New loadshedding schedule December 17 2013 (Poush 2, 2070)

NEA (Nepal Electricity Authority)- the government owned sole authority for generating and distributing electricity in the country, has announced fresh schedule of loadshedding in the country. With the new loadshedding schedule effective from December 17, 2013 (Poush 2, 2070), there will be nine hours power cut daily, which is increment of 3 hours per day. 

Due to reduction of water level in the river, the country falls short of about 400 Mega watt electricity compelling to cut the power for 63 hours per week, which may be increased more during the dry season. The new loadshedding from push 2, Tuesday will be having three shifts of power cut on 4 days, one shift in one day and two shifts for two days. 

Here is the new loadshedding schedule effective from Poush 2 Tuesday (Dec 17, 2013)

Click the picture to enlarge.

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Fifa World cup 2014 football draw officially announced.

Final draw for Fifa World cup 2014 football Brazil ( from 12th June to 13 July 2014), has been made at an special ceremony at Costa de Saupa Resort, Mata de Sao Joao in Bahia. After paying tribute to revolutionary leader Nelson Mandela (who died today aged 95), the final draw has been made with the already defined procedure (click to know). Altogether 32 countries from Africa, Asia, America, and Europe are allocated to eight groups, each containing 4 teams, with the timings and stadium location of each match being already defined. With the draw, the first match of the World cup 2014 Brazil will be held on 12 June, 2014 between host Brazil and Croatia (Group A match) at Arena de Sao paulo, Sao Paulo 12:45 pm Nepali time (NST). 

Here are the eight groups from the draw of Fifa World cup 2014, Brazil.
Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon
Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia
Group C: Columbia, Greece, Ivory Cost, Japan
Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy
Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras
Group F: Argentina, Bosnia Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria
Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA
Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, Korea Republic.
Till now, I see Group B, D and G to be a tough group among which Group D seems more tougher.... that means D is the Group of death (D for death) in this 20th edition of World Cup... More from the pundits later.

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Motorola to build modular smartphones with Project Ara.

Motorola, a Google company is known to be working on Project Ara, an open source initiative for modular smartphones i.e. using separate modules for camera, processor, screen etc and assembling all to make a smartphone. In a bid to make phone last longer and reduce electronic waste, Motorola team up with phonebloks to make a smartphone by connecting detachable bloks to the base (endoskeleton or endo). You can easily upgrade or repair the bloks, thereby reducing the waste from the worn out/obsolete phones.

If this modular approach is achievable in real sense then it will be a revolutionary effort in the mobile phones we use today. Just like we use different apps (some good ones, some moderate and some extra featured ones) for the same tasks, we can have variety in the phone hardware. Say for instance, you want to use higher quality camera, faster processor, higher memory space or high capacity battery in your phone, you can just take out the old modules and replace it with better ones. Similar analogy can be found for apps store with blokstore; like a store for hardware (modules). Easy customization of your phone hardware with this approach will cut down the high price in upgrading your phone and even reduces the electronic waste.

I have this feeling that this sort of effort will be more feasible when all of the handset makers agree to bring such modular approach in manufacturing. Now lets say if the project surpasses all the challenges, I now wonder how will the rivalry between Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, and Google look like then. May be in the price or the durability of the modules!

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Kathmandu is among the top travel destination in the World: TripAdvisor

Travel website TripAdvisor has revealed the winners of 2013 traveller's choice awards for the destination on the rise. The destinations were selected according to the data collected in their websites from searches and reviews. 54 places across the globe were enlisted that have seen the greatest increase in positive feedback and interest from the travelers in the last year. Havana, Cuba is in the top spot in the world, seconding La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica and our very own Kathmandu is in the third favorite destination in the world. Kathmandu even tops the list for such destinations in Asia, other Asian destinations that came second and third are Sappora, Japan and Hanoi, Vietnam. 

Here is the Top ten destinations in the world, including three Asian destinations.

1. Havana, Cuba

2. La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica

3. Kathmandu, Nepal

4. Jerusalem, Israel

5. Crusco, Peru

6. Ambergris Caye, Belize

7. Sapporo, Japan

8. Hanoi, Vietnam

9. Corralejo, Spain

10. Fortaleza, Brazil

Its a great news to all the tourism entrepreneurs working here in Kathmandu, that helps to boost their business. As a matter of fact, its a great opportunity to all the concerned people to enhance the tourism sector, including the government which has to invest more and systematize the various issues like different fares, road conditions/routes, airport facilities & terminals, add more national airplanes. 

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Chauka Chakka hanincha World cup khelincha: Nepali cricket team victory rally in Kathmandu

There were news regarding the huge crowd in the airport to welcome Nepali Cricket team back to their country, after their world cup t20 qualification in UAE. It was known that the crowd loudly chanted, "chaukka chakka hanincha world cup khelincha"( we will hit 4s 6s in the world cup play), but I missed taking video as I was not there. Today there was the procession of Nepali cricket team in Kathmandu, which I met accidentally during my office work and stopped to take the video of the victory rally. 

Lets hope our boys will play up to the mark to reach Super 10 of World T20 Cricket, where we will be able to compete with biggest teams like India, Australia, Pakistan, Srilanka.

Here is the video of the Nepali cricket team victory rally in Youtube, where people chanted the same slogan.

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