#415 29 August - 4 September 2008 16 pages Rs 30

Weekly Internet Poll # 415

Q. What should the prime minister have worn during his swearing in? Total votes: 5,742 Love thy neighbour

MALLIKA ARYAL powerplay in South Asia.’ control mode before Yadav in NEW DELHI The opposition BJP, which arrived, dismissing the has no love for ’s Maoists, controversy as “pointless”. He Weekly Internet Poll # 416. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com said that now that they are in added: “Ties with India are in a Q. The Prime Minister should have: t’s an indication of just how Gone to Delhi before Beijing sensitive India-Nepal government the former rebels different category.” z Did right by going to China first relations have become that should behave more responsibly. Does it matter? I few in the New Delhi foreign “The Maoists need to change policy establishment want to their overall attitude towards speak even off the record to a India because they Nepali journalist these days. haven’t been especially By ignoring Indian concerns warm towards us,” BJP and accepting Beijing’s invitation leader N N Jha told to the Olympics closing Nepali Times. ceremony last week, Prime Prime Minsiter Minister set Dahal’s Beijing alarm bells ringing here. Indian controversy was replaced politicians and foreign policy by the Kosi embankment bureaucrats tried to play down collapse this week as Indian Dahal’s ‘China card’, but the officials realised the full extent military-intelligence of the flood crisis in eastern establishment, Bihar. The Kosi changing its the course has made 60,000 opposition homeless in Nepal, but BJP and downstream in India the some number affected has reached a hawkish staggering four million. commentators Prime Minister have voiced Manmohan Singh toured concerns about the region on Thursday, and China’s growing most of the Indian press has influence in India’s passed the blame to Nepal for neighborhood. not allowing Indian ‘Prachanda’s engineers to repair the Kosi’s Beijing sojourn east embankment in June merely confirms when the breach was first the subcontinent’s noticed. shifting balance of In Bihar, the power in China’s inundation has got worse favour,’ wrote the because railway Indian Express in embankments and an editorial on flood control levees Tuesday, a view have dammed up the echoed by other diverted Kosi as it flows influential commentators through villages and towns. here. ‘Prachanda’s departure Nepal’s new Foreign from Nepal’s natural logic for Minister Upendra Yadav, in a strong relationship with New Delhi for a meeting of the India can only be subregional group, BIMSTEC, understood in the context was likely to have been of Beijing’s new quizzed about his

BILASH RAI “equidistance” remark when he met his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee on EDITORIAL Thursday. Flood of recrimination p2 Meanwhile, Nepal’s ambassador to India, Durgesh PLAIN SPEAKING Prashant Jha Man Singh, was in full damage Two Dajus p10 2 EDITORIAL 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415

Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Editor: Kunda Dixit CEO: Ashutosh Tiwari Design: Kiran Maharjan Director Sales and Marketing: Sunaina Shah [email protected] Marketing Manager: Sambhu Guragain Asst Managers: Deepak Sangraula, Subhash Kumar Subscriptions: 5542535/5542525 Hatiban, Godavari Road, Lalitpur [email protected] GPO Box 7251, 5250333/845, Fax: 5251013 www.nepalitimes.com Printed at Jagadamba Press, Hatiban: 5250017-19 Dhulikhel dispatch A to w n in search of a soul DHULIKHEL—Plus ça change, headquarters of Kabrepalanchok, Could it be that some of those A FLOOD OF RECRIMINATION plus c’est la même chose. which resulted in some new meetings helped bring an end to When the Himalaya were being formed in the past 60 million Despite all the changes this buildings and jobs. But despite the war? Today, with Pushpa years, what is now the Tarai used to be the shores of a sea called district capital has endured over the magnificent mountain views Kamal Dahal ensconced in the Tethys. Prehistoric monsoons eroded the rising mountains, the past three decades, it to be had on a clear day, few Baluwatar, the foreign tourists are filling the sea with debris. remains almost the same. Life tourists came here in the 1970s. back, and talk at Dhulikhel’s The mass wasting of the Himalaya is still going on. This still revolves around the A private language school seminars is all about security makes the Kosi the river with one of the heaviest sediment loads Bhagbati temple, where a new teaching Nepali to foreigners in sector reform, federalism and in the world. More than 100 million cubic metres of silt are Dilli Bajar used to bring its social inclusion. deposited every year in Nepal and Bihar when the river slows STATE OF THE STATE customers—mainly American While the hotel sector has down after breaking through the mountains. C K Lal students—to the town for an bounced back, there have been This is why the river is constantly trying to find new channels immersion course in Nepali failures in Dhulikhel—among to the sea. The problem now is that the fertile banks of the Kosi culture. It was only later, with them the information technology are densely populated, and governments are under pressure to control the floods by straitjacketing the river with embankments. building has been added for the establishment of the park which lies abandoned by all When the Kosi Barrage was built in 1956, the lifespan of the devotees to sing bhajans in the Dhulikhel Mountain Resort and except wildlife. The brainchild of embankments was 20 years. Today, the Kosi in Nepal flows three morning. And come evening, a host of other hotels, that the Sharad Chandra Shah, who metres above the surrounding land. It was only a question of time most working men head for the focus of the town’s economy perhaps had hopes of seeing the before it breached the levee. The embankment started collapsing cheap eateries and bars which changed. town emerge as the heart of IT in on 15 August, locals warned the authorities, but no action as have always been here, seeking After 2001, as the Maoist Nepal, the site was too far from taken. to fill their bellies and relax insurgency intensified and the Kathmandu to succeed. Things would have been worse if the Kosi had been in spate. their minds. number of tourists visiting Kathmandu University is here, The river could have permanently reverted to the Kosi’s 1731 It’s true that the buildings Nepal slumped, the hotels on but most students and staff come channel, obliterating Sunsari and half of Bihar. are bigger, the streets wider, and the slopes around Dhulikhel from the capital. Dhulikhel So, what is to be done? The government belatedly realised the alleyways cleaner. And took whatever business they seriousness of the crisis and dispatched two ministers to Sunsari. Hospital is a beacon of hope, but They need to plan alternative routes to rejoin eastern Nepal to the Dhulikhel looks smarter than it could get—often a slow but relatives of a patient who died at rest of the country, plug the breach, coordinate relief, and resettle used to in the early seventies regular income from hosting childbirth trashed the place this 60,000 people. when it was just a sleepy Newar conferences, seminars and week—another sign of the state’s On Thursday, Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh toured town where Tamang traders workshops for NGOs and statelessness. northern Bihar, where 3 million people have been displaced. There came to sell ghiu and buy salt, international donors who Like individuals, towns too are already renewed calls in Bihar to build the Kosi High Dam, kerosene, clothes and trinkets. wanted a change of scene from have distinctive identities. which will create a reservoir stretching from Sunsari to It became the district the valley. Lalitpur was conceived as city of Ramechhap. the arts and has retained some of The dam would be a solution if India and those elements to this day. Nepal had a good record in large Kirtipur continues to be the city infrastructure projects, in spreading of glory and Bhaktapur the town benefits and taking care of the displaced. But the Kosi dam will be plagued with the of devotees. Kantipur same problem that made the barrage transformed itself into unworkable: siltation. Kathmandu, but it still glitters We shouldn’t try to correct one mistake when there is no load-shedding. by making an even bigger one. India and What about Dhulikhel? Nepal must be prepared for the day when A town develops only when the Kosi makes a catastrophic course its residents own it, take pride in change, an event that will make this week’s it and wouldn’t think of living disaster look like a picnic. But we do that anywhere else. That sort of by making it easy for the Kosi and other feeling can be sensed among Nepali rivers to flow down to the sea. The residents in old Dhulikhel. more obstructions we create in their path, the more destructive future floods will be. But new Dhulikhel is turning This is what the two countries should be into Kathmandu’s suburbia, working on, not getting worked up about inhabited by a transient whether the prime minister should have population of tourists, day gone to China first or not. students and Kathmandu’s city slicker weekenders. z SOHAN SHRESTHA

LLL ETTERS

NEPALINESS glorious history of Nepal will be a big z Wonderful article. This is exactly what of farmers who are using their loans Narayan Khadka’s vision of a common mistake. If you want to find a fault in this we need, someone defending “Nepaliness” properly and are paying back on time, Nepali identity is reminiscent of the Nepali history, you can, and we should so as something not to be ashamed of. Bravo and such populist measures will Panchyati days (‘Shared past, shared that we do not repeat it. But, give me one Khadakaji. Don’t listen to naysayers and destroy our achievements. future’, #414). Different ethnic groups history that is flawless. flag burners. Rabin Choudhari, Janakpur in Nepal need to ensure that they have Rajendra Magar, UK Niru, Patan a say and are treated equally. And that VISA ON ARRIVAL is why there is a need for provinces z Nepaliness could be z People are so I am a frequent visitor to Nepal, and on divided roughly along ethnic lines. defined at different levels. ashamed of our proud my latest visit this week experienced Anand Jha, Texas, USA At a basic level, everyone history that we may soon the ‘New Nepal’ on arrival at living in Nepal with Nepali have to go to Darjeeling to immigration. Nepal under ‘dictator’ z Congratulations! Finally a good citizenship is Nepali. On a celebrate our Nepali Gyanendra and ‘bourgeois leader’ GP piece in Nepali Times that shows we deeper level, the real culture. So, please Koirala used to allow Bangladeshis to have no reason to be ashamed of our are those citizens protect and preserve it have a visa on arrival without any fee. history. We are Nepalis and never who are not only proud to be here. The rule has changed under the became a part of British India because Nepalis but are willing to Ram S., Kathmandu ‘proletarian’ government of Comrade of the bravery of our ancestors. Thank make sacrifices for Nepal— Prachanda. Now we have to pay $25 you Narayan Khadka for having the those who have a spiritual SMALL FARMERS for each subsequent visit after the first courage to write this. Don’t waver. non-religious bond with their I agree with Bihari one (which is still free) in a calendar There are millions who will agree with motherland. Wise rulers Krishna Shrestha’s view year. Comrade Prachanda’s you. would try to strive for the (‘Sowing doubts’, #414) government also pursues a policy of Rajan, Taulihawa masses to attain the deeper on small-farmer global egalitarianism. The visa fee is level of Nepaliness without any suspicion cooperatives and the past World Bank the same for an ‘income poor’ z 100 per cent agreed with Narayan and prejudices. poverty alleviation program. As the small- Bangladeshi and an ‘income rich’ Khadka. Without Prithbi Narayan K Rai, UK farmers’ program showed, it is a American. Shah we would all be a part of the sustainable poverty alleviation model, so I am still grateful to the government British Empire and eventually India. z An excellent article at a most why can’t the World Bank follow it? The of Nepal for its continued policy of The visionary campaign to create a appropriate time. I hope our new breed of new Maoist-led government should not be providing a visa on arrival, which our modern Nepal was a shared by the politicians will sacrifice their larger-than- tempted to waive small-farmer loans government doesn’t reciprocate to Gurungs, , Rais, Kanuwars, life egos to go through it. because it will distort the market for Nepalis. But why the change? and Limbus. Trying to erase this C K Shrestha, Kathmandu microfinance cooperatives. There are lots Mohi, Dhaka NATION 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415 3

JusticeLet truth prevai l ondelayed th e In tern ational Day of th e Disappeared

he political transition of earlier are now coming forward to the dignity of the dead and the the past two years, from report the disappearance of suffering of the families of the T monarchy to republic, relatives and friends. We have ‘disappeared’, many of whom from interim constitution to not yet begun to systematically have lost hope that even with the elections, has been surprisingly document the enforced new government, anything much smooth. That this has happened disappearances and executions will change. through political negotiation and that occurred. Many families still suffer not violence is equally The warring sides are now in post-traumatic stress, while astonishing. We now have the government. The erstwhile chief children who witnessed violence chance to achieve real social and of the PLA is now prime carry deep psychological scars political progress as the task of minister, a guerrilla commander even though there may be no drafting a new constitution gets is the defence minister, the chief physical wounds. Activists and under way. Maoist ideologue is finance human rights groups say they are minister. There is a commitment working on peace and GUEST COLUMN in the Common Minimum reconciliation, and keep Ram K Bhandari Program to set up a Truth and themselves busy writing Reconciliation Commission. proposals and reports. But they Individuals and families haven’t yet reached us in remote But the end of the war does showed great personal and districts. This may be the way the not mean we are at peace. collective courage to survive, organised politics of victimhood Violence continues in the Tarai, resist and actively struggle for works, but it leaves the real and the first challenge of the new change. But many of those in victims without hope. Maoist-led government will be to positions of authority who were Pushpa Kamal Dahal often restore law and order. As for the responsible for their subjugation promised in the past two years tens of thousands of Nepalis remain in their posts despite the that he would publish the names whose relatives were killed or regime change. of the ‘disappeared’ and form a ‘disappeared’ during the conflict, The perpetrators of war high-level commission to their pain continues unabated. crimes on both sides are known. investigate forced disappearances. (See: Vanished without trace’, We know where they are and in If the peace process is as high on page 8-9) what position. Some guilty the agenda as the prime minister In the week that we remember CDOs, DSPs and army officers says it is, he must fulfil these the more than one thousand remain in the same districts, promises. Nepalis whose whereabouts where they continue to resist the We have died many times in remain unknown, we must struggle by victims’ families for the years since our relatives reassert our political justice. ‘disappeared’. We demand the commitment to seek justice and Those responsible for illegal truth about our dear ones. If you truth. The peace process will be detentions, torture, can’t tell us their whereabouts, unsustainable unless the ‘disappearances’ and custodial then declare them martyrs on 31 uncertainty, grief and anger of the killings are walking around August. z families of the ‘disappeared’ are openly. The families of their addressed. We want the truth, victims will never forget who Ram Kumar Bhandari’s father was and we want justice. they are and history will brand ‘disappeared’ by the army in 2004. Today, more than two years them. But this is not enough. As He is the coordinator of the after the conflict ended, families long as they continue to blatantly Committee for Social Justice in who were too afraid to do so flaunt their freedom, they insult Lamjung. KIRAN PANDAY

D&D 4 BUSINESS 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415 GM targets South Asia espite a slump in the car market caused by the GM says it is in India for the long haul, using it as a global financial crisis and the shift towards smaller, manufacturing base for the region and beyond. It has D more fuel-efficient cars, General Motors (GM) is invested in a research and development division in expanding in South Asia. Bangalore, a design studio which is part of a network of The multinational car company is adding another 11 across the world and a power train development unit manufacturing unit in India, taking its overall investment that will try to localise tooling. It has a production unit in to $1 billion. India has seen a 14 per cent annual growth Baroda making 70,000 cars a year and is adding another in car sales, and the Chevrolet range has posted an one next month in Talegaon in Maharastra, capable of annual 75 per cent increase. producing 140,000 cars a year. Although the South Asian market is smaller than the The cars are also being adapted for poor road Chinese, there is a lot more potential for growth because conditions and low quality fuel with stronger suspension, there are only eight cars per thousand population in India engine calibration and additives to protect the engine while China has already attained 17 cars per thousand. from adulterated fuel. “There is a downturn and it will be a struggle to retain The reason car sales in India are still below China is double digit growth in automobile sales in India, but our because infrastructure hasn’t kept pace with demand. models are doing well,” says Karl Slym, president and In Nepal, however, despite the crippling fuel shortage managing director of General Motors India who was in which has now lasted two years and poor road Nepal this week. (pictured left) conditions, car sales overall haven’t dropped. GM’s sole The trend towards smaller, more fuel-efficient cars is distributor in Nepal, Vijaya Motors, expects the Spark to mirrored in South Asia as well, with customers now much do well and has already sold 76 units since the model more conscious about fuel efficiency, Slym told Nepali was introduced this year. Vijaya Motors has added sales Times. This is why the Chevrolet Spark has proved to be offices and showrooms in Pokhara, Butwal and very popular because it has the best mileage in the small Biratnagar. car range with 16.9km/l and the cost of ownership is on a Says Annie Gardener of Vijaya Motors: “Imagine par with a Maruti. The Spark’s elegantly modern lines and what it would be like if the highways were in top spacious interior have proved to be a hit with customers, condition, the fuel crisis was resolved and there was with two million sold worldwide. stability and economic growth.” z MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

Isn’t the Nepali market relatively small compared with other Asian Copyi ng goes di gi t al countries? Nepal may be a relatively small market, but it is not a small Nepali Times met up with country with 28 million Toshitaka Tanaka, Managing people. Nepal is one of the Director of Kyocera Mita fastest growing markets in Asia Singapore, during his recent and has immense potential visit to Kathmandu, to find especially as the peace process out about the company’s leads to economic expansion. brand strategy in Nepal. Looking ahead, what are Nepali Times: We have heard Kyocera Mita’s medium of the Mita brand but tell us term business and more about Kyocera Mita investment plans in Nepal? Toshitaka Tanaka: Mita was Nepal still has a relatively large founded in 1934 in Osaka and number of analog machines. I Kyocera Mita was formed after a see a natural migration in the merger between Kyocera and Mita pipeline from analog to digital in 1989. Kyocera Mita now has copiers. Thereafter, in line with 12,000 employees and sales of the regional buying trend, I nearly $2 billion. It is part of the firmly believe Nepal will be an Kyocera group with sales of over attractive and growing market $12 billion worldwide. Kyocera for colour and multi-function MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA Mita Singapore oversees 14 Asian networked copiers. I remain countries, including Nepal. PERFECT COPY: Billy Kee, export manager of Kyocera Mita Singapore, Toshitaka Tanaka Managing Director optimistic that the copier sales and Toshio Furomoto, former managing director in Kathmandu this week. volume will increase in tandem With so many brands of with the economic growth copiers in the market, why do 30 years. Kyocera copiers are years. It provides efficient and appointed distributor in Asia and potential of the country. you think the Kyocera copier reliable products that provide the effective after-sales service from a one of our oldest distributors Mercantile and Kyocera Mita is doing so well in Nepal? best value for money. Mercantile team of expert technicians, along worldwide. It is this partnership will be here to take the lead and We are extremely proud of being Traders is and has been our with a full range of spares. that makes Kyocera Mita the further consolidate our market the market leader in Nepal for over distributor in Nepal for over 30 Mercantile was in fact our first brand leader here. share in the Nepali market. BUSINESS 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415 5

Helping hands for Kosi The European Commission has pledged up to •1 million to provide Underval ued wor k food aid for 50,000 victims of the floods that have affected Sunsari district. The funds will be channelled through the European riting a column, even if life too. Take Barack Obama’s Studying in China was an Commission's humanitarian aid department. it is every fortnight, is a career. After graduating from undervalued idea. The most vulnerable people displaced by the flooding will benefit struggle. In less than Harvard Law School, he went to A decade later, with the rise of from nutritional support through the World Food Programme. W 600 words, should I write (without Eduardo Lechuga Jimenez, chargé d’ affaires at the Delegation of Chicago to work as a community China on the global stage, Nepalis the European Commission to Nepal said the assistance was on top putting you to sleep) on Big organiser. As a rule, the brightest who studied engineering and of the •18 million for the victims of the conflict and •15.4 million in Picture topics such as the rate at law graduates in the US do not sciences there now have the sort of food aid for Bhutani refugees that the Commission has been which remittances are causing start their professional lives in skills that are on the demand list of providing. inflation in Nepal or why global some of the poorest every global company: fluency in Among other donors, Surya Nepal has donated Rs1 million to oil prices are starting to come neighbourhoods. For them, full- Mandarin and English, familiarity the disaster relief fund for Kosi flood victims. While Yeti Airlines has down and what that means for time community activism is an with China, technical degrees and pitched in Rs 150,000 worth of food grains to flood victims in Inaruwa, including two tonnes of rice and one tonne of pulses to the undervalued activity. an ability to work hard and learn District Head Office. STRICTLY BUSINESS But 16 years later, Obama’s things fast. I wouldn’t be surprised community organising skills, if the first pukka Nepali dollar- Ashutosh Tiwari performed nationally with billionaire eventually emerged out Best of Bolly additional effort and luck, broke of Nepalis in China. Nepal Telecom subscribers can now download the latest Bollywood NOC? Or should I focus on the political machinery of his The trouble with undervalued ringtones via SMS or internet. Each tone costs Rs 10 plus VAT and undervalued issues such as what party’s more seasoned rivals. I work or idea is that it’s hard to is activated for 15 days. The service is provided by Digitainment, a works for a Nepali manager to run doubt whether Obama would have know in advance whether engaging company affiliated to Hangama, which is promoting Nepali and her business well or how an attack been where he is today had he in it will yield success. That is Bollywood digital music on mobiles. on a particular newspaper is an joined his classmates in signing why, for most people, the mantra is attack on all our freedoms? up for "billable hours" with always: Play safe, don’t rock the Logan Launch The perpetual student in me white-shoe law firms in New York boat and follow the herd. But for a has discovered that while Big few entrepreneurial ones, whether Agni, the local distributor of or DC. Undervalued work, in Mahindra vehicles, has Picture writing may help burnish launched two models of the one’s image as a thinker (even if Mahindra Renault Logan. The few read, and even fewer For most, th e mantra is: 1.4-litre petrol version has an introductory price of Rs 1.65 million, understand it), it’s the pieces on play safe, don’t ro ck th e and the 1.5-litre diesel, Rs 2.195 million. undervalued issues that seem to resonate well with most readers. boat and fo llow th e herd Fully charged One reason is that not many choose to write them. Because of a effect, became a robust platform in academia, politics, the arts, A joint venture between Tata AutoComp Systems short supply, the few that do get for Obama’s eventual nomination business or sport, spending time and GS Yuasa International of Japan has launched a range of automotive and inverter batteries which published receive disproportionate to be the next US president. and effort on first doing the have a calcium-calcium alloy composition that attention from readers. Anyone, for On a recent visit to Shanghai, I undervalued work of their reduces water evaporation in the battery. Mahabir instance, can ridicule the met Nepali professionals who respective domains for the sheer Trade Concerns is the sole distributor of the batteries, which also government’s negligence and have done well. What struck me enjoyment of it, trusting their have ‘self-switch-off’ technology that gives extended shelf life and, incompetence in broad terms. But was that hardly any of them were instincts that somehow things will according to Tata, charges quickly. few can and want to explain how from Kathmandu. They started in turn out all right, mastering the such inactions have affected, say, China as scholarship students required skills, and then, with a Superior room s one particular Muslim Nepali from Parsa, Dang and Chitwan. dose of luck, using that experience family displaced by last week’s Ten years ago, when most to propel themselves ahead seem to For the second year running, the Soaltee Crowne Plaza Hotel has Kosi embankment collapse. Kathmandu-based Nepali be one interesting way to gain a won the Platinum Award for Nepal’s Best Business Hotel from Today’s Traveler magazine, in a ceremony organized in Delhi on the This idea of work that’s students went abroad for studies, sturdier command of success. magazine’s 11th anniversary. The hotel is managed by the British- initially undervalued but which they went, as they still do, to the Framed that way, maybe writing based InterContinental Hotels Group. ends up being crucial for success usual places: the US, the UK, columns need not be such a later on extends to other spheres of Canada, Australia and so on. struggle. z 6 FROM THE NEPALI PRESS 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415 Unethical media YCL terror in Qatar Yubraj Ghimire in Samaya, 28 August The news media are being targeted by state or political players, and is criticised for being politically biased. What is overlooked in these Shyam Sundar Sashi in Kantipur, 26 August tried to argue that I was a journalist and I had a discussions is the important notion of ‘ethics’. The only people to stand right to be there. The youngster was drunk on up for media ethics have been victims of the media’s lack of ethics. 21 August, 2008—exactly 111 days after I was luma, a homemade brew available here. Another Renowned neurosurgeon Upendra Devkota recently drew attention to transferred to the Arab Bureau of Kantipur, I was intoxicated Maoist pushed me around. I was the issue of media ethics. A month ago, his 15-year-old daughter was invited to a political program. Maoist leaders CP thrown to the ground by 30 to 40 Maoists. A skinny kidnapped. Fortunately, the family was able to get her home after paying Gajurel and Matrika Yadav were attending and the YCL cadre took away my camera. I then called my a ransom. As a responsible citizen, Devkota assisted the police in government was about to be formed. The event colleague at the Doha office, Dipendra Bhattarai arresting the kidnappers, and called for a campaign to promote media was organized by a Maoist sister organization and told him what was happening. He immediately ethics. He accused a particular publishing house of ‘criminal journalism’ here, Jana Pragatisheel Manch. Although no called the ambassador, who was still inside at the by publicising his daughter’s name. invitation had been sent to Kantipur, these were function. If the ambassador hadn’t come to my aid, If the media had a sense of business morality, they should have public figures and I decided to cover the event. At I cannot say if I would have lived or not. On his made a public apology to Devkota. Unfortunately, they didn’t. Devkota Doha Airport, I met Yadav, who is from my own insistence, the Maoists returned my camera but went public because he did not want any other parents to suffer the way kept the memory card which his family did. It might be possible that under his leadership, not just as contained all my pictures of the a victim but as a campaigner, this issue will be able to attract the past four months. Just then attention it deserves. Gajurel came out and saw me Devkota’s fury was understandable. In delicate situations which pinned down by the YCLs. I involve children or raped women, media ethics demand that they should shouted out to him: “Is this the not be named. The Nepali media need more self-monitoring because it democracy you are trying to would be regrettable if they were perceived to be irresponsible and establish?” Gajurel said he had insensitive. The named publishing house should heed Devkota’s advice, talked to his followers to return the and view his suggestions positively. It would consequently raise memory card, and with that he got people’s respect and trust for the media. into the ambassador’s car. Even when I pleaded for help, he did not say anything. Then the Madhesi QUOTE OF THE WEEK leader, Matrika Yadav walked in. He intervened, I was eventually If we examine history, we released and the memory card find that every incident of KUMAR KARKI “ was returned. treachery against the nation district Dhanusa and he was chummy, saying we Journalists like Dekendra Thapa and Birendra has been committed in should get together. We drove to Dukhan, 100 km Shah have died at the hands of the Maoists, and daura-suruwal. Flashback: from Doha. At the venue, we were welcomed by a chairman Prachanda has apologised for it. But the were the prime ministers

dozen YCL followers sporting red bandanas with Maoists now need to understand that anarchic who signed the Kosi,

hammers, sickles and stars on them. Gajurel was actions like these can harm bilateral relations Gandak or Mahakali speaking, and I took a few pictures. Suddenly a between Qatar and Nepal and jeopardize the agreements, dressed“ in suit YCL cadre pushed me roughly and ordered me to status of the 300,000 Nepalis working here. The or dhoti or in daura go out. I figured maybe I was blocking his view, Maoists can’t get away with this intimidation and Bam Deb Gautam : “We want the suruwal? changed my position and took some more violence in Qatar’s strict legal system. Nepali deputy prime ministership.” pictures. This time, he dragged me out, demanding society will never forgive them for the Manmohan Singh: “No, we want it.” -Krishna Pokharel to know why I was there without an invitation. I consequences. quoted in Basu Kshitij inBudhabar, 27 August Naya Patrika, 28 August FROM THE NEPALI PRESS 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415 7 Team Prachanda

Nepal, 21 August Bhattarai, worked to lay the conditions for protracted war. Now he is finance minister. When CPN Mashal decided on the strategy of a Non-Maoists in the cabinet are MJF Chairman long-term people’s war, Pushpa Kamal Dahal Upendra Yadav, JP Gupta, Bijay Gachhadar and ‘Biswas’ and Rambahadur Thapa ‘Prem’ went to Renu Yadav. Upendra Yadav was a UML, became a Manang in search of weapons. They returned with Maoist and then became the face associated with .303 rifles from Maniraj Gurung of Dharapani. the Madhesi Movement after January 2007. Biswas and Prem evolved into the ‘Prachanda’ and His relations with the Maoists grew worse ‘Badal’ duo. And Deb Gurung from Dharapani was after the Gaur massacre, but he is now foreign pulled in by loyalty to an old friendship. minister. When the Mashal joined the class struggle, Deb JP Gupta was among the powerful Madhesi Gurung and Krishna Bahadur Mahara stood for kangresis who left the NC in 2007. He had major

RAMBAHADUR THAPA DEB GURUNG KRISHNA BAHADUR BABURAM UPENDRA YADAV BIJAY GACHHADAR MAHARA BHATTARAI elections in Lamjung and Rolpa, while Prachanda differences with Upendra Yadav, but is now put himself to work to develop a country-wide agriculture minister in the Maoist-led underground organisation for the ‘people’s war’. government. JP used to get along well with Meanwhile, Badal got involved in the ‘Sisnejaljala Gachhadar even when they were in the NC, and Abhiyan’ and preparation for a class struggle in both have problems with Upendra Yadav. Rukum-Rolpa. Badal is now defence minister, Renu Yadav is a Madhesi RPP who defected to Mahara is information minister and Gurung is the MJF because she saw no political future in the minister of law and justice. royalist party. She has been minister twice and is Another member of Team Prachanda, Baburam now education minister under the Maoists. 8 INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE DISAPPEARED Vanis with a tr

n Jogimara, Dhading district, a st Highway, there’s an eerie sense o I 2001, 20 young men left from her construction at Kotbada, 800 km away never came back. To this day, their fam Bel Bahadur Shrestha with a picture of his son Raj Kumar, who disappeared in 2002. Today, six years on, he has no tears left. “No father them and there has been no official wo should have to perform his son’s funeral,” says Bel Bahadur. “It breaks my heart to think that I’ll never see him again.” After rumours of his Some families still nurture the hop son’s death reached the community, Shrestha performed the funeral rites according to tradition. He has never received an official response one day, but most accept that they are p from the authorities informing him about the fate of his son or recognising the fate of his family. performed funeral rites in their absenc has been devastating for the the 10 wiv behind. Almost every house lost a brea under the age of 21. Their famil know what h the Jogim

The International Committee of th the authorities to explain the fate and w missing as a result of the armed confli ‘missing’ status. This would allow the support programs that could address t provision of counselling and material problems of inheritance and marriage, connection with the disappearances. T opening the way for families to begin t reconciliation. To commemorate the Internationa 30 August, the ICRC and Nepal Red Cr exhibition of black and white photos o Kayastha in Kathmandu from 30 Augu

Missing Persons in Nep Sanu BK’s 23-year-old wife Buddhi Maya BK is trying to live one day at a time. Sanu’s daughter was only one years old when he left and is Indigo Gallery: 30 August growing up fast. She has started asking Buddhi Maya about her father’s whereabouts. “I don’t know how to explain to her that her dad has Darbar Squares: 7 Septembe been missing for over six years,” says Buddhi helplessly. Sanu’s brother, Tek Bahadur BK, vanished with him. The brothers’ father, Gyan (Kathmandu), 9 September Bahadur, now lives with Buddhi. “Can memories of loved ones be erased?” he asks. “I will never forget my sons, but I’ve stopped showing my suffering to others. I weep quietly at night.”

Man Bahadur Gurung is the grandfather of Gokarna and Tek Bahadur Gurung, who The 17 who went missing in Jogimara left behind 10 wives. Beli Maya Chepang, former wife disappeared in February 2002. “A 105-year-old man is alive while his young grandsons are of Ram Bahadur Chepang, remarried after a few years (above). When Ram Bahadur missing. They should have been performing my last rites, not the other way round.” disappeared, she was left with nothing. “I am so poor that I haven’t even performed his funeral rites. It costs a lot in our community and I can’t afford it,” she says, adding that she remarried because she could not afford to bring up her children alone. 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415 9

ALL PICS: KISHOR KAYASTHA shed hout race tiff two-hour climb from the Prithbi of stillness in the air. In November re to work on an airstrip under y in Kalikot district. Seventeen of them milies have no idea what happened to ord on their fate. When Raj Kumar Shrestha left home in November 2001, he also left behind two young sons and a pregnant wife. His wife had a stillbirth a pe that their loved ones might return few months after his death. Unable to bear the shock, his mother committed suicide. Today his sister-in-law, Kopila (above), takes care of probably dead and have reluctantly both her own family and Raj Kumar’s. ce. The impact of their disappearance ves and 18 children who were left adwinner. The missing included nine ies want to happened to mara 17 he Red Cross (ICRC) in Nepal is urging whereabouts of all those who went ict and to grant them an official eir families to access government their specific needs, including the support, legal assistance to resolve , and access to judicial procedures in This ‘missing’ status is also crucial in the process of mourning and al Day of the Disappeared, which is on ross Society are jointly organising an of the Jogimara families by Kishor ust to 9 September . z

epal: The Right to Know - 6 September, 8AM-6PM Suka Maya Chepang, wife of 60-year-old Chitra Bahadur Chepang, with her young granddaughter in their corn field in Jogimara. Chitra er (Bhaktapur), 8 September Bahadur was oldest of the 17 who left for Kalikot. He left Jogimara because there was no work, the family’s debts were piling up and they (Lalitpur), 8.30 AM-6.30 PM had no more cattle, goats or crops to sell. So shocked was Suka Maya when she heard about her husband’s disappearance that she did not speak for months and her teenage son had to take care of her and four other siblings.

Raj Kumari Gurung (above) lost both her brothers-in-law, Gokarna Gurung and Tek Dhan Maya Thapa, the 40-year-old mother of Bhim Bahadur Thapa, has been living with the Bahadur Gurung. Their mother, Moti Maya Gurung, is convinced her sons will come back guilt of having made her son work at the airstrip. “We didn’t have enough to eat so I made one day. “They went to earn money. I still think they’ll come back, but it’s been so long. my young son go to work in Kalikot,” she says with tears in her eyes. “Now look what What can I do?” happened to him.” 10 NATION 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415

BILASH RAI Holding up one- Tw o DEW AN RAI omen now make up one third of the W constituent assembly Dajus and come from a more diverse range of social and geographical backgrounds than ever before. Does this mean that a wider range e need to get our act together on foreign policy—and fast. of voices and opinions will be For starters, Nepal’s diplomacy vis-à-vis India needs to be heard? The initial signs are not W less insecure, more subtle. good, but perhaps it is too early to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal should be focusing on tell. forming a full cabinet, dealing with the Kosi embankment collapse and kick-starting governance. Instead, he has landed himself in a Not all the women were diplomatic soup. Extracting himself, and Nepal, from the mess will politically active before being take more energy and political capital than he may possess. selected for the assembly, and “Why is India upset?” is the favourite question doing the rounds. many have had only a limited Delhi’s reaction should be seen in the context of China’s role in the education. neighbourhood. Beijing and Shanti Chaudhari (UML) was Dhaka get along very well even PLAIN SPEAKING sold as a kamlari at the age of as India’s relations with its eight and since suffered what she Prashant Jha eastern neighbour remain describes as an “unspeakable strained. China gives arms to torture”. She took part in pro- Colombo while India watches the civil war from the side because of democracy protests and was its domestic political constraints in Tamil Nadu. Sino-Pakistani relations have always been a source of concern. imprisoned. She has attended And now add Beijing’s stepped up activities in Kathmandu, adult education classes and can which even China had conceded lies in the Indian sphere of now read with difficulty but still In th e 10 assem bly influence. The media reported on the presence of the RAW station cannot write. The UML selected chief at Dahal’s house immediately before the UML and Maoist her as a candidate because of her sessions so fa r, only tw o alliance broke off during the presidential polls. Interestingly, the UML involvement in the land reform delegation had come over to Naya Bajar the same night after a movement in Dang. women have spoken dinner at the Chinese embassy, which was understood to be backing “I had mixed feelings about such an alliance. coming to Kathmandu—happy her, she says along with others especially women from rural areas, China has stepped up contacts with the Maoist military and a little nervous,” she told from similar, underprivileged know little or nothing about how leadership. And it is making increasingly public assertions, through Nepali Times this week. First, backgrounds like her. parliament works. “The party former envoys and academics, warning of Nepal’s ‘Sikkimisation’. Shanti had trouble persuading Rather more prepared for the should be responsible for training security guards she was an rigours of the assembly is Bimala them and teaching them,” she says. Playing In d ia and China off assembly member, then she was Nepali (NC), who completed Neelam Barma (MJF) has 15 against each other never worked robbed in Baneswor after an secondary school but has no years of political experience in the assembly session last month. political experience. She says but it is the There is a school of thought in the Delhi security establishment Some assembly members ignore many new assembly members, first time she has seen a parliament which views China’s South Asia policy as intended to “encircle” India. And they are skeptical of Nepali Maoists who they dub “Chinese agents”. The liberal diplomats at the MEA and PMO in Delhi do not necessarily share this view. They see the broader relationship with China as competitive but not confrontational. They had to fight a long battle within the system to back Nepal’s peace process, welcome the Maoists win, and not block the formation of their government. CA PAs In one stroke, Dahal’s Beijing visit reinforced the views of the Rs11,000 to hire a PA. hawks, and weakened the position of those who have given the Maoists the benefit of doubt. No one in Delhi accepts that this was an However, the secretariat has “Olympics visit”. China is seen to be sending out a message to India found that most CA members that it can create trouble in its backyard if it wants, a message that without PAs register the names attains more salience since the nuclear deal that brought India and of relatives and take the the US closer. Prachanda is sending out a ‘nationalist’ message to money. his constituency that he is different from those who bowed down Personal assistants are before ‘Indian expansionism’. needed to help the CA member India, too, needs to be more confident about its influence in to manage schedules, plan Nepal. If its core policy goal is to create a stable Nepal, then why is appointments and research it growing perturbed? China is not engineering instability. If India and issues. They are supposed to China can have trade worth more than $50 billion, why can’t Nepal correspond with the public and China engage more closely? If there were concerns, India should have expressed them subtly and not by planting stories and the government, reviewing through Delhi-based Nepali journalists that PM Singh is ‘pained’. documentation, researching, The views of sources in South Block, as reported in Kantipur, have scheduling committee hearings led to impressions of India being petty. and briefing journalists. But the Nepali side must be indicted for its callous attitude to Gagan Thapa, NC nominee the apprehensions of our most important neighbour. Prachanda in the CA admits that a needs to think of ways of extracting benefits from China without majority of the CA members do antagonising India. not hire PAs. “It is either their Upendra Yadav’s equidistance statement flies in the face of the own relative who assist them facts. At least half of this country has close family and cultural ties majority of the Constituent Assembly (CA) or no one at all,” he says. on the Indian side, millions of our workers benefit from employment nominated under the proportional Parliamentarian have more duties than just in India, our natural resources are intertwined, even life and death do not recognise the border—as we are seeing in the Kosi. Delhi has Arepresentation system have not completed attending house sessions. They are expected to help engineered every key political shift in this country, and our high school. A majority of the elected members of cadres and constituents in Kathmandu and run politicians have no hesitation in pleading before even junior the CA do not have a college degree. personal errands around town, pay phone bills, drive bureaucrats and mid-ranking leaders in Delhi. Who is Yadav trying They may be seasoned politicians but when it or help in the household. to fool? comes to parliamentary business—drafting bills and “There is no way they can do all this without an If the Nepali political class wants equidistance, it needs to get its ordinances, researching and identifying areas of assistant,” he says, “and this could be one reason act together and think from a national perspective and not a party public concern— they need help. why our representatives are so inefficient.” perspective. What does Nepal want from India? What is it willing to Hasina Miya Begam, UML member who can read Thapa is the only CA member who has set up an give in return? Let us do a similar exercise with China. Right now, but can't write Nepali, takes the help of her office in Baneswor and is looking for interns parties and politicians are playing off one against the other for their daughter. Dhan Raj Gurung of the NC and the UML’s interested in parliamentary affairs and politics. He own personal benefit. Ram Nath Dhakal, like a majority of the house says: “When I was preparing the proposal on the fuel As Birendra learnt in 1989 and Gyanendra later, playing India and China off against each other doesn’t work. And the country will members, do not think it is necessary to have a crisis to be presented in the legislature, I felt I could suffer in the process. z personal assistant (PA). have done lots with additional help to research the Every CA member gets a monthly allowance of topic.” z NATION 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #41511

formed to help assembly members representing the various castes and communities voice their demands and requirements in the third of the sky right manner. Sujita Shakya, of the Beyond Beijing Committee which is involved in making women completed her primary education. assembly members aware of “I had no idea about parliamentary procedures, says: parliamentary affairs,” she says, “By the time the CA’s real and admits she just follows her responsibility, but the secretariat business starts, women members party’s orders. is coordinating with donor will be ready for the debates.” In the 10 Constituent agencies, local organisations and If the new women members Assembly sessions so far, only parties to train them,” he says. from different backgrounds are two women have spoken up: Sharma says it’s not just the not sufficiently confident to Sarita Giri (Sadbhabana-S) and women who need training. Some speak in the assembly, Shakya Kalpana Rana (CPN-Unity). of the men are equally says, then the old elite will Mukunda Sharma, joint inexperienced in the ways of the prevail: “It’s not only about the secretary at the Parliament CA and on issues like federalism, physical presence of women, it Secretariat, agrees that the inclusiveness and state is about their active participation political parties should be restructuring. in parliamentary business orientating new members. “The Sharma says 26 technical and in drafting the new parties should take the committees have so far been constitution.” z

KIRAN PANDAY at work. She is frustrated that the many of the new women women seem to do little more members are uneducated, and than vote and applaud the men even those who had a decent selected for the senior posts of education lack the confidence to government. speak up on political matters in “We have seen the this bastion of male domination. presidential and prime The MJF has 11 women members, ministerial elections, the four of whom had no education. nomination of the house Even the Maoists, who have chairperson and even the cabinet led the way with the largest formation, but we have only seen number of women candidates, one woman minister so far,” seem to be doing little to help she says. new female members learn the Barma says the problem is that ropes. Maya Chepang never 12 MALAYSIA DAY, 31 AUGUST 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415 “Political stability for economic progress”

and prosperity were brought about by—in his words— investment. He also agreed with my views about the strong “shedding our sweat, tears and blood”. Malaysia, on its linkages between political stability and economic independence from British colonial rule in 1957, was development. The Embassy of Malaysia will be working grouped in the category of least developed nations. As we closely with relevant Nepali agencies to entice the celebrate our 51st anniversary, Malaysians can take pride in Malaysian business community to invest in Nepal. the progress and development that their country has achieved. Through hard work, tolerance and consensus, our What can be done to ensure the healthy growth of Nepali multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious population migrant labour in Malaysia? has turned diversity into an asset that brings stability and There are now about 300,000 Nepali workers in Malaysia. prosperity to the country. Most of them are hard working and have created very Certain aspects of our experience in nation-building minimal social problems. However, there are about 500-600 could offer some lessons to Nepal, particularly our ability to Nepali recruitment agencies involved and there is a need to successfully forge a multi-party coalition government. Our monitor some of them to ensure the workers are not misled economic policies relating to diversification of the economy or abused. The Malaysian government is also regularly and exploitation of domestic natural resources could be of strengthening labour and immigration polices relating to the value to Nepal. Of course some modifications have to be recruitment of foreign workers and enforcement measures to made to adapt to local conditions. ensure that the Malaysian labour agencies and employers respect the laws and regulations relating to the employment What would the new government need to do to entice of foreign workers in Malaysia. Malaysian businesses to invest in Nepal? First and foremost, sustained political stability and peace What else can be done to improve trade and education, and need to be established to realise the peace dividend. Some boost Malaysian tourism in Nepal? MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA Malaysian businessmen have shown an interest in To promote the tourism sector there is a critical need to have exploring investment opportunities in the country, direct air connectivity between Malaysia and Nepal. Despite O n the occasion of Malaysia’s particularly in hydropower, infrastructure and tourism- the lack of direct air connectivity, about 38,000 Nepalese National Day on 31 August, Nepali related projects. However, the government has to create an tourists visited Malaysia in 2007—a 232 per cent increase enabling environment that would reduce the risk of compared to 2007—and 4,800 Malaysians visited Nepal in Tim es interviewed M alaysian investing and doing business in Nepal. As businessmen, the same year. Malaysia and Nepal signed the MOU on air am bassador to N epal, Ilankovan they are prepared to take a calculated risk, but Nepal needs services in December 2007. MAS is expected to commence Kolandavelu. Excerpts: to introduce business-friendly economic and financial Kuala Lumpur-Kathmandu flights by the end of this year, polices to entice the Malaysian business community to while Air Asia is contemplating a Nepal link in 2009. The Nepali Times: What is the Malaysian government’s invest in the country. decisions of both Malaysian airlines are based on a market assessment of the situation in Nepal? study on the passenger traffic potential. Ambassador Ilankovan Kolandavelu: We are pleased to You met Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal recently. Did Currently there are about 20,000 Nepali students in note that the peace and democratisation process in Nepal you raise some of these issues with him? Australia and another 23,000 in the US. The escalating cost is forging ahead, although there are some hiccups along I met the Prime Minister in early July this year and we of higher education in these countries is discouraging many the way. Malaysia made its contribution to the election discussed a number of issues, mainly relating to Malaysia- Nepali parents, and they are looking at the twinning monitoring process in April by sending a delegation Nepal bilateral relations. The prime minister requested my programs between Malaysian colleges and the institutions of consisting of the deputy chairman of the election assistance to get Malaysian businesses to invest in Nepal higher learning in Australia, the USA, the UK and Canada as commission and two election commissioners. They have in the sectors I just mentioned. He appeared very an attractive option. Bilateral trade is small and needs to reported that the conduct of the election has determined to foster economic growth and prosperity in expand. We are in the process of organising a trade sufficiently met acceptable international standards. Nepal and foster an enabling environment for foreign delegation to Nepal soon. Now that the new government has been formed, we hope that lasting peace and political stability will be established to enable the government to focus on nurturing economic development and prosperity. Though Malaysia is not in the category of donor nations, we have been contributing to the development of human resources ”A Second H om e” and capacity-building in Nepal for more than 20 years Foreigners, especially Singaporeans, are investing in Malaysia is blessed with warm, moderate weather through the Malaysia Technical Cooperation Program. Malaysian real estate and the government has given all year round. There are superb healthcare facilities, Nepali workers in Malaysia remit about US$400 million to incentives to encourage this trend through the 'Malaysia yet medical expenses and insurance can be very Nepal every year. For Nepal, Malaysia is the biggest My Second Home' program. It is open to all foreign cheap and affordable compared to other countries. recipient country of Nepali workers, while Nepal is the citizens wishing to retire or reside in Malaysia on a There is a good education system with many third biggest source country for Malaysia (until 2007 long-term basis. It is fully endorsed by the Malaysian international schools to cater for expatriate children, Nepal was second biggest source country of foreign government and covers immediate family (spouse and and numerous colleges affiliated to well-known workers). children). Under the program, investors get a 10-year overseas universities. Visit Pass and Multiple-Entry Visa (renewable every 10 A majority of Malaysians understand and speak Would you say the Malaysian model of economic years), which will eventually entitle them to a perpetual English, and air connectivity is very good. Malaysia development has some lessons for Nepal? visa. A car can be imported duty-free. The person can has a very low crime rate. Bangladeshis have become The World Bank and IMF are fond of referring to invest and own businesses in Malaysia, which is like the biggest group of foreigners taking advantage of this Malaysia’s growth model and prosperity as ‘Asia’s owning a second passport or a second citizenship in program, and the Malaysian Embassy is promoting the Miracle’. The former prime minister once responded that Malaysia. 'Malaysia My Second Home' program in Nepal too. he did not believe in miracles and that Malaysia’s growth REVIEW 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415 13 September sky Autum n equinox and the H arvest M oon

n September we have the autumn equinox and the Harvest Moon, while mighty Jupiter dominates the evening skies. But Ibefore that, let’s talk about the stars. In September, the sky moves to its autumn phase, revealing another set of stars and constellations that were hidden for some time behind the glare of the Sun. In the evening, a couple of hours after sunset, you will be able to see the constellations of Pisces, Aquarius, Capricornus, Sagittarius and Scorpius from east to west along the Zodiac. The brightest of these are Sagittarius and Scorpius, which are easily identifiable in the south and STARGAZING south-western skies. Kedar S Badu Can you see the bright, star-like object in Sagittarius the Archer? This is Jupiter, the largest planet. If you have at least a four-inch telescope, you can see its four main moons—the Galilean satellites. Sagittarius lies towards the centre of the Milky Way, so with a telescope you can find many other colourful nebulae and star clusters nearby. Just west of Sagittarius is the brilliant constellation of Scorpius the Scorpion with the red supergiant Antares at its centre (see star chart), 400 times the size of the Sun. In the evening, the Summer Triangle marked by Vega, Deneb and Altair lies directly overhead. Feebl efairy tale This year the autumnal equinox, signalling the end of summer, occurs on 22 September at 2131 hours Universal Time. At that uillermo del Toro has destruction of Earth (yes, he’s got a blue-skinned aquatic life-form, point, night and day are of equal length. After this the Sun moves many of the qualities point) and the fall of his people— Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), or the into the southern half of the sky and for the next six months the Gcherished by film critics: reflected in their present bodiless ectoplasmic Dr Krauss nights are longer than the days. an audacious, singular aesthetic, subterranean haunts—plans to housed in a clunky deep-sea a proclivity to serious, personal break a centuries-old truce with diving suit and voiced by Seth themes, and the skill to execute mankind. His twin sister, Princess McFarlane, the better. his vision. He has also moved Nuala (Walton) turns to the BRDP Del Toro’s much vaunted back and forth adeptly between to try to prevent him from raising sense of the fantastical and independent film and big studio the dreaded Golden Army, macabre is sorely bruised by thousands of unstoppable killing Hellboy II. Rather than wowing CRITICAL CINEMA machines. his audience, whole swathes of The comic book, packed with the movie have been recycled A Angelo D’Silva pathos and existential dilemmas, from old cloth, either from his should have been fertile ground previous work or cheaply derived projects. Given his record— for del Toro. Yet he manages to from others’. A potentially including the fantastical Pan’s squander the affection we might phantasmagoric scene in the Labyrinth and the delightful have had for the characters from underground trolls’ market Hellboy with its blend of block- the first film by reducing their beneath the Brooklyn Bridge is buster sensibility and sensitivity towards the deviant misfit—his latest offering could have been Com ic book adaptatio n s u ffe rs special. But sadly, with Hellboy the curse of the sequel II: The Golden Army, he has fallen woefully short. complexity and caricaturing them instead a damp squib more akin For those of you who missed apparently for attempted comic to Star Wars. KIRAN PANDAY the first instalment, Hellboy is effect. The engine that drives the Early in the month, Mercury will be setting soon after sunset the literally diabolical hero—a First to fall victim is the plot splutters along without any and will reach its greatest eastern elongation on 11 September. red demon with horns and all, relationship between Hellboy apparent internal logic or Using binoculars, look out for the gathering of Mars, Venus and and one oversized sledgehammer (Pearlman) and his flame, the character development. The Mercury on the western horizon an hour after sunset on 11 fist—summoned to Earth to pyrokinetic Liz Sherman (Blair), humour falls flat and the September. Jupiter, high in the southern sky during the month will create Armageddon but rescued which del Toro reduces to an dialogue feels awkward. If the sets be easy to spot. On 9 September, the Moon and Jupiter come and adopted by a Professor unattractive bickering contest. and costumes are pretty, they close together and should fit into the same field of view of a pair of Broom. He is then brought up to Likewise, Hellboy ages differently only serve as a reminder of what binoculars. defend good under the auspices from humans, raising questions del Toro has achieved in the past. Saturn is directly behind the Sun on 4 September but by the of the Bureau of Paranormal about his maturity. This was Skip this one, treat yourself to end of the month should be emerging into the dawn sky. Look for it Research and Defence, a sort of X- previously a source of comedic one of his previous offerings, and in the east just as the sky is beginning to brighten around 6AM. Files department staffed by tension, but is now simply a hope that he comes up trumps The Harvest Moon occurs on 15 September. It is so named because its light helps farmers to continue harvesting their fields freaks. The story comes from the source of irritation, with his with The Hobbit a few years down after sunset. Another attraction in September is the meeting of the creative mind of comic book infantilism blown up to the line. z Pleiades star cluster (the Seven Sisters) with the waxing gibbous artist Mike Mignola, whose dark gargantuan proportions. And Moon in the early hours of 20 September. and grim vision is leavened with Hellboy’s reliance on the Jack Bauer Hellboy II: The Golden Army There are no major meteor showers in September, though humour and humanity. approach to investigation—hitting Director: Guillermo del Toro there are various minor showers producing a few meteors an hour In the sequel, the baddies anyone he has to question—is Cast: Ron Pearlman, Selma Blair, from radiants in Cassiopeia, Auriga, Aquarius and Pisces. But this aren’t infernal but fey—in a bad- made even dumber since most of Doug Jones, Luke Goss, is generally a good time of year for seeing sporadic meteors, ass way. Elfin Prince Nuada the action is nonsensical. Anna Walton which may appear at any time, in any part of the sky. z (Goss), resentful of the human The less said about the bizarre 2008. PG-13. 110 mins.

Bagm ati River 14 CITY 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415

ABOUT TOWN A hip new Nepali movie, Sano Sansar is about the youth. In this movie we are introduced to Ravi, an EXHIBITIONS average guy who has just graduated from college and ™ Nature through Lens 4, a faces the dilemma of not knowing what to do. Like him, photography exhibition organised Reetu, a not so average girl, also doesn’t know what by WCN till 31 August, Nepal Art she wants out of life. Unlike them, Suraj is a confident Council, Babarmahal, 10AM-4PM. guy who has his future planned out. Manoj Sizapati (aka 2200438 Siza) wants what every guy wants. All these characters ™ Missing Persons in Nepal: The right soon find out the 'sano sansar' that they live in and how to know, photo exhibition organised Entertainment they are interconnected. by ICRC and NRCS. Indigo Gallery: 30 August-6 September, Darbar Square: Bhaktapur 7 September, Kathmandu 8 Call 4442220 for show timings at Jai Nepal

September, Lalitpur 9 September, 8AM-6.30 PM. Free entry Quest www.jainepal.com ™ Buddha and Nature, a painting exhibition by Nar Bahadur Biswa Karma till 10 September Sunday-Monday 1-6PM, Tuesday-Friday 10.30-6PM at Park Gallery, Lazimpat. 4419353 sfd ;fgf ] 7nf" ] eGg ] x'Fb}g . kl;gfsf ] s'g} /ª / hft klg x'Fb}g . sfd ™ Amalgam-2008 an exhibition of paintings by national and u/]/ vfg nhfpg' klg x'Fb}g . rf]/]/, 9fF6]/, 5n]/, n'6]/ vfg kf] g]kfn ;/sf/ international artists till 8 September at Siddhartha Art Gallery, nhfpgk5' { . hf ] hxf F /x/] hg' sfd u5 { pm To;df} /dfpgk5' { uf/a} ;"rgf tyf ;~rf/ dGqfno Baber Mahal Revisited, Sunday-Friday 11AM-6PM and ;"rgf ljefu Saturday 12-4PM. 4438979 ugk5'{ { / ;dlkt{ eP/ ug5k'{ { . sfd g } zlQm xf,] elQm xf ] / dlQm' xf ] . sfdsf ] OHht u/f,}+ kl;gfsf ] ;Ddfg u/ }+ . EVENTS ™ Paleti concert with Madan Krishna Shrestha at Nepa-laya on 29 August. 4412469 ™ Help kosi, a concert by Kutumba to raise funds for Sapta Kosi, 31 August, 5PM, GAA hall, Thamel, Rs 200. ™ The Third Man a film by Carol Reed presented by Cine- Sankipa, Film Society of Aarohan-Gurukul. 1 September, 5.30 PM, Rimal Theater, Gurukul. 4466956 ™ Finding Nemo, an animated film on 2 September Lazimpat Gallery Café, 6.30 PM. 4428549 ™ Lecture Series XXVI by Andrea Nightingale on Emergent Forests, 4 September, 5PM, Yala Maya Kendra, Patan Dhoka ™ Dancing/yoga-latey with Shabira Rao 1-14 September, Rs 300 per session, Yala Maya Kendra, Patan. 9803673551

MUSIC ™ Some like it hot every Friday BBQ and live music by Dinesh Rai and the Sound Minds, 7PM onwards, Rs 899 at Fusion, Dwarika’s Hotel. 4479488 ™ Ladies night at Jatra Café & Bar on Wednesday with live unplugged music by D Shewan ™ HyJazz Club every Friday from 8.30 PM, Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu. 4489800 ™ Dance and Cocktails at Cube Bar, Kamaladi. 4438017 ™ Fusion and Looza Band every Friday night, Bhumi Resto Lounge, Lazimpat. 4412193 ™ Rudra night fusion and classical Nepali music by Shyam Nepali and friends, every Friday, 7PM at Le Meridien, Gokarna. 4451212

DINING ™ English Hi-Tea at The Lounge in Hyatt regency from 4.30 PM- 6.30 PM. 4491234 ™ Mediterranean Culinary Delights every Friday at Hyatt Regency. 4491234 WEEKEND WEATHER by NGAMINDRA DAHAL ™ TFC Buffet and Lunch for Senior Citizen, 50 per cent discount offer throughout August, Radisson Hotel. 4411818 A significant feature of this week’s weather is the rebounding monsoon axis ™ Sixth Annual Wine Festival until September at Kilroy’s, Jyatha. towards the foothills of the Himalaya. This monsoon trajectory from the Bay is 4250440 fully active with a line of troughs bringing sustained precipitation. The result is ™ Fusion of Marcela Regan’s new menu and Mannie’s new bar at heavy rainfall along the midhills from east to west, which is making up for the Dhokaima Cafe .5522113 monsoon shortfall this season. The normal end of the monsoon is mid-September, ™ Asparagus Promotion at Hyatt Regency from 7PM onwards till so there is still time for some making up. Trouble is that the soil moisture is 31 August. 4489361 saturated and heavy rains now inevitably lead to landslides and floods. As this satellite radar image for Thursday morning indicates, the low pressure system ™ Plat Du Jour at Hotel Shangri-la, Kathmandu, Rs 600. 4412999 over central Nepal and northern India will persist into the weekend making, it Pasta-pesto-passion ™ at La Dolce Vita, Thamel. 4700612 wet and overcast. ™ Steak special with free Irish coffee at K-too! Beer & Steakhouse, Thamel. 4700043 ™ Home made pasta at Alfresco, Soaltee Crowne Plaza. 4273999 ™ Reality Bites, The Kaiser Café, Garden of Dreams, operated by Dwarika’s Group of Hotels, 9AM-10PM. 4425341 ™ Steak escape with Kathmandu’s premier steaks at the Olive Bar and Bistro, Hotel Radisson. 4411818 KATHMANDU ™ Cocktails, mocktails and liqueurs at the Asahi Lounge, opening hours 1-10PM, above Himalayan Java, Thamel. ™ lly Expresson Coffee at Hotel Shangrila, Lazimpat and KATHMANDU VALLEY Mandap Hotel, Thamel ™ Scrumptious wood fired pizzas, cocktails and more at Fri Sat Sun Roadhouse, Bhatbateni 4426587, Pulchok 5521755 and Thamel 4260187. ™ Retro Brunch Barbeque with live acoustic music by Sound 6 6 Chemistry, every Saturday, 12-3PM at LeMeridien-Kathmandu, 27-196 25-186 26-186 Gokarna. 4451212 ™ Starry night barbecue at Hotel Shangri-la with live performance by Ciney Gurung, Rs. 666, at the Shambala Garden, every Friday 7PM onwards. 4412999 ™ Kebabs and curries at the Dhaba, Thapathali. 9841290619 ™ Socially Responsible coffee at Himalayan Java, Thamel

For inclusion in the listing send information to editors(at)nepalitimes.com HAPPENINGS 29 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER 2008 #415 15

KIRAN PANDAY FIRM GRIP: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal shakes hands with senior army officers at Tribhuban International Airport before departing for Beijing last Saturday.

KIRAN PANDAY WRONG NUMBER: Minister for Physical Planning Bijay Kumar Gachhadar is distracted by a phone call while greeting Army Commander-in-Chief Rukmangat Katuwal at the airport on Saturday.

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA BLOOMING MARVELLOUS: American ambassador Nancy Powell admires entries in a photo competition organised by Wildlife Conservation Nepal at the Nepal Art Council, Babar Mahal, on Thursday.

FINLAND EMBASSY SISTERHOOD: Women in Dadheldura welcome Dominique Hyde (WFP), Bella Bird (DFID), Gillian Mellsop (UNICEF), Susan Goldmark (World Bank) and Pirkko-Liisa Kyöstilä (Finnish Embassy) on a field visit last week. 16 st ab yours stab my back,You stab U Parmananda Ja Chaudhary forhisnewnamethevicepresident: This week’sNewNameContestisoncemorebaggedbyRam Court this month. and ManagehavebothbeenmysteriouslyreleasedbytheSupremo him outahere,andhemaybeinluckbecausenotoriousdonsChakre The Serpent The clientbeingwhoheis,thatcouldn’thavebeenanemptythreat. reporter ofdireconsequencesifhedaredwriteaboutherclientagain. Comrade Laxmitobehislawyer,whobytheway,warnedaTHT befriended theglamorousNikitaandgotKhimlalDebkota’swife have tobesmart.SoitisnotsurprisingthatCharlestheSobrajhas If youcanbreakoutofjailnotoncebuttwice,evenifitisTihar, government. forgot allaboutgettingfairrepresentationforwomenintheir committee. Butwhiletryingtomakeallfactionshappy,theMaoists Maharabau orTopBudder,theyputthemattertovoteincentral deadlock lastweekoverwhoshouldbeMisinformationMinister, him alongonhisChinatrip. comrade SureshSingh,aBiplopsidekick,ashisgofer powerful thanboth.Nottobeoutdone,Awesomecooptedtheyoung listen tohisdirectives,thusmakinghimselftheoreticallymore positioning himselfaspartyleadersothatPKDandBRBwillhaveto each otherintheback,MohanBaidyaismakingtailwagdogby another oneofhisdeepsulksandjunketedofftoJapan. faction hasbeensovehementlyanti-BumDavethatMakunaywentinto the caretakerprimeminister.AndwithinUML,Oli-Nepal against BRBbeing#2ingovtthattheypubliclyendorsedBumDaveas combo vetoedHisilacontinuingasminister.Theduoweresodead Baddies thanbetweentheA-MaleysandBaddies.TheBaidya-Gajurel more todowithdiscordamongfactionswithintheA-Maleysand Finally theysorteditout,butthedelayincompletingcabinethad invited himoverunlesshewasaDengist.Ok,that’ssettledthen. the openingandclosingceremonyofOlympics,wouldneverhave Hu. Second,theChinese,whodidnotevenmentionMaoZedongin our advicetowearadarksuitandredtieinhismeetingwithComrade all, ifhewasa about whetherLotusFlowerisaDengistorGangofFourist.First One thingtheBeijingvisitdidwasatleastpartiallysettledebate and Dilli-basherswithinhisownparty.Sheergenius. media, thusindirectlybolsteringhispopularitybothamongthepublic ruse toleakIndia’sdispleasureaboutPKDgoingBeijingthe really wantedtobeconspiratorial,onecouldsayitwasallanelaborate this, themoreAwesome’sdomesticpopularitywillsurge.Now,ifone it matterwhereDahalgoesfirst? to Indiafirst.Wasn’tSoniaalsoattheBird’sNest?Afterall,whatdoes Golf CourseRdinafitofpiquedecidedtoinvitePresidentRamBaran diplomacy, butwhatwassurprisinghowquicklytheadvisersat into arightroyalfrenzyovertheprimeminister’spingpong It waspredictablethatthe waters, ifI’vegotmymetaphorright. dare gotoChinabeforegoingIndiawaslikerubbingsaltontroubled say ass(at)nepalitimes.com The Maobaddiestrytodothingsbythebook.Whentherewasa While theleftiebahunsalltriedtooutsmarteachotherbystabbing The Injunsmustknowthatthemoreoutragetheyexpressabout “Equidistance” relations withChinaandIndiatheotherday.Thatheshould Dilli forhavingutteredthe‘E’wordwhendiscussingNepal’s pendra Yadavisprobablygoingtogetarealdressingdownin BACKSIDE gambledontheMaoistscomingtopowerandgetting G4-ista . evenasComradePremierwasdefyinghintsnotto hewouldn’tbereadingtheAssandfollowing Sinophobic FG FG FG FG Indianmediaworkeditselfup I’ ll andeventook CDO Regd No194/056/57Lalitpur, CentralRegion PostalRegd.No 04/058/59 29 AUGUST -4SEPTEMBER2008 #415

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