ICYMI: Here are our top stories from Saturday, February 1
These are some of the stories from The Kathmandu Post (February 1, 2020). During the insurgency, many hotels started to cut their tariffs because of low occupancy rates. Fulbari followed suit, offering its luxury rooms at rates as low as $30 a night. Handout Photo
Here are some of the big stories from today's The Kathmandu Post.
Nepal’s best hotel hit the bottom. Can it rise again?
In the late 1990s, the Fulbari Hotel and Spa in Pokhara was a resort like no other in the country. At a time when there were few hotels catering to high-end visitors to Nepal, there would be Russian tycoons milling around in the hotel lobby alongside Malaysian, Thai and Singaporean business people waiting to charter a helicopter to Annapurna Base Camp or the hunting reserve in Dhorpatan.
Spread out over 209 ropanis of land, the 165-room resort was a marvel of architecture, fusing classical Newar wood-and-brick style with a sleek, modernist aesthetic involving marble and tile. Fulbari had swimming pools, restaurants, spas, and even its own golf course and helipad. If built today, the 140-ropani golf course alone would cost billions of rupees.
WHO declares public health emergency as coronavirus spreads, but there are questions over first—and only—case in Nepal
Now that the World Health Organization has declared the spreading novel coronavirus outbreak a ‘public health emergency of international concern’, Nepal will need to ensure that it acts in accordance with the UN body’s guidelines when it comes to prevention and detection.
Mahendra Prasad Shrestha, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, said that the government is in regular contact with the WHO country office in Nepal regarding the measures Nepal can take.
Coming from a largely academic background, new Tourism Board CEO faces a challenge
In September 2016, the Nepal Army began a high-risk operation of draining Imja Lake, which sits at an altitude of 5,004 metres. The lake was at high risk of bursting and flooding the villages downstream. A study conducted in 2009 by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development had projected an estimated loss of $11 billion if the lake burst.
Draining the lake’s water safely was a mammoth operation, but by the end of October, the army had successfully completed its operation, averting a major threat. One of the scientists involved in the project, which received widespread coverage in international and local media, was Dhananjay Regmi, a geomorphologist and glaciologist. He was the project’s technical advisor. According to Regmi’s CV, four months after the project, then Chief of Army Staff General Rajendra Chhetri awarded Regmi the Commendation Medal for his contribution to the project.
With Prem Kumar Rai resigning, bureaucrats vie for home secretary position
Home Secretary Prem Kumar Rai handed in his resignation on Friday, six days ahead of his retirement date, opening up the position for competition among half a dozen aspirant secretaries.
Rai resigned six days ahead of his retirement date to add an extra Rs3,000 to his pension, sources at the Home Ministry told the Post.
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