5G Antennas on Everest; Everest base camp now has 5G coverage. In 2020, we have seen many smartphones equipped with 5G-band like Samsung S20’s, One Plus 8 Series, Huawei P40 and so on. Recently, Huawei has done something related to 5G on Everest. They took an important step in the field of telecommunication and placed antennas that will provide 5G coverage to Everest. This was possible under the agreement signed between Huawei and Chinese operators. In cooperation with Huawei, China Mobile engineers placed 5G antennas on two separate levels, they were placed at 5,300 & 5,800 meters of the mountain. This historic moment was marked on April 19, 2020, with the hard work of 150 people who worked during the placement of 5G antennas.

Difficulties During 5G Antenna Placement

But, placing the antennas on Everest was not easy. They had to transfer 8-ton material to the mountain as the desired altitudes were Everest Base Camp (5,300 meters) and Transition Camp (5,800 meters). Everest has 3G coverage since 2011 and 4G coverage since 2013, which helped climbers to share vital information and videos to the base camp. Placing 5G antennas on Everest and using stable 5G connection was hard. Looking after the harsh weather conditions, the improper supply of electricity and difficult geographical conditions it was like a daydream to many people.

On Everest, a total of five 5G NSA and SA antennas were installed which can deliver speed up to 1 Gbps at different points. Yes, you heard it right you can surf up to 1 Gbps on Everest which can bring significant changes on information’s exchange between climbers and the rest of the world. After the successful placement of 5G antennas on 5,300 meters and 5,800 meters they are now going for 6,500 meters which will begin on April 25, 2020. Summing up, China has taken the biggest leap in 5G service. Phew, that was a piece of hot news from the Everest.

Recently, huge sites like Daraz, Foodmandu, Vianet, Mercantile were hacked and many users suffered a data breach in Nepal. The commodity, not the century have always changed throughout history, oil ruled the 20th century it passed on its crown to data. Data and flow of data basically run the world and it’s of extreme value in today’s day and age. With such large data traffic globally a problem of a data breach is lurking. A data breach is an unintentional or intentional leak of Private/confidential user information to an untrusted environment. Data breaches can include financial information, health data, personally identifiable information, trade secrets and so on.

In recent years with development in internet technology cybersecurity has been a major issue in Nepal. The nation has succumbed to data breaches time and again. Recently our cyber network has become victims of two major data breach while the country is going through a nationwide lockdown. First a reputable online food delivery service Foodmandu was hacked where over 50,000 user’s data was stolen from the company’s database. The user with the username of “me.mugger” has claimed to have hacked the service according to a Twitter handle. The hacker went onto explain the reason for hacking was to show how vulnerable our security really.

Before the incident that befell on Foodmandu was put to rest another major ISP Vianet was hacked. The scale of the data breach was even larger in comparison, Over 170000 user data was leaked from the hacker’s Twitter account. The data leak has happened from a twitter handle “नरपिचास” (@paapi_kto_mah). The Nepali tweet was “डाटा भोगी मानबहरु लौ मोज गर” which can be roughly translated to “Enjoy Data hungry people!!”. The data dump is done by hosting it in “Onion network” making it impossible to trace.

Also Read: How to apply for e-Pass?

Vianet acknowledges the incident with the breach of its information system and has issued an apology for the discomfort and the inconveniences faced by the user. The company have also claimed to have identified the source of such data spill and has assured the users that necessary steps have been taken in order to mitigate ta potential backlash from the attack. Such attacks are the example of how our cybersecurity has vulnerable points which can be exploited leading up to something even more unfortunate. More companies are falling prey to such breaches.

As of end users, we should be aware of our cyber activities and take necessary steps to strengthen our personal data security. Every individual effort from the end user side makes the overall cybersecurity stronger. As a wall of as strong as the bricks laid to build it.

The Ministry of Home Affairs of Nepal has started E-pass for operating essential vehicles in all parts of Nepal during this nationwide lockdown. The purpose of the government to issue E-pass is to regulate transportation and to minimize the risk of spread of COVID-19 virus. The government made the decision to provide E-pass for needy individuals, during a press conference held on April 13 and the decision has been implemented and operated from Tuesday (14th April 2020). Vehicle passes are made available only for the service providers of sectors like health services, media, electricity/telecommunication, banking, waste management, food transportation and so on. The pass is also made available to individuals attending a funeral.

The table below shows the sectors that are granted permission. You can find more information on their website https://epass.moha.gov.np/.

How to apply for E-pass?

In order to get E-pass, you should fill up a form available in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

• Vist: https://epass.moha.gov.np/
• You are provided with two option; Personal or Vehicle, choose your desired option
• Enter your Name, Mobile no., Address, Area of access and district
• Upload your ID; Citizenship, Passport, Driving License, Voter ID, Employee ID, PAN Card
• Fill up the time span for the E-pass
• Fill up your Vehicles Details either bus, truck, four-wheeler or two-wheeler
• Also, upload the supporting document for your service category to get the pass.

You can see the format of the pass form below or visit https://epass.moha.gov.np/ for more info. Also, we request you not use this service for unnecessary purpose as the government has provided this facility only for unavoidable circumstances.

We request you to not to misuse the E-pass. The misuse of the pass may result in action by the government. Let’s help the government, let’s not burden it.

The year of 2020, brought with it a promise, a promise to start anew, to heal, to grow, to develop, to cherish. But nowhere in their wildest dreams had the humankind imagined how those things would come to this world. The roaring 20s brought with it a terror, and a global one at that, a horror (Corona virus) that spread far and wide, further than it that was conceivable by the human brain.

What is Coronavirus?

The COVID-19, also known as the novel corona virus, the 2019-nCOV, or simply the coronavirus, came from a city in China and has now spread to possibly the entire globe. In 3 short months, the corona virus becomes a pandemic, killing thousands, infecting tens of thousands, showing us the true meaning of “a small world”, forcing the world into isolation.

In a way, we, as a generation that grew up with smartphones and laptops glued to our faces, with Netflix and chill replacing peek-a-boo, with the majority of the day commenting on people’s stupidity, are living our ideal lives. We are working from home, we are taking online classes, Netflix is our new best friend and the government recommends avoiding human interaction. But still, we are not happy, perhaps we are realizing how futile our thinking actually was, perhaps we come to realize the true values of being human. We long to hang out with our friends, we are feeling bore of scrolling through Instagram, home workouts just don’t feel the same, classes don’t feel the same without commenting on the teacher’s outfit with our best friends in the back seat.  

Nature, with human beings forces to stay in, is now thriving, it is not finding “a” way, it is reclaiming its way. Come to think of it, this pandemic might as well be nature’s way of reminding us puny humans, just how small we are against the creation. We tried to assert dominance over nature; we took over forests, claimed waterways as our means of transport, drove birds out of the sky with gallons of our jet fuel polluting the air, kept animals inside cages for our entertainment. Now the very animals, the very nature is roaming freely, deer are walking in the street that used to be theirs, fishes reclaim their ancestral habitat, birds are singing in the once noisy city, people are enjoying the sunsets from the confinement of their homes.

Stubborn we humans are, we do not learn a lesson or a two without being hit upside the head, and this virus, dare I say, has been the biggest slap nature gives us. Where we once fought among ourselves for power, for land, for our big egos, we now are learning to fight as one, for the thing that really matters; the existence of mankind.

Let’s ponder for a moment, how are the hundreds of army tanks, and billons of currency invested in ammunitions, helping us in this moment of crisis? How are our borders, the ones that induced the biggest wars the creation has ever seen, helped to contain this plague? How are our discussions on who is the most powerful of them all, helping us to win over this war for our survival? The answer, we already know, all these actions were a form of vanity, a means to reassure ourselves that we as the most evolved creatures on the planet are invincible. But we are not, oh how far from invincible we are.

Present Condition of Corona Virus

Right now we know why we were taught “Health is the biggest wealth.” All those billions of dollars invested into wars and ammunitions, yet the real soldiers fighting for mankind are working in silence, donned in white, they are determined to defeat this monstrosity. The biggest of the countries have fallen to their knees, willing to lose anything to save the people, the mightiest of the leaders are bowing for a cure, for anything to save the ones they are responsible for.

Yet our heroes in white are in the trenches, dodging bullet after bullet, working against all odds to save the not a country or a region but to save humankind as a whole. Humans are coming together to save each other, to let vaccines get tested on them, to help the vulnerable, they are doing all they can to help others, to aid those who call for help, which goes to say that maybe we have not yet forgotten our values. Perhaps there is still hope left for mankind. We will fight, there will be casualties, martyrs, mass graves will be dug, silent prayers will be sung, but we will prevail should we work together as one.

At the end of this nightmare, we shall remain, no doubt, but let this disaster be a lesson to all the world of what really is important. The virus will go but let the values it teaches when staying with us. Our borders, our wealth, the number of our armies, our ability to rule the world is not what matters, what matters is how we co-exist with nature, with each other, we are not defined by nationality, religion, race or creed, we are unified under one race that is humanity, and under one religion that is nature.

Most affected countries by Coronavirus:

• USA
• Italy
• China
• Spain
• Germany
• France
• Iran
• UK
• Switzerland
• Korea
• Australia
• Canada
• Portugal

How to avoid Coronavirus?

• Frequently Hand Washing
• Maintain Social Distance
• Avoid touching mouth, eyes and nose
• Stay informed and follow the advice
• Seek medical care in case of emergency

Let’s do our part to fight this, and make it easier for our superheroes who are fighting this enemy (corona virus) tirelessly, let’s stay at home, eat healthily, wash hands, not touch our face, protect ourselves and those we love because at the end of the day health is what really matters.

Coronavirus Live update in Nepal

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