April 2023 Analysis: National Security & Climate Change
On 7th April, 2023 to combat increasing Covid-19 cases, Nepal received 1.5 million doses of Pfizer- BioNTech’s bivalent Covid vaccine from COVAX facility. Nepal has also stopped issuing the abroad permits for diploma and the language courses since 13th April, 2023. The increase in the wildfire cases currently in Nepal has impacted on the air quality index marking Kathmandu as the second polluted city in the world on 16th April, 2023.
Timeline of Major Events
Date | Events |
7th April | Nepal received 1.5 million doses of Pfizer- BioNTech’s bivalent Covid vaccine from COVAX facility |
13th April | Nepal stopped issuing the abroad permits for diploma and the language courses |
16th April | Kathmandu, capital city of Nepal was declared as the second most polluted city in the world. |
Government’s No Objection Certificate Stopped for Diploma and Language Courses
On 13th April, 2023; government of Nepal issued a notice stating to stop granting the No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the students applying abroad in programs other than those offered by the universities. The notice clarified that NOC will only be granted to the students applying for the bachelor’s level or the higher education. Before, the NOC was also provided to the students applying for the diploma as well as the language courses.
Recently there had been increase in the number of students applying for NOC where the number has reached upto 80,000 in the current fiscal year 2022/23 according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The change came about after the government experienced repeated instances of fraudulence.
Is the air safe to take a breath?
Kathmandu’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was measured to 192 making it the second most polluted city in the world on 16th April, 2023. According to the Department of Environment, air with the measurement of AQI from 51 to 100 is considered as the normal but above 100 is considered as hazardous to health. Such condition is worse mainly for the children, senior citizens, and people with breathing issues or to the people suffering from heart diseases.
The global warming and the rapid increase of the forest fires all over the country can be the major factor affecting the quality of air in the country. Even though, the problem of forest fire appears every year in the country and with also the existence of the community forest consumer’s committee in each district of the country, the country every year faces the same problem again and again. Unless the government along with the local communities seriously act upon this issue, the forest fire will take over the life of many wildlife as well as the humans. Moreover, the 35 percentage budget allocated for the forest conservation by the community forest committee can be utilized in the planned way to mitigate and control the forest fires by spending upon trained human resources, fire engines and firefighting tools and equipment.
Are we ready enough to fight new variants of the Covid-19?
On 7th April, 2023 Nepal received 1.5 million doses of Pfizer- BioNTech’s bivalent Covid vaccine from the COVAX facility. The vaccine was donated by the government of Austria, France, Greece, Italy and the Czech Republic. The vaccine is believed to immune the people to at least fight over the Covid- 19 virus. There has been surge in the Covid-19 case lately in Nepal. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 81 new cases was reported on 21st April, 2023. Nepal has also reported two deaths due to Covid in the month of April.
Even though Nepal is receiving vaccines from different parts of the world, many people including the children has not been fully vaccinated. With the open border with India and no restrictions in the airport, there is a high chance for the increment of the Covid cases in Nepal. Hence, the government unless takes the strict measures and fully vaccinate its population, there is going to be fear of Covid- 19 in Nepal.
CESIF Nepal