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#658 31 May - 6 June 2013 20 pages Rs 50 NOW WITH TIC TAC TOE PAGE 15 DIWAKAR CHETTRI t’s not just a trend anymore. options for Nepal, sustainability ideas about sustainable lifestyles IGoing green is a necessity ideas, practical and affordable and workable examples of for sustainable living. Nepali ways to save energy. The Nepali how to live with shortages of GREEN Times is hosting its annual Times EcoFair has also become everything: from solar home EcoFair on 5-7 June at the Nepal an important event in the lighting to biogas, electric Academy premises in Kamaladi. trade calendar for networking vehicles, organic agriculture. With more than 50 exhibitors among green entrepreneurs, and an expected 150,000 government agencies, innovators visitors, the fair has become a and the media. WAY platform for renewable energy EcoFair 2013 offers many PAGE 7-9 2 EDITORIAL 31 MAY - 6 JUNE 2013 #658 BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE ou may call it the ‘little country syndrome’. Nepal’s political players borders. China has territorial issues in the East China Small states situated among larger neighbours Sea, North Korea and Taiwan, and India has its hands Ytend to have an exaggerated sense of their own should finally learn that the full with a pesky neighbourhood, and making its importance, and think that other countries are competing presence felt in the larger world stage. to gobble them up. only way to reduce outside Both countries are in a race against time to At the time Prithvi Narayan Shah made his famous interference is to put our maintain economic growth so that their vast reference to Nepal being a sweet potato between two populations have jobs, and China in fact is India’s boulders, the nation he unified was three times bigger own house in order. largest trading partner. Neither wants the tectonic than it is today. We are still a yam, but a much smaller distractions of an unstable Himalaya. The spheres of one. Fast forward to Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal our neighbours. Nepal does not have vast oil and gas influence between our neighbours, and Nepal’s place Dahal who once got so carried away he made the suicide- reserves, there are no important sea lanes here, and in it, are fairly well-established and neither wants to bomber statement that Nepal could be “a dynamite there is no competition over our water resources because shake it up. between two boulders”. it is useful only to downstream states. The national When they do think about Nepal, our neighbours Dahal was trying to threaten the big neighbours to interests of India and China converge on Nepal because probably worry about us not being worried about our take him more seriously. He repeatedly failed to learn both want political stability, but perhaps for different future. This week marks the first anniversary of the from the mistakes of his predecessors that playing reasons. The last thing both want is for Nepal to dissolution of the Constituent Assembly: a symbol India off against China doesn’t work. It never did. become a bundle of dynamite with a timer attached. of the spectacular failure of our politics. But there Even in the cold war years of the mid-1960s just after Contrary to what Nepal’s conspiracy obsessed politicos is also relief in many quarters that the constitution China and India fought a bloody Himalayan conflict, think, foreign policy mandarins in Beijing and New Delhi would have led to fragmentation and chaos. When Mao Zedong had a clear message to a visiting Nepali are not spending all their working hours thinking about the political parties failed to agree on an electoral prime minister: “Tell your king: keep India happy how to interfere in Nepal. They have other concerns. government, the international community backed the and find your space.” Despite their size, both are extremely sensitive about plan to make the Chief Justice the prime minister. After his last visit to China in April, Dahal came back separatist movements and insurgencies within their own It is now clear that the chief justice is just a puppet, with the sobering message that the Chinese had told him he is beholden to the forces that gave him the post. to “sort it out with India”. Finally, the Chairman seems Foreign friends behind this formula say they acted out to have got the message that he shouldn’t try to disturb of desperation, but they should ask themselves: does the status quo in trans-Himalayan relations. the systematic dismantling of democratic institutions It’s time other Nepali leaders also stopped make Nepal more stable? rocking the boat, and developed a more realistic Nepal’s political players should finally learn sense of Nepal’s geo-strategic importance. that the only way to reduce outside interference is No one really has an overwhelming urge to to put our own house in order. Our future is trade interfere in Nepal’s internal affairs. Not since and investment, Nepal will benefit from hitching its 1792 and 1816 have we waged war against wagons to the twin China-India locomotive, not by decoupling ourselves from them. DIWAKAR CHETTRI OF THE O WEEK How much time do you spend on Facebook every day ? Taufi k Temanggung: 12 hours Bobin Shrestha: Just to check the newsfeed. NO PEACE AFTER WAR Björn A Wallner: Too much! we hear, there is serious misgiving Yulina Amatya: Morning time, day time, night Stop romanticising and glorifying time, lunch time, bed time. Maoist stories about the war about this particularly unproven Dhanu Shrestha: 4-6 hours a day. (‘No peace after war’, Kunda Dixit, claim. (‘The Himalayan record- Narbahadur Pun: 40 minutes approx #657). They were savages who keeper’, Tsering Dolker Gurung, Sharad Duwal: More than I want to were drugged during confl ict to #657) Shova Gurung: A lot kill their own brothers and sisters. Armugam Maoist leaders have turned people @AlishaSijapati: It depends on how free like Navin Jirel into war addicts who Nepali Times did a great job mind and time are. get an adrenaline rush fi ring guns, Our politicians are as bad as their on the coverage of the Everest @gurungjagan: About one hour a day. her. Political leaders of Nepal lack such @nebingrg: I spend hours and hours. swinging khukuris and seeing blood moral values of leadership. The narrow counterparts anywhere, but what makes anniversary: Wonderful stuff on and dead bodies around them. mindedness and selfi shness of Nepali them unique is that they are utterly and glaciers, mountain tourism, on Da shamelessly much more selfi sh, greedy, Tenzing, and interviews with Liz This week’s Question of the week: Prad politicians and government offi cials have What made the road widening project in sickened Nepal till today. We need warm and nervous about external pressure Hawley and David Breashers. But Kathmandu successful when all previous After too much of bloodshed and hearted people like than they should be compared to I did not like your Backside column attempts failed? losses of more than 15,000 Nepali, Wangmo average politicians around the world. (‘Climbing Mt Neverest’, Backside, Go to www.facebook.com/nepalitimes or thousands injured, widowed and Bejat #657), Sir Ed would have been www.twitter.com/nepalitimes to respond. orphaned in the name of people’s UNITED BY LIFELONG GRIEF horrifi ed. revolution, what we see today is Many innocent people lost their lives in War doesn’t just bring changes, Groucho that nothing has changed for the vain to bring the Maoist to power. What but safeguards the future in favour of welfare of Nepal and the people at an irony and a tragedy that the Maoists the winner, who will do as they please What’s the point in trying to say Weekly Internet Poll #658 large. It’s all dirty politics for power are now ruining the country. (‘United by and the loser must suffer (‘Unfi nished or imply Tenzing got there fi rst? He business’, Editorial, #657). Apart chose to become an Indian. So, who Q. How do you assess Khil Raj Regmi's two months in in which the narrow minded and lifelong grief’, Rameshwor Bohara, #657) office? selfi sh have benefi ted. However, the Saed Jeffrey from the Gandhian revolution in the cares? consequences of the dirty politics subcontinent the world we live in is SSP Total votes: 1,313 are dragging Nepal to poverty and SYNDICATED FEDERATION the direct result of gruesome violence, instability. What an excellent article by Bihari K brutal wars and forgotten memories. Those days Nepalis were bare Tashi Lama Shrestha. It was a ploy used by the PKD Krishna S honest, brave, courageous, and took to cash in the ethnicity based issues satisfaction by giving enjoyment to Radha’s story is very to fan their rebellion. We are better off EVEREST visitors, which actually is very diffi cult, inspirational, her sense of generosity, as a single country: one without ethnic I’m just curious, if Elizabeth Hawley’s uncommon to do, and it’s a greater loving kindness should be cherished enclaves (‘Syndicated federation’, #657). chronology has entry related to Pasang victory than climbing a mountain. by all, and we all need to learn from Raithane Lahmu’s claimed successful ascent? As Basudeb Weekly Internet Poll # 659. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com Q.Was it right for civil society leaders to boycott the government’s celebration of Republic Day? Publisher and Editor: Kunda Dixit Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd | Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur | GPO Box 7251 Kathmandu | Desk Editor: Trishna Rana | Design: Kiran Maharjan [email protected] | www.nepalitimes.com | www.himalmedia.com | Tel: 01-5005601-08 Fax: +977-1-5005518 Director of Corporate Events: Anup Prakash | Marketing: Arjun Karki, Surendra Sharma [email protected] | Advertorial/features: Ram Krishna Banjara | Subscription: Santosh Aryal [email protected] Nepali Times on Facebook Printed at Jagadamba Press | 01-5250017-19 | www.jagadambapr.com Follow @nepalitimes on Twitter 31 MAY - 6 JUNE 2013 #658 INTERVIEW 3 government.