Received: from mp.cs.niu.edu (mp.cs.niu.edu [131.156.1.2]) by library.wustl.edu (8.6.9/8.6.9) with SMTP id QAA12593 for <huestis@library.wustl.edu>; Thu, 2 Feb 1995 16:04:10 -0600 Received: by mp.cs.niu.edu id AA17850 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for nepal-dist); Thu, 2 Feb 1995 12:57:20 -0600 Received: by mp.cs.niu.edu id AA17846 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for nepal-list); Thu, 2 Feb 1995 12:57:18 -0600 Date: Thu, 2 Feb 1995 12:57:18 -0600 Message-Id: <199502021857.AA17846@mp.cs.niu.edu> Reply-To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu> From: The Editor <nepal-request@cs.niu.edu> Sender: "Rajpal J. Singh" <A10RJS1@cs.niu.edu> Subject: The Nepal Digest - Feb 3, 1995 (19 Magh 2051 BkSm) To: <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu> Content-Type: text Content-Length: 52072 Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 95
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The Nepal Diges Friday 3 Feb 95: Magh 19 2051 BkSm Volume 36 Issue 3
Today's Topics:
1. Letter To The Editor
Support for Matrimonial - D. Gurung
Dhanyabad Rajendra - G. Pokharel
2. KATHA_KABITA
Poem - Jewan
Book Reviews - Chhitijko Pristhabhumi
(The Background of Horizon)
3. KURA_KANI
Education - Re: Another Vote of Thanks
Social - Legal Stats
- Vehicle Stats
- Re: Nepalis in Korea
- Crime Stats
Politics - Communist Govt. Doing Fine
Technology - GIS Computers and Email
4. JAN_KARI
Bid for Nepali Restaurant, anyone?
Bhutanese Refugee Conference in Columbia
5. SODH_PUCHH
Any Nepalis in Montreal Area?
Traffic in Nepal?
Anybody from GBS?
******************************************************************************
* TND Board of Staff *
* ------------------ *
* Editor/Co-ordinator: Rajpal J. Singh a10rjs1@mp.cs.niu.edu *
* SCN Liaison: Rajesh B. Shrestha rshresth@black.clarku.edu *
* Consultant Editor: Padam P. Sharma sharma@plains.nodak.edu *
* Discussion Moderator: Ashutosh Tiwari tiwari@husc.harvard.edu *
* Memberlist Archives: Sudeep Acharya sa01@engr.uark.edu *
* TND Archives: Sohan Panta k945184@atlas.kingston.ac.uk *
* Book Reviews Columns: Pratyoush R. Onta ponta@sas.upenn.edu *
* *
* The Nepal Digest(TND) is a publication of the Nepal Interest Group for *
* news and discussions about issues concerning Nepal. All members of *
* nepal@cs.niu.edu will get a copy of TND. Membership is open to all. *
* THE EDITOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT ARTICLES FOR CLARITY. *
* *
* +++++ Food For Thought +++++ *
* "If you don't stand up for something, you will fall for anything" -Dr. MLK *
* "Democracy perishes among the silent crowd" - Sirdar_RJS_Khalifa *
* *
******************************************************************************
**********************************************************************
From: ubhuju@acs.bu.edu
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 09:29:00 EST
To: a10rjs1@cs.niu.edu
From: DGURUNG@CLEMSON.EDU
Subject: Letter to the editor
Dear Editor(s):
Congratulations on your superb job on running the Nepal Digest
(TND). We (I, my wife and a four and a half year old daughter)
look forward to receiving it everyday and find it - informative,
provocative, amusing, ... We just wish we had more to time to
contribute to it.
The following is a list of misc that we have thought of expressing
lately:
1) We support the Matrimonial section. It will be informative and
useful. Let's just try to keep the noise level down.
2) A section on Taja Khabar on Financial News from newly opened
stock exchange in Kathmandu could be an attractive feature.
I appears that we all are interested in the future of Nepal and
to that end financial markets provide one of the fastest source
of information. Remember the stock prices went down significantly
when the Communists were ready to take over. It will be really
interesting to see how those prices have done since then.
3) We suggest the contributors to write the number of lines in their
postings. That could ease readers by making them able to hop here
and there in the digest.
Lastly, I have enjoyed postings on NPC, GIS and on Economic Develop.
especially by Dr. A. Bohora and of course that interview with
Jeffery Sachs.
Until next time, we thank you. Namaste !
**********************************************************************
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 09:17:42 EST
To: nepal-request@cs.niu.edu
From: Anita Regmi <AREGMI@ERS.BITNET>
Subject: Concern of Nepali Workers in Korea.
I wish to express my concerns regarding the treatment of Nepali workers
in Korea.
I will be delighted if my concerns are forwarded to the appropriate
authorities. In case any other information is necessary I can be contacted
at the following address.
Anita Regmi
Economist, FCED/ERS/USDA
1301 New York Avenue
Washington D.C. 20005
Voice Mail: (202)-501-7431
Fax: (202)-219-1252
**************************************************************************
From: DAVID PONKA <PONKA97@medcor.mcgill.ca>
Subject: Nepalese in Montreal?
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Hello everyone,
I am a medical student in Montreal, Canada, who will be going to
Nepal next summer to complete a training elective and to learn more
about a beautiful culture. I would like to prepare as much as
possible for the experience before leaving, and this will mean
learning more about the culture and especially the language.
I am thus writing to see if any of you are, or would know of any,
Nepalese in the Montreal area, who might be willing to meet with me
a few times to talk, and perhaps even to engage in some basic
language instruction. I would be very willing to offer some
instruction in English or French in exchange. You can reach me, or
forward any contacts, at the below coordinates. Many thanks for
your help.
Namaste.
David Ponka
3721 Frere-Andre, #17
Montreal, Quebec
H3V 1B2
(514) 737-7248
ponka97@medcor.mcgill.ca
*******************************************************************
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 17:49:59 -0500
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Another thanks to Rajendra
From: a41590a@nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp (GP)
To. Rajendra and all others who posted news in this news-group.
I express my deepest appreciation to all those who post small piece
to series of news and especially, Mr. Rajendra for his continuous
un-tiring effort in collection/posting of news clips. I have really
found this SCN very useful because there are Rajendra's postings.
I want to honor him by calling him the "SAILOR" of this News-group.
If he is not here, this newsgroup would be sailing like
the "Mary Celesty" (High School's English book Chapter 8). So,
lets call him "SAILOR of SCN and the TND" by heart.
With best regards.
G. Pokharel
******************************************************
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 17:51:35 -0500
From: rshresth@black.clarku.edu (RaJesh B. Shrestha)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Korean torture
Cross-posted from SCN:
---------------------
I support ashu's idea to send the letters to various places about those
Nepalis mistreated in Korea. Yes, there can be some passimistic peoples who
might say its useless effort because it will continue. Lets skip
these peoples and "DO what we can do as their (Nepalis in Korea)
fellow Nepali."
Two Years before, One Japanese named "Hattori" was killed
by one American when Hattori knocked his door by Mistake , on
his way to a Heloween party. Then Hattori's father and Mother
started a campaign to Ban Rifles in America (Can you imagine?),
I also signed in that campaign. I was thinking that can they attract
News media ? But, they reached to their first goal to attract
News Media, they gave letter with thousands of peoples' signature to
American President Clinton. I saw Hattori's mother was saking
hand with Clinton. Isn't it possible ? So, lets wake and support
Ashu's effort .
Thanks.
G. Pokharel
**************************************************************
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 17:52:31 -0500
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Letter to Korean PM
From: rajendra@coos.dartmouth.edu (Rajendra P. Shrestha)
------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 1995 04:31:32 -0500 (EST)
From: Ashutosh Tiwari <tiwari@husc.harvard.edu>
Subject: SCN
-------------------------------------------------
My heart-felt thanks to all who have responded to the call to
write letters condemning the mistreatment of Nepali workers in South
Korea.
Not only Anil, Shaligram and GP have posted their support for the idea
here, but also others have e-mailed in their concerns to Rajendra and
to me. Thank you all for your support and willingness to help!
I had also sent in a copy of that long post to TND. But I
guess it got lost or something, for I have not seen it in the last
three TND issues. Did anyone save it from here? If so, could anyone
please send it to TND? Rajesh, please?
The idea now is to do the following:
1) Amrit Pant (a student at MIT) and other Nepalis in the Boston area have
agreed to help me out to write this letter. We should have a draft
ready by the end of this week. We would post a copy of that letter
here and on TND.
2) We would also put the mailing addresses and fax numbers/ and e-mail
addresess (if available) of the Korean authorities. Please, everybody
take a moment to download it, print it out and mail/fax it to the
Korean authorities. The more letters we can mail from ALL OVER THE WORLD,
the stronger message our efforts would send to the Korean authorities!
Given the reach of this Internet to over 100 countries, I would think that
letters from Nepalis and friends of Nepal all over the world would
definitely send a signal to the Korean authorities.
3) From Boston, we would send out the letters on behalf of the
Greater Boston Nepali Community (GBNC), perhaps the Nepal Digest
(let's see how people respond to this there) and perhaps the SCN.
4) Letters would be send out to:
a) South Korean Prime Minister
b) South Korean Labor Minister
c) South Korean Ambassador in DC.
d) Nepali Prime Minister
e) Nepali Labor Minister
f) Nepali Ambassador to Japan (and South Korea)
g) South Korean Ambassador in Nepal
i) AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL.
Writing and sending the letters is the LEAST we, the students
and professionals, can do. But do, we must.
Please feel free to comment on this here. Don't just read
this. Respond with your ideas!
namaste
ashu
***********************************************************************************************
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 22:07 EST
From: ATULADHAR@vax.clarku.edu
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu, mack@shrsys.hslc.org, nepal@forestry.auburn.edu,
NEPALI HI-TECH: GIS, COMPUTERS, AND EMAIL
==========================================
There is a flurry of activity in Nepal to catch up to the hi-tech world og
GIS, Computers, and email.
GIS:
GIS or Geographic Information System is a computerized system for creating map
overlays and conducting spatial analysis. This facility is now a must in any
NGO or GO or SGO (semi-government organization such as Institute of Forestry)
that want to appear "modern".
The organization that spearheaded the introduction of GIS, hardware software
and institutional support is ICIMOD, the International Center for Integrated
Mountain Development, under the leadership of former administrator, Surendra
Shrestha, a computer whiz kid from Asian Institute of Technology. a Mountain
Environment and Natural Resources Information System (MENRIS) was set up at
ICIMOD with the help of donor support including that of UNDP, UNEP, and
UNITAr. A core group of computer programmes and electrical engineers, mostly
AIT alumni, was put together to get this going and program to develop national
nodes was developed.
Under this program, Tribhuvan \University Central Geography Department which
was headed by the current Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission,
Dr. Mangal *Siddhi Manandhar, a political geographer alumni from US, got some
10 computers for the purpose of teaching GIS to students and other clients and
producing digitized maps for Nepal. This program got a fillip with the star
student, Crown Prince Dipendra joing as a MA student in Geography and wanting
to learn GIS, here and in Bangkok. Currently, this program has a MS from AIT,
K. Poudyal, teaching GIS to students and trainees from Kathmandu Municipality,
Housing, and Garbage Utility at Rs 25,000 for 6 -week session as well as
another GIS technician who lost his job at MENRIS n ICIMOD.
GIS in Nepal also had other smaller epicenters. The Topographical Survey,
especially the Integrated Survey division under P.B. Shah were among the
earliest institutional users of GIS to overlay soil erodibility andland use
maps to study land cover change in Jhikhu Khola and also map out feed and
fuelwood shortage throught the districts using TERRASOFT, under a
collaboration with the University of British Colombia in Canada. P.B. Shah has
since moved to ICIMOD to continue this work but the TOPO survey have continued
to use GIS to map other maps.
The mining department and the forest department as well as the Irrigation
department also use GIS to do part of their work. The forestry Institute got $
8 million dollars grant to develop the forestry of Nepal and they bought some
20 of the oldest IBM PC XT models, not 486, or 386, or 286 but 3 generation
poor machines that cannot use GIS as part of its grant of antequated junk
technlogy to Nepal.
By the early 1990s, GIS got another institutional fillip from Dr. Binayak
Bhadra, the civil engineer turned economist who had a flair from things
hi-techy and who was nominated as the Planning commission member for Energy.
He was helped by Paul lundberg of UNDP who was trying to introduce GIS to map
settlements and roads in the West Nepal. A GIS steering committee was set up
to introduce GIS nationally and address problems of data standardization,
quality and accessbility. The committee is dead now but Vice-Chairman Dr.
Mangal Siddhi Manandhar has promised to rejuvenate this and his program of GIS
at NPC.
At a Jan 25 talk by Dr. Thomas L. Millette, my GIS and Remote Sensing
Professor from Mt. Holyoke College, at the National Planning Commission, there
was a wide and dense interest. The room had overflowing audience both bigwigs
decision makers such as the Directors of Topo Survey and ICIMOD Menris lab as
well as head of TU geography deprtment and GIS professionals. Dr. Millette was
reviewing institutional models for national GIS in developing countries,
developed countries, and a potential model for Nepal. At the discussion, the
TOPO director was mentioning that they were making new topo maps based on 1992
aerial photos taken with FINMAP while the TU was digitizing old 1954 Survey of
India maps. Dr. Millette mentioned that there was software that enabled
stereoscopic generation of both contours and digital elevation maps that would
reduce the redundancy of both TOpo jobs and TU projects. We have yet to see
how this will fare.
Computers
==========
Fortunately, there was a computer exhibition at Blue Star by the Computer
Association of nepal, and inaugurated by out GIS crown prince Dipendra. The
president of CAN, Sanjeev Rajbhandary who is also head of the \mercantile
office system that serve as the mail dealers for IBM, Epson, and a variety of
hi-tech engineering products and services said that he even had a GIS team at
Mercantile. HIS GIS team consisted of engineers and architectures who digitize
maps for export, claiming that he can get a engineer to do what in |US is done
by a technician and sell it for $7.5 an hour. Sanjeev has been previously
successfully in hiring several computer programmers by selling their software
services both abroad and in Nepal. He also runs the only list of computerized
email services called <mos> for mercantile office system.
I asked him why Nepali clients of Mos never respond to our email. He said it
was the cost. It costs $3.5 a minute, more expensive than fax and working
throught the ernet in India is bothersome because they mail in batches of 2-3
days and the very purpose of instantaneous communication is lost. The
Nepal-Australia Forestry Project was also concerned that confidential memos
may be seen by computer whiz kids in |Mercantile so were still using faxes.
I think here is a lesson for Nepal Digest which insists on sending the 10 page
long masthead to its subscribers. Why can't the editor make a 1 screen message
of title, editor, and table of contents, an d put the rest at the bottom of
the edition so we can skip it and so clients inNepal don't have to pay for the
junk. Sanjeev said he makes a hard print of Nepal digest after editing for
local news and sends it to 20 subscribers of email gratis but now he has
request from only 4 of them. *so much for Nepal Digest reaching Nepali
audience.
Getting back of the computer exhibition, what surprised me wasthe rangeand
quantity of computer hardware and software sold. I was doubtful if all these
vendors did enough business to survive but some are thriving. BELTRONIXs for
example started out as an electronic periphereal firm making computer battery
service to protect against Kathmandu's erratic electricity. It is now a full
fledged Compaq computer dealer as well. We have compuer software firmssuch as
the "Unlimited Software" which specialized in Nepali script software for tne
Nepali market and a variety of telecommunication, movie, sound computers. What
was glaringly missing was any internet email related technology display.
The computer prices have dropped. I saw wall posters in Kopundole for 486
computers at Rs 48000 that is less than $ 1000; why the cheapest 486 in US,
the GATEWAY is at least $1700. For all of you Nepalese contemplating taking a
computer back and gong throught the customs jhamela, think twice.
The number of computer schools have outstripped language schools and typing
schools, every tole has one, literally.
Yet it is surprising that the rate of computer acceptance is still slow. The
Nepal Bank still has its volumnous ledger files and notes and ten people have
to sign before one gets a check cashed. When I was there, I tried to get my
passbook updated. The first time they were going to have their semiannual
summing up so no detailed updating only a balance, a task Agricultural
Development Bank and Nabil Bank does in a 1-teller stop with a computer. The
second time, I went, the bank was on strike and I could not get 1 figure for
my balance and yet the karmacharyas are asking for a wage hike. Little do they
realize how redundant their jobs have become with computers when they were
insolently refusing to my pleas that I have to return to States and could not
come back "another day" Nepalese have so much time.
Amulya Tuladhar
Clark University
USA
*****************************************************************
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 1995 23:10 EST
From: ATULADHAR@vax.clarku.edu
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Description: Latest Crime Stats for Nepal
Crime Stats for Nepal (1992/93)
================================
Source: Statistical Pocket Book of Nepal , 1994, Central Bureau of Statistics.
Table 17.5 in the latest edition of the Stat of Nepal lists 31 different
crimes recorded by the Police Headquarter.
The most frequently committed crimes include:
Some Public Offense (Hadtal related vandalism?) = 2087
Suicide = 1192
Accidental killings = 1151
`
One wonders if the onset of democracy and free-market capitalism has driven
more people to suicide because of the competitive atmospher generated and the
rise and lionization of individualism. Similarly, all these accidental
killings may be related to more development such as more people travelling and
falling into rivers like Madan Bhandary.
Hanging remains the most popular way to committ suicide since one need not
spend money hunting from "musako ausadhi" (hey pesticides are so expensive
even farmers cannot afford them) nor do you have to buy weapons to kill
oneself. Drowning is difficult because most waters are too shallow or too far
to find anyway and burning is too grisly, unless of course you are Nagina
sShrestha, the Shilu heroine who could not stand being the second wife of her
glamourous truck driver, police/army pilot:
Suicide types:
Poision 332
Hanging 775
Weapons 26
Drowning 59
Burning 0
Crime on women has increased or is it that they are more reported:
Rape in:
1989/90 67
1990/91 111
1991/92 138
1992/93 157
Cow Slaughter, a crime unique to our Hindu country, is stable at 32. It is
easy to find beef imported from Calcultta in luxury hotels of Kathmandu. The
cow slaughter charge is often a religio-political device to enforce caste
hierarchy on ethnic and caste groups such as the Sarkis who eat beef, the
whites and bahuns who eat beef on Shangri-la are exempt.
Trafficking in women, although widely reported to be on the increase, does not
register on police records, it hovers around 104 to 126 from 1989 to 1993.
Similarly polygamy, a crime that often are underreported and underpersecuted
in the patriarchical Hindu society where women without women, whether they are
first wives or second wives, just cannot survive economically or socially,
shows a steady increase from 121 in 1989 to 181 in 1993. Similarly child
marriage, santified Hindu religious values for giving a "Kanya-dan" literally
a pre-pubertial, prementrual virginal girl to some old baje who is doubting
his manhood, is considered as gaining punya or dharma in heaven, shows
increase from 3 in 1989 to 10 in 1993. What do you expect in the world's only
"Hindu" country?
Drug offenses also show an increase from 227 in 1989 to 352 in 1993, although
this is extremely inderreportedin terms of absolute numbers.
What has decreased is political crimes from 30 in 1989 to 4 in 1993, although
Amnesty International continue to report torture of political prisoners
inNepal. This crime stat may be cooked to make democratic govt look good.
compiled by Amulya Tuladhar
Clark University, USA
***********************************************************************************************
***********************************************************************************************
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 04:01:15 -0500 (EST)
From: Ashutosh Tiwari <tiwari@husc.harvard.edu>
Subject: Nepali restaurant
To: The Nepal Digest <nepal@cs.niu.edu>
Nepalis and friends of Nepal in Boston, Massachusetts NEED, WANT
and LIKE TO HAVE a Nepali restaurant in the neighborhood.
If you are an MBA tired of the rat-race in the corporate America,
or a millionaire angry at Salomon Brothers for dumping your
mega-bucks on the Mexican bonds, or a risk-taking entrepreneur
looking for a profit-maximizing challenge, then read on.
A few Nepali professionals in Boston are seriously thinking of
opening up a Nepali restaurant either in metropolitan Boston or in
Cambridge within a year or two. They have the experience, manpower,
knowledge of Boston, cooking skills, and creativity. What they do not
have is MONEY. [And they are looking around for it!]
Does anybody out there, with lots of bucks and guts, want to take up
this restaurant-opening proposal seriously? You may want to visit Boston to
get a sense of what it's like having a resturant here, and so on.
Hey, if you have the money (or at least, some of it!), vision, guts
and a passion for Nepali food, then what are you waiting for?
Come to Boston, and open up a Nepali restaurant for us Nepalis, for
our friends, and many Bostonians who, we are sure, would love to sample some
greatly-made dal-bhaat-tarkari-achar-and-kukhura-ko-masu.
Think about it. And, liberal Massachusetts even has a Republican
Governor who's trying to woo and pamper small businesses!
namaste
ashu
********************************************************************
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 08:13 EST
From: ATULADHAR@vax.clarku.edu
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
COMMUNIST GOVT DOING FINE... SO FAR.
===================================
Contrary to all the congress scare tactics of democracy dissoluting with the
demise of Congress at the polls, they are doing fine, so far.
The Communist govt of United Marxist Leninist are approaching govt very
carefully trying to build consensus and avoiding major controversies that
might snowball into a vote of no-confidence in the Parliament that is still in
session.
The so-called Opposition of Nepali Congress has become so timidified that even
congressi papers are wondering if this is a) failure of leadership, b) result
of constructive politics, c) and worst taboo of all, the communist govt is
actually doing well? Although Sher Bahadur Deopa is the official opposition
leader and Ram Chandra poudel is the House Speaker, little of what they say is
in direct opposition to the UML govt and they are not treated as serious
challenges to UML. It is still Girija who calls the shot and it is still his
statements that political commentators analyze scrupulously.
Among Girija's blow hot blow cold statements is the claim that he has more
contribution to Nepali Congress than either Ganesh Man or Krishna Prasad (yes,
by proving democratically that Nepali congress is not the most popular party
under his leadership!). On the basis, he is demanding that Ganesh Man be kept
out of the Nepali Congress, especially after he has scared him by taking on a
'Jan Jagaran Abhiyan" with Jagannath *Acharya to alert Congress to the
greatest threat to its party: the neofascism of Girija. Alarmed that Girija's
supporters and the latter0day, "Chaite" former Panchan_Congressi workers who
will follow any power that will give them power, Girija has issued fantastic
claims:"communist lai "phu" gare pachi dhal dinchu, karya karta ta ke, neta
haruko samet rajniti bata haat dhulai dinchu" in other words" I can blow the
communist away as the wolf huffs aways the pig's straw house, I will not only
destroy the credibility of the communist activists but also of their
leaders..." I think it is a sympton of desperation that the more lightly one
is taken, the more fantastic claims one needs to make to get any one's
attention. Anyhow Girija is angling to be the Congress neta in the mahasamiti.
In order to increase his powers, Girija has allowed Sher Bahadur Deopa to
appoint his arch enemy Chiranjivi Wagle, the leader of the 36 Parliamentarians
who brought down his govt as the Opposition whip while stacking all other
positions with girija men. By trying to buy Chiranjivi, he is trying to reduce
the support of krishna Prasad in his claim for Party leadership.
Krishna Prasad, on the other hand, is not willing to give up his post for as
long as he lives. He is happy with a bottle of Red Lable and a women his
detractors whisper in character assasination. to save his party leadership, he
sometimes allies with Girija and sometime with Ganeshman. In fact there is a
theoretical debate within the Nepali congress at Hotel Shangrila regarding NC
economic policy: socialism or capitalism? Leading this debate is old guard of
Krishna Prasad,:Dhundi Raj Shastri arguing for the continued relevance of
socialism while new leadership of Sher Bahadur want unencumbered market
capitalism.
The big message the nepali public is getting is that Nepali congress
leadership is still in big disorder and the so-called new generation
leadership seems incapable of growing out of the "bhoot" of girija's shadow.
People no longer speak of congress as an alternate to the communists; it is
the Rastriya Prajantatra Party.
Indeed, the RPP has been given very high marks for the way they have conducted
in the Parliament, raising lucid points in contrast to the UML while the
leadership of the congress is confused about focus. An anecdote illustrated
this point. Some congress parliamentarians objected to the picture of some
royal hunter standing over a dead tiger. They moved away the pictures and
replaced it with pictures of some martyrs and occupied the parliamentary
disscussion for an hoour. Then Surya Bahadur Thapa noted,"No wonder the Mashal
claim that Parliament is place for bourgeoise gossip, if the congress is so
fearful of a dead tiger, what can we hope of congressi leadership??" Papers
from all political persuasions commentated how nothing significant was
discussed or raised by the opposition in the Parliament this time.
Girija's minions, such as Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, have been taking Girija's
counsel to be "militant" in politics by raising issues of Arun-3 being
squandered away or that we can topple the communist in a huff, often to
embarassing counter arguments. He was on a platform with Pashupati Shumsher, a
potential leader and future Prime Minister candidate from the RPP, boasting
that they will not let uml rule for more than a year when Pashupati retorted
publicly that UML was doing a fine job, certainly much better than congress's
first fifty days and if it continues to do this well, we will even support
them for the full term. Given that all claims of NC toppling UMl depends on
the 20 seat support of the RPP, NC claims sounded very hollow, indeed.
Regarding Arun-3, Mahat has been trying to create the impression that uml was
whittling away this big grant. When he was asked why per unit cost of ARun-3
electricity was much higher than that of Bhutan he had no answer, and when
asked if this was due to all the commissions, he had no satisfactory answer.
The UML stand is to go ahead with Arun-3 but try to find out how costs can be
reduced to a minimum.
Most of the Nepalese I met were thankful for the little things communists govt
has done inthe first 50 days. Example: no one has been privilege with
ministerial "tok" in jumping lines for phone, electricity, other service
access, this has really won hearts in Kathmandu. Kathmanduites are very happy
that central govt is working closely with the municipality to address the
garbage and pollution issue unlike the cold war between P.L Singh and Girija.
In the villages, there is a lot of support for the rs 3 lakhs promised for
village development. Villages under congressi leadership, such as Tauthali in
Sindhupalchowk, told me that they had a very hard time asking for votes this
election because the congress did so little and had to use their family links
to get some votes. congressi village leaders wonder what good can come with rs
3 lakhs no string attached budget.
In order to continue win people's support, they have put together a Land
Reforms committee and have begun to address the Mallik Commission report.
On a macro level, the ML leadership is trying best to court the friendship of
India and Us and have scheduled trips to assure them they are not as bad as
they are made to be and have been getting more and more assuring vouchsafing.
forinstance, Prince Gyanendra praised the UML budget as the best he has seena
dn he has dared to become more visible. Even King Mahendra's bested statue in
Durbar Marg is under repair by the comunists.
Most Western govt officials who know the nepali communist first hand do not
seem to be overly alarmed. In Naubise Khanikhola village, a thoroughly
communist village, I saw pictures of the american ambassador, Sandra Vogelsang
with communist Parliamentarian of Dhading, Gangalal Tuladhar giving away
prizes in community forestry. Indeed, USAID is sohappy with the worl of
communist village in protecting the communisty forests of Macchendra ban that
they have renewed the project by another 5 years.
In Singh durbar, I saw important dignitaries in Mercedes Benz coming to see
deputey Prime minister Nepal while Vice-Chairman of the National Planning
commission, Mangal siddhi Manandhar says he has not noticed any decline in any
donor support.
Still one hears of donors waiting to see how UML performs to decide whether to
turn the tap of donor dollars, some donor agents who were extra-friendly with
the congressis have resigned.
On the domestic front, UML has promised not to indulge in politicization of
the bureacracy asthe congress. Most of them were asked to stay on but some
ofthem are beginning to resign, including TU VC. The GMs of public
corporations have been open to open competition while foreign postings have
been influenced by Royalist choices. Given that much of bureacracy are
political posts de facto, we can expect changes here, it remains to be seen at
what scale this would be. for instance, it is recognized that in TU, upto
campus chief level positions are political, it remains to be seen whether the
changes will trickle down to campus chief level.
An interesting bell weather is to see what the opportunistic Nepali
intelligentsia is the future power trough. In recent elections of theNepali
Bar Association, the leftist panel has swept the elections. Similarly, if the
leftist sweep the elections of the Professors Uniion when the democrats won
two times when democrats were in power in Krishna Prasad and Girija time, we
can take that evidence of a vote of confidence by theintelligentia.
So far the biggest scandle is the Manipal Medical college scam handed down by
the Girija ko hanuman, Govind Prasad Joshi. As an ex-officio Chancellor of teh
kathmandu University, the ex-officio Pro-Chancellor Joshi arm-twisted the Vice
Chancellor Suresh Raj Sharma to accept the academic affiliation of Manipal
Medical college. "how can a Kathmandu University which has only 12 permanent
faculty, no medical staff, and no medical lab, quality control a medical
college??" former VC Mathema objected with Education Minister Joshi, so the
Kathmandu University got the hot potato. Gone to dust is kathmandu
\university's claim to be an alternate to TU: a clean, lean, mean,academically
superior institution. It is as lousy as TU, ifnot worst.
Devi Prasah Ojha of the UML has tried to answer the critics of manipal college
by saying that they have the medical association's ok to affiliate the
college. Critics argue that each medical student in Manipal pays Rs 50 lakhs,
a substantial portions will make the UML coffers.
Within the uml, there is an ongoing criticism that UML is full of easterners
and that it has no women. The deputy party Scretary from far West Nepal is
trying to press for 1 person 1 post and the supremacy of party over the govt
policy. The congress floundered on this shoal, let us see how they solve this.
The Uml has been sensitive to charges of being "bahun-heavy", a charge
levelled by noneother than fellow communist of the maoist thought, "Rohit" of
the peasant party. It has tried to give influential positions to Newar leaders
where it can to avoid the "Brahmanbad birudh jehad" sensationalized by
Deshanter when he criticized that 6 of the 7 ambassadors Girija appointed were
all brahmins, and not all that qualified except to be the PM's confidante.
Among the notable stokings of Newari sentiments are: full minister to Padma
Ratna Tuladhar; Attorney General to Sarbagy Ratna Tuladhar; Governor to Ratra
Bank to Satyandrapyara Shrestha; Vice-Chancellor of the National Planning
Commision to Mangal Sidhi manandhar; possible VC of Tribhuvan University to a
Newar, dr. Kamal Krishna Joshi or Dr. Kamal \Prakash Malla; chief of RSS, the
national news organization to Malla K Sunder.
The UML has also been careful to stoke and cultivatethe aspirations of
minority ethnic community by appointing some of its leaders to high position:
Mr. Subhas Nembhang,as full minister for law; Mr. Padma Ratna Tuladhar as full
Minister of Labour and Welfare ( he broached the topic of work permits to
regulate Indian labor to give Nepali labor from ethnic minority a chance
inNepal market); and Malla K Sunder who have active in language and culture
revival politics. It looks like UML is not about to create the impression that
other communities are shut out in its future postings.
To end this, just a little know opposition to Arun-3 has come from the
Limbuan, the Limbus who want a federalist state of autonomy as Gorkhaland in
Darzeeling. They oppose the Arun -3 for cultural survival. They argure that
Limbu culture and peoples will be destroyed when 50,000 Indian semi-skilled
labour is imported to Limbu lands in Arun3 headwaters to work for 14 years.
They want the jobs but they may not be as skilled with all the concrete and
road works.
Amulya Tuladhar
Clark University
massachusetts, USA
***********************************************************************************************
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 18:18:44 -0500 (EST)
From: Nirmal Ghimirez <NGH42799Q236@DAFFY.MILLERSV.EDU>
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: jiwan
KABITA
Jiwan sataha bat herda ,
dekincha matra maya,ra chaynik sukh
ani dubchaun tesaima ra bilaunchaun tehi ramitama
gahirer herda dekincha ki yatharthama yeha cha matra dukh
yo dukhako vawasagar ho, yeha cha pida,vog,rog ra dukh
tesaile aaj harekle afno bhitrako budhali khojnucha
dukhako vawasagarbat muktiko marg kojnucha
********************************************************
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 19:39:21 -0500 (EST)
From: William Pusateri <pusateri@oberon.pps.pgh.pa.us>
To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu>
Subject: Re: The Nepal Digest - Feb 1, 1995 (18 Magh 2051 BkSm)
Can anyone who has recently visited Kathmandu comment on the traffic
around the city these days?
In view of the recent earthquake in Japan, is it true that the Japanese
government is hedging on its committment of aid to Nepal in favor of
aiding its own people?
****************************************************
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 22:31:05 -0500 (EST)
From: Ashutosh Tiwari <tiwari@husc.harvard.edu>
Subject: Another vote of thanks
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Thanks to Dilip Parajuli for another defence of BKS. He is
welcome to hold the views he holds. And that's fine. Discussions would
be silly if we all saw the same thing the same way everytime.
But I could not let one thing [slightly] against Kedar Mathema go
unaswered. Mathema may be "unpopular", but his popularity or unpopularity
has little to do with his -- what I consider to be -- fine work at TU. I
respect Mathema for taking the TU-behemoth by its horns, wrestling with it
to the best of his ability, demanding high standards from the faculty,
students and staff, and basically trying to stream-line TU and its
resources so that it becomes LESS of a bloated giant.
Mathema appears to be a guy who is articulate, concerned, knows what
he's doing, is willing to take risks, is unafraid to take a stand (as
against Man Mohan Adhikari when Adhikari went to comfort Nursing Campus
students who were on a "bhok-hadtal" with their ridiculous demands) and is
a tough-talking manager (notice that he REFUSED to take the Manipal Medical
College and another dubious medical college under the TU umbrella even
though he was under political pressure to do do!) whose PRIMARY concern
is to make TU faithful to its central mission: Studying and teaching.
As someone who's much, much junior to Mathema, I am more than happy
to count Mathema -- on the basis of his work at TU -- as one of my role
models in Nepal, regardless of how liked or disliked he is by the bulk of
the staff and faculty -- most of whom, in my opinion, just "wanna have
fun" (i.e. do no work) and give TU a perennial bad name.
Yes, when you take a stand (something, I dare say, even the most
educated Nepalis are afraid of!) on something, and are willing to go
against the mainstream or official current with your convictions and
analyses (Alliance for Energy's Bikas Pandey and BASE's Dilli Choudhary
come to my mind), popularity is the LAST thing you are worried about.
namaste
ashu
*************************************************************
From: ponta@sas.upenn.edu (Pratyoush R. Onta)
Subject: book review
To: NEPAL@cs.niu.edu (tnd)
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 1995 00:12:24 -0500 (EST)
Book Review (published in The Independent 18 May 1994)
Chhitijko Prishtabhumi (The Background of the Horizon)
by Dr. Ram Man Trishit.
1994, Kathmanudu, Basu Sashi Memorial Council, Rs. 25.
by Pratyoush Onta
This book of 74 poems is the first collection of poetry to be published by
Dr Ram Man Trishit. Yet he is no newcomer to the Nepali literary scene,
having written Nepali songs (he has also provided the music for over 50 of
them) for well over two decades. Acknowledged for his contribution to the
'modernization' of Nepali song lyrics, Trishit's songs have been
previously published in three separate collections. His newness to the
poetry scene is, however, sarcastically noted by the poet Sailendra Sakar
in his foreword to this collection when he refers to Trishit (who is over
50) as an extremely forceful poet of the young generation !
Without trying to answer whether songs are poems too, we can turn to the
poems published here. Among many themes, Trishit, like many others
writing presently, seems to be particularly distressed with the Nepali
nation and state. For instance, in "Water, Ice and Steam" he writes:
Until today
This country saves its honour
By covering its body
With pages from its history.
But how long...
Will this last?
He thinks the country was in a state of deep sleep even as floods swept
its courtyard in "This Country." Furthermore, he does not have much faith
in the so-called spring-awakening of 1990, In "Spring Has Come?" he
writes:
When there are snakes dancing in my home's courtyard
When my soul lives as a refugee in my own country
How can I believe...
That Spring has come here?
And as if to warn those who are now mouthing the market-economy mantra, he
writes in "If This is My Country":
How can I say that
The increase in the bazaar's activities
Is our vikas?
Along with the commodities
I have also seen
The shopowners being sold.
And then as if to express his disappointment with a country mesmerized by
the so-called first successful climbing of Mt. Everest by a Nepali woman,
he continues in the same poem:
We can no longer sing the
Laurels for Mt. Everest
For there are other mountains higher that Mt. Everest in this country
Mountains of poverty,
Mountains of helplessness.
I cannot look at the Himalayas
With a foreigner's eyes.
The fear that the country might be lost can be read in "If This Continues":
If this continues
After some time
Teachers will tell their students
How the Himalayas lost their height...
And show the birthplace of Buddha
In the map of someone else's country.
Such a warning can also be found in his "The Behaviour of Water," and "If
We Continue To Be Busy Marking Celebration Days." In many of his other
poems, we read about that "second Nepal" consisting of hardworking but
poor Nepalis whose voice is seldom heard amidst the cacophony of elite
politics, about war and death, about the practicality of discarding
useless things, about the culture of jagir, about birthdays and new years,
and so on. Of the 74 poems, about half make for forceful reading and some
20-plus are outstanding. END
Note:
Around the time when the above review was written, the following poem by
Ishwarananda Shresthacharya (a noted linguist with a long list of
publications) published in Prajatantra Saptahik (exact date escapes me but
I am pretty sure it was in the month of April 1994) caught my attention.
What follows is my translation from the original Nepali. Pratyoush
Revolt
Oh children who have served time in the womb
Revolt, here and now.
Before you are delivered
Stick your head out like a turtle
And look around.
As soon as you recognize it to be Nepal
Withdraw your head inside the womb
And Revolt, and Revolt.
Tell your mother loudly
To deliver you elsewhere,
Not in Nepal
And Revolt, and Revolt.
**********************************************************************
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 1995 10:23:21 -0600
From: baniya@engrs.unl.edu (Pradip Baniya)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Dear Editor,
I request you to post this message for me in your
next publication of TND. Thanks a lot!
Pradip Baniya.
Hi folks, I am just curious to know that if any of you happen
to be from GBS (Gandaki Boarding School) Lamachour, Pokhara which
is formerly known as Nepal Adarsha Madhyamik Vidhyalay. I am
thinking of maintaining a information about the EGBOSA (ex-
gandaki boarding student's asociation) members and may possibly
convert it into EGBOSA home page. Any netters happen to know any
guys from GBS who doesnot have an access to internet, would you
please convey the message to him. Thanks a lot!
Pradip Baniya (2040 Batch)
e-mail
baniya@engrs.unl.edu
snail-mail
PK Baniya
3701, Randolph St.
Lincoln, NE 68510.
USA.
*************************************************************
From: Dare Koslow <dk107@columbia.edu>
To: NEPAL@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal
Please post in The Nepali Digest.
On Saturday, February 18 a conference will be held at Columbia
University to discuss the Bhutanese refugee crisis in Nepal. All are
invited to attend.
Topic: Bhutanese Refugees: An Unresolved Crisis
Date: Saturday, February 18, 1995
9:00am - 5:00pm
Venue: Columbia University
School of International Affairs
Dag Hammarskjold Lounge (sixth floor)
420 West 118th Street
New York, New York
Conference Aims:
To bring together representatives of governments,
international community and human rights organizations, representatives
of the Bhutanese refugees and members of the academic community to
analyze the Bhutanese refugee issue in the context of other refugee
problems in the world, and to explore and recommend viable policy options
that promote international law and the human rights convention.
**********************************************************************
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 1995 15:58:53 -0500
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: 1994 Stats: legal jhagadas
From: atuladhar@gramps.clarku.edu
1994 Legal Stats
================
Source: CBS, 1994 Table 17.3, pg 264.
What do Nepalese quarrell about the most in law courts?
Land and Inheritance rights to land ("Amsa banda")
There were 28,661 cases of land disputes and 19,000 of land inheritance
disputes in 1993; in 1991, it was 25392 and 29270 respectively.
Sexual offenses and criminal abortion seems to be on the decline mysteeriously
from 1991 to 1993; the former declined from 510 to 457 and the latter from 132
to 109.
Assault, murder, and theft all showed a decline from 1991 to 1993 while
election related disputes and defamation has increased thanks to democratic
exercise and freedom of speech.
The crime which showed the biggest jump is Cheating and forgery from 7917 to
13716, nearly double.
VEHICLES OF NEPAL: 1994 STATS
==============================
Source: CBS, 1994, Table 17.8 pg 270
How many vehicles are owned by the diplomats? = 2561
What is the total number of vehicles in nepal:? = 1,32,106.
What type of vehicles constitute the maximum number?
= Motorcycles, 53,464
What is the number of private vehicles? = 75,222.
How many rickshaws are found in the kingdom? = 17,279
ps. there is a proposal to reintroduce and encourage the use of rickshaws in
the inner city areas a s an anti pollution measure.
How many buses and minibuses are registered in the kingdom? = 5989
amulya tuladhar
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