#464 14 - 20 August 2009 16 pages Rs 30
Weekly Internet Poll # 464 Q. Should the PLA integration happen RAM AND KRISHNA: President Ram after the constitution is written as the Baran Yadav arriving at the Krishna Maoists say? Mandir in Patan on Thursday for the Total votes: 1,209 ritual worship on Krishnasthami. This ceremony used to be performed by Nepalís kings.
Weekly Internet Poll # 465. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com Q. Has someone you know been injured in a traffic accident in the past year?
KIRAN PANDAY
THINK GLOBALLY, NEW, IMPROVED, MELAMCHI RAJIV TO THE RESCUE ACT INDIVIDUALLY The Melamchi project can be The descendant of the Raja of What can we do ourselves as adapted to generate 265MW of Jajarkot, Rajiv Shah, was so private citizens to curb global electricity and irrigate large impatient with the slow warming and slow the melting of tracts of the Tarai besides response to the epidemic in the Himalaya? Miki Uprety runs a supplying water to the capital. his district, he launched marathon to raise awareness about So why isn’t the government his own relief. mission. retreating glaciers in the Khumbu. doing it? Post mortem of an epidemic What can I do? p8-9 Editorial p2 p10-11 2 EDITORIAL 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464
Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Editor: Kunda Dixit CEO: Ashutosh Tiwari Design: Kiran Maharjan DGM Sales and Marketing: Sambhu Guragain [email protected] Marketing Manager: Subhash Kumar Asst. Manager: Arjun Karki Circulation: Prakash Raut
Hatiban, Godavari Road, Lalitpur [email protected] GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu 5250333/845 Fax: 5251013 www.nepalitimes.com Printed at Jagadamba Press 5250017-19 Win-win-win MKN should use his India trip to take HARM REDUCTION Kathmandu-Delhi-Beijing ties to a new plane Trust our rulers to try to wreck what is working. In a country where adhav Kumar Nepal can role. Enhanced Chinese empirically noting that there is there are so many other priorities (ensuring there is no famine by either do what every PM engagement is a fact, and Nepal an asymmetry in China’s favour winter, planning now to avert next year’s cholera epidemic, keeping M before him has done in would like to use the economy on all tangible determinants of prices down, creating jobs) you’d expect any sane government to be Delhi: bargain on a few bilateral to the north for growth but national power. India cannot and in permanent crisis management mode. Not here. Here, we are too issues, win some concessions, without hurting India’s ought not seek any kind of busy trying to fix things that ain’t broke. go out on a limb to prove that legitimate security interests. military equivalence but innovate his will be a friendly Mr Nepal may think this is through astute use of government, and in the process too risky an approach to adopt technology.” CHITWAN criticise his domestic with a Delhi dispensation that Combine this strategic realism One of the few things this country can be justifiably proud of is the opponents. has been kind to him. But such in Delhi with its diplomatic setting up of national parks like Chitwan which rescued tigers and an open and frank approach is offensive. Last Saturday, India rhinos from the brink of extinction. Chitwan is cited the world over and China decided to set up a PLAIN SPEAKING necessary for the sake of future as a model for people-park relations and in community mobilisation political stability and economic hotline between their two Prashant Jha th for buffer zone protection. development in Nepal. leaders. To observe the 60 Credit goes to Nepal’s visionary conservationists, who in the Otherwise each time a anniversary of the establishment 1980s had the creativity and foresight to find home-grown solutions, He has another, more government here gets cosy with of relations, the two countries and had the integrity and management skills to implement them. Chitwan became synonymous with ecotourism: the healthy statesman-like, route. Besides Beijing, its political rivals will decided to hold the Year of symbiosis between private sector entrepreneurship and the state’s discussing the peace process cuddle up to Delhi and attempt Friendship with China in India, responsibility to protect the environment. and India’s bottom-line on army to dislodge it. This is also a with Beijing reciprocating with World-renowned, award-winning resorts like Tiger Tops integration and constitution good moment to raise the issue similar celebrations. pioneered responsible conservation tourism and set standards for writing, Nepal has the because lots has been Bilateral trade is now $52 others not only in Nepal but internationally. The area around these opportunity to take the happening between India and billion, the two are close allies on resorts have the richest biodiversity within the park, and the contentious China-Nepal-India China. the climate change issue and the presence of tourism helps stop poaching. Other parks with no eco- relationship to a different level. In a path-breaking policy fact that India’s new foreign tourism have been decimated by poachers. One of the unsaid, but speech this week, Indian Navy secretary, Nirupama Rao, is an old And now, on the pretext that their contracts need to be renewed, apparent, causes for the India- chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta China hand will also help in the government has closed down the lodges inside the park. We Maoist falling out in May was spoke about the prospect of shaping a nuanced bilateral understand there is a lot of vested interest at work here: buffer zone lodges want the resorts inside parks closed down, or they want to the latter’s attempt to fiddle China consolidating its relationship. be inside too. Resort owners inside the park are trying to run each with the geopolitical balance of comprehensive national power Of course, there is still deep other down, and there is evidence new ministers and senior power in South Asia. As a and being more assertive in its distrust, border disputes remain. bureaucrats want a piece of the action. former ambassador told Nepali immediate neighbourhood. The rhetoric has got sharper from Nepal’s reputation for being an eco-tourism pioneer is at stake delegates at a Track Two event in “The gap between India and the Chinese side over Arunachal here. Income for conservation from royalty, jobs for villagers in the Delhi last month: “There is a China is too wide to bridge and Pradesh. ‘Non-official’ media and buffer zone are threatened as tour groups cancel peak season Laxman Rekha, a red line, on is getting wider by the day,” he academic circles have called India bookings. Our recommendation: immediately reopen the lodges China. The Maoists crossed said, “in military terms, both a paper tiger, and highlighted inside the park while the longer-term issues are worked out that.” conventional and non- India’s fissiparous tendencies. rationally. If Madhav Kumar Nepal conventional, we neither have Nepal has to know how to tap wants to rise above petty party the capability nor the intention into the realism and diplomatic ELAMCHI interest, he could say that to match China force by force.” wisdom of the Indian M Nepali and Indian political Mehta emphasised that establishment, while allaying its Sometimes, the lack of logic in our planning defies logic. leaders need to discuss China’s cooperation rather than concerns. Analyst Uday Bhaskar Kathmandu Valley’s population has doubled to 3 million in the past competition or conflict would advises: “Nepal could engage 10 years, outstripping its limits to growth. The be preferable since it would be India in sustained talks about summer water shortage has turned into a year-round “foolhardy” to compare India where and how it plans to crisis. Back then, there was a workable and increase ties, one presumes affordable plan: building a necklace of storage and China as equals in terms of reservoirs on the Valley rim, upgrading antiquated economy, infrastructure and economic, with China and mains to cut loss and improve distribution. military spending. assuage concerns that this is not But, of course, we decided 30 years ago to opt for Some critics dismissed the yet another way of the much more grandiose $500 million Melamchi statement as defeatist. But as ‘encirclement’.” project to divert snow-fed streams from Helambu to retired Commodore C Uday He has a warning though, Sundarijal through a 26km tunnel. It was foolhardy to Bhaskar, director of the National “Most nations that deal with go for a white elephant when cheaper, more Maritime Foundation where the China aver that it strives for sustainable, alternatives were available but we went chief spoke, explained to Nepali a win-win, but in such a ahead anyway. Times in an interview: “The manner that both wins are Today, one could make the argument that with the lecture was a reality check, with Beijing.” z present rate of urbanisation, Kathmandu will need Melamchi in future. But by hurriedly inaugurating the tunnel last week Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s government has compounded the original mistake by making another. If Melamchi is inevitable, then it makes much more sense to LLL ETTERS increase the radius of the tunnel from 3.7m to 5, add hydropower and irrigation components in the Bagmati for very little additional FOOD contributor to disease in Nepal cost and reap huge side-benefits. (See: ‘Revisiting a multi-purpose I would like to thank the and further reductions in the food Melamchi’, Nepali Times, #379) Nepali Times for its timely supply will only put greater You kill three birds with one stone with this plan that has been articles on the consequences pressure on an overburdened floating around for five years, and yet successive governments and of this season’s failed health system. the mandarins in Manila have over-ruled it over turf-battles and monsoon (#463). I was lucky In the current tragedy of possible payoffs. enough to work with the Nepal cholera in western Nepal, we There isn’t that much of a cost differential for a wider tunnel Red Cross and the Home have seen the media take the because it can accommodate trucks, making it cheaper than rail for Ministry 37 years ago as they government to task for lack of drilling and debris removal. Adding water from Larke, Yangri and prepared, what I believe, was preparedness and inadequate possibly Balephi will allow the generation of up to 260MW of power Nepal’s first national disaster response. This time I hope they and feed into Bagmati irrigation in the Tarai. This way, it won’t just preparedness plan. will not wait till disaster is be Kathmandu’s pampered citizens that usurp benefits from The warnings of the already upon us to critique the Melamchi, rice farmers in the plains will benefit and the power will recently released UN World government’s response, but feed into the national grid. Food Programme report, The instead will investigate and Cost of Coping: A Collision of report what actions the expertise of Nepal’s greater civil Our hunch is that in both Chitwan and Melamchi the possibility Crises, paint a dire worst government is taking in advance society can be brought to bear. of kickbacks sway decision-making in times of political transition. case scenario for Nepal, as of a possible catastrophe. My Fred Shepardson, email Fine, we’d be naïve to assume that corruption can be eradicated. early as this winter. Already, hopes are that the ministries are The least our MPs investigating Chitwan, Melamchi and other according to the WFP, 48 per doing everything possible to CHOLERA issues this weekend in the Parliamentary Accounts Committee can cent of children under five prepare for a worst case While I concur with most of what do is to ask that the government’s decisions, however lubricated suffer chronic scenario, but I can only know Mallika Aryal has to say in her they may be by payoffs, meet the broad national interest. malnourishment, 60 per cent what the media reports. It is in column, I do not agree with the Let’s at least try to minimise the harm caused by in mountain areas. exposing the government’s statement, ‘the best doctors need mismanagement, poor planning and corruption. Malnourishment is a major deliberations and plans that the to go, not interns’ (‘Confusion in OP-ED 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464 3 The theatre of life Theatre makes life understandable, and to understand is to endure
Soviet Empire could not produce eclectic. From traditional to reason) finds resonance. one Tolstoy and Alexander happenings, all kinds of shows Sunil and Nisha are too Solzhenitsyn was created by have been staged at a place that engrossed in their art to lobby Stalin’s oppression. Lu Xun has become a popular landmark with politicos, industrialists, never joined the Chinese despite being located at an military generals, militant leaders Communist Party and the regime unremarkable place. or gatekeepers of the media. But since then has failed to inspire a For reasons that only Sunil that doesn’t mean they don’t single narrator worthy of his can convincingly explain, a great need everyone’s support in mantle. Most artists do what they number of his presentations are keeping the theatre going in these want to do rather than what the adaptations of western classics. difficult times. headquarter or the politburo tells Even then, there are enough plays For the collective sanity of at them to do. where Bertolt Brecht’s belief (that least a section of highly stressed Over the years, presentations theatre should appeal not to the Kathmandu society, the curtains KIRAN PANDAY at the Sama Theatre have been spectators’ feelings but to their should not close on Gurukul. z unil Pokharel is tall and it’s impossible to take lanky, with a hungry look Indrachok or Dharahara and Sand ascetic demeanour. He replant it somewhere else. The is an intense person, but speaks evolution of the Gurukul softly. While talking, he Complex in Baneswar is a part sometimes vigorously shakes his of Nepal’s theatre history. head and sways like a weed in In these times of drought, the wind when he wants to diarrhoea and stillborn emphasise a point. His eyes are revolution, it may appear silly often lost in thought. to talk about the state of theatre. But the arts are a society’s soul. Theatre explains life, makes it STATE OF THE STATE understandable, and to C K Lal understand is to learn to endure. Perhaps that could be During a conversation, the the reason theatre is possible theatre legend ends up giving the even when poetry becomes impression that he hasn’t really painful, paintings begin to been paying attention. But you frighten and music is declared realise later that he uses every blasphemous. That is why word as raw material for the stage. dictators fear the stage so much. Watch your words and For over 20 years now, mannerism when you talk to this Aarohan has maintained its man: he eats, drinks, sleeps and commitment to theatre because dreams theatre. of people like Sunil and Nisha. It’s impossible to think of The only other group with a Sunil being married to anybody similar track record is perhaps other than Nisha Sharma. If he is the Janakpur-based Mithila fire, she is earth. Nisha’s deep Natyakala Parishad where eyes complement Sunil’s members spare time from day penetrating gaze as they plan jobs to keep the tradition of their next show, mentor Maithili theatre alive. With apprentices for the stage, interact Gurukul, the Aarohan with counterparts from the other movement became an arts or chat with friends under institution that had bred its the thatched gazebo inside own competitors. With Gurukul premises. competition come rivalry, The couple has stayed afloat jealousy, antagonism and during most trying times, attendant pathologies. including censorship under the The charge that Sunil is royal-military regime. The highly individualistic is landlord wants them to relocate perhaps true: great art is seldom Gurukul without realising that a collective enterprise. All of
the time of cholera’, #463). household so as to contain the What we are dealing with in spread of the epidemic. Just the mid-and far west is diarrhea treating patients in health and cholera caused by unsafe camps is addressing the water and poor hygiene and symptoms but not the root sanitation, and spread over a cause of the problem. difficult terrain. The ‘best Some youth groups have doctors’ may treat some patients recently started a campaign who visit health camps but they called Paschim Paaila, which is normally do not go door-to-door sending trained volunteers, to put an end to the cause of the mostly public health students to epidemic. So what we really the epidemic affected areas, need are many interns, health along with chlorine solution for assistants, public health water treatment and packets of students, female oral rehydration salts, to raise community health volunteers or awareness on safe water and just trained professionals who sanitation, and help in treating can reach every household and water at the community or spread the word on the need for household levels. They may not safe water, hygiene and have the ‘best doctors’ with sanitation and how water can be them, but they are definitely treated at the household level. making a difference. We need doctors and Bhushan Tuladhar helicopters but more than that Environment and Public we need to reach out to every Health Organisation 4 NATION 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464
Electric transformation PICS: DAMBAR K SHRESTHA
television, internet and the Over the past ten years, Himal BEFORE AND AFTER: By the village has the district’s best Himal Power has invested nearly banks of the Tama Kosi, Kirne school and a hospital that even $10 million in local community today wears more propserous look the poorest can afford. Power development which includes a than it did before the project Looking at Kirne’s success local electricity cooperative, the started 15 years ago (inset). story, there seems to be no reason energises first of its kind in Nepal. Two why it can’t be replicated mini-hydro plants generate one just self-sufficient but also able to nationwide. This tiny village has the local megawatt of electricity for about grow surplus food. also shown us what works: community 8,000 households in the valley. In Sahare, for instance, 105 investment in hydropower Income from the sale of power is households have benefited from a infrastructure to create jobs in Dolakha used by the cooperative for two km irrigation canal from a DAMBAR K SHRESTHA through public-private community development. nearby stream. Farmer Keshab in DOLAKHA partnership and ploughing back for The uninterrupted power Bahadur KC says 60 per cent of some of the profits for supply has set off a cascade of the land in Gagantar used to lie community development. development downstream industries, fallow in the dry season. “Fields ifteen years ago, the village “Our world changed generating jobs. Five hundred that used to be suitable only for of Kirne in Dolakha was as completely with the road and local dairy farmers have set up a maize and millet now have two Ffar down the development electricity,” says Narayandhoj electricity to the national grid milk chilling plant with 3,000 rice crops a year,” says KC. ladder as you could get in Nepal. Khadka, the former chairman of nearly ten years ago. The project litre capacity, others have put up Tom Solberg is the Norwegian There were no roads or health Sahare VDC, “our boys and girls has now become a model for poultry farms, bakeries powered manager of Himal Power and says: posts, the child mortality rate was became literate, our incomes future private investors in by electric ovens, and even a “Our cooperative model is an double the national average, jumped.” hydropower in Nepal. Khmti is furniture factory. example of how a hydropower villagers lived in total darkness. All this has been made the largest private hydropower One of the most dramatic investor can work for local Today, Kirne is surrounded by possible because local community project in the country and is run changes has been in the irrigation development.” Himal Power says lush irrigated paddy terraces, its development was integrated into by Himal Power Ltd and owned of formerly rainfed farms along it hopes to adopt the same model twinkling CFL lights can be seen the design of the $140.2 million by Nowray SN Power, Butwal the Khimti and Tama Kosi when its partners develop the from right up the valley. There is Khimti hydropower project Power Company, BKK, Alstom valleys. This has made the region Tamakosi 2 and 3 projects no load-shedding, there is cable which started selling 60MW of and GE Energy. of Dolakaha and Ramechhap not upstream. The power of a good example
or those in government and elsewhere who find giving Adhikari topped the district first and second with F people access to quality education and affordable distinction. health a formidable challenge, the schools and health Today, only a quarter of the nearly 500 students posts managed by Himal Power at its Khimti plant site are (picture, above) in the school are children of Himal an example of how easy it is if the work is properly Power staff and the company has allocated Rs 4 million managed. a year to subsidise fees and for school administration. And it’s not even a question of resources, since the Khimti’s health post (pictured, below) has now turned money required is not much and most communities are into a small hospital that can treat up to 60 patients a able to mobilise the subsidies. day. More complicated cases are referred to the district The Khimti school started out during the construction hospital in Charikot and an ambulance is on standby. phase of the project for the children of workers, but has What is remarkable is that patients have to pay just now been upgraded to a secondary school that is managed Rs 10 for a checkup and the medicines are subsidised. by the local community and has now become a model for “For us, this hospital is a great gift, I paid just Rs 35 the district. Himal Power has also helped upgrade 11 other for checkup and medicines,” says Ganga Bahadur schools in the valley. Thapa who brought his daughter Sanu for treatment The result of the quality education was seen in this last week, “if I’d gone to Charikot I’d have spent year’s SLC results in which Kiran Ghimire and Rajan Rs1,000.” BUSINESS 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464 5
set by South Asian Federation of Accountants
Toshiba launch (SAFA). Now the Himalayan Bank will also be ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Dickson Poon, regional manager for South Asia at nominated in ‘SAFA Best Presented Accounts Exit strategy Toshiba Singapore talked to Nepali Times last Award 2008’. week about the market in Nepal.
Nepali Times: How Prosperous ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ important is the Chaudhary Group (CG) last week launched a Nepal market? corporate social responsibility project ‘Educated Dickson Poon: We Nepali, prosperous Nepal and energetic Nepali, don’t think Nepal is prosperous Nepal’ to support the education and a small country, and sports system in Nawalparasi. The conglomerate of we have launched 50 industries and social units, CG has been our products sustaining social and health service sectors and targeting the mass the development of Nepali literature. market here. We have all kinds of mini as well as large Local hero
and high ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Leaving a business venture performance Morang Auto Works, the sole distributor of Yamaha is just as important as entering products catering to Motorcycle in Nepal announced its ‘Alba Ratna’ - all kinds of users. the person the company ot till the liquidation of Nepal Development Bank did the We have launched L510 series as well as M900 thinks has made the and M500 models. most generous government realise that companies need sound exit strategies. contribution to society this month. The local hero, NIn 2006 they passed the Insolvency Act but took many years to How did you see business prospect in Nepal? Tulsi Ram Ghimire from Butwal, was chosen by a decide how it would be implemented. So now, shareholders and As I see it, the economy of the country is not in selection committee from Kantipur Publications creditors of failed companies can recoup some part of their investment. bad shape and is picking up. This is expected to and was awarded a cash prize of Rs 50,000. Lawyers can handle insolvency and perhaps revive the flailing get better. We found a good business partner here companies. This will attract foreign investors who are just as concerned in Nepal so we are optimistic. NEW PRODUCTS about entering an industry as exiting one. Supreme Court judge Bharat GOING GREEN: Avco What is Toshiba’s market share globally and in the Upreti and the Nepal Insolvency International launched Yo region? ECONOMIC SENSE Practitioners Association (NIPA) We have almost a quarter share of the notebook Byke, an electric two Artha Beed worked tirelessly to institute the market globally. It is one of the popular brands wheeler, last week. around. We hope it will fare well in Nepal. We Considered to be an law. NIPA has sought help from the have targeted the mass cutting down the price economical option in an International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy without compromising on quality, reliability, era of ballooning petrol Professionals (INSOL) to determine how Nepal can work with other performance and service. The products are prices, the bike operates countries on the matter. available for fair price through an authorised via a rechargeable battery. After the 2008 financial crisis, governments worldwide are waking distributor. Currently Avco International is marketing the model up to the threat failed companies have on their subsidiaries in other YOspeed with a year’s warranty. These bikes have countries. How will bankruptcy of the magnitude that Lehman also bagged the award of ‘Overdrive Automotive Brothers suffered impact the world? How would we in Nepal react?
Money management Product of the Year 2007.’ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○
○○○○○○ How would our workers respond? Laxmi Bank and Beed Invest signed a WHITENER: Sujal Dairy As competition becomes cut-throat more companies will fail, but Memorandum of Understanding last week to their owners can still start news ones. So it’s important that introduce portfolio management into their range of launched Alpine Dairy whitener for the first time in Nepal. Using proprietors be able to quickly exit dying industries and compensate services. Under this agreement the two will their shareholders and creditors. Creditors and shareholders of our develop financial and investment products for the local milk from cows and customers of Laxmi Bank keen on investing in the buffaloes, Alpine is said to defunct airline companies would have greatly benefited from sound stock market. make the perfect tea and coffee. insolvency laws. The product is available in 900gm and 450gm Struggling and idle firms can also use insolvency laws and packs. procedures to decide whether it would be more profitable to exit or a
Best accounts stab at recovery under new management. ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○ NOTEBOOK:HP announced the launch of its new But, all eyes will be on Nepal Investment Bank to see it springs Himalayan Bank Limited was awarded the ‘Best brand of notebook PC, the HP ProBook series on any surprises on us. Nepalis have a knack for unique and sometimes Presented Accounts Award 2008’ by the Institute of 30 July. Designed for small business owners, this Chartered Accountants of Nepal. The evaluation of series is advertised as functional, stylish, and dubious legal interpretations. Let’s hope we make proper use of annual report was done according to the criteria reasonably priced. the law. www.arthabeed.com 6 FROM THE NEPALI PRESS 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464 Community education Sudarshan Ghimire and Anita Siwakoti in Samata Siksha run by foreigners. But she got him enrolled Sikshak, July-August 2009 in Samata as she found her daughter Niketan sets an Lhakpa, who studied in Samata, to be far example of quality ahead of him. All five students who had appeared in this This school is founded for the poor year’s SLC examination from Samata education at low cost. children but children of better families are Siksha Niketan passed with distinction. also enrolling. Ninth grader Sarita Lama The school was founded eight years ago students of poor families in his says weak students get special attention for those children who could not afford to neighbourhood and in 2001 established from all teachers. Some teachers have left go to private schools. When Uttam Sanjel Samata Siksha Niketan in Jorpati. because of low pay, but others see their founded the school, promising quality The school has now expanded to profession as their contribution to society education for Rs 100 per month, people Bhaktapur, Gwarko, Banepa, Melamchi and and not just for money. scoffed. “What kind of English will they branches are being set up in Narayanghat, There are challenges: there is a lack teach for Rs 100? No one will pass the Kawaswati, Pokhara and Butwal with the of extra-curricular activities, there is no exam,” they said at PABSON meetings. student body crossing the 12,000 mark. science laboratory or computer lab and Uttam is happy, he says: “Our students “We are very happy,” says Mohan classroom management is sometimes did not let us down. The results proved Yonjan of Jorpati, whose two children study weak. But what Sanjel and his Samata the nay-sayers wrong.” in the school adding, “This is a big thing school network have shown is that rather Sanjel once went to Mumbai to that we can provide our children with quality than blame the government and wait for it become a Bollywood hero and director. education for such low cost.” to do something, we can all contribute to He tried his hand in Nepali film industry Doma Moktan, a resident of Boudha, society. It’s not money that makes quality but could not achieve much. On the side, originally from Dolakha says her eight-year education, and everyone can make a he started running informal classes for old son, Phurba used to study in a school difference. KIRAN PANDAY Treatment by torture Include whom? Prakashchandra Lohani and Balgopal Baidya in Kantipur, 11 August Himal Khabarpatrika, 31 July-16 August After the government removed the YCL from its main base in the Balaju Industrial Estate many assumed the torture would stop. But, they’re now According to a table of Nepal’s Human Development Index (HDI) broken The Maoist YCL has been torturing drug addicts as a using the drug rehab center in Pharphing as a down by ethnicity, the highest ranking are the Kayastha of the Madhes, way to wean them off drugs in a self-styled revenue source, where they have 70 addicts at a time but it is the Muhasar of the Madhes who are at the bottom. With the ‘rehabilitation center’ in Pharping. The General whose fees are paid for by their families. The Muhasar, it is the Chepangs who are at the bottom of the HDI heap Secretary of the National Alliance of ex-Drug Users and families are charged up to Rs 30,000 per addict. in Nepal. one-time victim of YCL ‘rehabilitation’ Ekata Mahat Eyewitnesses in Pharping say they hear wild The most margninalised communities in Nepal are Dalits, Adivasi recalls: “We were hung upside down, beaten with screams from the YCL centre when the addicts are and Muslims. These communities should therefore be prioritised in any mallets and pulled to the ground and stamped on”. mercilessly beaten. government services and any future affirmative action programs. The others who happen to have HDI levels higher than the national average do not need any special treatment and will have to compete. Then there is also the question of the status of women and the inequities within The commanders have said that ethnic groups. How to prevent the powerful within the marginalised the amount is not enough and groups from taking advantage of programs weighted in that community’s Cantonment tales have started deducting from the favour? fighters’ allowance. They also One rule of thumb could be that even within a marginalised group, 33 Drishti, 11 August their commander Subir. Fighters say that a part of the allowance per cent of the services should be set aside for women, and those living say this happens in all the is to go to the YCL, but the YCL below the poverty line can be prioritised. However hard we try, it will be cantonments. Kali Bahadur Rai commanders complain that they difficult to be completely fair in addressing this country’s complex The Maoist fighters, who have (‘Bibid’) was transferred from the haven’t received anythying. ethnic and socio-economic make-up. Targeting people with special been languishing for the last Third Division to the Fifth but the More money is deducted from needs can be done broadly under the HDI rubric in order to remove three years in various exploitation hasn’t stopped. the fighters when a family inequality, poverty and exploitation but it can’t be the end of cantonments, are being Some fighters are showing member comes to visit and the story. exploited by their stays with them for a few These strategies must now rise above the level of party slogans and commanders. The party days. No such rules be transformed by deep research and into political will. that wants a classless apply to the high-level Human Development Index by selected ethnicity society is showing officers in the PLA when National average: .5121 double standards. The their family members former fighters have had visit. Moreover the Kayastha .9049 commanders have Marwari/Jain .9018 enough and are planning Pahad Bahun .7650 a revolt. Just last month started different canteens Newar .7262 over 50 fighters from where they cook better Tarai Bahun .7224 seven cantonments food than the kind the Thakali .6402 defected to Matrika fighters eat. Chhetri .5492 Thakuri .5454 Yadav’s party. “The government Gurung .5247 Battalion commander pays us all the same Limbu .5033 of the Rambriksha KIRAN PANDAY amount of allowance, yet Sherpa .4114 Memorial Brigade, Mahottari signs of trauma and depression we can’t even save Rs 400 to Thami .3902 and are under medication. High- send home and the commanders Tamang .3894 Kumar Rai had misused power Yadav .3911 for a very long time. When his level commanders do not live in never seem to run out of money,” Damai .3622 fighters mutinied last month the the cantonments, although they says another disenchanted Muslim .3553 Maoist top-brass took action should. The fighters never receive fighter from the First Division. Other Dalit .2874 against him. Similarly, the the Rs 5,000 allowance that the The Maoist leadership is well Santhal/Sattar .2675 Dushad/Paswan .2008 fighters at Bishal Kumar government provides them in full aware of this exploitation, which Chamar/Harijan .1936 Memorial Brigade have also amount. In addition up to Rs 110 is is why some commanders are Khatwe .1787 complained of exploitation by provided as ‘mess expenditure’. transferred. Chepang/Praja .1567 Muhasar .0927 KIRAN PANDAY CONSTITUTION 2010 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464 7 “Total totalitarians” Kuntikumari Shahi, RPP-Nepal CA member
How did you spend the last year in the CA? First, we established the rules and agenda. Then we wrote preliminary drafts on the basis of suggestions we collected from ordinary people. Some committees have already finished their drafts, but we’re still behind schedule. We’ve betrayed people’s expectations, partly because the big parties have been power hungry.
Will the constitution be written on time? We must write it on time otherwise there will be a crisis. Since we set the deadline hastily, we keep making revisions. The big parties bring their disputes to the committees, which has delayed things further. KUNDA DIXIT What form of rule should we have? My party and I think that the Westminster system with a constitutional monarchy is best for Nepal, although it’s now illegal. But only general referendum can make that decision.
But the Maoists haven’t said they aren’t even willing to reopen Sharing water that debate. The Maoists are hardliners and deny anyone the right to voice opinions they think is ‘status quoist’, but this is undemocratic.
Why do you think they want a ‘people’s assembly’? resources They want a total totalitarian communist regime. But only a bicameral legislature will be fair to Nepali minorities who can be Water resources will be the next appointed into the upper house. contentious issue in a federal Nepal
epal’s forests are no royalties of under three per cent, rivers, which will inundate the longer a natural resource which will not help domestic fertile valley floors. The upper “A people’s N to be tapped for economic growth. riparian province will therefore be development, water is. In a federal system, there is a deprived of using the water, and Only 12 per cent of Nepal’s bigger chance that federal units the lower riparian will benefit. A assembly” 4 million hectares of arable land will independently negotiate to federal Nepal will face the same is irrigated, that too mostly export power to India. Electricity issues we now currently face vis- Keshab Rai, Maoist CA member, Okhaldunga during the rainy season. Most of rich provinces can sell power to à-vis India about river basin the rivers are snow-fed, so if we those who pay the most. Majority development. How will it be How did you spend the last year construct reservoirs and cannel of Nepal’s hydro-energy sites are possible to irrigate Jhapa without in the CA? networks, we can irrigate land in in the mid-west, which generate submerging valleys in the We’ve done a lot. The people the hills and the Tarai all year over 300MW but only half of it is Limbuwan province? gave our party an emphatic vote of confidence, but the regressive round. Farms can have three, even consumed in the region. When two provinces compete, forces in parliament are pulling four harvests, a year. There is no At present, the central a third province can benefit, and us back against the people’s need for Nepal to be food-deficit. development region generates over these disputes can weaken the wishes. This has caused 250MW, of which almost all nation. Decisions on water restlessness. COMMENT power is consumed here. But the resources should therefore not be Ratna Sansar eastern region generates only devolved to the provincial units Will the constitution be written on Shrestha 14MW but this is the region but be the prerogative of the time? which consumes the highest centre, like foreign policy and We must write it on time. Water resource has multi- amount of power. The mid west defence. dimensional utilisation will export to the eastern region But the proposed ethnic-based What form of rule should the (irrigation, drinking, only if it is ready to pay the provinces will not accept this country have? We want an executive president. transportation, tourism, amount it demands or else it will idea. Nepal has already signed the Some are saying there should industrial) and therefore it export to India for a better price. ILO Convention 169, which also be a prime minister under shouldn’t just be understood as a Melamchi is in future allows indigenous communities him. There have to be provisions source of energy. We can earn Tamsaling province. If the Newa control over the natural resources. to control and recall a powerful president. more from rafting-based tourism province wants to bring Melamchi In other words, this convention than generating hydroelectricity water, it should be ready to pay goes against the argument that What kind of legislative assembly do you support? from the Bhote Kosi, for instance. the price Tamsling demands. there should be central We’ve tried a House of Representatives and that hasn’t worked, so Kosi, Gandaki, Karnali Kathmanduites who are paying jurisdiction over water resources. we need a ‘people’s assembly.’ We can make the legislature more including Bagmati can be used as Rs 50 per month for water will The bottom line is that a inclusive if we have two assemblies. waterways, the cheapest means of have to pay a lot more as the price federal system will not be transport. of water. If Newa fails to pay the conducive to Nepal’s national On what basis should we make the provinces? To be more inclusive of all groups we should form provinces on the Nepali leaders often talk about price, Tamsaling is free to sell it to interest with regards to sharing basis of language and ethnicity. I’m from Okhaldunga, which should the country’s hydropower whichever province pays the price. benefits from water resources, and be divided between the Sherpas and Kiratis. potential, and dream of exporting Nepal Mandala has no it will affect our development it to India. Even if hydro- potential for hydro electricity. If it process. Why is the State Restructuring Committee’s meeting postponed electricity is generated, its most is declared a separate province, indefinitely? productive use would be either people will have to live in Ratna Sansar Shrestha is a water The chief minister of the state should be nominated unanimously. domestic, to power industries and the dark or import the power at a resource analyst. This opinion Elections will be expensive. But NC and UML don’t agree. They generate employment locally. By high price. piece is a translated adaptation of argue that if nobody gets required majority, re-elections should be exporting raw power to India, we For energy and regulated water, the original printed in Nagarik on held. That’s why the meeting has been postponed. can earn some cash in the form of we need to build reservoirs on our 9 August. 8 CLIMATE CHANGE
MIKI UPRETI where the melting glacier has was organised by the created a lake 2km long and 500m Kathmandu-based NGO, iDEAS, wide where there was just snow and local youths in Khumbu. and ice 50 years ago. The length GLOF is an acronym for any of us feel helpless when we of the lake is growing at 75m Glacial Lake Outburst hear about climate change. The every year. Flood, which is what problem is so vast, so global in Across the Hindu Kush- happens when a glacial scale that we tell ourselves: Himalayan region, there lake gorged with melting ”Nothing I do will make a are more than 9,000 glacial lakes, ice bursts and unleashes a difference, so why even try?” including 200 potentially tsunami in the valley Nations also say the same dangerous ones like Imja. They below. M thing. Small countries are having have been formed because of the Glaciologists say there is a to suffer for the sins of others. earth’s warming trend since the GLOF in Himalayan region They face a disproportionate last ice age that has been every 3-10 years. GLOFs can share of the punishment for the accelerating because of man-made cause huge damage not only to Tengboche, Namche, Khunde, and big, rich and powerful nations emissions of greenhouse gases the settlements and inhabitants, ending in Khumjung. burning all that fossil fuel. And into the atmosphere in the post- but also to roads, bridges For long stretches of the they say, let the rich countries do industrial age. and power plants built along marathon, we were running along something to curb emissions, it’s Almost two months have the rivers. the Imja Khola, the route of a not our problem. They say: “No passed since the Imja Action Yet many people don’t possible future GLOF and we matter what we do, the seas will Run, and I have been thinking know what causes GLOFs and could see the trails, bridges and keep rising, the glaciers will keep about what it meant for me few have heard of climate settlements that would be melting.” personally and what it achieved change. So, 130 runners, directly in the path of the wall of I used to think the same way in spreading awareness about the including 13 women, took part mud, boulders and water that until I participated in the Imja melting of the Himalayan in the marathon that started would come crashing down if the Action Run, the 35km mountains. from just below the Imja Lake at Imja Lake burst. Actually, it isn’t marathon on 18 July. Imja is the The marathon was called ‘Beat an altitude of 5,000m and we a question of “if”, but “when”. glacier below Chomolungma the GLOF Imja Action Run’ and ran down to Dingboche, The world famous trekking
That’s me with the northwest face of Ama Dablam in the background.
ROB SANDERSON 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464 9
Himalayas, and I will be covering Imja Lake, pondering if we the SAARC Ministerial meeting will indeed act before it is in Kathmandu from 31 August to too late. 1 September to fix the agenda for We will also be forced to the United Nation’s Copenhagen ask ourselves, what can we Summit in December. do to act as individuals or as This meeting could very well nations to do something on be another one of those talk-fests our own? where ministers generate a lot of carbon dioxide to travel long Miki Upreti is a journalist, distances to deliver long mountaineer and runner who speeches. But my mind will be is originally from Japan and far away on the wind-swept has been living in Kathmandu moraine ridge looking down at since 1990.
route to Everest Base Camp lungs were working like they’d would be washed away by the never worked before, my heart massive debris flow. The water was pounding so hard I could would reach Dingboche, the first hear it as I ran. I wanted to give settlement below Imja Lake, in 14 up, but passion for the cause minutes and the village would be kept me going. And with every swallowed up. Thankfully, step that took me down the Tengboche and Namche will be mountain, the air became thicker spared, but the flood would and sweeter. reach Lukla in one hour, I was greeted warmly by destroying everything on its village children who ran along path. On 4 August 1985, the Dig with me. I got to Khumjung in 6 Tso GLOF and another one on hours 58 minutes, behind most the Imja Khola a few years later of the Nepali runners. This caused huge damage in the wasn’t a race, and the important On climate Khumbu, so the phenomenon is thing was to have participated. not new. And as I crossed the finishing change, time A day before the run we line, a deep feeling of climbed the moraine wall to look fulfillment came over me, for to think globally at Imja Lake. I was shocked, it having proved to myself that I was huge, really huge: much could do it. And also a feeling and act larger than I had ever imagined it that I had at least done my bit to be. To think that all this water to raise awareness about this individually and sand and boulders could go global crisis. crashing down the narrow valleys As a Kathmandu-based before it is below was unthinkable. journalist, I have been covering Soon after starting the run, I news about the impact of too late was gasping at the thin air. My climate change on the PICS: MIKI UPRETI
Participants gather at the Imja Tso the day before the marathon. 10 NATION 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464 Post mortem of
KALENDRA SEJUWAL in JAJARKOT
n 29 June, Bhim Bahadur Shahi was home in bed in O Punma village wracked by diarrhoea. The nearby health post had no doctors or nurses, and no medicines. A neighbour named Tikhu, himself suffering from the disease, volunteered to carry 23- year-old Shahi to the nearest health clinic in Syaulibajar, three
BILASH RAI hours away. After struggling for one hour up the trail, Tikhu stopped for a rest, and died of exhaustion. Half- “ ” NEPAL ARMY Jung Bahadur’s tip an-hour later, Bhim died too. Three months ago, when tackle diarrhoea and cholera is least-developed. Then there was How foreign words have entered politicians in Kathmandu were through prevention. In a roadless the war, and the six districts of pre-occupied with the resignation district with low literacy, the the mid-west were in the vortex the Nepali lexicon of the Maoists and the formation epidemic spread like a brushfire. of the conflict: health posts were of a new coalition, people were Eight-year-old Dilsara Nepali’s abandoned, village councils hen Jung Bahadur Rana applauded gustily to an opera already starting to die of gastric house in Thana Suwanauli is three were bombed, doctors and singer’s melodious aria in Covent Garden in 1850, Queen infections in Nepal’s mid-western minutes away from the local sub- health workers refused to go to W Victoria, bemused, was said to have leaned over to ask hills. The deaths weren’t taken health post. On 30 June she died remote areas. whether the Maharajah of Nepaul understood the music. very seriously because people here “I do not understand the nightingale either,” Jung is said to have after struggling with severe The present government failed retorted, “yet I find its song beautiful.” After the encore Jung Bahadur are used to an annual spike in diarrhoeal dehydration. Dilsara’s to react fast enough. Two months threw gold coins to the singing star, and at the startled looks all diarrhoea-related deaths before mother is distraught. “There was no into the epidemic the government around, exclaimed in Nepali: “Tip!” the monsoons. But because a one at the health post so we had to hadn’t yet revived local health He meant ‘pick it up’ in Nepali. But, as legend has it, that is severe winter drought and a late take her to Thala,” she said, “but posts let alone sent medicines where the English word ‘tip’ had its origin, meaning the small monsoon had dried up all water she left us on the way there.” and health personnel. The health change we leave behind as a token of our appreciation for service sources, people were forced to There are many causes for this assistants were on leave. rendered. This apocryphal story is probably absolutely untrue, but drink contaminated water. wish it was. year’s killer epidemic, and they Social worker Dil Bahadur Words in one language are in the process of dynamic transfer to In remote Nepal where health start with decades of government Shahi at Phalaha says: “Those another, and we can never stop that. Nepali has been infused with services, even where they exist, neglect that has kept the who could afford to buy Turkish, Persian, Arabic and are rudimentary the best way to mid-western hills the country’s medicines at private clinics English words throughout NEPALI PAN history. Subodh Rana Bir Bhadra Kunwar captured state power in Nepal following the Kot Massacre of 1846 and reinvented himself as Jung Bahadur Rana, a Persian formulation in which ‘Shumsher Jung Bahadur’ infers a martial inclination: ‘Brave with the Sword at War’ Persian words entered Nepali through the palaces, bureaucracy, and the courts. Even words that we think of as quintessentially Nepali came from Persian: ‘subba’, ‘kaji’, khardar’, baidar’, hukum’, ‘labeda suruwal’. Till 50 years ago the word for ‘holiday’ in Nepali was the Turkic word, ‘tatil’. There are plenty of Arabic words in our everyday Nepali language. ‘Huzoor’ is one we use a word used to address someone higher up than you, and now used universally for ‘hello’ when picking up the phone. We have seen many faded photographs of Rana ladies resplendent in Victorian dresses and bedecked with ‘Lucknow-loot’ vintage jewellery. They posed for the ‘tasbir’, a derivative of the Arabic ‘tasveer’ and many were liberally sprinkled in ‘attar’, the alcohol-free essence of flowers the Arabians called ‘ittar’. ‘Kitab’, book in Arabic, is what we read in Nepal today. We also read ‘akhabar’ for our news and the word ‘khabarpatrika’ is a mixture of Sanskrit and Arabic meaning ‘newsmagazine’. ‘Akhir’ is the end, probably where Nepal is headed towards if the constitution writing does not meet the deadline. Even if we get a new constitution it should be ‘asali’, an original one suited to our soil. Interestingly, all three Nepali words for ‘pocket’ are foreign: ‘paket’, ‘goji’ and ‘khalti’. probably because Nepali dresses never had any pockets. So the idea of taking the pockets out of kleptomaniac staff at Kathmandu airport is probably based on tradition. Perhaps some of the most hilarious words we have come from English, or at least from the mishearing or mispronouncing of the English words. The nobility were carried around town in ‘William Carts’, which became ‘ulingkhat’ in Nepali, and it fit well because ‘khat’ already meant ‘bed’ in Nepali. The tandem became ‘tamdana’. The waist-coat worn by the British colonialist was ‘ista kot’ passed on to the Nepali hill dwellers because we couldn’t quite pronounce ‘waist’. So, in the end, a ‘west’ coat ended up sounding like an ‘east’ coat. The transfer of English words into Nepali continues to this day with a lot of military terms like ‘ambush’ and ‘RPG’ entering the Nepali lexicon. With Nepali students migrating for higher studies ‘abroad study’ has also become a Nepali phrase, as had the earlier ‘jel’ (jail) and ‘byrot’ (traveling by road). ‘Cheroot’ the small cigar with cylindrical ends became ‘churot’, and now a generic term for all cigarettes in Nepali. The Duke of Wellington, the British hero of the Napoleonic Wars always pictured in sartorial splendour, curiously enough, came to symbolise the dandy without substance in the rather derogatory Nepali term ‘dukalanthan’. Napoleon would have been pleased.
Any other examples, kamreds? NATION 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464 11 Beating malnutirion an epidemic wenty one civil society organisations across South Asia won T grants for their proposals to battle malnutrition in the region during a program called ‘Family and Community Approaches to A lethal 141 people who have died in Jajarkot and announced up to Improve Infant and Young Child Nutrition.’ The winners received up Jajarkot, 64 are Dalit and 24 are Rs 15,000 for families of cholera to $40,000 each to implement their ideas on how to improve nutrition combination of Janajati. Among those currently victims, and the Health Minister in the next 18 months in their respective countries. Among the decades of ill and receiving treatment, 60 per said they would get 10 kg of rice winners were four Nepali proposals. cent are Dalit. and 1 kg of salt. No one has got Vijaya Development Resource Center won for their idea to state neglect, Now, there is the added anything yet. Man Bahadur Buda improve feeding practices for young children with micronutrient the war, and challenge of taking care of the in Lewa says: “There was an supplements. Equal Access Nepal was recognised for its proposal children orphaned by the announcement on the radio that to enhance birth weight and survival rate of infants. MaxPro won for slow-moving epidemic. Bhim left behind an we would get help soon, but its idea to develop a community based distribution network for iodised salt and Helen Keller International Inc won for its proposal 18-year-old wife and one-year-old we’ve seen neither doctors nor government to reduce malnutrition among children less than two years old. machinery son, and Tikhu had four children, medicines.” A Bangladeshi proposal to promote nutritional status of whose future now looks bleak. In recent weeks, the army has malnourished children of commercial sex workers and families of Tikhu’s wife, Jayanta Shahi, says: also mobilized its air wing. The people living with HIV/AIDS won the People’s Choice Award. survived, most others perished. “My husband used to work in people of Jajarkot used to flee Bangladeshi Finance Minister Abhdul Maal Muhit handed out the Karbir Chunara of the District India and sent money home, and when they heard army awards. Network of Dalits says the lack of that is how we survived. Now I helicopters during the war, this The South Asia Regional Development Marketplace was education and safe drinking don’t know what to do.” time they rush out as the green sponsored by UNICEF, World Food Programme, PepsiCo, the water has affected his On 20 July Prime Minister choppers crisscross the district Micronutrient Initiative (MI), GTZ and the Global Alliance for community the most. Among the Madhav Kumar Nepal visited rushing medicine and doctors. Improved Nutrition (GAIN). Rajeev goes to Jajarkot
hen news first filtered out in May that people $15,000 and whatever shortfall will have to come W were dying in his home district of Jajarkot, from my pocket,” he says. SOS Manpower, HAN, and increasingly impatient with the slow CNI, FNCCI, various Rotary Clubs and Nirvana government response, Rajeev Shah decided to do Chaudhary have promised help. something about it. Embarrassed by this private effort, last month As a descendant of the rajas of Jajarkot, the government belatedly sprung into action. The Rajeev (pictured) was worried that the name of his health minister tried to fly in but was thwarted by district had become synonymous with disease and bad weather. The army has now been flying all death. So far, he has spent over, and things are $15,000 to charter private improving. helicopters to rush doctors “In Rame Danda, and more than 500 kg of 10 people had died medicines to remote parts of when I first went there Jajarkot. and now only one “The death toll just kept person has died in the rising and nobody seemed to past month,” Rajeev be bothered,” Rajeev recalls, says. “I decided that as a native it Rajeev’s great was my responsibility.” grandfather Hari Rajeev formed the Bikram Shah was the Jajarkot Cholera Disaster MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA youngest of seven Coordination Committee and lobbied the prime sons of the Jajarkot Rajas and came to minister for a more substantial relief package Kathmandu in 1913. His family has since been since the trying to help with education in the district. Rs 10,000 promised to relatives of the dead was Shah himself was born in Kathmandu and just about enough for the funeral. Shah is also studied abroad, but notes ruefully that things miffed by a health ministry that isn’t taking the lead have hardly changed since he first visited his in relief missions. district in 1985. He says: “If an individual can Nepali Times caught up with Rajeev on return make such a difference, imagine what we could from his last trip to Jajarkot this week with 10 achieve if we all united for the country’s doctors, four health assistants and a chartered development.” chopper full of medicines. “I need to raise another Dewan Rai 12 INTERNATIONAL 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464 Afghans go to polls
ANITA ANAND in KABUL and stickers, there are tv debates A peaceful but no public canvassing, no n August 4 about 1,500 jeeps with supporters shouting women collected in the election on slogans and garlanding candidates O Loya Jirga tent in Kabul. as is common in South Asia. They wore green caps, a green, 20 August Women campaign door to door, black and red scarf (the colours of often in burqas, due to threats. the Afghan flag) in various styles, critical for Some have had their homes chatted with each other and bombed and their husbands have listened to the speakers. South Asia’s threatened to leave with They came into Kabul from the children. all over Afghanistan for the security There are issues: many feel launch of the ‘Five Million that there is insufficient progress Women Campaign’ initiated by population of 30 million are and a provisional government both of whom served in the in building schools, hospitals the Afghan Women’s Network expected to vote next week. was set up. Karzai government. Two women and creating jobs, and that (AWN). The next day they went Nepal and Afghanistan have The first elections in 45 are also running: Shahla Ata, a billions in aid have been back to their provinces to many things in common. Their years took place in 2004 and Pashtun MP from Kabul and misused. Corruption is rampant, organise similar gatherings before populations are about the same Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun backed Frozan Fana, a Tajik and widow inflation is high. The presidential Afghanistan’s national and size, both are ethnically diverse by the Americans, won half the of a minister killed in system of governance chosen for provincial elections on 20 and both are trying to emerge votes and became president. 2002.People here vote along Afghanistan in the 2004 August. The goal is to get from conflict. Afghanistan has This year, Karzai is running for tribal, linguistic or regional lines. constitution suggested the registered women to come out been more of a battleground for president against 40 other In a country so new to democracy creation of a modern state. A and vote. Despite Taliban threats, proxy wars, and there has been candidates. There are only two and policy making, issues take a major challenge is the status of many of Afghanistan’s 17 million non-stop conflict since 1978. In other serious contenders: Ashraf back seat. The campaigning is women. Despite this, one-fourth registered voters of the country’s 2001, the Taliban were ousted Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, done through hoardings, posters of the parliamentarians and Provincial Council members are women, as mandated by the constitution. The election exercise is an amazing feat of logistics, managed by an Independent Election Commission with the assistance of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN’s election support project UNDP/Elect. About 160,000 polling staff have been recruited, thousands of women and men have been trained to staff the polling stations, learning how to frisk, assist voters and ensure the elections are fair and free. Bringing peace and stability and reconstructing Afghanistan has a direct bearing on the security of Pakistan, India and the rest of the region, and next week’s elections will be watched keenly. Chandra Twenty-eight-year old Chandra from Kathmandu works as a waiter at one of Kabul’s Lebanese restaurants. The restaurant has armed guards, some of them also Nepali, and a delightful garden with fruit trees. “I don’t care much about elections or politics,” says Chandra, who earns three times his salary in Nepal. The discussion among the waiters and management is always about security, especially in the runup to elections. People are tired of the bombs and rocket attacks and desperately want peace and stability. Chandra takes the security risks in his stride, and had got used to it during the war years in Nepal. But such was his economic desperation that he risked coming here because of the higher pay. There are an estimated 5,000 Nepalis in Afghanistan working for the United Nations, as Gurkhas in the British Army, private security guards, cooks and waiters. Four Nepalis were among 16 killed in a helicopter crash in Kandahar last month, and also Nepali workers have been abducted by the Taliban. REVIEW 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #46413 Picking up tempo
tempo driver is caught up in an impromptu chukka jam on his New series puts A daily Lagankhel-Baneswor route. Student protesters beat him up for drama in real life defying their traffic ban and try to set his three-wheeler on radio on fire. In order to save his vehicle, which he Katha Mitho Sarangiko radio drama series, bought with a bank loan, the driver tries professional actors like Suresh Chand (who to flee the attackers but in the process plays Tek’s part), Asha Magarati, Dayahang mows down a group of students, killing Rai and Rajan Khatiwada have done a one and injuring two others. The streets superb job. And there are five personalities erupt in protest, and the students want who play themselves: CA member Gagan Rs1 million compensation, the police and Thapa, (pictured, above) lawyer Rajendra the government are mute spectators. Salav, consumer rights activist Jyoti Sound familiar? During a week when Baniya, former CDOs Tulashi Prasad students have been setting government Bhattarai and Khaga Nepal. The series is directed by Deepak Rauniyar and produced vehicles on fire outside campuses in ASHA MAGARATI Kathmandu and a young man was by the BBC World Service Trust. arrested for a hit-and-run in which six people involved. Which is actually what from reality is that Tek Bahadur says he The earlier series of Katha Mitho people were killed outside Bir Hospital, news should be: it should tell us the can’t, and won’t, pay the money. He Sarangiko won the BBC Global Reith Award the above story could very well be an stories of ordinary people caught up in decides to take the matter to court, and let in 2009. Tempo Tragedy irons out the kinks actual event. extraordinary circumstances, but media the rule of law decide his fate, not the in the previous series, has world class And in a way it is. Fiction so resorts to a purposely depersonalised rule of mob. production values and it’s message will resembles the raw reality of everyday life event-driven format. The subscript in the plot of Tempo pierce the heart of every Nepali. in Nepal’s lawless nationscape today that In each episode we live through the Tragedy is the prevalent lawlessness in Kunda Dixit one doesn’t have to make anything up. tragedy of Tek Bahdur Karki’s life. The 30- the country, the culture of impunity and The story of Tek Bahadur Karki, the year-old comes from Sindhupalchok, of citizens who only demand rights but Tempo Tragedy, Katha Mitho Sarangiko driver, in the new radio drama Tempo can’t afford college fees and becomes a know nothing of responsibility. There is a broadcast on BBC Nepali Service 103 FM in Kathmandu and 110 partner stations Tragedy is so close to this country’s tempo driver. He takes care of his brother strong message that a banda may push for around the country on Fridays and everyday reality that it is like listening to and sister, who are studying. His mother, a group’s rights, but it often infringes on Saturdays at 8:15PM. the evening news bulletin. Only this time a health volunteer, lives in the village. the rights of others. For further details: it is told from the perspective of the The only thing that is perhaps different As with the rest of the award-winning 01-5549590
“We want smiles” MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA Kajuhi Takamatsu is the head of Export Business Marketing at Sony’s Singapore branch. He talked to Nepali Times last week. Nepali Times: What do you think of the market for digital cameras in Nepal? Kajuhi Takamatsu: Because of the growing demand for digital cameras here, Sony is doing well. With 60 per cent of the local market, Sony is the biggest supplier of digital cameras in Nepal as well as Asia. Last year, we sold 11,000 units in Nepal and expect a 15 per cent increase in sales this year. Here, we target youth and families. Outside Kathmandu, our cameras sell well in Pokhara, Butwal, Dharan and Biratnagar. What are the special functions of I-Auto? It is user-friendly and the pictures are clear and sharp. Because it has 3200 ISO and an inbuilt SImOS sensor, it takes good pictures at night as well. It also has a ‘smile feature’— a sensor that takes pictures after it detects smile of the person whose picture is being taken. It can even tell a fake smile from a genuine one. It has a backlight so anti-light doesn’t ruin its pictures. What do you expect from the Nepali market? We expect the I-Auto to be received as well as the Sony Smile camera was last year. We’ve introduced these models not only to expose Nepalis to new technologies but also to bring a smile to their faces. 14 CITY 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464
ABOUT TOWN In the thriller Agyaat, a film unit travels deep into a forest to shoot a movie where they stay in abandoned house run EXHIBITIONS by a lonely and eccentric man. When their cameras Calendered. photo exhibition of cotton textiles of Southern malfunction, they stop work and wait for replacements China and Thai fashion design at Indigo Gallery, 7-16 Aug, but are quickly bored because there isn’t anything to do. 6PM. They decide to camp even deeper in the forest just for kicks. Things get scary when one member of their team, Setu, is brutally and mysteriously murdered. But he is EVENTS only the first to meet this end. As their numbers dwindle Modern Times, movie screening at Lazimpat Gallery Café, Entertainment and panic sets in, they reveal their true selves and feelings 15 Aug, 5.30 PM. 4428549. for one another. Pani Jatra, Bagmati festival at Teku Dhoban, 22 Aug, 12PM. Call 4442220 for show timings at Jai Nepal 'Patan Press club', meets every Thursday at Dhokaima cafe, Quest www.jainepal.com 6PM.
MUSIC Classical music series, featuring Gurudev Kamath on vocals sfd ;fgf ] 7nf" ] eGg ] x'Fb}g . kl;gfsf ] s'g} /ª / hft klg x'Fb}g . sfd and Prem Chandra Ojhaiya on tabla at Yala Maya Kendra, u/]/ vfg nhfpg' klg x'Fb}g . rf]/]/, 9fF6]/, 5n]/, n'6]/ vfg kf] g]kfn ;/sf/ 18 Aug, 5PM. 5553767. nhfpgk5' { . hf ] hxf F /x/] hg' sfd u5 { pm To;df} /dfpgk5' { uf/a} ;"rgf tyf ;~rf/ dGqfno Baja gaja, every Tuesday at Moksh, 7.30 PM onwards, ;"rgf ljefu Pulchok. 5526212 ugk5'{ { / ;dlkt{ eP/ ugk5'{ { . sfd g } zlQm xf,] elQm xf ] / dlQm' Live band every Friday and rooftop bbq everyday at Kausi xf ] . sfdsf ] OHht u/f,}+ kl;gfsf ] ;Ddfg u/f }+ . Kitchen, Durbar Marg. 4227288 Sunday Jazz brunch barbecue and live jazz music at the Terrace, Hyatt Regency from 12-3.30 PM. 4491234 Jazz evening at Delices de France Restaurant every Wednesday, 11AM-2PM. 4260326 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 Happy cocktail hour, 5-7PM, ladies night on Wednesday with live unplugged music at Jatra Café & Bar. Live Sensation, performance by Yankey every Saturday, 9PM, Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu. 4491234 Live Band Sensation performance by Aprilrush, every Saturday till late, Rox Bar, Hyatt Regency Kathmandu. 4489362 Sunday Jazz Brunch by Inner Groove with barbeque, Sunday, 12PM-3.30 PM, The Terrace at Hyatt Regency Kathmandu. 4489362 Nepali Ghajals and songs at D’Lounge Beijing Duck Restaurant, every Thursday 6.30 PM onwards. 4468589
DINING Asparagus mania, enjoy all flavours at the Rox Restaurant, all through August. 4491234 Wine Festival, til 15 September, Kilroy’sThamel. 4250440 A cafe’s cafe Dhokaima Cafe, Patan Dhoka. 5522113 The Corner Bar, 3-11PM, 5-7PM, Radisson Hotel Kathmandu. 4411818 Mango Etagere with WEEKEND WEATHER by NGAMINDRA DAHAL hi-tea at The Lounge from 4.30- Those were two massive low pressure troughs sitting on either 6.30 PM. Hyatt Regency. 4489362 ends of Nepal, one that emanated from the Arabian Sea and the Al Fresco, for home made pastas, steaks and fresh water other from the Bay of Bengal. There is rarely such a dramatic trout, Soaltee Crowne Plaza. 4273999 illustration of the two arms of the southwesterly monsoon in the Kakori, for varieties of biryanis, curries and Kebabs, Soaltee subcontinent. The two systems collided over central Nepal and Crowne Plaza, 7-10.45 PM. dumped 78 mm of rain overnight on Wednesday-Thursday. Chez Caroline for French and Mediterranean cuisine, Babar Sometimes these low pressure areas cancel themselves out, as Mahal Revisited. 4263070 seems to be happening as we go to press on Thursday afternoon. Mediterranean cuisine every Friday from Greece, Italy and the Expect more night squalls into the weekend, hot and sultry Middle-East at The Café, Hyatt Regency. 4491234 afternoons and cooler mornings. Teppanyaki meat items and garlic rice right at Le Resturant, Gairidhara. 4436318 Plat Du Jour at Hotel Shangri La, Kathmandu, Rs 600. 4412999 KATHMANDU Reality Bites, The Kaiser Café, Garden of Dreams, operated by Dwarika’s Group of Hotels, 9AM-10PM. 4425341 Starry night barbecue at Hotel Shangri-la with live performance by Ciney Gurung, Rs 999, at the Shambala KATHMANDU VALLEY Garden, every Friday 7PM onwards. 4412999 Himalayan Rainbow Trout at Hotel Yak and Yeti, Darbar Marg. Fri Sat Sun 4248999 Tiger for Breakfast, breakfast everyday at 1905, Kantipath. 4215068. 27-19 6 28-186 25-17 6 GETAWAYS Dhulikhel Lodge Resort, offers an overnight stay for Rs 1600, from 24 July-30 September. 4222389 RECIPES by GRAHAM SYDNEY Relax Package at Hyatt Regency Kathmandu for Rs 5555 plus taxes, for a night on double occupancy with breakfast, Salmon Involtini with Pour the balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan and complimentary use of spa and, offer valid to Nepalis and local allow to reduce over a low heat until its volume becomes a Balsamic Vinegar ¼ of the original quantity. Blanch the asparagus for 1-2 residents only. 4489800 minutes in some boiling salty water. Remove the (Serves 6) asparagus and place into a bowl of ice cold water to For inclusion in the listing send information to editors(at)nepalitimes.com stop them cooking. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap of about This dish makes a perfect starter or the perfect 30cm on a dish towel or a piece of baking paper. Place addition to a salad. One can make various the salmon carefully to cover the plastic wrap without combinations using the same method. I used poppy any holes showing. Season the cream cheese with a seed leaves and garnished it with some toasted poppy little lemon juice, salt and pepper and carefully spread seeds. an even layer on the salmon. Place the asparagus on the cream cheese to cover a surface of about 10cm deep 500g smoked salmon and to cover the cheese/salmon from left to right. Roll the salmon over the asparagus to 500g cream cheese form a sausage like roll. Refrigerate 500g fresh green for at least an hour before slicing asparagus the wheels into your desired size ½ cup balsamic and serve with some of the balsamic reduction. vinegar juice of 1 lemon salt & pepper to taste plastic wrap HAPPENINGS 14 - 20 AUGUST 2009 #464 15
MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA LOOKING BACK: President Ram Baran Yadan unveils a picture during an exhibition on Kathmandu Valley's history to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Sampadha Photovision Collection on Saturday in Sital Niwas.
MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA DEMOCRACY IN FULL SWING: Maoist MPs obstruct house proceedings for the seventh straight day, lobbying to get back into government. Parliament has been suspended till 16 August.
KIRAN PANDAY YOUNG AND RESTLESS: Members of Association of Youth Organisations Nepal take out a rally to celebrate International Youth day on Wednesday bearing a youth sign on their cheeks. 16 hearts andminds(andlastbut sure knowshowtowinthe Foreign MinisterSuzyKoirala enrichment installing race tothenextlevelby that theycantaketheirarms probably needabiggerlabso technologically superiorageand Today’s studentsliveina flasks togeneratehydrogen. burners underround-bottomed experiments lightingbunsen opposite sexbyconducting tried toimpressstudentsofthe the chemistrylabwaswhereone student atTCwaybackwhen, lab? WhentheAsswasa expand theircollege’schemistry should getthecontractto guns ‘n’knivesoverwho coalition battlingitoutwith two mainpartiesintheruling student unionsbelongingtothe large). Whatdoesonemakeof education (andthecountryat I carryaswordtocollege?” come herewithguns,whycan’t police: “Iftheeh-Maleyscan with akhukuriinclass,told who, afterbeingapprehended Kangresi studentleaderatTC T ’Nuf saidaboutthestateof local presstoa week isattributedinthe he Donkey’squoteofthe BACKSIDE plutonium centrifuges. FG To Russiawithlove national press,andit’sagood quote nevergotintothe that was.Whichiswhythe realise whatagreatsoundbite hacks weretoointoxicatedto malai Bharat le bolako, hoina, bolako, le Bharat malai khai halnu.” khai uniharulai nai thaha hola ke ke ke hola thaha nai uniharulai agenda chhan agenda plastered. ( and promptlyproceededtoget cocktails ratherthanthebuffet, made abee-lineforthe had ourprioritiesrightand day. Predictably,usjournos for herIndiavisittheother Raddision asacurtain-raiser “lunch cocktail” Nepali hacks.Sheorganiseda not least,thestomachs)ofus agendas todiscuss. sagenda, theywillgiveusthe to worryabouttheagenda- India invitedme,Idon’thave lashes, Suzyreplied:“Since batting evenoneofhereye- Dotter, sheisquick.Without Must giveittotheformerFirst sho bherikindandtellush?” for theBharatbhijit,hic,be mantrijee, whashduhagenda asked SuzyDidi:“Sho, down thebloodstream,we sufficient comes onlyafterthereis provocative questionsthat Mustering thenervestoask By thistime,mostofthe Madeira “Payeko belama “Payeko -Nepaliproverb). .” at the Akhir coursing pilgrimage toGeorgiapay his mausoleum.Buta VladimirIlyichin Comrade Moscow, wherehewillmeet person.” assistant cumofficialcamera along thistimeascomputer other day:“Prakashhastagged said snidelytotheAss Conduct. Oneseniorcomrade recently-promulgated Codeof own partyforbreakinghis great dealofridiculewithinhis opened upAwe-Inspiringtoa Dear LeaderPrakashalonghas taking ComradeWifeSitaand replenish the Overwhelming isoutto depleted, andChairman Maoist coffersareabit trip, butafundtrip.The Assembly thiswasn’tafun visit totheUNGeneral Red Carpet. contingent hadlaidoutthe Minsk, wheretheNRN real destinationallalongwas in London?Itlookslikethe to meetChairmanTremendous International Movementrefused So whatiftheRevolutionary notebook. smashed, it’sallthereinmy the thingAsswasonlyhalf- PKD thengoesonto Unlike lastyear’sofficial FG war chest . But against MKNandKPO.Inso enough andismakinghismove JNK nowthinkshe’swaitedlong it’ll beaneye-opener. Communism Collapsed.Maybe gone totheLandWhere though, it’sagoodthingPKDhas any daynow.Onthewhole, another putschintoGeorgiaagain massing troopsinAbkhaziafor scrapped becauseRussiais do beforeIretire’list)hasbeen Comrade Astounding’s‘thingsto (which hasalwaysbeenon respects toUncleJoe’sbirthplace CDO Regd No194/056/57Lalitpur, CentralRegion PostalRegd.No 04/058/59 FG Woolwich TownHall. jetted offtothe offensive” beforehe by “strategic clear whatPKDmeant speaking Maoistlingo,itispretty Upadro YadavandJhalluboth pro andanti-JNcliques.With parallel districtcommitteeswith The partyisalreadyrunning manage tosplittheEh-Malaise. can onlygetintogovtifthey the handsof unknowingly playingrightinto doing, heiseitherknowinglyor ass(at)nepalitimes.com 14 -20 AUGUST 2009 Mau
#464 who
ISSN 1814-2613 www.nepalitimes.com