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Underdevelopment and Regional Structure of Nepal -AM
Book Review Underdevelopment and Regional Structure of Nepal -AM [This is a commentary on the book The Nature of Underdevelopment and Regional Structure of Nepal: A Marxist Analysis written by Baburam Bhattarai and published by Adroit Publishers,Delhi, in the well-known magazine Economic and Political Weekly, November 8-14, 2003, by AM as "Calcutta Diary". We may not necessarily agree with the views of the author.- Ed.] The Viswa Hindu Parishad cannot understand it. Nepal is the only Hindu Kingdom in the world; substantial sections of the people there are of north Indian ethnicity and bear names of Hindu gods and goddesses; the ruling family has long-time links with India and marries into the Rana clan dispersed along the higher and lower reaches of the Indo-Gangetic valley. And yet, Nepal is hardly benevolent land for Hindu chauvinism. Maoist communists, who are engaged in a relentless guerrilla war against the country's regime for the past seven years, control most of the countryside. Even in the national parliament, the second largest party happens to be the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist- Leninist). So, irrespective of whether one applies the criterion of parliamentary or extra-parliamentary influence, Marxists, and not revanchists of the Togadia-Singhal brand, reflect the overwhelming vox populi in Nepal. This clinches several points. Not rapid religious sentiments, but hard economic realities, mould the psyche of a nation. If the chemistry is different in Aryavarta, that is because of an unnatural hiatus between people existing under today's canopy and their consciousness lagging millennia behind. -
139 4 - 10 April 2003 16 Pages Rs 25
www.nepalitimes.com #139 4 - 10 April 2003 16 pages Rs 25 Maoists, police and soldiers are rushing home MIN BAJRACHARYA ‘‘‘ to meet families while the Peace bridge peace lasts. in KALIKOT MANJUSHREE○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ THAPA athletes have joined a regional few weeks into the ceasefire, volleyball competition. A driver who and Dailekh bazar is trans- weekly plies the Nepalganj-Dailekh ’’’ Out in the open A formed. “Nobody dared to road says hundreds of people who had The Maoist negotiating team hasn’t had a move about like this before,” marvels a fled during the state of emergency are moment to spare as it made its high-profile young man, eyeing the bustle. “The returning. “The Maoists, the police comeback in Kathmandu this week. Maoists didn’t dare come here, and the and the army are rushing back to meet Baburam Bhattarai and Ram Bahadur their families while the peace lasts.” Thapa have been giving back-to-back security forces wouldn’t go to the interviews to media, meeting political villages alone. Now they’re all talking Further afield in Dullu, the scene is leaders and diplomats and reiterating their to one another.” even more festive. Many village men three-point demand for a roundtable A few Maoists are openly attending are stoned on the occasion of Holi, in conference, constituent assembly and an passing-out ceremonies in local schools. flagrant defiance of Maoist puritanism. interim government. A rally in Tundikhel In nearby Chupra village, Maoist “We welcome the talks,” says Maoist on Thursday, two months after the ceasefire agreement, was attended by about 15- area secretary, ‘Rebel’, talking to us at a 20,000 supporters, mainly from outside the hotel close to where a man, high on Valley. -
Reacting to Donald Trump's Challenge
centro studi per i popoli extra-europei “cesare bonacossa” - università di pavia The Journal of the Italian think tank on Asia founded by Giorgio Borsa in 1989 Vol. XXIX / 2018 Reacting to Donald Trump’s Challenge Edited by Michelguglielmo Torri Nicola Mocci viella centro studi per i popoli extra-europei “cesare bonacossa” - università di pavia ASIA MAIOR The Journal of the Italian think tank on Asia founded by Giorgio Borsa in 1989 Vol. XXIX / 2018 Reacting to Donald Trump’s Challenge Edited by Michelguglielmo Torri and Nicola Mocci viella Asia Maior. The Journal of the Italian Think Tank on Asia founded by Giorgio Borsa in 1989. Copyright © 2019 - Viella s.r.l. & Associazione Asia Maior ISBN 978-88-3313-241-9 (Paper) ISBN 978-88-3313-242-6 (Online) ISSN 2385-2526 (Paper) ISSN 2612-6680 (Online) Annual journal - Vol. XXIX, 2018 This journal is published jointly by the think tank Asia Maior (Associazione Asia Maior) & CSPE - Centro Studi per i Popoli extra-europei «Cesare Bonacossa», University of Pavia Asia Maior. The Journal of the Italian Think Tank on Asia founded by Giorgio Borsa in 1989 is an open-access journal, whose issues and single articles can be freely downloaded from the think tank webpage: www.asiamaior.org. Paper version Italy € 50.00 Abroad € 65.00 Subscription [email protected] www.viella.it Editorial board Editor-in-chief (direttore responsabile): Michelguglielmo Torri, University of Turin. Co-editor: Nicola Mocci, University of Sassari. associate editors: Axel Berkofsky, University of Pavia; Diego Maiorano, National University of Singapore, ISAS - Institute of South Asian Studies; Nicola Mocci, University of Sassari; Giulio Pugliese, King’s College London; Michelguglielmo Torri, University of Turin; Elena Valdameri, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - ETh Zurich; Pierluigi Valsecchi, University of Pavia. -
Nepal's Peace Agreement: Making It Work
NEPAL’S PEACE AGREEMENT: MAKING IT WORK Asia Report N°126 – 15 December 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................. i I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 II. APRIL AFTERMATH................................................................................................... 2 A. FROM POPULAR PROTEST TO PARLIAMENTARY SUPREMACY ................................................2 B. A FUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT?..............................................................................................3 C. CONTESTED COUNTRY ...........................................................................................................5 III. THE TALKS ................................................................................................................... 6 A. A ROCKY START...................................................................................................................6 1. Eight-point agreement.................................................................................................6 2. Engaging the UN ........................................................................................................7 3. Mutual suspicion.........................................................................................................8 B. THE STICKING POINTS............................................................................................................8 1. Arms -
Landmark Deal with Iran
96 / 13 13 December 2013 LANDMARK DEAL WITH IRAN AMB SHEEL KANT SHARMA The writer is a former Ambassador of India to Austria & Permanent Representative to UN Office in Vienna & IAEA. Foreign Ministers of Iran and the P5 + 1 i.e. US, a comprehensive agreement ensuring exclusively France, UK, China, Russia and Germany, concluded a peaceful nuclear programme in Iran and lifting of all ground breaking deal about Iranian nuclear program UN Security Council and other US and EU sanctions last month imbued with an extraordinary potential on Iran. That goal will be reached by a reciprocal, and immense impact even in the short term. It was step-by-step process, fully transparent to the the result of arduous negotiations stretching over the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) current year, buttressed with bilateral contacts on inspections, involving stopping, curtailing, and partial the sidelines of formal sessions that go back even 2- dismantling of Iran’s existing and planned uranium 3 years. The concluding round in Geneva took long enrichment and plutonium production capacity, and intense work which continued until early facilities and activities as also conversion and dilution morning of November 24. The Iranian foreign of existing stocks of enriched uranium with effective minister Javad Zarif tweeted at safeguards against its military the end that “there was white The interim first steps will be taken use potential. Iran will be smoke” invoking the Vatican’s enabled to enjoy right to within six months and essentially code to announce new Pope’s peaceful uses of nuclear involve Iran ceasing enrichment of election. -
Nuclear Deterrence to a Nuclear Weapons Free World
Moving Beyond Nuclear Deterrence to a Nuclear Weapons Free World ISSUE NO. 2, 2013 Nuclear Abolition Forum Dialogue on the Process to Achieve and Sustain a Nuclear Weapons Free World The Nuclear Abolition Forum strives to foster debate on key legal, technical, institutional and political elements for achieving the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons under a Nuclear Weapons Convention or package of agreements, as well as the process to achieving this. To this end, the Forum offers a dedicated website and a periodical to facilitate dialogue between academics, governments, disarmament experts and NGOs on such elements. The Forum is a joint project of eight leading organizations on disarmament and nonproliferation issues. For more information about Nuclear Abolition Forum, visit abolitionforum.org. Nuclear Abolition Forum Dialogue on the Process to Achieve and Sustain a Nuclear Weapons Free World C/o World Future Council 100 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5NQ London, United Kingdom Tel.: +44 (0) 20 7321 3810 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7321 3738 Email: [email protected] abolitionforum.org © Nuclear Abolition Forum, April 2013 Cover: “Cat’s Cradle/String Theory” (oil on canvas, 36" x 48"), 2008, by Baila Goldenthal. Design by Jana Jedličková. Moving Beyond Nuclear Deterrence to a Nuclear Weapons Free World Nuclear Abolition Forum · Issue No. 2 CONTRIBUTORS Ward Wilson Christopher Ford Paul Quilès Bruno Tertrais Sheel Kant Sharma Manpreet Sethi Alyn Ware Kiho Yi Hiromishi Umebayashi Nobuyasu Abe Hirofumi Tosaki Bill Kidd John Ainslie Uta Zapf Jonathan Granoff Rob van Riet David Krieger Richard Falk Teresa Bergman GUEST CO-EDITORS Marc Finaud Paul Meyer Manpreet Sethi Alyn Ware EDITOR Rob van Riet Dialogue on the Process to Achieve and Sustain a Nuclear Weapons Free World NUCLEAR ABOLITION FORUM Issue No. -
Chronology of Major Political Events in Contemporary Nepal
Chronology of major political events in contemporary Nepal 1846–1951 1962 Nepal is ruled by hereditary prime ministers from the Rana clan Mahendra introduces the Partyless Panchayat System under with Shah kings as figureheads. Prime Minister Padma Shamsher a new constitution which places the monarch at the apex of power. promulgates the country’s first constitution, the Government of Nepal The CPN separates into pro-Moscow and pro-Beijing factions, Act, in 1948 but it is never implemented. beginning the pattern of splits and mergers that has continued to the present. 1951 1963 An armed movement led by the Nepali Congress (NC) party, founded in India, ends Rana rule and restores the primacy of the Shah The 1854 Muluki Ain (Law of the Land) is replaced by the new monarchy. King Tribhuvan announces the election to a constituent Muluki Ain. The old Muluki Ain had stratified the society into a rigid assembly and introduces the Interim Government of Nepal Act 1951. caste hierarchy and regulated all social interactions. The most notable feature was in punishment – the lower one’s position in the hierarchy 1951–59 the higher the punishment for the same crime. Governments form and fall as political parties tussle among 1972 themselves and with an increasingly assertive palace. Tribhuvan’s son, Mahendra, ascends to the throne in 1955 and begins Following Mahendra’s death, Birendra becomes king. consolidating power. 1974 1959 A faction of the CPN announces the formation The first parliamentary election is held under the new Constitution of CPN–Fourth Congress. of the Kingdom of Nepal, drafted by the palace. -
To Read the Accompanying Letter
26 March 2012 Right Honourable Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai Honourable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Bijaya Kumar Gachhedar, Honourable leaders of the main political parties Mr Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), UCPN (M); Mr. Sushil Koirala, NC; and Mr. Jhalnath Khanal, CPN (UML) Honourable members of the Constituent Assembly and Legislature Parliament Greetings from the International Fact-finding and Advocacy Mission to Nepal! On behalf of the International Mission, I am pleased to submit for your consideration a comprehensive review of the draft constitutional provisions on Freedom of Expression (FOE), the Right to Information (RTI) and Freedom of the Media, prepared by the International Mission to Nepal that met with you in the week of 23 February 2012. The Mission is pleased to note that many of the draft constitutional proposals provide a strong basis for guaranteeing the aforesaid rights to citizens in the spirit of the international conventions that Nepal is a party to, and we congratulate the Constituent Assembly for this. The fact that there is no disagreement on the aforesaid provisions among the parties also speaks of your personal commitments to these rights, as well as the desire of all political parties in Nepal to guarantee citizens these basic rights, which are cornerstones of a functioning democracy. In its 1990 Constitution, Nepal set an example in the region by opening up the media environment and guaranteeing the rights to FOE and RTI. As you progress towards preparing a new constitution for Nepal, you now have an opportunity to come up with a document that is among the most progressive in the world in terms of these foundational democratic rights. -
Stalled Politics and Urban Infrastructure in Kathmandu
HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Volume 37 Number 1 Article 14 June 2017 On the Road to Nowhere: Stalled Politics and Urban Infrastructure in Kathmandu Dannah K. Dennis University of Virginia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya Recommended Citation Dennis, Dannah K.. 2017. On the Road to Nowhere: Stalled Politics and Urban Infrastructure in Kathmandu. HIMALAYA 37(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol37/iss1/14 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This Perspectives is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. On the Road to Nowhere: Stalled Politics and Urban Infrastructure in Kathmandu Acknowledgements The fieldwork on which this article is based was conducted with funding from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the University of Virginia. The author would like to thank Andrew Nelson and Heather Hindman for organizing this special issue, the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback, and Avash Bhandari for his support during the research and writing process. This perspectives is available in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol37/iss1/14 On the Road to Nowhere: Stalled Politics and Urban Infrastructure in Kathmandu Dannah Dennis Today Kathmandu holds out the prospect of a During the period leading up to the passage muddle where one loses one’s identity in a maze of of the 2015 constitution in Nepal, the roads dark alleys enticing one to a confused destiny … the of Kathmandu were often interpreted by the streets of Kathmandu are thick with forebodings. -
News Update from Nepal, June 9, 2005
News update from Nepal, June 9, 2005 News Update from Nepal June 9, 2005 The Establishment The establishment in Nepal is trying to consolidate the authority of the state in society through various measures, such as beefing up security measures, extending the control of the administration, dismantling the base of the Maoists and calling the political parties for reconciliation. On May 27 King Gyanendra in his address called on the leaders of the agitating seven-party alliance “to shoulder the responsibility of making all democratic in- stitutions effective through free and fair elections.” He said, “We have consistently held discussions with everyone in the interest of the nation, people and democracy and will continue to do so in the future. We wish to see political parties becoming popular and effective, engaging in the exercise of a mature multiparty democracy, dedicated to the welfare of the nation and people and to peace and good governance, in accordance with people’s aspirations.” Defending the existing Constitution of Nepal 1990 the King argued, “At a time when the nation is grappling with terrorism, the shared commitment and involvement of all political parties sharing faith in democracy is essential to give permanency to the gradually im- proving peace and security situation in the country.” He added, “Necessary preparations have already been initiated to hold these elections, and activate in stages all elected bodies which have suffered a setback during the past three years.” However, King Gy- anendra reiterated that the February I decision was taken to safeguard democracy from terrorism and to ensure that the democratic form of governance, stalled due to growing disturbances, was made effective and meaningful. -
Politics of R Esistance
Politics of Resistance Politics Tis book illustrates an exciting approach to understanding both Indigenous Peoples of Nepal are searching for the state momentous and everyday events in the history of South Asia. It which recognizes and refects their identities. Exclusion of advances notions of rupture and repair to comprehend the afermath indigenous peoples in the ruling apparatus and from resources of natural, social and personal disasters, and demonstrates the of the “modern states,” and absence of their representation and generality of the approach by seeking their historical resolution. belongingness to its structures and processes have been sources Te introduction of rice milling technology in a rural landscape of conficts. Indigenous peoples are engaged in resistance in Bengal,movements the post-cold as the warstate global has been shi factive in international in destroying, relations, instead of the assassinationbuilding, their attempt political, on a economicjournalist and in acultural rented institutions.city house inThe Kathmandu,new constitution the alternate of 2015and simultaneousfailed to address existence the issues, of violencehence the in non-violentongoing movements,struggle for political,a fash feconomic,ood caused and by cultural torrential rights rains and in the plainsdemocratization of Nepal, theof the closure country. of a China-India border afer the army invasionIf the in Tibet,country and belongs the appearance to all, if the of outsiderspeople have in andemocratic ethnic Taru hinterlandvalues, the – indigenous scholars in peoples’ this volume agenda have would analysed become the a origins, common anatomiesagenda and ofdevelopment all. If the state of these is democratic events as andruptures inclusive, and itraised would interestingaddress questions the issue regarding of justice theirto all. -
Global Nuclear Disarmament: Geopolitical Necessities
Global Nuclear Disarmament Geopolitical Necessities Global Nuclear Disarmament Geopolitical Necessities Editor V .R. Raghavan DELHI POLICY GROUP VIJ BOOKS INDIA PVT LTD Published by Vij Books India Pvt Ltd (Publishers, Distributors & Importers) 2/19, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj New Delhi - 110002 Phones: 91-11-43596460, 91-11-47340674 Fax: 91-11-47340674 www.vijbooks.com e-mail : [email protected] Copyright © 2012, Delhi Policy Group, New Delhi ISBN: 978-93-81411-31-5 Price in India: ` 795/- Price outside India: US $ 39.95 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Application for such permission should be addressed to the publisher. Printed in India at Narula Printers , New Delhi Table of Contents Introduction vii Pathways to Nuclear Disarmament & Timeline Challenges 1 – Sverre Lodgaard Nuclear Base Camp: The Numbers Conundrum 19 – T. P. Sreenivasan Nuclear Doctrines & Nuclear Disarmament 23 – Bruno Tertrais Role of Nuclear Weapons in NATO’s Strategic Concept 32 – Jacek Bylica Nuclear Doctrines & Military Realities 40 – Prakash Menon No-First Use as a Strategic Doctrine 56 – Swaran Singh Through the Techno-Political Maze of Timeline Challenges 72 – G. Balachandran Geopolitical Conditions Enabling Nuclear Disarmament 82 – Ian Anthony Nuclear Disarmament: Perspectives from the IAEA 98 – Sheel Kant Sharma vi Global Nuclear Disarmament: Geopolitical Necessities China and Nuclear Disarmament 109 – Alexander Kolbin Contributors 132 Introduction The Delhi Policy Group conducted an 18 month project on Pathways to Nuclear Disarmament held between 2010 and 2012.