nepali communist parties UML and Maoists make 7 point agreement for unity

Nepal's two communists parties have come up to 7 point agreement to unite their party as a single party. Previously these two parties have contested the first parliamentary elections after the new constitution, supporting each other. After the election, UML becomes the largest party and Maoist party is the third largest party of the country. These two parties had confirmed to unite but several issues like party's ideology, position of two supremos and the government position were hindering the unity. It seems they have resolved those issues to come up with the unity agreement. Read below for whats in the 7 point deal.

Several leaders from both parties made the deal in Baluwatar, PM residence. Now that the 7 point agreement has been done, it is confirmed for the two communist party to unite as a one party in the country. They are known to call the party as Ne. Ka. Pa. Nepal Communist Party. All the ideological difference will be taken to the new unity Mahadebesan (Convention) to decide whether to accept Janta ko Bahudaliya Janabad (Ja. Ba. Ja) or Maoism.

After this agreement, Maoists will also join the government being the member of the same united party. This new united party will have straight majority in the parliament. It is also known that there are some gentlemen agreement between them to lead the government in turn which is not announced nor written in the agreement. It is done so as to save their face from the general people and keep the bureaucracy under control.

Following points are in the agreement of the two communist parties.

• United party be called Nepal Communist Party.
• Unity Convention to decide on the united party ideology.
• Peaceful multi party democracy to be well accepted.
• Marxism and Leninism be the frontier principle of the united party.
• Discussion to be held for Ja. Ba. Ja and Maoism and proper rectification be held appropriately. 
• United party will be run with Interim political principle and rules.
• Nationalism, Democracy and Social justice be improved to attain socialism or communism.  

Here is the picture of the 7 point agreement for the unity.

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How to vote for favorite singer in Nepal Idol? My favorite Nepal Idols

As the theater round of Nepal Idol results in Top 18 best singer, the organizer have started to ask people for their favorite singer. They have posted a Facebook status with the performance videos and the code of the contestants. They have asked people to vote for their favorite artists after the top 18 was announced last week. Actually it was supposed to be top 16 but judges added 2 much loved contestants, as it was not fare to miss them.

Here is the list of the singer in Top 18 with their respective codes. 

1. Afsar Ali: Code 01

2. Bidhya Tiwari: Code 02

3. Buddha Lama: Code 03

4. Kengal Mehar Shrestha: Code 04

5. Manoj thapa Magar: Code 05

6. Menuka Paudel: Code 06

7. Nishan Bhattarai: Code 07

8. Pragya Shree BK: Code 08

9. Pramila Rai: Code 09

10. Pratap Das: Code 10

11. Pratap Lama: Code 11

12. Rahul Bishwas: Code 12

13. Sagar Ale: Code 13

14. Sandhya Joshi: Code 14

15. Sujata Pandey: Code 15

16. Suraj Tamang: Code 16

17. Suraj Thapa: Code 17

18. Ulson Shrestha: Code 18

Before they have only provided the codes and their solo video of singing performance in the last round. Now they tell the exact procedure to make the voting for their favorite contestants in Nepal Idol. Though all of them are equally well, some of them have been quite noticed from the first day. Taking about my Top 10 favorites, they are Buddha Lama, Afsar Ali, Nishan Bhattarai, Kengal Mehar Shrestha, Menuka Paudel, Sandhya Joshi, Rahul Bishwas, Suraj Thapa, Suraj Tamang. I hope they make it to the Top 10 in the next round.

How to vote in Nepal Idol?

As speculated the voting of Nepal Idol is from SMS. To participate in the voting of Nepal Idol for People inside the country,

• you need to send a message with Code number to 35225.

For international voters of Nepal Idol, 

• you need to Nepal Idol official app. Click here to download the android app.

Here is the video of the last theater round, Episode 11 with the solo performance. 

I have been following Nepal Idol from the very first audition round. There were thousands of participants from different cities among which hundreds were taken to the next round in Kathmandu. There has been many trolls and kanda including Potential Kanda of Ms. Indira Joshi, and the style of Sir. Nhyoo Bajracharya and famed Kali Prasad Banskota. But listening to all these artists, I must say they have brought nice artists and done justice to the hard work despite the TRP ratings stuffs.

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Prediction of Local level election 2074

As the first level of local elections is done, people are now curious about the result. My late post on whom to elect in this local election has reached out to 400 people who had read it but don't know if they had actually followed it.
The vote count has started from late night in some areas and from early morning today. Television channels, online news portal, FMs have started providing the first vote count updates from different parts where the count has begun from late night. Well, I am more concerned with the result in the major metro cities of Nepal. There are 4 metro cities, all of which conducts the local election on Baishak 31 (Yesterday).

Exit polls also have given out some prediction result. Due to the collaboration between some ruling parties vs opposition parties, the election result can be told to be obvious. But it can not be assured that the collaboration will yield exactly the same result.

The exit polls have already showed that the same big parties will have major seats around the 3 states, namely 3,4,6. So, its gonna be Nepali Congress (NC), Yemale (UML) and Maoists who will rule the result. For the highest no of seats, NC and UML will definitely be head to head. As per the Exit polls and the trend for the people preference for opposition due to their ultra vocal agendas, UML is known to lead in the no of seats. There could be only few no of seats difference between UML and NC.

After NC and UML, there will be huge gap for the no of seats win by Maoists. The newly united Ra.Pra.Pa may assume the fourth position after the Maoist Party but the no of seats for both the parties is known to be very low.

Lets put my prediction for the Mayor of major 4 Metro cities of Nepal.

Last Constituent election, I have done the same for the prediction of  all 10 areas of Kathmandu where nine of them came true. Find out here.

Pokhara is now the biggest metro city of Nepal. Here, there is collaboration between NC, Maoists for NC Mayor. So the heavy weight of NC candidate is likely to win the Mayoral position. But the competition is known to be tough between NC and UML candidates here.

Kathmandu is the home to the highest number of educated voters in Nepal. But are they going to make some changes in the election result here?? Well that is quite doubtful!!! Independent candidates from Bibeksheel: Ranju Darshana and Sajha Party's Kishore Thapa are in the limelight here, apart from major parties candidate. Mayor candidate from UML is supported by Ra. Pra. Pa. So it seems UML Bidhya Sundar Shakya may win but it is also equal likely for NC Raju Raj Joshi to lead KTM mayor. It is because in the last Constituent assembly election, NC had a good position here. As it is told that both the independent candidates Ranjana and Kishore will swing votes from NC supporters, UML's candidate is in upper hand. Now, it all depends on how much votes Ranjana and Kishore Thapa have stolen from NC. 

Lalitpur is another major metro city of Nepal. In the last Constituent assembly election, Congress had a landslide victory in all of the areas there. So, despite the alliance between UML, Ra.Pra.Pa, NC is most likely to win here.

Bharatpur: As NC has decided formally to support Maoists candidate Renu Dahal, she may win the mayoral position if NC supporters follow it accordingly. As we have heard some dissatisfaction for this collaboration, it is equally likely for the UML candidate to come as winner. Even if fifty percent of NC supporters follow their central whim, Renu Dahal (the daughter of current PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal a.k.a Prachanda) will win.

No matter who wins, I expect major changes to make our lives better here in the metro cities and other areas. When the vote count results are coming, I have found this (below) in the morning. Hope this sort of issues will be solved from the newly elected people's representative.

Disclaimer: The predictions are solely based on my intuition and what I have found, following news reports and discussing with the people from different places. 

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Whom to vote in Local Election 2074?

Three levels of elections are going to happen in Nepal as per the implementation of New Constitution of Nepal 2073. The first phase of Local Election is happening tomorrow from 7 am to 5 pm in 3 states of Nepal. Ballot for this local level election is also on paper, where we should put the swastika stamp on. I wonder when will Nepal adopt electronic voting on large scale for National elections.Talking about this Local election happening after 2 decades, people are so excited that the election turnout is known to be very high.

There are seven position to vote for this local election, either in Village bodies or Municipalities.They are: Mayor or Village Chairman, Deputy Mayor or Deputy Chairman of Village, Ward Chairman, Women Ward member, Dalit Women Ward member and two open Ward members. 

This election is about electing people either from political parties or independent for a local government. Which is directly related to the local level works inside the Village, Municipality and Ward. So, people should be more focused on the candidate for that position. Do not hesitate to ponder on the person's capability to lead the local level issues including development. But he/ she need not be tested with previous experience in any bigger position. His character and social friendliness behavior is also equally important.

Try to mix up for the people in different parties for different position with that capability. Do not follow blindly for any other thoughts and belief. Look for the education qualification in the person, prefer ones with higher than bachelor studies.

I do not mean, not to evaluate the candidates political agenda as it is also relevant. You do not want to stamp the position from a party whose ideology is completely different from you. They will certainly use that vote counts to show their popularity, which you will regret later.

Rule of law, democracy, development issue, transparency are mostly present in the party's manifesto but are they following what they preach?. That is another issue to look for while voting for the position blindly, sans the candidate.

During the election, you must be aware of all the propaganda's that some cheap cadres or leaders will be spreading for their benefits. Do not follow them and the rumors. Do vote with your inner belief for the person / parties, freely without any bias. As a matter of fact, you should reject the propagandists.

I am sure you might be having your family member, relative, neighbors as a candidate for this local level election of same or different ideology. But you have to do some judgement in another way here. If you feel he/ she won't do anything bad in comparison to other candidates, then you are going the right direction. Sometimes negative judgement also puts you in safe position.

There are people apathy to all these election developments and say there is no point in voting, citing the incompetent leaders in the power for long duration. I say it is the right time to show your anger, frustration in all these years by voting. Remember all the mishaps that might have hit you in all those years. Change does not mean selecting blindly. Select the right one, vote wisely. Don't be indifferent to all the election development. Participate actively. So that you won't regret later.

Even if its too late to reach out to many, I wrote this in a rush. Do not forget to share for spreading the right. Thank you.

Here is an official video from Election commission regarding the right method of Ballot paper.

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Hari Bahadur, a new fictional book by Hari Bansha Acharya

HariBahadur, a new book by popular actor Hari Bansha Acharya is released today in the capital. In a program at Pragya Bhawan Kamaladi, the book was made public on Baishak 23. Hari Bahadur is one of the popular character from the TV series "Madan Bahadur Hari Bahadur". The character is a symbol of the cunning, clever, thug people in our society. As the character is already in the heart of millions of Nepali people, this book is learned to take Nepal by storm. 

Ma of Ma-ha (the duo), Mr. Madan Krishna Shrestha launched the book in front of hundreds of people. In the program, Madan Sir mentioned of the character's presence all around us. He even cited the reason for the current political situation due to the presence of such Hari Bahadur character in Nepali politics. 

He congratulated his friend, his career partner for the second book. The first book was his autobiography named "China Harayeko Manche". 

Madan Krishna Shrestha even revealed his book to come soon in the market, may be this Dashain of the year 2074.

The actor even staged a program for the character interview to the faked journalist character of Mr. Rishi Dhamala. Though you have trouble dealing them everyday in real life, it is always fun to view the character as put by the actor Hari Bansha Acharya. Similarly, the book will be worth the read.

Having said and known all, I cannot wait to get it and read it at one sitting. As told by the host Rabi Lamichane, the book is so interesting that you will complete reading in one shot.
The price of the book is Rs 398. I am sure the book is available in all major stored of the country.

The host mentioned of the tour of the Har Bahadur to 11 places of the country. Where people can actually meet the character, interact and get a signed copy of the book.

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Latest survey shows demand for 4G in Nepal

I may have been writing here & there but its been a while I have been active here. Its always better to be here in my personal blog to write whatever I like. Last article (not here), I had written about my preference for 4G being a better technology and the reasons for following the cellular evolution here in Nepal. While other parts of the world are going through the research, development and standardization cycle for 5G, Nepal is now in the verge of accepting 4G technology. This article, I am referring to the survey result done by Nepalitelecom.com, that shows the tendency of people for 4G in Nepal. The survey done during the 4G launch in Nepal, has got responses mainly from the major cities in Nepal.

From the survey result, It is interesting to know that the most of the city dwellers are awaiting 4G in their area. That does not mean there is no demand in other growing areas but it is in the cities that most operators start with. For some, the reasons for not expecting 4G is due to their doubt for the affordability of the service and the handsets. The voice service from VoLTE, found to be better quality than the legacy voice, also seems to allure customers for 4G.

Speed with 4G.

Currently, the maximum speed of 4G in Kathmandu and Pokhara is up to 30 Mbps speed with Nepal Telecom. The result shows that 42 percent of the people want 30 Mbps or more speed. If we see the result other way, more than 90 percent people now want speed greater than 5 Mbps. This is quite surprising to know such huge demand of people for the speed.

Price of 4G Handsets

Though there are quite a lot of ranges for the 4G handsets, their survey result shows that 43% people can afford Rs 25,000. That is they are most likely to spend near to Rs 25,000 for a 4G smartphone, which is perfect price for a mid ranger.

Which 4G data package seems good?

They also found out out the popular data package in 4G comes at 5GB (with 100 minutes free call) per month. As in India, the voice call with 4G is free of cost, after subscribing some data packages. The unlimited free data and calls from Jio  is also going to close in the end of March. Similar will be the case later here in Nepal, for free voice calls. But I doubt the true unlimited internet with 4G mobile to exist any time soon.

The survey result shows, 50% people want more than 2 GB data with 4G. Some even prefer unlimited internet which they believe can be provided by the telecom operators but others felt the operators limitation for true unlimited data service, considering resource restriction, high internet costs from abroad, high equipment costs and any network error resulting in worst experience. For the usage of 4G at their home, most people say unlimited 4G internet as the prerequisite. Others prefer free home device, free local content like videos, songs that can make 4G alternative to their current home broadband. The survey even showed the feasibility of providing television service with 4G, including broadcast or movies on demand.

As mentioned in the previous article, the latest cellular evolution is known to include the data connection to almost all devices. For this, majority of people here expressed their interest to connect home devices including house hold appliances, if there would be any such technology here.

Huge demand for 4G

Last time, I had mentioned of the people's eagerness, hesitation to acquire the 4G technology. Nepalitelecom survey shows the huge demand for 4G in city areas and the feasibility of several other services including Television in 4G here. This sort of result is likely to encourage operators for planning and investing more on 4G. This time, one operator is struggling to get the 4G license and another opting for better use of the spectrum. Other operators may also join the race but now they are still in infancy state for launching 4G due to insufficient infrastructure. Later the unavoidable competition will make people adapt to 4G.

If you want to read the whole survey result, do visit here.

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GSM network shutdown in Nepal !!

Now that 4G is here in Nepal, in two cities Kathmandu and Pokhara, people from all parts of the country are demanding 4G in their area. As of now, soft launch of 4G is made by Nepal Telecom available only to Postpaid users. Very soon, they are launching it to Prepaid users. 

So, there are 3 networks, viz: 2G, 3G and 4G services in GSM technology family, available to the customers. Currently in Nepal, 4G is a data only technology where voice is being provided through CSFB (fall back) to legacy 2G, 3G networks. But some operators abroad have already deployed VoLTE for voice calls through LTE network.

There is a big question like why do you need such three types of network to the subscribers for same kind of services, also when better quality data and voice services are available through latest technologies. It is not only good quality and advanced services that we get from new technologies, but these technologies are also more efficient in many terms to the customer and the operators. For customers, you can get high speed data and HD quality voice at the same rate or even cheaper. For operators, the spectrum efficiency is very high for the latest technologies. Much relief to the operators as they can also maximize the usage of spectrum by re-farming the existing frequency chunk, along with the huge cut off in the time to market for 4G and the total cost of ownership. By that way, they can also launch the latest technologies without getting additional spectrum from the regulator (lengthy auction process). This is also what was done by Nepal Telecom to launch 4G in 1800 MHz, coexisting with GSM network.

4G in the world.

4G can also provide 100s of Mbps speed with the non-continuous spectrum and  nearly 2 billion subscribers are currently with 4G out of 8 billion connected users worldwide. This is from around 500 LTE networks in around 164 countries. As per GSMA, the number of LTE networks and countries is known to grow high in 2017.

GSM shutdown in other parts of the world.

Operators in several countries have already started shutting down their GSM network to use the same spectrum for 4G or 3G network. Mostly used frequencies for 2G are 900 MHz, 1800 MHz (a.k.a DCS) but there are also other rarely used frequencies like 850 and 1900 MHz mostly in America. In Nepal, GSM is being provided by 900 MHz and 1800 MHz only.

Telstra, the largest operator in Australia is the first one to bid farewell to GSM network in 2016. Other operators in Australia Like Optus, Vodafone are also following suit in 2017. Earlier Telstra  shutdown their CDMA 850 MHz to use it for 3G network.

The latest to join the GSM shutdown is AT&T of USA, who termed it as 2G or GSM sunset. It is done in the second week of January 2017. 

Three operators of Singapore, namely Singel, StarHub and M1 had jointly announced the GSM shutdown date to be April 2017. Many operators have either announced the date for the shutdown or they have stopped extending GSM coverage. As per some technology experts, GSM will stay till 2020 when 5G networks becomes available. Some European Operators have quite interestingly told to shutdown 3G before 2G.

How it is possible?

The shutdown is possible as their 3G and 4G is made more ubiquitous like around 90 percent coverage. So, GSM subscribers got down heavily with the entrance of 3G and 4G network. They also managed the easy handset update, either free or at nominal cost. For us in Nepal, it is a daunting challenge but it is not impossible. So the popular phrase of "GSM is here to stay", will not be valid in the long term here for Nepal.

Shutdown in Nepal

The best part is the regulator, Nepal Telecom Authority (NTA) had already started providing  technology neutrality license in some specified bands but later all spectrum bands can be operated for 3G, 4G technologies and beyond. It is due to this term, that Nepal Telecom operated 4G in 1800 MHz. Now it is also possible to launch either 3G or 4G in the 900 MHz band. It now solely depends on how the operators migrate their customers to more efficient technologies to pave the way for 2G network closure. In Nepal CDMA shutdown can happen within three years as there is no further evolution and people are also opting GSM over CDMA.

The official shutdown of the network may be overnight but the preparation to the shutdown along with the migration is rather a slow or gradual activity. With proper preparation and migration plan, they can announce the shutdown to be done in some years time and let people chose other technology before the shutdown.

Some people are skeptic of the coverage and availability of mobile network in their area after the shutdown. As they complain only poor GSM network is available for voice in there and ask what may happen if that technology is also gone!!! So that's why the new technology availability must be ensured along with the update of their devices.

Device Ecosystem: 

Most operators abroad need not worry about the devices available in the market. As with their huge no. of customer base and their partnership with device vendors, they can coordinate to make devices available as per their requirement of spectrum combination. That thing is not easy for us due to small market compared to others. As many operators have already reused the frequency bands of GSM, such devices are readily available in the market

M2M services:

There will be much impact on M2M services with the shutdown as majority of such devices use cheap GSM/ GPRS module for the small data connectivity. For the upgrade, first it will be costly for the module upgrade. So some operators mostly Europeans may opt 3G shutdown before 2G, till LTE-M or NB-IoT or EC-GSM (for small data connectivity) gets matured there. It is not a big deal for much, as the numbers are very few and they can make use of 3G, 4G devices for the same.

Better coverage and Receiver sensitivity

As mostly GSM operates in 900 MHz in the rural areas, usage of latest technologies with the Sub 1GHz spectrum is more advantageous due to better radio characteristics  for a country like us with more rural areas in Plain, Hilly and Mountainous regions. Also the receiver sensitivity is more high with latest technologies, reaching out to more areas even in the same spectrum as compared to 2G.

The data usage in Nepal is increasing with more video & multimedia contents. Also the demands for broadband is more high in rural areas and also HD voice quality is possible with efficient VoLTE. Using Spectrum that are currently operational for GSM, the operators here in Nepal can timely and easily cater the increasing demand of broadband coverage in all parts of the country. What it requires, is a proper plan for migration of the subscribers and the availability of either 4G or 3G in all areas of the country. And I don't see it happening before 2020.

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Black Friday sale to come to Nepal too.

November 5, 2016: Black Friday, is a popular day of the year after the Thanks Giving day, in which most of the retailers both online and offline offer heavy discount in the price of the products. People these days save their money for this event as they will get unbelievable offer for some products in Black Friday. It is an exciting day for the shopping maniacs, and is observed officially in U.S., Canada, U.K, Mexico, but also increasingly being popular in other parts of the world. I have known the day from some years as I found very cheap price for the products in my bucket list and is not in any way available here in Nepal. I have asked my brother, relatives and friends to look for the products that I was willing to buy but it goes sold out fast. So I wish if I could get those products and offers here in Nepal with such amazing price. Till this date, I have not known the black friday sale to come to Nepal in medium or large scale. But this year, Kaymu (the online shopping website) has announced the first ever Black Friday sale in Nepal. Where you can get quality products at an unbeatable price from the top brands. It is known that there will be offers up to 75 percent off on electronics, Fashion, home and living products. The offer will start from November 25th.

Lets see what kinds of products and offers will be found in Kaymu.com.np website. Since it has started this kind of sale, others are also known to follow suit which will be a great thing for all the shopping maniacs out there. As it comes with Chaos in some part of the world, lets wish there will not be any such in our country.
Kaymu is putting lots of guess and win contest in its Facebook page for the promotion of its Black Friday Event. It gives us an impression that this Black Friday in Nepal will be a big one.

I will update more news on Black Friday in Nepal, as it comes.
Do visit their website and their app on the day November 25th Friday and buy the offers available before it gets out of stock.

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Comedy program Twakka tukka to return

August 24, 2016: If you are of my age who grow up laughing with initial phase of comedy serials in Nepal, then you definitely know the TV program "Twakka Tukka" in Nepal Television: the one and only television channel in Nepal then. Most of the comedy actors now popular in Nepal have come to light from the same program Twakka Tukka. The same program is now known to come back as Twakka Tukka returns. Dinesh DC, the original creator of the program is also known to make it come back. In a Gaijatra special Kantipur FM program where "Awaz ko duniya ko Sathi" ( Friend of Audio World) Dinesh DC revealed the return back of the popular show twakak tukka. Talking to different comedy actors in Nepal, who are also staging a program named "Tite Jire" Gaijatra program every year, Dinesh DC hinted of the show to come back with the old and new actors.

Comedy actors like Dipak Raj Giri, Jitu Nepal, Daman Rupakheti, Shivahari Poudel made debut entrance to the television through that Show. Twakka tukka used to include several Chutkilas of that time, which was very popular among Nepalese. We used to have a great fun time watching the show.

It is not known from when the program will be on-aired and on which TV channel. The format of the program is also not known but it could follow the original one.

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1974 AD releases their new album "Hazar Sapana".

Aug 05, 2016: Update: The album "Hazar Sapana" is released today in a program in the capital and it is available for download in their official website (which will be available once you like the Facebook page). But there may be some server error (temporarily unavailable and resource limited) to download the songs on Friday, as thousands of people are trying to download. If you cannot wait to listen the songs, you can listen it on their official Youtube channel for all of the songs in the album, Click here.
Here is the list of songs in the album Hazar Sapana.
1. Saniko
2. Bagdai Gareko
3. Chaya
4. Timi Mero ma Timro
5. Pathayi deu na
6. Hazar Sapana
7. Salghari
8. Aru Kaalo Rel ko
Aug 04, 2016: 1974 AD, one of the most popular rock bands in Nepal and my favorite one, is going to release their next album on Friday. The album is entitled as "Hazar Sapana" and is the first album after their new line up. The band has added some young artists like Rohit John Chettri and Prajwwal Mukhiya after the exit of founders like Firoj Syangden and Adrian Pradhan. Firoj Syangden is currently living in US with new musical journey whereas Adrain Pradhan has gone solo and have already released a new album. The new line up of 1974 AD  has Manoj KC on Guitar, Sanjay Shrestha on drums, Nirakar Yakthumba on bass, Rohin John Chetri on Vocals and Guitar, Prajwal Mukhiya on Vocals and keys, Subash on trumpet and Pratik on trombone. 

According to Manoj Kumar KC, the whole of their album will be available for download from their official website www.1974ad.com.np on Friday which is already showing the countdown for the album release. The album is known to contain 8 songs which we can expect to be slow rock, ballads and fast songs.  Some of the songs are folk tunes and patriotic songs. I cannot wait to download and listen the whole album when it will be released on August 5, 2016 Friday. I have been their fan since my teen age time. I still remember the day when I bought the "Samjhi Baschu" album cassette and I was very much enthralled to listen it loud. Technology has changed a lot from the cassette era to now a digital era and people here in Nepal prefer listening music online other than buying it. That may be the reason to make it available free of cost to the listeners. We can also expect a new music video for the title track "Hazar Sapana".

Through their official Facebook, the band has written the following about their latest album:

"All of us have a thousand dreams. Some we manage to give life, the rest is left shattered. Picking up the pieces of our broken dreams and still braving the world with a thousand more is what makes our lives broken but beautiful. It is what makes us human. A thousand dreams crushed, and yet a thousand dreams to fulfill. We are a mosaic of tragedies and triumphs. Our songs are an extension of heartbreaks and happiness; our new album an amalgamation of it all".

Here is the album cover of "Hazar Sapna", which is designed by V-Chitra and Swooroop Nhasiju.

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MIUI 8 experience

June 17, 2016: It was on May 10 that Xiaomi had launched MiMax along with their new android Skin MIUI 8. After the Alpha ROM and Beta testing for more than a month and clearing out the issues with it, MIUI 8 Developer version is available with almost all of their devices (from Mi2 to Mi5, Mi Note, Redmi 1 to Redmi 3, Redmi Note 3). I happen to download it for my Mi2S today and update it with regular updater app, as my device was already running with MIUI 7 China developer version. For all those who own MIUI Stable and older versions, they need to download the latest developer version software package and update it from either Recovery or Fast boot. The new version of MIUI released today is MIUI 8 6.6.17 that will be updated every week. We can expect more new features to be included every week.

First thing I had heard about MIUI 8 is about the all new camera app where the modes are put in the bottom middle of the camera UI, instead of getting it by sliding and the HDR icon is now shifted to the top right of the UI. Filters are on the left side and toggle between two cameras (front and rear) is on the right bottom side. Flash icon is moved to the upper left corner.

Secondly, I have found the picture and video editing in the new MIUI to be cool as you won't need extra app for the same.

The updated Notes, Calendar and Calculator app is nice to have as you always prefer other apps like Evernote, Google calendar to make it synchronize with your Google account.

The most notable upgrade is the feature to clone your apps as you may need to use with your multiple accounts. Another is the second space feature that lets you use another login in the same device with different set of apps and access. You can easily switch between the spaces and move data between these spaces. Isn't it that cool!!!

Though it was known that MIUI 8 supports multi window feature, but it is found missing and I am not sure if it's only not there for my 4.3 inch Screen of relatively low end Mi2s (which makes me remember the blog I had written more than four years back, and that time Mi2s was a flagship killer).

The dialer, animation to call closure, the contact icons and sharing have also changed in a better way along with the notification shade that is having the same page for the toggle icons (left to right scrolling) and the notifications from the apps which was separate in previous versions. The battery optimization in the security app feels really powerful which notifies 3 battery issues continuously which makes me worry about the new battery.

I wonder how it looks for my Mi5 that I dare not to update as it requires the unlocking of the device and the fastboot/recovery update for Developer version. I will do that once Global Stable be available and I get used to with the features from MIUI 8.
Click here to see the updated version of this blog.

Here are some of the snapshots from MIUI 8 in my Mi2S.

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Loot 2 releases first teaser

May 31, 2016: The boys are back..... seeking Love, greed, revenge, money. So the loot is... and the master plan starts unfolding from the first teaser. The blockbuster movie of the year 2012: Loot has released a teaser for its sequence, Loot 2. It was already known after the movie went big with the box office and people's admiring that there will be a second part of the movie as revealed by Nischal Basnet, the director. He even asked for suggestion to go either with the second loot or Dimag Kharab: the movie that he will probably do next after this. The production of the movie was known to be on the floor with the same set of casts, Saugat Malla, Dayahang Rai, Karma, Reecha Sharma, Prateek Raj Neupane, Praween Khatiwoda, Sushil Raj Panday. It's the same production house: Black Horse production for the second as the first Loot was made with. The movie is also known to be produced by the same hit duo: Madhav Wagle and Narendra Maharjan.

The first look or rather first teaser shows tattoo-full khatri, wig full Haku Kale, Cap full Gople and slap full Reecha Sharma, among the artists. Haku kale stands on the top of a multi storeyed apartment, with his Newari accent dialogue "Jasko Sakti uskai Bhakti". He even mentions that nothing has changed in this city and the Kathmandu city is still the same " Herda lagcha rahara sala giddai gidda ko Sahara".

Loot 2 Nepali movie with Haku Kale.

The drone taken shot is marvelous which tells us that we can expect a lot of cinematic experience with the cinematography and obviously the hilarious dialogues won't be missing. It seems the movie takes off from where the first part ends and the impending revenge to the real "Looters" to begin, if you have watched the first part, you know what I am talking about, If not go watch the first part that is already available in Youtube.

The OST for the movie will be directed by the "Jaalma" maker Kaliprasad Baskota along with Roshan Thapa.

Highlights Nepal holds the right to upload the one and half minute teaser in Youtube and the Master plan will finally unfold on Falgun 13 (Febraury 24). Now eagerly waiting for the first trailer of the movie which will definitely be the talk of the town and the most awaited movie for the year 2074. 

Here is the first teaser in Youtube.

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Euro Cup 2016 football from Jestha 29 (with Nepali Time schedule)

May 26, 2016: Euro Championship 2016 is approaching near, it is about two weeks for the one of the biggest football tournament to held in France. The matches in the tournament will be held from early morning of Jestha 29, Saturday for a month which is June 10 to July 10. The no of teams has been increased from traditional 16 to 24, 4 each in six groups. The group stage matches will be followed by round of 16, Quarter finals, Semifinals and the final. After the group stage matches, top two teams from each group (2X6=12) and the four best third placed teams among the six will go for the round of 16. All the matches are known to be held in 10 stadiums in 10 cities of France.

Two times defending champion Spain is always my favorite but I will tell about the winning prediction after watching two matches of each team in group stage. Group D can be called group of death as Spain, Czech and Croatia are on it. I put my eyes on Germany which is easy for them to get through to the knockout stages.
Before it was not known which television channel will be airing the matches live in Nepal but my belief for the National television of Nepal (NTV) having the rights to broadcast it, comes out not to be true.
Update: It is known that Sony ESPN and SIX will be airing the Eurocup matches in Nepal.

As the timing for the important games are at 00:45 am, I am sure most of the football fans will be sacrificing their sleep to witness the energy and excitement. Other timing are 6:45 pm and 9:45 pm. 

The countries in each group are:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F
France	England	Germany	Spain	Belgium	Portugal
Switzerland	Russia	Ukraine	Croatia	Italy	Austria
Romania	Slovakia	Poland	Czech Republic	Sweden	Hungary
Albania	Wales	Northern Ireland	Turkey	Republic of Ireland	Iceland

Here is the schedule of the group stage matches in Nepali date and time (GMT+ 5:45)

Click to enlarge and save the image.

And here is the schedule of knockout stages match in Nepali standard Time (NST) and date.

Click to enlarge.

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Nokia phone is all set for revival

May 18, 2016: The pioneer of  Mobile phone, "Nokia" is known to come back after years of handling of the brand by Microsoft following the acquisition of Nokia brand and their handset business. The deal then entailed Microsoft to use Nokia brand in feature phones for 10 years and High end phones for 18 months. Microsoft later opted Lumia brand over Nokia to use for the medium range and high end windows phones. With the ending of the rights of Nokia brand from Microsoft, the Nokia brand is all set for revival with Android phones. Microsoft is also known to sold the feature phone business to a subsidiary of Foxconn whereas Nokia has planned to provide the license to a startup company named HMD Global. So HMD global will be using the license to manufacture and sell Nokia branded phones (possibly mid range and High end) and tablets. They have also announced the phones and tablets be build on Android platform. In case of Operating system, Nokia has come from a long way: the all popular Symbian to Asha to Windows to a very lil of Android too. World's no. 1 phone makers went all the way down gradually after the surge of Android and Apple phones. The Finnish handset maker even could not revive with the adoption of Android and the Windows Operating system. The handling of the brand by Microsoft as Nokia Lumia phones also did not catch up the long lag behind. During that time, Nokia had launched WiFi only N1 tablet, partnering with Foxconn. 

It is in the news that Microsoft is planning to launch Surface phones and put Lumia phones to shelves. As it is known that the new company HMD global is being run by Ex-Nokia employees, the likes and popularity of Nokia brand will be augmented by the great design and quality. So I say its gonna be a revival of Nokia with the Android. Do you agree?

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Sonakshi Sinha in Amar Panchi Concert (with photos and videos)

May 14, 2016: Amar Panchi, the dance concert organized by Nepal Army Wives Association (NAWA) was held today in Tudikhel ground of Kathmandu for the rehabilitation of earthquake victims. As previously told by the organizers, the show happened to be one of its kind and the grandest of all for such dance performances. Bollywood Actresses Sonakshi Sinha and Malaika Arora took the stage by storm along with superb performances from the leading female actors in Nepal including Reecha Sharma, Priyanka Karki, Rekha Thapa, Keki Adhikari, Sushmita Karki, Nisha Adhikari and not forgetting sensational singer Indira Joshi. All of the dance performances were choreographed by the famous Renasha Bantawa Rai and the beautiful costumes were designed by Ashrita Bhadel. The event was well hosted by beautiful actor/ VJ Sahana Bajracharya.
Nepal Army band first took the stage with the orchestra performances for popular Nepali songs like Nepali ho, Jaalma (Resham Filili), Taalko pani and the ones dedicated specially to the Bollywood actress in the show. After the orchestra, actresses performed dances in Nepali songs and medleys. Among the performance from Nepali actors, Priyanka's dance was outstanding in the songs like Surke Thaile, Siraima Sirbandi. She reached the stage by riding in doli from the audiences. Ultimately the two actors specially Sonakshi Sinha made the crowd go spellbound with the performance in medley of their songs.

Lastly, Chief of Army Staff  Mr. Rajendra Chetri and chief of NAWA felicitated both the guests Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha and Malaika Arora for accepting the invitation to come here and make the event a grand success. The organizers claim the turnouts were over 50,000 but I think it was around 30,000. So we can say the program is a huge success and lets wish for the fund to reach the some of the earthquake victims soon as it uncertain when our government reach there. 

Here are some photos from the dance concert.

All pictures are copyrighted. Take consent for using it.

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Xiaomi launches Mi Max and MIUI 8

May 10, 2016: Xiaomi, the Chinese phone&accessories company and one of the worlds rapidly growing handset maker has launched a new phablet (size 6.44 inch) called Mi Max along with latest offering of its Android Skin MIUI 8. The biggest smartphone from Xiaomi is all metal with 7.5 mm body that fits in a pocket as already teased in a picture before. The phone features fingerprint scanner at the back like Redmi Note 3. There will be three variants of the phone: 3 GB RAM, 32 GB ROM version powered by Snapdragon 650 costs 1500 RMB, 3 GB RAM, 64 GB ROM powered by Snapdragon 652 costs 1700 RMB whereas 4 GB with 128 GB Storage also powered by Snapdragon 652 costs 2000 RMB. The phone is backed up by a whopping 4850 mAh battery as bigger screen need bigger batteries. The phone sports 16 MP PDAF rear snapper and 5 MP 85 degree front snapper. The full HD display phone comes in silver, gold and dark grey color and weighs 203 gm. Its a dual 4G LTE handset, with the availability of IR sensor. 

Along side the device, Xiaomi also announced MIUI 8 with all new exciting colors and styles. It features wallpaper Carousel to provide daily lock screens from 12 categories. All new Gallery app includes filters change, quick share, doddle, stickers and video editing. MIUI 8 changes its color according to the weather change. 

Other features include the new Notes app (requring password), power saving mode (freezes background activity), Multi window management and detecting fraud & scam messages.The developer ROM of MIUI 8 will be available from June 17 and the supported devices will be Mi 2/ 2S, Mi3, Mi4/4C/4S, Mi5, Mi Max and all Redmi, Note series.

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