http://myrepublica.com/portal/news_rss.php MYREPUBLICA RSS en-us Sat, 25 May 2013 07:16:52 NPT Sat, 25 May 2013 07:16:52 NPT http://myrepublica.com INFO@MYREPUBLICA.COM nilesh_man@hotmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55150 Rainfall on Thursday The heavy rains of Thursday came as a surprise to most valley residents. Even though there have been no causalities of the sudden 41.6 mm downpour, it did make life difficult for many Kathmandu residents. Floodwater entered houses, damaging merchandise on the bottom floor. Entire houses were swept away in some squatter settlements. The rains were also responsible for the disturbance in mobile communication networks throughout the evening, and for the sudden blackout all over the valley at night. But most of all, the water affected transportation in the valley. With water almost waist high in some places, submerging two wheelers and deeply inconveniencing four-wheelers, people were stranded, forced to spend hours at the same place. It did not help that when they were finally able to start out, flotsam and jetsam made navigation almost impossible. Those going outside the valley by land were doubly inconvenienced: first of all the buses started late fearing the landslides that inevitably follow heavy rainfall in Nepal, and then they got stuck in the landslides anyway. No less than seven flights were obstructed, because the visibility was less than half of what was required for landing. Sudden weather changes have caught the residents of the valley off guard one too many time. Nowadays, with sophisticated meteorological equipment, it is often possible to predict weather with a certain degree of accuracy. But only after the rainfall did we come to know that after Thursday, total rainfall in the month of May added up to 137.6 mm, significantly higher than the average of 123.6 mm. It is time that sudden weather changes stopped surprising the people of the valley, and proper information was disseminated through mass media, so that people can be better prepared for the inevitable and take steps to protect their life and property. Even though weather changes cannot be avoided or solved altogether, a lot of precautionary measures can be taken to reduce the damages inflicted by such changes. Currently, the under-construction roads in Kathmandu pose severe transportation problems to valley denizens. The situation is worse during rains when muddy roads turn into puddles that impede transportation for hours, sometimes days, after rainfalls. Two wheelers are especially vulnerable to losing their balance and slipping into these puddles. Kathmandu Municipality needs to prioritize completing the construction of these roads, if for no other reason than to make transportation safer during rainfall. Also, despite Kathmandu Valley being at a high altitude, some lowland areas like Jamal, Teku, Kalanki, Koteshwor, etc, are traditionally inundated during rainfalls, because there are no proper outlets for water in these areas. The roads should be constructed in such a way as to provide a quick outlet to the water, before it can collect and swamp residential areas. Embankments need to be made alongside Kathmandu’s rivers so that every time it rains, the squatters around them do not have to scamper for safety. Let us hope that one day the residents of Kathmandu Valley do not have to fear sudden rainfall, and getting from one place to another during these times will be less stressful than the triathlon of swimming, walking, and running that it resembles now. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55149 CNP LODGES SHUTDOWN I recently drove from west to east and past the lodges, resorts, camps and hotels that lie along and outside the northern border of the Chitwan National Park. Over the three days it took, I stayed in two different lodges and visited perhaps 20 others. I talked to lodge owners, managers and workers. Much has been happening since the lodges inside the National Park were closed last summer. [break] It reminded me of one of the main challenges tourism in Nepal has faced over the last 30 years: the question of ‘Quality versus Quantity.’ Some years ago our much smaller neighbor Bhutan opted for ‘Quality’. With a modest population and limited infrastructure, they imposed a high minimum charge per day for visitors, kept numbers down and achieved their aim. Nepal on the other hand opened its doors and said ‘welcome to all’. A democratic approach that had, and probably still has, the support of the majority of people in the industry. Looking back, the early days of the 70s and 80s were the ‘heyday’ for Nepal. We were the ‘flavor of the month’ during that time. High profile visitors and higher paying groups arrived together with world travelers, mountaineers, and budget trekkers. Kathmandu valley was still the ‘Shangri La’ with warm, welcoming people, little traffic and wonderful culture. A few good hotels with friendly staff opened in the footsteps of the old Royal Hotel (now the Election Commission building). Early trekking tourism was dominated by well-equipped camping/tented treks with strong Sherpa support and there were few lodges in the hills. River running on the Trishuli started in 1977. Phewa lake in Pokhara was pristine and a settlement with small shops, lodges and a few restaurants sprang up along its shores to cater to international tourists. Building was not permitted between the road and the shoreline of the lake. In Chitwan a number of lodges were given leases to operate inside the National Park. Of these, the first and most famous, Tiger Tops, was opened in 1965; some eight years before, in 1973, Chitwan National Park itself was created. With its tree top rooms, golcha, ambience and conservation influence, Tiger Tops set the standard and in its own right helped establish and market tourism in Nepal. By the mid 70s tourism had become a major foreign currency earner for the country. Arrivals grew steadily through the 70s and 80s and then came the opening up/easing of the economy in the early 90s. This was followed by the Maoist insurgency starting later in the decade. People fled the hills for the cities, violence and bad international press coverage halved tourist arrivals to the country. Operators slashed prices to try to attract what business there was, corners were cut, investment in new hotels and renovations in existing ones ground to a halt. It was a long lean period through to 2006/7 when the shooting stopped and things gradually started to improve. By then however the shine had gone off Nepal. It was no longer new, the population in the Kathmandu valley had grown enormously, environmental degradation had set in. The whole place looked to be in need of a major ‘face lift’. Luckily extra airline seats (mostly on airlines whose target market catered to the labor movement to/from the Gulf States) and peace, led to a steady growth in arrival numbers over the last seven years. Closer examination shows that much of this growth focused around the ‘back packer’ end of the market, whereas the top end stagnated. If it had not been for the increase from India, China and South East Asia, the market numbers would not have reflected the encouraging figures we have seen since 2007. The single biggest recent change to tourism in Nepal, and the one that has had most impact, has however been the closure of the premier lodges located inside the Chitwan National Park. Their leases ran out in summer 2012 and were not renewed. Bardia, Suklaphanta and the Kosi Thappu Reserve all have much to offer, but Chitwan is the largest and most easily accessible of the wildlife parks. Until the closure it had been the star attraction offering the Bengal Tiger, great one-horned Rhinoceros, and Gharial and Mugger crocodiles amongst much else. Up to Summer 2012 there had been six resorts inside Chitwan National Park. Of these, one, Gaida had been closed earlier for other reasons. The lodges were tucked away in the jungle, located to ensure the dispersal of impact of the visitors and well regulated by the government. Early morning elephant rides in the mist, jungle walks in the towering sal forests, jeep safaris, bird watching, float trips down the Rapti or Narayani offered special exposure of the highest quality before clients returned to the comforts of the lodges. They operated in line with conservation ethics of leaving a minimum human footprint inside protected areas. Come spring 2013 and there is a totally new situation. From a managed and dispersed scenario, now only Saurha offers easy access to the Park. There, government owned elephants are given priority access. Privately owned elephants are not permitted, though once all fees are paid private jeep safaris are allowed access to the Park. Consequently many of the visitors to the area now limit their wildlife exposure to the park buffer zones. These are liable to human settlement, cattle grazing, agriculture and have limited forest cover and little atmosphere. With Saurha now overbuilt, developers are looking elsewhere and new lodges are being created right across the area I visited. Given they are outside the wonderful environment of the Park itself, some are indeed as well located as possible, However, the experience is just not what it was before. Some of Nepal’s higher paying clients may well use these lodges, but currently reports suggest they are not coming to Chitwan in any numbers. Some are visiting Bardia in west Nepal, but others perhaps are going to India or Africa. On the wildlife side it is probably too early for detailed surveys to have been carried out on poaching levels pre and post closure. Prior to closure the lodges inside the national park assisted with wildlife counts and movements. Now they are gone, there is no one to assist. In Saurha the feeling was that poaching has increased. Whether that is because of the absent lodges, less security, greater demand and higher prices for animal parts, is not known. Africa also experimented with having the ‘Lodges outside as against inside national Parks’ and it was found that when there was no human occupation inside, the poaching levels did indeed increase. Additionally there are practical and financial implications. I was told that the Park Authorities now do not have the manpower to properly maintain the roads or fire breaks inside the park and patrolling the huge area, particularly during the monsoon, is a major challenge. Also the closures mean that the government no longer receives considerable income the lodges inside the Park used to pay in annual Leasing fees, Company tax and VAT takings which totaled approximately US $1 million. My interest is more generally in overall tourism to Nepal and I am no expert on the rights and wrongs of the conservation arguments relating to ‘inside or outside the Park’. But Nepal is a poor country, needs all the income it can get, and unless the case against lodges inside the park is overwhelming (and that seems to be in question) can the nation really afford the loss of perhaps 1,500 full time jobs and another 1,000 or more daily wage staff? And what happens to the many thousand dependents reliant on those wages? Where do new jobs and employment come from? In addition there are provisions suppliers, transporters and a hoard of others whose livelihoods are being adversely affected. The reality that now needs to be faced is this: With the closure of lodges in Chitwan, there is a clear danger that ‘quality vs quantity’ debate on tourism in Nepal is getting out of balance. Of course we need the backpacker and more budget orientated side of the market. This represents our ‘quantity’ side and the largest part of our inbound tourist market. But we cannot afford to further erode our vital ‘quality’ top-end market either. The author, a UK native, has been living in Nepal for the last 35 years. He has been involved with the Nepali tourism industry for the whole time http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55148 BUDDHA´S WIFE YASHODHARA On the day of Baisakh Purnima 2555 years ago, two exceptional individuals were born in Nepal, Gautama Buddha and his wife Yasodhara. While Prince Gautama Buddha was born in the forest of Lumbini, his wife took birth in the Devdaha palace of Koili Dynasty. History is sometimes very unfair, especially to women, and many of them don’t receive the respect and recognition they deserve.[break] Sita’s three sisters were married to the three brothers of the great Hindu God, Ram. When Ram was asked to leave his kingdom on a 14-year exile, his younger brother Laxman decided to follow him. Sita and Urmila, wives of Ram and Laxman, also wanted to leave with their husbands. Ram and Laxman tried to convince them to stay back, but Sita stubbornly followed her decision, while Laxman convinced Urmila by saying, ‘If you go with me, I won’t be able to take care of my brother and his wife’. FINEARTAMERICA.COM Urmila stayed back and suffered the14 years of isolation, while all her three sisters stayed with their husbands. She never complained about this and lived with her husband’s family and fulfilled her responsibility as an ideal Hindu daughter-in-law. Tragically, none of the great writers of the Ramayana; Balmiki, Tulsi Das or Bhanubhakta could gather the compassion to write about Urmila. History has been even harsher on Yasodhara. Yasodhara was the princess of Koili and was brought up in royal luxury just like her prince husband, Siddhartha Gautama. She was a beautiful, compassionate woman, a gifted sitar player, and had received many proposals of marriage from many handsome princes. It was well known that Prince Siddhartha used to disappear from the palace time to time and meditate under trees for hours. Most of them believed that he would leave his kingdom and become a renunciate. Yasodhara had heard these stories, and yet, she defied her relatives to choose Siddhartha as her husband. After Buddha left the palace, Yasodhara stayed with his family, brought up their son Rahul, and fulfilled her responsibilities towards Buddha’s parents. Famous Vietnamese Buddhist scholar Thik Nyath Hanh and Osho have said in their books that Yasodhara continuously reminded Buddha not to deviate from his spiritual path and prevented him from falling into worldly allurements. The night Buddha was leaving for his spiritual quest, Yashodhara made his horse Kanthak ready, and retained Buddha’s favorite chariot driver Chundak in the palace. Buddhist literature states that before leaving the palace, Buddha came to Yasodhara’s room to see the face of his newborn. The gods covered the baby’s face with Yasodhara’s clothes so that he wouldn’t stay back. Thik Nyat Hanh and Osho differ from this opinion. They have said that when Buddha came in to the room to have a last look at the newly born baby, Yasodhara herself covered her face and the baby’s, so that Buddha wouldn’t feel attached to his wife and the baby and subsequently stay back. All that Buddha suffered during his spiritual penance in the forest, Yasodhara silently suffered in the palace. When she came to know that Buddha ate only once a day, slept on the floor, and wrapped himself in a normal robe, Yasodhara practiced the same in the palace. When Buddha came back to Kapilvastu after attaining enlightenment, everybody went to pay their respects to him and get his darshan, except Yasodhara. Buddha himself, along with his disciple Sariputra, went to meet Yasodhara. After touching Buddha’s feet, Yasodhara asked him a very profound question, ‘Isn’t the truth that you attained under the Bodhi tree on the bank of Niranjana River present here? Couldn’t you attain that understanding here?’ This left Buddha speechless. The question reveals the depth of her understanding and intelligence. Yasodhara didn’t stop her son Rahul when he wanted to become Buddha’s disciple, instead she asked Buddha to initiate her as well. But as Buddha was not yet ready to accept women into his Sangha, she couldn’t become his disciple. Later on, after the death of King Suddhodhan, Buddha’s stepmother, Prajapati Gautami shaved her head, dressed herself as a nun, and travelled to Vaishali and asked Buddha to initiate her. Buddha hesitatingly initiated Gautami after listening to the strong advocacy of his disciple, Anand, who was not ready to reject women from the Sangha. This incident opened the doors for Yasodhara to become Buddha’s disciple. Buddhist literature mentions many names of Buddha’s female disciples such as Visakha, Amrapali, Prajapati Gautami, Kahjutara, Krisha Gautami, and many others. But it seems that after Yasodhara’s initiation into the Sangha, Buddhist literature completely forgot her name. In the Sangha, Yasodhara never demanded acknowledgement as Buddha’s wife. Rather, she lived a very simple life. In the ashram, she washed dishes, swept the floor, and nursed the sick ones. Her son Rahul had already attained Arhatwa and was one of the main Acharyas among Buddha’s ten Gandharvas. Yasodhara, the wife of an enlightened master and the mother of an enlightened Acharya, never asked for any important position, and chose to live anonymously. It is greatly admirable that she completely dissolved herself into the Buddha Sangha. At the age of 78, on the same full moon day of Baisakh Purnima, Yasodhara’s last conversation with her beloved in the Benuban of Rajgrihi is touchingly poignant. She requested Buddha, ‘Now I am old, and my body is tired. I have respectfully fulfilled my duties as the Koili princess, Shakya crown-princess and a disciple of the Buddha Sangha. I have remembered my past lives in which I have served you with immense love and trust in one form or the other. In this life you accepted me as your wife and gave me a son and later guided me as my master till I attained enlightenment. Now I have no desires left. With your permission I want to leave this body. Please forgive me if I have done anything wrong to you or to the Buddha Sangha.’ After saying this, she encircled the Buddha three times, went to her hut, and burnt a lamp for him with love. She bowed down to him from within her heart, and peacefully left her body. My heart weeps, because history never gave Yasodhara her due respect. Nepal forgot Yasodhara’s name completely in choosing its national heroes. There is always a respectful place for Sita in the temple of Ram, Radha in the temple of Krishna, but when it comes to the temple or stupa of Buddha, there is not even a mention of Yasodhara. Such historic injustices and disregards must now come to an end. Nepal has to include Yasodhara along with Sita and Pasang Lhamu in its list of national heroes. The capital of the Koili dynasty, Buddha’s maternal grandparents’ home and his in-laws’ home Devdaha, should gradually be developed into an international tourist destination, and Buddhist pilgrimage site. To symbolize Yasodhara’s sacrifice and devotion, a temple to her should be created in each of these places. I humbly request and propose to all Buddhist scholars, intellectuals and concerned organizations that only after giving Yasodhara the due respect and recognition she deserves can we revert the injustice that history has done to her. The author is the co-ordinator of Osho Tapoban and author of several books swamiarun@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55147 SIDDHICHARAN SHRESTHA Yugkavi Siddicharan Shrestha, one of the four luminaries of Nepali literature, along with Lekhnath Paudyal, Laxmi Prasad Devkota, and Balakrishna Sama, created a niche for himself as a revolutionary poet who inaugurated a new era in creative writing and literature. His poetry was a source of inspiration for people from every section of the society, including political activists like late Ganeshman Singh who spent some years in prison with Siddhicharan. Nepali literature has witnessed several experiments in thought, language and style since the time Siddhicharan emerged as a poet and a writer. [break] Siddhicharan was a poet with a multi-dimensional outlook on life and society. His poetic sensibility encompasses his attitude towards nature, contemporary social issues such as injustice, exploitation, discrimination, and above all, his advocacy of human values, overriding all considerations of caste, creed, religion, language and ethnicity. In his poetry, he is equally concerned about the wellbeing of Nepali people and mankind as a whole. Siddhicharan’s revolutionary fervor comes out forcefully in his poems like Mangalman. It was the poet’s strong convictions and moral courage that prompted him to rebel against centuries-old family oligarchy. Prof Maniklal Shrestha firmly believes that Siddhicharan is, first and foremost, a revolutionary poet. None of his contemporaries could match his dedication, commitment and courage in this aspect. In the opinion of late Prof YN Khanal, Siddhicharan occupies a special place in the history of Nepali poetry because of his palpable sincerity, his impatience with rhetorical embellishments, and above all, his passion for reform. What is remarkable about this poet who devoted himself to creative pursuit throughout his literary career is that he wrote about common man and common things. There is no gap between the poet and the subjects he wrote about. Like Wordsworth, he believed that the language of poetry should be as simple and direct as possible. Siddhicharan’s use of diction even in a poem of philosophic significance such as “Atma- Bilauna” (Self-Lamentation) is marked by simplicity, directness and lack of ambiguity. The central theme of the poem is detachment from worldly life or mundane pleasures, and whole-hearted concentration on the pursuit of spirituality, which liberates individuals from the cycle of birth and death. The poem’s depiction of trauma grabs the reader’s attention. The following lines from the opening stanza set the tone for the rest of the poem, “I’m broken, spoilt, I see chaos and discord all around/Filled is the atmosphere with black, pungent and poisonous smoke/who am I and what am I; I’ve lost all powers of judgment/Oh! I have plunged into misery that beggars description.” “My Reflection” is another of his serious poems. Some critics interpret the poem as an exercise in post-modernism. The poem first published in 2006 BS depicts a person who is falling, sinking and degenerating. The stanza, “Ignorant of truth, embracing lies / sinking low but boasting about upward movement / polluting the environment / perceiving nothing while looking around\who is the figure marching on the road?” conjures an image of a ‘modern man’. Siddhicharan is remembered even today when we are winding up his centenary celebrations for his epoch-making poetry. He fully understood the spirit of the times and recaptured with uncanny insight in his works the glory, the incongruities, and the absurdities of the age in which he lived. His poems dealt with a variety of issues, and gave epic dimensions to some of them. His positive and revolutionary attitude towards women is illustrated in his long poem Jyanmara Shaila. The character of Uma in this poem poignantly dramatizes the plight of women in Nepali society, particularly in romantic relationships in different social, cultural and economic backgrounds. Through his poems, Siddhicharan’s message to our patriarchal society was that status of self-respecting women could be secured forever. Siddhicharan, in brief, was ahead of his times in his poetry and other creative writings. m_p_lohani@yahoo.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55062 Cases of disappearances As the two Maoist parties marked the 14th ‘Day of the Disappeared’ on May 21—the day in 1999 when four CPN (Maoist) central committee members went missing from Tebahal, Kathmandu—the two sets of leaders must have felt a pang of guilt. Guilt at not being able to bring justice to hundreds of families whose members put their lives on the line for the ‘great cause.’ According to Maoist sources, 1,085 people ‘disappeared’ by the state during the 10 years of insurgency remain unaccounted for. This is in addition to around 300 who were disappeared by the rebel forces. The leaderships of both UCPN (Maoist) and CPN-Maoist are in a Catch 22 situation. On the one hand, they have pushed for an ordinance that more or less guarantees blanket amnesty for all human rights violators from the conflict period. This is being done to save their own skin; more than a few of them are likely to be in the dock if all conflict-era cases are properly investigated. On the other hand, such an ordinance absolves state forces, primarily Nepal Army, of any wrongdoing during the bloody conflict, which is unacceptable to the families who have been looking for a closure, a day when the whereabouts of their loved ones will be made public and they can move on. It had started to appear that the major political forces who settled on the ordinance would have their way. Although Nepali Congress and CPN-UML initially appeared to be opposing blanket amnesty, they were also never serious about bringing serious rights violators to book. For in doing so, they would have to initiate charges against some of their own leaders who tried to suppress the budding insurgency from their powerful positions in the government. Nor were they willing to stand against the perceived interest of the Nepal Army, which has emerged as by far the strongest state organ in post-2006 dispensation. But no sooner had the President given his stamp of approval to the controversial ordinance, the Supreme Court stepped in and issued a stay order against its implementation. The court rightly feared that the ordinance would grant amnesty to perpetrators of serious crimes from the war era. The same fear was palpable among the international actors who had been pushing the parties not to proceed with the flawed ordinance. Following the apex court stay order, the case of credible transitional justice mechanisms is once again in limbo. We believe a middle way has to be found. We agree with the recommendation of OHCHR Nepal made through its Nepal Conflict Report (published last year) that the whereabouts of the disappeared must be made public, there should be prosecution of emblematic cases involving those responsible for the worst offences, and reparations in line with international law must be sought for the victims. This is bare minimum in order to give victim families a sense of closure. Highly idealistic solutions that threaten to open up old wounds, as some of our international friends have been pushing, must be avoided. There are no easy fixes. Nor would one be desirable in this case. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55061 PROTECTED AREAS In spite of the difficulties created by the prolonged political instability, international tourist arrival to Nepal has been steadily increasing over the last 40 years. Compare the total tourist arrival to Nepal by air in 1972 (42,484) to the same figure in 2012 (598,200). This has been influenced by the growth in arrival of international tourists from every corner of the globe. UN World Tourism Organization has reported that international tourist arrivals grew by 4 percent in 2012, to reach 1.03 billion, and Asia and Pacific were the best performers. Reviewing the global and regional trends in tourism arrival, it is clear that Nepal could be a major tourist destination in South Asia with the vast tourism opportunities it provides. However, Nepal, at present, does not have a vision or a Master Plan with which to tap the growing global tourism market. [break] The Protected Areas have been a major tourism product in Nepal, which the tourism industry promotes and sells as attractions. These are specially designated areas for the protection and maintenance of biodiversity and cultural heritage associated with that area. The protected areas aim to conserve unique natural features with diverse landscapes, rich biodiversity and prominent cultural resources. Besides protecting some of the most pristine ecosystems, the protected areas have also played a key role in tourism development and promotion in Nepal. For instance, Chitwan National Park, Annapurna Conservation Area, Sagarmatha National Park, Langtang National Park, and Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park are some of the most important tourist destinations in Nepal after Kathmandu. trekkingagencynepal.com Unique geological formations, breathtaking landscapes, rich biodiversity, soothing nature and scenic beauty blended with exceptionally diverse cultural heritage in the protected areas of Nepal attract tourists from all over the world. Tourists visit parks and protected areas because such areas of their unique experiences which cannot be replicated elsewhere. Tropical lowlands to the south to dry alpine steppe environment to the north; the world’s highest mountain, Sagarmatha to the world’s deepest valley, the Kali Gandaki; the low-land Bengal Tiger and Rhinoceros to the Himalayan Snow Leopard and Red Panda; holy places such as Khaptad Ashram, Muktinath temple to highly revered Buddhist monasteries, are all housed within the protected area systems of Nepal. Tourism has rapidly become one of Nepal’s most important development sectors as well as until recently the country’s largest and most reliable source of foreign exchange earnings. The importance of tourism in Nepal is underlined by the fact that tourism earnings comprised 7.4 percent of GDP in 2009. As elsewhere in the world, protected areas have played a significant role in driving Nepal’s tourism. However, it must be said that there is an extremely low level of investment, nearly not enough to harness tourism potential in these areas. This has resulted in an unequal distribution of tourism revenues among the protected areas of Nepal where big pieces of the pie are shared by a few protected areas. There is tremendous potential to develop tourism in all protected areas of Nepal. With the growing inclination towards nature-based tourism, the protected areas of Nepal are an obvious choice growth of nature-based tourism, which accounts for 20-40 percent of international tourists worldwide. However, there is a need for a good tourism development policy, planning and marketing together with substantial increase in investment in tourism infrastructure to promote the PAs and make more tourists want to come visit them. All the PAs are endowed with unique tourism attractions and have great potential for tourism development. This is proven by the fact that the PAs in Nepal attract more than 50 percent of total international visitors. However, like I said, tourism development in PAs is concentrated only in a few PAs, thereby a unique opportunity to diversify tourism is being missed. Chitwan National Park, Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, Annapurna Conservation Area, Sagarmatha National Park and Langtang National Park are top five PAs in terms of tourism. Whilst these (and other) PAs provide unique attractions for different groups of visitors, none of these PAs has been well packaged and marketed as unique tourism products. There is thus need for greater emphasis on public-private collaboration to develop and market tourism products, along with the development and improvement of existing tourism infrastructures. More studies on tourism including visitors’ impact, tourism carrying capacity, tourism potential, product packaging and marketing, etc. should be high on the priority of tourism related stakeholders in the upcoming days. The government for its part must invest more to promote and develop sustainable tourism in all PAs which will pay back to the country over time. Tourism will continue to be a major industry worldwide. And with growing inclination towards nature-based tourism, the protected areas of Nepal will remain a major attraction for international visitors. At present, government investment in protected area management in Nepal is minimal, in comparison to other sectors. The annual investment to manage the protected areas which cover 23.23 percent of total landmass of the country is only about 0.13 percent of total annual budget. This is just not enough to manage the PA system, which represents the premier terrestrial biodiversity. Even of what little investment is being made in PAs, very little is going into tourism promotion and development. It is important to bear in mind that tourism could be a powerful source for sustainable financing of all PAs in the future. PAs also provide direct or indirect economic opportunities to local communities and tourism entrepreneurs both inside and outside the country. Moreover, with a right plan in place, the perennially cash-strapped government could even earn precious revenues from tourism development in PAs. Considering the tremendous opportunities and immense potential of tourism development in PAs, it has become a necessity for national tourism planners to develop, market and manage sustainable tourism in all PAs. The author is Executive Director of National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55060 NEPAL-INDIA RELATIONS The political parties of Nepal have a love-hate relationship with India. When in opposition, the parties are against India and its policy towards Nepal, but their stance changes once they are in government or are trying to enter a government. The about-turn the Maoist party took from an anti-Indian stance when they had to garner Nepali people’s support, to their pro-Indian status now when they are in power, illustrates the phenomenon. Every political leader and party of Nepal, either overtly or covertly, wants to have a good relationship with India because of the influence that India has over Nepal. As for India, it has always been criticized, even by Indian intellectual and academicians, for playing the ‘big-brother’ role in Nepali affairs. In short, India’s role in Nepal is criticized as ‘hegemonic’ and Nepal’s condition is often labeled ‘over dependent on India’. [break] Putting aside the state-to-state relation between Nepal and India, this article is focused on discussing people-to-people relation of Indian and Nepali citizens at the local level. This relationship can be observed at various places along the 1,700 km boundary between Nepal and India, but for my study, I chose Ward number 6 of Alau VDC, which lies near the dry port in Birgunj. I don’t claim that the selected case is representative of all other relationships between Nepali and Indian people of border areas. Nevertheless, it is an interesting case and is surely not an exception. Photo: Amol Acharya The Scenario Ward number 6 of Alau VDC in Birgunj faces an Indian village named Siwantol in Haraiya. There is no dashgajaa between the two villages. The no man’s land, which stretches between the villages along their length, is used as a road. People-to-People Nemilal of Siwantol, Haraiya in India, works as goods-loader for Pashupati goods carrier, a Nepali company. Hakim Miya of Alau in Nepal works as a builder in India. Sanjay Kumar Das’ maternal-uncle lives in India, whom Das visits regularly. When disputes arise between people of the two villages, the local community addresses them rather than people rushing to security forces or other government bodies to solve the problem. These examples show that there is a harmonious relationship between the people of Nepal and India in bordering areas. This could be because many of them are related, either by marriage, or by business, or by the compulsion to co-exist. People from both sides seem to have respect and a soft corner for each other. In particular, Indian people do not exhibit that ‘big-brother’ syndrome towards Nepali people that their state does towards Nepal. Nemilal of Siwantol has sympathy towards the difficult life of Nepali people, in comparison to that in his village just 18 feet away. The provision of ration cards, loans for building house, free education, etc. have made life of the Indian people easier, whereas Nepali people continue to suffer from poverty, lack of services, and most importantly, government neglect. Most important of all, both Nepali and Indian people seem to be less worried about the feeling of nationalism. The local people seem unaware of discussions over nationalism that perennially exists between Nepal and India. They are so little bothered about nationalism that they don’t even care about the eroding pillars that demarcate Nepal and India. Perplexingly, Armed Police Force (APF), deployed to guard Nepali boundary, does the same. Nepali people in the ward are not happy with the crawling rate of development in their area. Yogendra Mali, a former employee of Nepal government, is furious about Nepal government’s nonchalant attitude towards people in border areas. Mali explains that Nepali people envy the progress made by their neighbors on the other side of the road. According to Mali, just a decade ago, life on the Nepali side was easier, but now the situation has changed. Conclusion Contrary to the tumultuous state-level relationship between Nepal and India, fueled by opportunistic leadership in Nepal and the ‘hegemonic’ role that India enjoys to play, people-to-people relation between Nepal and India in the border areas is cordial. The mutual respect and acceptance between people in the border regions is because of geographical proximity, socio-cultural affinity and ethnic and linguistic similarities. The Nepali and Indian governments need to take this relationship into consideration while formulating foreign policy. To go a notch higher, the governments can handle the disorderly relationship between the two states with the help of the good relationship between their peoples in border areas. On the part of Nepal, political parties should stop using the Nepal-India relationship as a tool to gain political mileage. It is the political parties of Nepal that are the most responsible for Nepal’s ‘dependence’ on India and India’s ‘hegemony’ in Nepal. The author is a student of Masters in Development Studies at Kathmandu University. The write-up is based on a field visit amolsansar@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55035 CPN-UML as national force Ahead of the new Constituent Assembly polls scheduled for November, political parties are preparing for the crucial vote in different ways. Some of these are clearly publicity stunts, while a few are genuine initiatives to lay the ground for polls. Time is ripe for parties to finalize their policies on major issues like system of governance and federal model, in what will be real election campaigning rather than mere posturing. This is an imperative. Lack of conceptual clarity on fundamental features of the constitution was one of the factors that led to the failure of the old CA. In the reckoning of many people, CPN-UML typifies the culture of indecision and ambiguity in Nepali politics. Other parties, especially UCPN (Maoist), have been quick to capitalize on UML’s perceived weaknesses, and have successfully lured capable UML leaders into their folds. UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has made it clear that UML is his ‘hunting ground’ for consolidating Maoist party base ahead of the elections. [break] UML politburo members Ram Chandra Jha and Urmila Aryal’s defection to UCPN (Maoist) is the latest major assault of Dahal and co. on the third-largest party in last CA. It was only last year that a group of central level leaders led by UML Vice-chairman Ashok Rai quit the party to form Federal Socialist Party (FSP). Most of those quitting the party accused UML establishment of alienating UML from the downtrodden and failing to take the right stand at the right time. It did not help that the party rank and file was (and is) divided over the most important political issues such as the model of federalism and system of governance. In fact, party leaders were divided over these issues throughout the four-year term of the dissolved CA. UML members were divided when CA’s thematic committee on state restructuring voted on federal model. While party Secretary Shankar Pokharel voted for NC-proposed six-province model, Ram Chandra Jha, Mangalsiddhi Manandhar and Lucky Sherpa backed Maoist-proposed 14-province model. Unsurprisingly, Jha and Sherpa have recently defected to UCPN (Maoist), while Manandhar joined FSP last year. Such was also the case in the CA’s thematic committee on determining the system of governance. Party leaders Bishnu Paudel, Prithivi Subba Gurung and Krishna Prasad Sapkota forged an alliance with NC members and voted for NC-proposed Westminster system; three members from the same party continued to back the party’s original stand of directly elected executive prime minister. It was UML leader Prithvi Subba Gurung who led the cross-party caucus comprising lawmakers from ethnic, indigenous and Madhes-based communities that disrupted House proceedings and defied party whips. Similarly, UML members in the high level committee on state restructuring stood divided and the government body failed to produce a single report. It can be safely said that the party leadership failed to keep the party united through the four crucial CA years. A similar divisive picture emerged in power sharing as well. Madhav Nepal became prime minister by forging an alliance with Nepali Congress, while Chairman Jhalanath Khanal became prime minister with Maoist support. Second-rung UML leaders concede it is the same reason that the party rank and file, which was most energetic during the 1990s, has become a confused lot with no clear direction and energy. The country can’t afford to waste more years in a state of such perpetual indecision. Thorny issues can be settled only if major parties come up with clear and unified stance on important issues. As the country heads to new CA polls, it is high time that UML came up with a clear blueprint on future political course—and without any further ado. The party’s poll prospects, and more importantly, the country’s chances of getting a viable constitution depends on whether major parties like UML can rise up to the challenge. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55034 The news of an unauthorized live video call from the top of Mt Everest is yet another manifestation of the age-old friction between human extensions in the form of new technologies and the equally time-worn barriers—human and natural—to overcoming space through such media. On Sunday evening, a summiteer live-videoed BBC via his smartphone. As the saying goes, everything has its own time and place, and now the climber Daniel Thomas Hughes, who described being there as “a very proud moment” is happy that he has defined his day and place. But his conquest of wilderness, and of distance via the latest technology, has become an annoying incident for our government. Ministry of Information and Communication (MoIC) officials have revealed that the expedition was authorized only to carry walkie-talkies, and had not been granted government permit to film Mt. Everest. The public broadcast from the summit has drawn “serious attention” of officials, who have warned of “necessary action” (myrepublica.com, May 20). [break] Real estate on the ancient ocean limestone peak above the clouds is mighty precious. Summiteers have described the spot variously: about the size of a chair’s seat, a roof of a car, no bigger than a billboard table, or around 3x1.5 m. Time also comes expensive with snowstorm and extreme weather making it feasible to climb it only a few weeks in April or May. everestmillion.com So it is like a one and only musical chair, every second spent up there monetized (hence royalty for the icy throne), with every new stunt costing extra dollars. The amount our government collects varies from US $50,000 to US $70,000 for an expedition. The official “Mountaineering Expedition Permit” has the provision to declare “the nature of means of communication to be used and their number[s]” (item 19), and the “Mountaineering Rules and Regulation” (2059) stipulates that the government may approve import of two satellite telephone sets, 12 walkie-talkies and two wireless for temporary, emergency use (clause 7). It was reported in the news that the use of equipment would cost extra, for example, US $10,000 for a permit to film the summit and a little over US $1,400 for a satellite phone. However, these costs are not specified in the permit or the regulations or the official document specifying the royalty for the mountaineering expedition. My interest here, to restate, has more to do with the buzz about technology use on mountains. How are new technologies in our rugged environment redefining our role, changing the way we perceive, see or feel things and act? Servo-mechanism The ancients stand out with their natural and artefactual technologies. Hanuman was attached to his vajra (lightning) and he could part from it even when he carried an entire mountain. Narad, with his ever-present veena (lute),orchestrated the demolition of the peak of Mt. Meru. Hercules climbed a mountain, clapped his bronze krotala scaring away the ferocious birds, and emerged triumphant in the challenge posed by his king. In Mahabharat, Sanjay’s augmented reality-type divyadrishti (divine-vision) helped overcome his physical limitations. Today, it’s everywhere with smart phones. For the western climbers, the mountains over the years have almost always been about “feeling the ultimate high,” that liberating experience reminiscent of the “Wild West,” a rebellious escape out in the new frontier with (and rarely without) the burden of civilization resting on their soldiers, often in the form of manufactured gears and communication devices. It started with the first humans trying to tame the tallest mountain. They carried loads of almost 20 kilo a person, including a bulky wireless, a novelty at that time. The civilizing effects have been conspicuously vulgar. Mt Everest, of all the eight thousand-ers, has been commoditized, fetishized, and defiled, robbed of her virginity, starting with the first ascent. Edmund Hillary’s words just after the conquest unraveled this bitter reality: “Well, George, we have knocked the bastard off.” In addition, the adopted foreign name “Everest”, widely in use even inside Nepal coupled with our ever-increasing greed for tourism dollars, obscure the traditional image of the mountain as a pristine abode. These rarified mountains, still perceived to be savage, serve as rewarding labs for such civilizing effects of human extensions as Coca-Cola bottles to smart phones. Contrast this to the traditional natural technologies like stone taps. In his memoir Building Bridges to the Third World (1994), the late Swiss geologist Tony Hagen writes that “one great civilizing achievements of old Nepal” was the laying of a dense network of stone-plate paths betraying extra-ordinary know-how, with many stone walls along the way for resting loads. Among our populations, western technologies, for many decades remained merely an object of seduction, an item for display. Hagen recalls that a telephone call from Pokhara to Kathmandu in 1952 would not be possible because it remained “out of order”, almost always, suggesting that such inefficiency was internalized and hardly questioned. Today, with increasing literacy, rapid penetration of interactive media with greater individual control and heavier oral bias, such as the radio and mobile phones, new media technologies promise wider use and deeper involvement, demanding, at the same time, a more critical assessment of the complex mediated environment we live in. And such assessment comes with the willingness to see a difference between genuine, useful efforts and record-hungry stunts in which technologies use us instead of us using them. The media scholar Marshall McLuhan would describe this generation as a servo-mechanism of our smartphones, as a native American is of his canoe, a cowboy of his horse, an executive of his clock, and perhaps a dhakre(porter) of his tokma(walking stick). Managing communication Many beneficial scientific tests with new technologies have been conducted on Mt Everest that go unreported, unlike the record efforts: studies on the effects of extreme weather conditions and high altitude on human health, on reduction of risks to climbers and casualties and real time transmissions, web and satellite telephony during emergencies, on environmental preservation, etc. In record exploits, it’s often the machine mania: first ever helicopter landing (that too unauthorized), first ever paragliding, first tweet from the top of the world (twice claimed; another controversy), etc. From being an outdoor sports, Everest has turned into a broadcast studio background wallpaper. The product has nothing much to do with brand Everest. You could tweet from the top of your rooftop for the first time ever, and claim a record. But the temporal and spatial uniqueness of Everest continues to offer an irresistible sales pitch. Notably, Nepali climbers do not seem as enthused as their western counterparts in experimenting with new technologies in thin air. They could as well flash their devices for the world in an unprecedented way, or watch a mini documentary on peace-building, or read a newspaper headlines in the name of news literacy, first time ever! We need a shift in the way we view “climbing” merely as portering, and a source of foreign revenue. Today, we don’t have to wait for decades for the transfer or new technologies, and we certainly are improving in scientific expertise and research potential. We have new climbs to make to these areas. Already, for the first time, Nepali scientists are working to re-measure the peak. Next could be the study of rock formations on the summit, a topic that remains unexplored, and then the vast mountain terrains, for environment, agricultural and health benefits. In another major communication leap, the mountain and other rugged regions have already been wired, with 3G mobile coverage. The recurrent controversies over Everest feats are the result of lack of clear guidelines on the use of communication and technology there, and poor enforcement measure. We could take cues from reserves like Yellowstone and Olympic in the United States that restrict cellphones to just a few areas, or prohibit the use of Facebook to preserve the wilderness and natural sanctity of the heritage. A pragmatic approach to managing communication on Everest is to ensure that human extensions remain humane. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55033 RJP-RPP UNITY Leaders and cadres of the newborn Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) seem upbeat about their electoral prospects. They bet they will emerge as a new force to be reckoned with in the new CA polls. Good luck with that. But what has been touted as a genuine rapprochement between Rastriya Janashakti Party and Rastriya Prajantanta Party is actually a forceful marriage of convenience between two disparate forces. One (under Surya Bahadur Thapa) sided with king Gyandendra until his last days, the other (under Pashupati Shumsher Rana) defied the king’s move and joined the democratic movement with the likes of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML. Rana was placed under house arrest under the regime that Thapa backed. It is too soon for the bitterness between the two Panchayat veterans to have disappeared. [break] Thapa has been critical of Rana since 2004. Back then, he had publicly challenged Rana to take to the streets if “[He] were the grandson of Mohan Shumsher!” Until recently, Thapa used to speak of Rana with derision. Nor has Rana happily accepted Thapa as the president of the unified entity. Rana sacrificed for the sake of unity. In his own words, he has “consumed poison to save the party and to make it the fourth largest force in the new polls.” In a way, Thapa has come to toe the ideological line that Rana had been advocating for years. Rana’s party had voted in favor of republic while RJP was still dithering in 2008. Thus, Rana relenting to forfeit presidency to Thapa has been something like granting house ownership to a member that once deserted it. The unity, therefore, could be a short-term arrangement. RPP’s history suggests so. Republica Unity and split are common in RPP. Strangely, this shortcoming has proved to be both blessing and curse for its leaders. Though RPP has not been able to secure more than 19 seats in post-1990 politics, it has remained in center stage of power for nearly two and half decades—from 1990 to 2013. RPP was divided in the womb. When the country bid farewell to Panchayat and embarked on democratic path in 1990, there were two RPPs, quaintly named RPP (Thapa) and RPP (Chand) after erstwhile Panchayat PMs Surya Bahadur Thapa and Lokendra Bahadur Chand. In the first general elections of 1991 both Thapa and Chand bit the dust. Following this, they decided to unite for 1994 mid-term polls. The unity paid off—the party secured 18 percent of popular votes, sent 19 MPs to the parliament and became the third largest force after NC and UML. For Thapa and Chand who had done all they could to quell the Democratic Movement of 1990, such a comeback would once have been unimaginable. It formed a key ally in Sher Bahadur Deuba’s government in 1995. In 1997, Chand led the coalition government with UML and a few months later, his rival Thapa colluded with NC to oust Chand to become the PM himself. This led to another split in 1998. Unity was forged again on the eve of 1999 polls. But this time they received their comeuppance: RPP was reduced to 11 seats from the 19 in 1994. When party chairman objected to Thapa joining the king’s government in 2004, Thapa formed Rastriya Janashakti Party. The recent unity is the third (after four splits). Given this, the latest unity cannot be taken for granted. The future of this ‘now-strong-now-fragile’ party hinges mainly on two personalities. Not that RPP lacks leaders. There are plenty, but none matches the stature and influence of Rana and Thapa. While the five-time Prime Minister Thapa has a good hold over his constituency in Dhankuta, Rana’s appeal is of a different kind in Sindhupalchowk. In fact, Rana happens to be among the rare breed of leaders who consistently won elections from 1973 to 1999. He lost the CA polls because he was not allowed to enter his constituency, and several booths, many of them his good holds, were captured by rebel forces. Rana is popular among his voter base not because he represents RPP but because he is Pashupati Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana. (As a resident of Sindhupalchowk, this scribe has been a first-hand witness of people’s craze for him). His supporters regard him a king. They call him raja saheb and babu saheb and are desperate to steal a glance of him. Every time he visits his constituency, he is led by a naumati band while supporters follow him, shouting slogans in his favor. It is almost like a celebration for his supporters when raja saheb comes to visit. If allowed to campaign freely, there is a strong chance that he will win from his Sindhupalchowk constituency yet again. But the problem with him and Thapa is that both of them are ageing. Thapa, 85, has had a cardiac arrest and Rana, 74, has begun to look frail and weak. Once Thapa and Rana retire, RPP could become spineless. RPP has largely remained the party of old former panchas, and has not been able to bring country’s youth into its fold. This is the reason the party needs to prepare new and vibrant young leadership while the two are still active. RPP lacks a strong credible agenda for the polls. It supports republic but has accepted federalism reluctantly. It is against a Hindu state, but is not a staunch supporter of secularism. So there is little chance that supporters of monarchy and Hindu state will vote this party. Nor will it be able to garner support from Madhesis, Janajatis and Maoists who are among the staunchest supporters of secularism and identity-based federalism. According to the leadership of the newly formed RPP, the Big Four have terribly failed the nation and the country needs a strong democratic force like RPP to rescue it. True. People have become deeply disillusioned by the Big Four, but not to the extent that they have started to look to RPP as an alternative. Historically, RPP has gained power not of its own virtues, but courtesy of internal feuds and splits in NC and UML. If this were not the case, Chand and Thapa would never have been PMs in a multiparty democratic set up. Nor would they have become PMs again in 2002/3, if NC and UML had not defied the royal takeover. Yet there is an unoccupied political space that RPP may claim. There is a clear polarization between federalists on one camp and anti-federalists and supporters of monarchy and Hindu state on the other. But there are no forces pushing for a system that believes in republic, rule of law, progressive agenda, secularism, good governance, workable decentralization, but is anti-federal in nature. If RPP is able claim this space, it may be able to woo many voters unhappy with the Big Four’s stand on federalism. After all, RPP does not lack catchy slogans. The unity convention’s banner reads: Samabesi Rastrabad, Janapacchiya Udarbad: inclusive nationalism, pro-people liberalism. Sounds impressive. mbpoudyal@yahoo.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55032 ENGLISH IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS My father teaches in Pokhariya Higher Secondary School, one of the many public schools in Biratnagar. Beginning this academic session, the school is planning to have separate sections in which all subjects, except Nepali of course, will be instructed in English. Those who wish to be instructed in English are being encouraged to join, with additional fees charged for the luxury. This novel approach is being tried out not only in Pokhariya but in many government-run public schools across the country. [break] The obvious question, then, is whether this is necessary. Government run public schools have always used Nepali language as the medium of instruction. Is instruction in English going to change anything, for better or worse? Will learning everything in English improve the grades of public school students? Or is this only a fad that will fizzle out over the next few years? There are questions aplenty, but no precedent to fall back on for answers. I do not know what the result of this experimentation is going to be. However, I believe this is an excellent idea that will revolutionize our education system. economictimes.indiatimes.com Many of us still remember how the world panicked over Y2K crisis as the year 2000 approached. In order to avert the crisis, all computer programs in the world would have to be fixed to make sure important financial and economic software installed in those computers did not go haywire once the year 2000 started. So, the world needed computer engineers and programmers on a massive scale. Both China and India had those in large numbers, but most companies and businesses in the world used Indian computer firms and engineers to get their problems fixed. Was that because Chinese software engineers and programmers were less adept? No. The world came to India because Indian engineers had an advantage over Chinese engineers: English language, in which the Indians were fluent and the Chinese were not. We sit between those two economic powerhouses—China and India. By 2020, around 40 percent Chinese are expected to be in the middle-class, and over 700 million have been lifted out of poverty so far. India still has some way to go to attain the level of growth that China has experienced. But it has also grown spectacularly since liberalizing its economy in the 1990s. Millions have been lifted out of poverty, and India’s middle-class today boasts a population larger than the entire population of the United States. China has grown on the basis of its manufacturing prowess because of an abundance of cheap labor and great economic leadership of its rulers, especially that of Deng Xiaoping. However, the history of previous economic powerhouses of North America and Europe shows us that manufacturing growth does not last long. In order to create a sustainable economy that keeps growing, it is important to make sure that the workforce transforms itself from low-skilled to high-skilled. That looks more likely in India than in China. India’s economic growth has been led by high-skilled sectors like IT and R&D. A workforce with good English skills has meant that demand for high-skilled work has kept coming to India. It would be naïve to imagine Nepal growing as fast and as far as India if we can somehow become more fluent in English. That is not my contention. However, the world has become smaller with the workforce of today not constrained within a nation’s boundaries. We need not look far. Hundreds of thousands of Nepalis leave each year to work overseas. We have migrated to work in Dubai, Qatar, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, India and many other countries. None of these countries speak the same language, but most understand English. However, most Nepalis who go to work in these countries know neither English nor the local language of the host country. This creates problems for Nepali workers ranging from something as harmless as miscommunication to as serious as outright exploitation. A lot of the problems that Nepali workers face overseas could be reduced if we knew English. We need to realize that English is not just another language we can learn, but an important tool that can empower Nepali workers in the global job market. Because of their British legacy, and because their natives speak thousands of languages, Indians have resorted to English as a means of communication even among themselves. This knowledge of English language has helped Indian workers go everywhere, from North America to Europe to Africa, and succeed as laborers or businesspeople. Other countries such as Poland and Ireland, where a significant population has command over English, have been able to grow not only because of their own domestic economic demand but also because of outsourcing of jobs and demand from other English speaking countries. Even in Nepal, most students from English-medium schools find better opportunities, whether in going abroad for studies or in getting a job within Nepal. English is no longer a language but a required ‘qualification’ in getting good jobs in today’s Nepal. The experiment that has started in public schools is in the best interest of the country. I do not believe that instructions in English will make students any smarter than if they are instructed in Nepali language. However, English is a dominant language spoken and understood in almost every country in the world. Nepali workers of today have been competing in the world marketplace for jobs. English language instruction in all our schools—public and private—is a worthy cause because being able to read, write and speak English has become a very important skill that a ‘global worker’ of today and the future needs to possess. mukhanal@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54961 TELEMEDICINE IN NEPAL Information technology has revolutionized our lives in many ways, from making communication with our loved ones easier, to creating entire new economies based on outsourced communications. And now, information technology is being used in an area that has the potential to affect many more people in a positive way, one that goes beyond communication and economy. Telemedicine in Nepal has the potential to save lives of hundreds of people who do not have access to medical services. Because of Nepal’s difficult geography, it has always been difficult to avail people living far from the capital city of even basic services. The country’s hilly and mountainous terrain, with a less than desirable coverage of roads, makes land transportation difficult. As a result, many other services which require land transportation are absent in rural parts of Nepal. Among them are electricity, education, water, and health. Lack of health services has posed great inconvenience to rural populace, putting many lives in danger, for instance when they cannot traverse the distance to the nearest health center on time. But the advent of telemedicine promises to solve at least a part of their problems. [break] Telemedicine may not be as valuable in easy-to-access areas where hospitals or medical centers are just a few hours by land. But in Nepal, for many rural residents the medical centers are more than a day’s walk away, and the walk becomes even more arduous when a sick person has to be carried all the way. In this case, the use of photo sharing and video conferencing has immense utility and can greatly reduce the patient and caretakers’ inconvenience. Consultant doctors of Patan Hospital have started providing this service, connecting to 30 hospitals in remote areas. Doctors in remote parts can connect with Patan Hospital doctors and ask for a second opinion when they are unsure about a case. It has made the process of diagnosis much easier for doctors, and has already helped more than 4,500 patients. Of course, if a patient is very sick, the doctors recommend taking the person to a nearby hospital. But if that cannot be achieved, the doctors can easily prescribe medicines or procedures through the internet, and ensure that needy patients receive fast and convenient services. The more ideas are exchanged and allowed to flow, the more there are discoveries, inventions and innovations. This laudable initiative by Patan Hospital is one such opening up of communication that is bound to lead to many new avenues. The government should do all it can to help these services along, which could one day be a vital and indispensible component of Nepali health care system. Good internet service is of the utmost importance to this service, because the entire telemedicine infrastructure is based on communication through internet. It is now up to the government to provide Patan Hospital as well as hospitals outside the valley with fast and efficient internet to ensure that telemedicine service is uninterrupted and reliable. It is our earnest wish that Patan Hospital can fulfill its ambition of expanding the service to more districts so that more and more Nepalis benefit from quality healthcare, something they have been denied for a long time. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54960 MULTI-PARTY SYSTEM “I authorized the General Election [in May 1959]. I agreed for multi-party democracy. I also served as the Head of Government [before the Election]. However, the Prime Minister chosen from the majority party [BP Koirala] installed his own people in the Cabinet. Suppose tomorrow you get the chance to become Prime Minister, you will probably do the same. But this way of running the government will create difficulties. Does only your party have good and capable people? Aren’t (sic) other parties also have such people? I, for one, think that good people can be found in all parties. Unfortunately, they [the ruling Congress Party leaders] do not view things this way. And, this is the reason I had to outlaw the multi-party system [after the Government was dismissed in December 1960]. I have taken this step with full conviction that doing so is in the best interest of the country.” [King Mahendra talking to communist leader Dr Keshar Jung Rayamajhi in1962 as quoted in Surjprasad Upadhaya: A Multi-Dimensional Personality, p. 67, Mahamunishwor Acharya, Editor (Kathmandu), July 2011] [break] The widely-held belief seems to be that King Mahendra dismissed the democratically-elected government of BP Koirala in 1960 to serve his dynastic interests, which was to reestablish monarchical rule interrupted by illegal seizure of power by Rana rulers more than a century ago. However, this particular view of the events may not be all true. This is so because King Mahendra knew that growing public awareness of Rana misrule and political campaign launched by nationalist Nepali Congress (NC) had spearheaded the political change of 1950 that helped restore monarchy. It was then evident that, as King, his power would be limited but he believed that he would continue to have a role in governing the country, especially when it occurred to him that country was headed in the wrong direction. More relevant to the events that later unfolded, as a Crown-Prince during the early 1950s King Mahendra had let his displeasure be known of the way political parties had been jockeying for power, which also meant that he wasn’t eager to embrace democracy if that encouraged divisions, strife, and conflict among parties to gain absolute control of government. He didn’t see how such a conflict-ridden system could be trusted to serve public interest when the leaders can be so absorbed in securing dominance and staying in power once they got there. King Tribhuvan sensed his son’s antidemocratic instincts which he genuinely believed were not in the long-term interest of monarchy—that monarchy must accept democracy and be guided by it, not the other way around or by envisioning an absolute monarchical rule. In fact, as BP recounted to me in one of the conversations in late 1970s, King Tribhuvan was so enraged by his son’s apparent hostility towards democracy that he would rather see his younger son, Prince Himalaya, become King, rather than Mahendra. However, BP advised the King differently—that if he deprived Mahendra from succeeding him on the throne, the inheritance would rightfully go to Mahendra’s eldest son and not to Prince Himalaya. This led King Tribhuvan to abandon his quest for changing the succession. True to his instincts, King Mahendra dismantled the multi-party democracy a few years after he ascended to the throne in 1956. He didn’t do so immediately and, reportedly, he got along with BP quite well and BP also viewed him favorably. In fact, prior to the 1959 election, the two of them had maintained such cordial relationship that BP used to dine with Royal Family at the Palace and was served meals cooked by Queen Ratna herself! What this closeness established was that King Mahendra respected BP as a public figure and he always believed that whichever way Nepal gets ruled, BP will involve him actively and seek his advice on issues of national interest. In other words, King Mahendra’s expectation of BP was that, whenever he came to power—of which Mahendra was quite certain—BP will not ignore him in the running of his administration. As it happened, things didn’t develop in this way when BP became Prime Minister in 1959, but that had less to do with his arrogance or dictatorial instincts. His sidelining the King while filling his Cabinet positions had more to do with the accepted democratic norm for which BP always looked at British and Scandinavian monarchies as models for Nepal. Looking back, then, BP could have saved himself, the democracy, and half a century of nation’s lost time if he had tried to have a better understanding of King Mahendra’s intentions and, as such, would have accommodated his ego. This would have been a win-win situation for everyone, with the tradition established for valuing cooperation and comradeship in the nation-building effort, relegating personal and party interests as second- or lower-level objectives. What the history then teaches us is to exercise discipline in the way we view our democratic freedom which begins with the right of dissent but with obligation to channelize our disagreements by forming groups and organizations of which, in the context of new democracies like Nepal, political parties seem to be the most dominant choice. However, like many things in a democracy, unrestricted freedom to establish political party can lead to abuses and give rise to diminishing returns, as all sorts of excessive binges are known to produce. What is then the right number of political parties for a country that will optimize social returns—in terms of the quality of governance and protection of democratic rights? Surprisingly, there is no agreement on the right number of parties to make a successful democracy but plain commonsense should tell us that a lower number is better, meaning that a fewer number of political parties will make democracy more manageable, more transparent, and more accountable. Also, the economic cost of sustaining democracy—providing for the party leaders and their workers—will be substantially lower with fewer parties. This is because, of all the professional groups politicians are deemed as least productive, measured by the benefits they are perceived to bring to society and cost they entail, in terms of the loss of productive efforts if so many people were not actively engaged in politics. Looking at the current line-up of 119 political parties registered for contesting the forthcoming CA election, we must have a sympathetic view of King Mahendra’s displeasure with multiparty democracy and his decision to outlaw it in favor of a partyless system—later labeled as guided democracy—which allowed individuals to be politically active and contest elections but without party labels. While we can debate ad infinitum about the merits and drawbacks of the partyless system, the immediate advantage from the change was a substantial reduction in political strife and improved security situation in the country. This provided an enabling environment for reaching agreements on long-term initiatives on flood control, national highway projects and a comprehensive land reforms program. Looking at the magnitude of consensus needed for the government to undertake this level of “transformative” initiatives, the issues could have been endlessly debated in a multi-party set-up without ever reaching agreement and sustaining it once the decision has been taken. Absence of progress on the Constitution and Government’s inability to come up with credible plans for improving electricity and water supply problems in Kathmandu Valley are examples of the failure of multiparty democracy and not that we lack vision or resources for doing the job. There is little doubt then that democracy can’t function in a situation when political landscape is overcrowded with hundred-plus parties having conflicting goals and ideologies. This doesn’t mean that we need to return to a one-party State but it also looks improbable that we can make a success of multi-party democracy in its current form. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54959 DISCRIMINATION AND CONSTITUTION Often the political elite try to convince people suffering from discrimination that the new constitution and federalism will remove all discriminations the morning after it is promulgated. Are they right? Can and will the new Constitution (if written) and federalism end all discriminations? Can and will the Constitution and federalism abolish our woes in the blink of an eye? Discrimination prevails in our society, implicitly as well as explicitly. “People being discriminated for decades are frustrated,” I hear elites say, but from what I see ‘frustration’ is an understatement. It goes deeper than that; it is bottomless. An elderly person not getting to sit on the ‘reserved’ seats in public buses, or a pregnant woman not getting fast access to public services may be frustrated. But being exiled in your own land is not frustration. Being publicly stripped and fed feces in accusation of being a witch is not frustration. Being denied primary education because you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth is not frustration. Being left with no choice but to drop out of school at an early age because it lacks women-friendly toilets is not frustration. Being told that you can never enter the temple of your God because you were born among the ‘untouchables’ is not frustration. Frustration it would be if the impact was ephemeral, but the impact of such discrimination lasts much longer than a mundane frustration would. It lasts till the day you stop breathing. tribune.com.pk Would the new constitution or federalism ward off such social evils in an instant? The simple answer is—No. Those extant wounds are too big to heal, and the Constitution and federalism are not even enough to stop new ones from forming. I am not trying to plant despair, and I am not against federalism. But the rhetoric used in political conversation often misrepresents federalism and the new constitution. Let’s start with the constitution. The Constitution of Kingdom of Nepal 1990 stated: “All citizens shall be equal before the law… The State shall not discriminate among citizens on the grounds of religion, race, sex, caste, tribe or ideological convictions or any of these… Any contravention of this provision shall be punishable by law.” This was the law of our land for 16 years. Then came the Interim Constitution which was one step ahead of the previous constitution. The Interim Constitution also clearly stated that discrimination on any ground is punishable, but it added a clause to explicitly address untouchability and racial discrimination. It has been six years since the Constitution has been in place, adding more than 22 years of so-called ‘democracy’ with two Constitutions that manifest discrimination as a punishable offense. But stories of discrimination are still making the front page. Our biggest problem to this date has been poor implementation. But even if it were implemented efficiently, I doubt the constitution would eradicate all discrimination. I believe the prevalence of the existing social discrimination demands more action than well-crafted legal words, because poor law, or even poor implementation, is not why discrimination still prevails. Instead, there are two major causes of discrimination—economic and psychological/social. A vast majority of economically underprivileged people (even within the same sex, caste or ethnicity) are more vulnerable to discrimination. In all probability, a Pariyar behind the steering wheel of a luxurious car will face less discrimination than a Pariyar working on the hand-wheel of a rusty sewing machine. A BK who manages to throw his hat and tassel up in the air to celebrate his graduation on a scorching day would face less discrimination than a parched BK spending long hours in front of his ‘aaran’. It would be no surprise to me if someone bowing before President Ram Baran Yadav disrespected a Madhesi pedaling his bike to sell pani-puri. Why? Discriminations depend on economic and social stature of person being discriminated against. The constitution cannot end such discrimination fueled by economic reasons. Also, there exists a visceral sense of superiority among the discriminators, mainly because of coercive social principles. There are ‘Brahmins’ who feel superior to ‘Dalits’, there are men who feel superior to women. The constitution can’t possibly say ‘Brahmins’ aren’t allowed to hate ‘Dalits’ or that ‘Brahmins’ should allow ‘Dalits’ into their kitchen. The constitution cannot force men to respect women. Although it can say that men cannot abuse women, disrespect transcends physical, verbal or psychological abuse. Well crafted and implemented law can make these discriminations less explicit, but it can’t eradicate them. The only solution is awareness among both discriminators and those who are being discriminated. Then why do we need a new constitution? One might ask. The simple answer would be to increase the scope of the definition used to describe ‘discrimination’ and to address specific discriminations (not addressed before) in a more concrete way. But to put it plainly, any one statement in the constitution will come short of addressing all forms of discriminations. Some might argue that federalism will fill in all the loopholes of the constitution. But just delineating our federal map is nowhere near enough to end discriminations. It is important to know what federalism will do. I see federalism as short term economic loss and social chaos, but long term economic and social gain. Short term economic loss because federalism requires adding human infrastructure and a mechanism to operate the states. Not to mention it also increases the vulnerability towards corruption in the short run. Short term social chaos because everybody will want a share of the pie instantaneously, but that is not possible. The idea of ‘me’ vs. ‘you’, ‘my ethnicity’ vs. ‘your ethnicity’ has already sprouted, and the odds are that it will burgeon. Long term economic gain because people will have more power over their resources, which is likely to increase overall economic output in long run. Long term social gain because it increases the likelihood of the public’s voice (especially voice of minorities and socially marginalized) getting the executive branch’s ear, which might mitigate the short term social chaos. I’m not sure if politicians are merely fooling us, or they are themselves baffled, but the means to ending discrimination in our society is neither federalism, nor the constitution. They are just foundations for building the means. The means to remove discrimination are economic empowerment and social awareness. We should not take the constitution and federalism as genies that will grant all our wishes. We cannot end discrimination until and unless everyone harbors the idea that it is in the best interest of humanity to create a society where deep-rooted aspirations of equality and freedom are fulfilled, a society where everyone would be on a level playing field where every person has respect and tolerance for another. And that takes more than a new constitution; it takes more than delineating our map. It needs a true transformation in our social and economic paradigm. The author has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering ganes.bhattarai@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54958 BUILDING SAFETY Kathmandu Valley attracts many people from outside the valley, placing substantial demands on living and working spaces. Floors are added to existing buildings, or are demolished or replaced by tall structures. Countless shrines, historical structures and building silently testify to historical earthquakes, fires and politics. As a result, Kathmandu Valley has changed rapidly. Uncontrolled urbanization, inadequate infrastructure, ineffective and incomplete building and land development codes have amplified public hazards and risks, but the understanding of the risks is as yet underdeveloped. For example, there is not much awareness in the Valley regarding the types of occupancy of buildings. “Occupancy” defines the use of a room or space in a building. A “mixed use or mixed occupancy building” is a building with rooms that can be used for different purposes. Change from one designated use to another is termed “change in use or occupancy”. Mixed use or mixed occupancy creates hazardous conditions, endangers occupants, diminishes public safety, and impacts living environment. But today, existing buildings, including historical buildings, are being used differently than originally intended. Existing residences are converted into restaurants, doctors’ clinics, apartments, educational institutions, nurseries, etc. While shops or restaurants occupy the ground floor, offices lease upper floors. Customers under signs reading “Momos” occupy window seats, beers in hand. Residents peek from upper floors. sensingarchitecture.com A walk from Ranipokhari via Kamalachhi to New Road will help understand the dangers and impacts of unmanaged “mixed use” on new, existing and historical structures. This route is lined with sites of historic importance like Annapurna, Ganesh and Agima temples in Asan, Hanumandhoka Durbar Square, Taleju Mandir, etc. Congested new buildings have replaced older structure along the route, creating a feeling of claustrophobia. Before spaces are converted or used for other purposes, non-structural and structural concerns that impact fire and earthquake safety need evaluation. The number of potential occupants based on use, dictate the hazards and calls for particular fire protection mechanisms, structural requirements and other safety features. Changes in fire protection requirements in structural systems impact structural safety. Increases in floor count and seismic loads impact foundation systems. Escape mechanisms for occupants may prove insufficient! Mitigation may require limitations on building area, height and location, additional fire protections, sprinkler systems, infrastructure improvements, etc. Mixed occupancy in existing and new buildings can be made viable and safe with planned infrastructure development, proactive fire-life and structural safety regulations, controlled use of spaces, and controlled hazardous flammable materials storage. State of the art methods of mitigation are available. Additional research is unnecessary. When Land Development Stakeholders remain silent on mixed use, unsafe environments are created, and fire events can result in devastating consequences. Judicious implementation of known mixed use or occupancy standards is recommended. The historic 1833 BS “Paltan Ghar” is in Asan. In 2012, a gas cylinder explosion in the ground floor, converted to a restaurant, created an inferno. Narrow alleys, inadequate infrastructure, and delayed water supply prolonged fire-fighting operations. This disaster exemplifies the impact of unmanaged mixed use. The tenants and landlords unknowingly created a mixed use or occupancy building through a change in use by converting the ground floor to a restaurant. Republica has reported on many recent fires: the Santungal-based LG Factory (Oct 14), Guheshwari, RB Home Concern (Oct 12), Annapurna Plywood Industry (Sep 22), City Center Fire (Aug 22) Civil Center Fire, and many others. These reports testify to the fact that the issue of occupancy is misunderstood and possibly ignored, where other countries have been known to learn from such accidents. In November 1942, a fire in Coconut Grove Nightclub in Boston killed 492 people. Subsequently, laws were developed and implemented to prevent loss of life and ensure safety. Mixed occupancy management, engineered fire protection systems, and adequate infrastructure development ensure safety. Public safety from man-made fire hazards and natural earthquakes can be controlled by proactive, timely inclusion of “mixed use” in Nepal National Building Code. Preventive pre-disaster mitigation, controlled through effective and appropriate codes, ensures public safety and diminishes potential suffering. Otherwise, occupants pay with loss of life, limb, property and livelihood. People, communities, and historical relics need protection from potential fires and earthquakes in buildings with mixed use or change in use. Destruction and devastation of “toles”, monuments and historical sites from man-made and natural disasters provide a learning experience to plan, salvage and rebuild the valley. The following questions should be asked when navigating the narrow corridors of Kathmandu Valley lined with national historic and heritage sites, structures and buildings. Are firefighters trained and fire engines equipped for Kathmandu’s current realities? Shouldn’t Kathmandu’s fire stations, essential emergency facilities, be upgraded to modern earthquake and fire resistance standards? Can national treasures be protected and preserved from potential fires, earthquakes and man-made hazards? Can “chowks” be designed as staging locations during emergencies to ensure public safety? The author is a California-licensed professional engineer and visiting faculty at KU http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54917 RPP unity convention There is a unique if expected element to the ongoing ‘unity convention’ between the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP) at Bhrikutimandap in the heart of Kathmandu: It is hard to find many young faces among the gathering masses. Expected because very little about these two parties resonates with the youth (roughly, the 16-40 age cohort), which, at 40 percent of the total population, will play a decisive role in the outcome of the new CA polls. On the far left, the incendiary rhetoric of UCPN (Maoist) and CPN-Maoist can still pull huge masses. It helps that UCPN (Maoist) has managed to put together a vast war chest of resources by leveraging its clout as the largest party. Madheshis of all persuasions naturally gravitate towards the new forces that have emerged since the 2007 Madheshi Uprising. Nepali Congress and CPN-UML still retain their appeal as the ‘moderate’ democratic forces. On the far right, Kamal Thapa-led RPP (Nepal) finds strong adherents among those nostalgic about monarchy and the Hindu state. [break] In this situation, the new RPP faces an existential crisis. The merger of the two former Pancha forces is likely to have a limited impact on the unified party’s electoral prospects. Most voters who are unhappy with post-2006 changes are likely to vote for RPP (Nepal), which has a clear and unambiguous pro-monarchy, pro-Hindu message. In contrast, people will find it hard to place RPP along the political spectrum. It seems to favor a republican order, but its idea of a federal Nepal is so narrow that it might not be able to properly adjust to the republican spirit. It claims to have moved beyond monarchy, but is cagey about declaring itself a secular force. And its nebulous claim to be a strong alternative ‘democratic force’ is meaningless (Which party in Nepal does not claim strong democratic credentials?) There are other mitigating factors. The reluctance of the fast-aging, feuding leaders to delegate powers has also been very damaging to the new party’s image. At the ongoing general convention, the intended message of ‘unity’ was entirely lost as the quartet of top leaders decided to ‘rotate’ party presidency among themselves, rather than trust one person with the responsibility of leading it into new CA polls. There was feuding even to settle the new party’s name! The new party is now expected to enter into electoral alliances with ‘likeminded democratic forces’, which apparently means the likes of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML. Yes, such an alliance is always possible, but at present it is hard to see how such a working coalition can benefit any of its constituents. Can NC and UML be seen to be working hand-in-glove with former Panchas even as they claim to be ushering in a new era of change? And, in any case, why will people vote for RPP if it cannot distinguish itself from NC and UML? Politics makes for strange bedfellows, and the new RPP might still spring a few surprises with a perfect marriage of convenience in the polls. But at present it is extremely hard to see how it can carve out a niche for itself when it cannot even clearly articulate what it stands for. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54916 Similarities between political trajectories of Nepal and Pakistan after 1960s have been striking. Closely following in the footsteps of Martial Law Administrator General Ayub Khan, King Mahendra dismissed a government with two-thirds majority in the parliament, assumed all authority and introduced the Nepali version of Pakistan’s “Grassroots Democracy” in the name of Panchayat. Fall of Dacca and independence of Bangladesh probably precipitated the heart attack that claimed Mahendra’s life in Chitwan. Immediate provocation for the return of BP Koirala to Nepal was the hardening of Indian establishment’s attitude towards Nepali Congress. Soviet adventures in Afghanistan also influenced his decision. However, the rise of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto may have emboldened him to take the life-threatening risk of returning to the country and facing charges of treason. Relationship with political developments in Pakistan partly explains the dread-fueled student’s agitation in Kathmandu in the wake of Bhutto’s hanging in 1979, which forced King Birendra to declare the Referendum. Koirala accepted the monarch’s offer unconditionally because he saw the futility of opposition under prevailing geo-strategic environment. coromandal.wordpress.com Reasons behind dismissal of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on charges of incompetence and corruption and the mysterious rise of Nawaz Sharif in 1991 remains as yet unexplained. What is known however is that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had socialistic leaning and relatively ‘secular’ outlook. Immediately upon assumption of office, Sharif pushed Pakistan further to the right by announcing market rather than people friendly policies and incorporated Islamic Shariah into the national legal code. Parallels between Musharrafship in Pakistan and Royal-Military Regime (RMR) of Chairman Gyanendra are too recent to need recounting. Suffice it to say that both based their adventures upon the dubious Doctrine of Necessity, an archaic theory of political science rehabilitated by the courts of Pakistan in 1950s. Little wonder, “the bloodiest election in Pakistan’s history” and its “first democratic transfer of power” created so much interest among Nepalis everywhere. A Pakistani academic monitoring social media from the West noted that the most apposite pre-poll prognosis had been offered by an Afghanistan-based Nepali journalist Subel Bahadur (Former The Week editor Subel Bhandari): “PTI will surprise. PML-N might lead. PPP disappointment, ANP suffering continue. MQM same-same. Judic will flex muscle. Army wins.” It’s the most succinct statement about the permanence of the Establishment in Pakistan, which consists, among others, of the clannishness of Khans, full-spectrum dominance of Punjab, weaknesses of secularists, neglect of the marginalized, limitations of long-distance politics, influence of bureaucracy and judiciary, and the supreme authority of the armed forces. Pakistan is not free of foreign interference, but as in Nepal, they make their moves through local playing pieces: rooks, knights, bishops, and pawns are invariably ‘nationalists’ of various colors. There is one crucial difference between politics of Pakistan and Nepal, however. The extremist in the land of the ‘pure’ are called Mullahs. The country of the ‘brave’ has its Marxists, Leninists and Maoists. Both name their chauvinism and xenophobia nationalism. Power games The de jure and de facto players of power are rarely, if ever, the same. In terms of authority, the office of the President of the United States is akin to an elected but absolute monarchy. The real power, however, is often exercised by an “Iron Triangle” consisting of the military, the industry and a clutch of powerbrokers and lobbyists. Influential players exit and enter with change in circumstances, but the hold of Zaibatsu over Japan continues unabated. The Chaebols of South Korea determine whether they need a strongman or a popular personality to lead the country. Common to all these players of power is a strong sense of ethnicity. Money matters, but nationalism is the playfield of dominant ethnicity. If that were not so, Jews—the most integrated, cultured and ‘Germanized’ of all minorities would have controlled Europe and Marwaris would be collectively running Nepal. Polls in Pakistan have shown that ethnicity is increasingly becoming the main determinant of political outcome in multi-ethnic societies. Despite the buzz in the social media and even though he speaks no Pashto and was born in Lahore, Imran is a Pashtun Khan and slated to reign over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As Punjabi and representative of 60 percent population of the country, Sharif would rule Pakistan. The Sindh has once again placed its faith in a third generation Bhutto-Jardari. It is natural for the armed forces to claim that they are the only uniting factor in a diverse nation. The most influential instrument of power is the army, which throws away any regime that refuses to do its bidding. Visionary leaders recognize this reality and rarely mess with the armed forces. Hazy legitimacy It’s not just in democracy; even absolute monarchs rule in the name of the people. They claim the consent of the governed on the basis of mandate of heaven. Evocation of tradition, along with coercion, persuasion and deception, are established ways of claiming legitimacy. Autocratic regimes rely mainly on coercion and deception. Democracies depend primarily upon persuasion but seldom shy away from making use of deception or coercion whenever its existence is threatened. A hybrid regime has nothing more than deception to maintain its hold over power until it succeeds in delivering promised results and persuading people of its reason for existence. The IC Chairman Khil Raj Regmi is heading a quintessentially hybrid regime. It can’t be called democratic by any stretch of imagination: It’s neither representative nor accountable and is not responsible towards anyone save the conscience of individual members. Formed through extra-constitutional maneuvering, it can be ousted only through similar manipulations, mass movement, a revolution, or a coup d’état. And yet it has found widespread acceptability in the country. The reason perhaps lies in the impression that the IC has full backing of the largest organized force in Nepal: The Nepali Army. After the fall of monarchy, the army has become the new holy cow. Pointing fingers at India and invoking specters of Bhutanization and Sikkimization is intellectually lazy but culturally correct and proper. After all, anti-Indian posturing is the sine qua non of Nepali nationalism: Outbursts of UML rank and file and its affiliates in the neo-bourgeois society are symptomatic of all-pervasive vacuous patriotism. Blaming President Ram Baran Yadav is even easier. A Madheshi is invariably the fist scapegoat that Gorkhalis find to release their collective guilt. Cursing leaders of political parties is the second habit of White Shirts and social entrepreneurs behind Astroturf Movements that have little or no connection with the grassroots. Overworked and underpaid (sometimes unpaid) scribes love to wallow in the muck of mutual mudslinging. The army had no need to offer where it stood in la’affaire Lokman Singh Karki. Wild card In their weaker moments, democratic governments after 1990s helped form a Frankenstein in the form of Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). In deeply unequal societies like Pakistan and Nepal, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and CIAA merely add another layer to entrenched corruption. They are however extremely useful in hitting out at real or perceived opponents of the Permanent Establishment. On the charges of holding Akoot Sampati (Literally, untaxed income), almost anybody of some means and any connection with the government at anytime in the past can be arrested and made to endure grilling that is believed to ignite “hypertension, diabetes, heart problem and depression” simultaneously. Everyone in politics, bureaucracy and businesses are possible suspects. Elections have to be held sooner or later. It’s not difficult to guess that the PEON will benefit immensely from all pre-poll maneuvering. Subel’s prognosis is correct. In xenophobic and militarized societies, the army always wins. Everything else is divertissement. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54915 OBSTACLE TO DEMOCRACY Politics comes as an appendage to almost everything in Nepal. Either we almost never tried to separate it from the rest, or it is just the way politics runs in a country inflicted with poverty, illiteracy and corruption, which every decade is witness to a revolution. Looking back at the revolutions, it seems the Nepali citizens’ or revolutionaries’ mandates for the revolution were always obscure. Many people blindly supported a few people who rose to the ranks of leaders, and those few people fed their power hungry strategies through the masses’ blood and toil. As a citizen, I thought it was a matter of national shame that Chairman of UCPN(Maoist), the largest political party of the country, Pushpa Kamal Dahal—confessed on a program on May 8, 2013 in Kathmandu that the destructive methods and definitions of patriotism his party had followed and preached during the revolution was the wrong way to go. Coming after 16 years since the start of the armed-insurgency, the death of about 15,000 people, and the toppling of almost a dozen governments, the statement only serves to illustrate the perfunctory politics, without any solid agenda and vision, which runs in our country. Ever since I became aware of Nepal’s politics, members and leaders of every party have been continuously changing their statements about their party’s mission and vision. Conflicting statements and behaviors from different members of the same political party have become old news in Nepal. [break] Such conflicting and questionable acts were again evident in and after the appointment of Lokman Singh Karki as chief Commissioner of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). He was appointed based on the recommendations of some leaders of the major parties. To appoint a man who doesn’t meet the required qualifications for a post, and who was, moreover, accused of carrying out unlawful activities several times in the past, to such a respectable and responsible post signifies the failure of our legal, political, democratic and bureaucratic system. In Nepal, this isn’t the first instance of people being appointed to responsible posts in constitutional bodies based on mere political recommendations. It has become a kind of norm for any newly formed government to fire existing employees from their high-held-posts and appoint its henchmen in their place. This political puppetry is condemnable in many ways, but mainly so because it has almost killed the notion of meritocracy in Nepal. When meritocracy is questioned, it shakes the very foundations of bureaucracy. Not only does it appoint inappropriate fits for the post, but also kills people’s faith in the institution. european-network-of-political-foundations.eu When political institutions of the country lack competition, or get involved in a tug of power-war, or lack a visionary lead, or form a political syndicate (to avoid objections to political influence over bureaucracy), then political patronage begins to flourish in bureaucracy. Since bureaucracy is a public body which should function independent of political powers, it is also an institution that indicates the level of good governance in a country. Due to the lack of meritocracy in bureaucracy, and the increasing influence of extractive political institutions, Nepal has lost its credibility as a well-functioning government. If such unhealthy practices are not pruned from the roots, Nepal will lose face in the International Community. Politicians’ and political institutions’ rent-seeking in bureaucracy is also a serious problem to democracy. In representative democracy, people have voting rights to chose a few men/women whom they trust with running the government or keeping the government on track from the opposition. Basically, whoever wins the election and enters the legislative and executive body of the country is accountable and responsible towards the whole of the country’s population. We see such accountability in the elected representatives of many countries. But that is when good, ethical and moral people are elected. When demons run (read ruin) the election and win it, the picture changes. When people vote and elect any particular leader in representative democracy, they also transform their rights and duties to those elected. It is the duty of elected ones to work for the causes of the whole voting mass. Democracy requires any bill/ law/ decision to be put to vote before being implemented by the government. Nepal currently is devoid of a Parliament, which would have given the provision of public hearing before nominating people to important posts. When political institutions form a syndicate to take any decision, the provision of putting things to vote loses its significance. With such failures of elected leaders’ performances, staged acts by the government, or misuse of concentrated powers by certain minorities, the ethos of democracy is killed. The institutionalization of such acts transforms into demon-cracy instead. The recent examples of bureau-craziness in Nepal are the results of sheltering and fostering demon-cracy practices in the country. While the limbo state of the country explains some aspects of such practices, it can’t be an excuse to let them run wild. Fighting such practices is challenging in a representative democracy. One of the best ways to fight such tumors is installing public watch dog approaches in society. Rather than just talking about problems in a tea shop, the public must voice their opinions and dissatisfaction to a wider, and possibly global audience. There is also a need to prepare a report card of politicians and bureaucrats regarding their activities, speeches, involvements among other things so that the public gets to know their motives, beliefs, goals and their overall professional character. The media can be extremely helpful in maintaining such report cards. One example is the PolitiFact-Truth-O-Meter program run by American news channel CNN. These are exemplary approaches that media houses (and other aware citizens) can undertake to warn and awake the politicians and public likewise. Such approaches give vital information about the people who are or will be in prominent positions in the country, which will be critical while making hard choices. These awareness practices increase the practical wisdom of the citizens, and in the long run, increase the accountability and credibility of the politicians. So, until and unless our politics and bureaucracy cleanse themselves, these approaches could be the best bets to fight the existing demon-cracy and bureau-crazy. The author is an Economics graduate with an interest in Public Policy barshaaa@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54914 SETTING OF CLIMATE MILDSTONE May 9, 2013 was declared to be the day of climate milestone after the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere exceeded 400 parts per million (ppm). This was the first time that the daily readings reached 400 ppm since two teams of scientists at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii started measuring the level of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere 55 years ago. Not just in 55 years, but scientists say that this is the highest level of CO2 since Pliocene—the geological era between three to five million years ago, when human civilization did not even exist in this planet. [break] The two teams of scientists, one from US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, have been measuring the CO2 level at Mauna Loa since 1958. NOAA wrote on its website that the daily average of May 9 was 400.03 ppm, and soon the Scripps team confirmed this data. Talking to The New York Times, Pieter P Tans, who looks after the monitoring program at NOAA, remarked: “It symbolizes that so far we have failed miserably in tackling this problem.” Environmentalists and climate activists definitely agree to this statement. rawstory.com History of CO2 levels National Geographic News mentions on its website that the last time the concentration of the Earth’s main greenhouse gas reached this mark, horses and camels lived in the high Arctic. Seas were at least 30 feet higher—at a level that today would inundate major cities around the world. The planet was about 2 to 3 degrees Celsius warmer, but the Earth then was in the final stage of a prolonged greenhouse epoch, and CO2 concentrations were on their way down. This time, 400 ppm is a milepost on a far more rapid uphill climb toward an uncertain climate future. Before the industrial revolution, the average level of CO2 was about 280 ppm. In the records of these independent research institutes, the CO2 level was 315 ppm in the year 1958 when they started monitoring. It had reached 382 in 2005. Since late April the number had been stuck at around 399 ppm, the increase which set a milestone this May. The rate of increase accelerated to around 0.7 ppm per year in the late 1950s, which increased to 2.1 ppm per year during the last 10 years. Causes George Monbiot mentions in a piece in The Guardian newspaper that the source of the problem is the use of fossil fuels. He writes, ‘the problem is simply stated: the power of the fossil fuel companies is too great. Among those who seek and obtain high office are people characterized by a complete absence of empathy or scruples, who will take money or instructions from any corporation or billionaire who offers them, and then defend those interests against the current and future prospects of humanity.” Moreover, the problem is with the major failure of developed nations—not excluding developing nations with booming economies—who have been reluctant towards fulfilling their duties towards a better world. While the international community hopes these nations will come up with a concrete outcome, each time a global conference is held, the results are frustrating. The most anticipated COP 15 (Copenhagen Conference) termed ‘Hopenhagen’, failed to make countries commit to countering climate change. Copenhagen accord, which was drafted by the United States, India, Brazil, China and South Africa, was just ‘taken note of’, but not ‘adopted’, and was not passed unanimously. Although the accord recognized climate change as one of the biggest threats to the world and mentioned that action should be taken to control average temperature rise to be below 2 °C, the document was not legally binding, and thus does not commit any country to it. Similarly, Kyoto Protocol, which had a little success in its first commitment period from 2008-2012, failed in its second commitment period, which is between 2013 and 2020. This document was amended in 2012 in order to continue the commitment of several countries, but it has not yet entered legal action. Moreover, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan have already stated that they may withdraw from their commitment, and Japan, Russia and New Zealand have not set their targets for the second period, though they had participated in the first period. Sadly, Canada withdrew the Protocol and USA has not yet rectified the protocol. Way ahead With these frustrating pieces of news, it is definite that the level of CO2 in the atmosphere might rise to 450 ppm very soon. At present, campaigns such as 350.org, which have been raising their voice for 350 ppm to be the upper limit of CO2 level, are being termed ‘over ambitious’. However, such activism is the most promising step in the present context, where states have been reluctant to make commitments and take action to fend off the dark future which is soon to come. Founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben states “We’re in new territory for human beings—it’s been millions of years since there’s been this much carbon in the atmosphere. The only question now is whether the relentless rise in carbon can be matched by a relentless rise in the activism necessary to stop it.” The nonbinding document “The Future We Want” from Rio+20 Conference held in 2012 provides a thin ray of hope. But with this recent setting of the milestone at 400 ppm, there is an immediate need for governments and leaders to analyse the alarming issues and come up with a strong commitment and actions. The alarm is ringing, and the power to stop it and bring about climate justice is in human hands. The author is an enthusiast of climate change and environmental issues prayash.koirala@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54865 Inclusion in political parties An inclusive society is a beautiful concept. What could be better than people of all casts and castes living in harmony and collectively contributing to the establishment of a progressive society? The problem is that there is no perfectly inclusive society anywhere in the world, although some places like the United States which was built by immigrants from diverse backgrounds, come close. Such an inclusive society is still more uncommon in the Third World, which has its own set of challenges that militate against an inclusive, multicultural and multiethnic society. In relatively poor Nepal with great socio-cultural and ethnic diversity, the challenge can seem insurmountable. But that is no reason not to try, for even a small measure of success could have big ramifications on the establishment of a peaceful and prosperous Nepal. The ushers for this change have to be the political parties, the articulators of people’s needs and aspirations. No matter how hard the project might seem at the outset, it is upon them to make people believe that a measure of inclusion is possible in the new federal democratic republic. But when the same political parties that don’t tire of talking about inclusion of dalits, janajatis, women and Madheshis practice exclusion, it is very hard to sell ‘inclusion’ to common people. Despite their avowed stands, most of Nepal’s political parties can hardly be called inclusive. The main decision making bodies of all three of the country’s biggest parties—UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and CPN-UML—continue to be dominated by Brahmins and Chhetris, who make up 50 to 60 percent of the bodies and hold almost all powerful posts. In UCPN (Maoist), the Party Headquarters does not have a single woman, Dalit or Madhesi representative. All 10 of UML Standing Committee members are from Brahmin or Chhetri communities. The situation in Nepali Congress is no better, as most of its top posts are also occupied by the so-called upper castes. Similar exclusionary trends can be seen in the Tarai-based parties, most of which are dominated by personality cults. The common trend is for the leader to enlist his community members to fill up important posts. For instance, the central committee of MJF (Nepal) led by Upendra Yadav is dominated by Yadavs, who make up 43.9 percent of all CC members. The gender balance is equally skewed. UCPN (Maoist) central committee has only 13.56 percent women representatives, which is less than the percentage of women representatives in central committees of NC (21. 25 percent) and UML (18.26 percent), the parties that the Maoists tend to mock as ‘status quoist’. But even these traditional forces fall woefully short of meeting their avowed commitment to gender balance: UML Party Constitution provisions for 33 percent women in its central committee; only 18.26 percent are represented. One of the biggest reasons for this skewed picture is the reluctance of the old male-dominated order to make way for the new. UML Vice Chairman Bamdev Gautam, for instance, feels that the reason UML has so few women and dalit/janajati leaders is because “there is not a single woman capable of handling the leadership…” and “Brahmins and Chhetries make more capable leaders…” So long as such strong stereotypes guide policymaking, there is little hope of meaningful change. For such a change, people’s representatives should be willing to rise above their prejudices and push through measures that will go beyond the existing socio-cultural boundaries. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54864 DIABETES Diabetes is a progressive disease that can cause blindness, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and death if not managed properly. It not only kills its victims but also causes avoidable pain and suffering to their family members and a huge loss to the national economy. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), currently 347 million people have diabetes in the world. Of them, 80 percent live in low-and middle-income countries. In 2011, 4.6 million people died of diabetes-related complications, which constituted 2.17 percent of the total deaths. By 2030, diabetes could, WHO estimates, be the seventh leading cause of death.[break] Research suggests that people from South Asia are at an elevated risk of diabetes, especially Type 2. A combination of genetic, environmental and dietary factors contributes to it. South Asian food, which is high in refined carbohydrates, is a main contributor to diabetes. Increasingly sedentary lifestyle, particularly in urban areas, has been adding fuel to the flame. WHO statistics show that India has the highest number of diabetics in the world, followed by China and the United States. Around 40 million Indians are estimated to have the disease now. That number could double by 2030. In Pakistan, according to surveys, 7.7 to 11 percent of the population have diabetes. In Bangladesh, more than 12 percent people are diabetic or pre-diabetic. footage.shutterstock.com In Nepal, the number of people having diabetes is estimated to be between 436,000 (WHO) and two million (Third Diabetes Conference, Kathmandu, 2013). The cause of such disparity is that there has been no reliable survey. As in other countries, Nepal’s urban areas have higher prevalence rates as compared to rural areas. What is diabetes? Called madhumeha in Ayurveda, diabetes is a metabolic syndrome resulting in a high sugar level in blood. It can be caused either when the pancreas, agnyasaya in Ayurveda, fails to produce enough insulin or when the body cells become resistant to it. We need sugar, known as glucose after digestion of the food we eat, to keep us alive and moving. It is to our body what petrol is to a car. However, this sugar causes diabetes when we have more of it than necessary. The level of sugar increases in our bloodstream when we eat food. The pancreas, which is located behind the stomach, releases insulin to transport sugar from bloodstream to body muscles and other tissues so that it is converted to energy or stored in the liver and muscle cells for future use. However, if the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or our muscles and tissues do not respond to insulin produced by it, sugar remains unabsorbed, making a person diabetic. Type of diabetes Type 1, Type 2, and gestational diabetes are most common forms of diabetes. Generally, children and young adults have Type 1 diabetes. However, it can be found at any age. Type 1 diabetes generally manifests itself when our own body’s immune system destroys the ability of the pancreas to produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is the most common. It is strongly associated with older age, genetic disposition, obesity, and sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle. Less prevalent among children in the past, it has surprisingly become a major problem for them now, especially in the developed world. The main culprit, it is believed, is junk or fast food. Gestational diabetes affects women during their pregnancy. It normally disappears after childbirth. However, 40 to 60 percent women having this problem could develop Type 2 diabetes later in life. Apart from these, there are other types of diabetes as well. For instance, Latent Autoimmune Diabetes (LADA) has symptoms of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and about 10 percent diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes suffer from it. Neonatal diabetes mellitus (NDM) and maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) affect children and adolescents. Often, genetic defect in insulin action, diseases of the pancreas, infections, medications, and chemicals cause such diabetes. Symptoms and effects Excessive passage of urine, especially at night (polyuria), excessive thirst and dry mouth, excessive hunger (polyphagia), high blood sugar (hyperglycemia), blurred vision, weight loss, abnormal skin sensation (paresthesias), sores that do not heal, and fatigue are the main symptoms of diabetes. Some of these symptoms could be associated with other diseases as well. Therefore, when such symptoms appear, we must have a thorough check up to determine if the patient has diabetes or some other disease. If diabetes goes undiagnosed, the patient will have to pay a high price, including disability or sudden death. Diabetes can affect our health colossally giving us a high level of pain and distress. If not controlled, this disease can affect primarily the eyes, heart, kidneys, feet and reproductive system. It can affect our eyes with diabetic retinopathy damaging the retina and making us blind. It can also cause serious heart attack and stroke, affecting the heart and blood vessels. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), heart attack and stroke are the major causes of diabetes-related deaths. Diabetes can result in total kidney failure which requires either dialysis or kidney transplantation. It can also create nerve diseases; damage the toes, feet and lower limbs; and may lead to ulceration and sometimes amputation. Diabetes could also cause impotency. The national economy suffers due to the victim’s decreased productivity and untimely death and increased health costs. Treatment Sadly, there is no cure for diabetes. However, diabetes can be controlled and managed. Diabetes management includes medication and appropriate lifestyle, including a healthy diet reasonably free of sugar and fat content, light exercise and adequate sleep. The management goal should always be to avoid or alleviate diabetes-related complications. Medication helps control diabetes. Before prescribing medicine, the general practitioner (GP) should always carefully assess the patient’s condition and choose one or multiple medicine/s depending on the assessment. Merely prescribing conventional and most popular medicine could further aggravate the patient’s condition. If necessary, the GP, who is not a specialist, should refer the patient immediately to a diabetes specialist for urgent care and attention. Otherwise the consequences could be disastrous, even fatal. Unfortunately, in Nepal, patients are seldom referred to qualified diabetes specialists/consultants. Medicine must be supplemented by healthy diet, some exercise, and adequate sleep. A qualified dietician can prescribe a healthy diet that goes a long way in mitigating the problems associated with diabetes and prolonging the victim’s lifespan. But in Nepal, there is shortage of properly qualified dieticians. Unqualified dieticians can only exacerbate the patient’s condition. Likewise, the exercise and sleep regime should be tailored to the patient’s specific condition. Too much or too little exercise or sleep could lead to avoidable pain, illness, and even untimely death. But all too often, patients in Nepal do not consult qualified exercise and sleep therapists to find out what is best for them and harm themselves with the wrong type and amount of exercise and sleep. As diabetes is on the rise worldwide, more so in South Asia, including Nepal, it must be tackled with the urgency it deserves. The government of Nepal should, therefore,recognize diabetes as a national health issue and launch a campaign against this fast-growing scourge before it assumes catastrophic proportions. It should invest in developing a workforce of doctors, dieticians and trainers specialized in treating and managing diabetes and encourage patients, through education and awareness programs, to lead a healthy lifestyle and seek timely help. Timely and appropriate action by the patients and government will prevent a diabetes catastrophe, help patients lead a reasonably good and long life, minimize pain and distress for the victims’ family, and mitigate the burden of this silent killer on the national economy. Sharma is former foreign secretary and Khadka, an expert in diabetes, currently manages an Indigenous Medical Specialist Project at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Melbourn http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54863 Even if domestic revenue is inadequate, the government needs to pay for recurrent expenses, including salaries to its employees, at any cost. Also, the peoples’ demands for development cannot be ignored even at the time of revenue crunch, which means that the government is always in need of cash. In such times, the government normally goes for the option of raising funds through domestic and international borrowing. In short term, such loans work as a source of deficit financing, but if the borrowed fund cannot be utilized properly, the country might enter a debt trap. Fortunately, our government has been able to pay at least the recurrent expenditure from its domestic revenue. A small portion of development expenditure is also financed domestically, in the form of matching funds on foreign aid-funded projects. Debt is limited to 5 percent of GDP, and cumulative debt is below one third of GDP. Nepal has a good image in the international community in terms of repayment of principal and interest on foreign loans. Also, donors have converted many debts into grants.[break] Despite all this, the government should not prefer loans to domestic revenue. Loan should be the least preferred option of financing. To upkeep the national economy, increasing tax coverage and compliance should always be the government’s top priority. Debt should be used only after optimum mobilization of domestic revenues. In order to achieve this, reducing tax evasion and increasing tax should precede raising loans. Tax evasion is normal in every country, but efficient governments can keep evasion to a minimum. There is a great question mark on the efficiency of our government in this regard. The Department for Investigating Money Laundering (DIMI) has been investigating the properties of hundreds of individuals on the premises that these properties could have been accumulated by deceiving the government—without paying tax. A lot of property has no clear source. There is another government unit, Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI), and also IRD’s own investigation unit which should be looking into these issues. Ignoring the presence of these institutional mechanisms, businesspersons have been able to make money using fake VAT invoices, and individuals liable to pay taxes are still out of income tax net. The government is raising loans from both domestic and foreign sources. At the same time, some individuals are generating properties with a monetary value of more than the amount of loan that the government is raising for deficit financing. We are generating loan because we are unable to collect the receivables, which is not justifiable. Besides these problems, there is another dark side to national revenue. We have a regressive tax base. More than two-thirds of our domestic revenue comes from indirect sources i.e. VAT, Custom and excise duties. In Nepal, indirect taxes are import based: Tax increases only with trade imbalance or huge imports. These taxes are to be paid by normal people. These are imposed equally on every class of people. Indirect taxes are costs for the people, as they increase the price of goods and services, resulting in inflation. Inflation is equivalent to tax imposed on the poor. Therefore, it is both important and urgent to change the tax structure, apportioning larger contribution to sustainable sources. Unless a direct and progressive tax becomes dominant on the domestic tax base, there will always remain a serious threat to national economy. Income tax can be one of the major direct taxes. Data source: Economic Survey 2011/12, MOF Income tax is imposed on incomes and profits. Profit tax on business or investment is imposed on the net income after deducting all allowable cash and non-cash expenses, while tax on individuals’ remuneration is to be paid on income above the exemption limit as per the provision of prevailing law. Income tax is imposed only to those individuals or companies with taxable income or profit. Thus, income tax has been accepted as the most progressive tax. Income tax has been accepted as the best fiscal instrument to use by democratic countries for redistribution of national resources and creation of just and equitable society. In developed nations, income tax is normally among the top contributors of domestic revenue, followed by other direct taxes. But in Nepal, income tax contributes to only about 20 percent of total domestic revenue and below 25 percent of total tax revenue. Study reports say that up to 40 percent of our economy is shadow economy, which is beyond the ambit of income tax. If underground economy could be brought on record, there is scope of increasing income tax by a good percentage so that it could become a larger contributor without increasing economic activities. One of the objectives of three years plan 2010/11-2012/13 is to make VAT the top contributor. Annual taxation policy, which comes up with a consolidated fiscal policy of government, has also been in line with the same medium-term plan. This is a transitional objective which might help to maintain fiscal position in the short run, but it ignores other important national objectives. VAT can be increased only by increasing imports or the cost of goods and services. This ignores efficiency and effectiveness in production, or value addition and distribution on the part of producers. Income tax increases with increased output or income of the private sector and individuals. It is the symptom of increased total and per capita domestic revenue. Income tax can, for now, be increased by increasing tax coverage or discouraging tax evasion, and in the long run, if priority to income tax is backed up by the government’s investment in the productive sector, both economic transformation and generation of larger revenue from sustainable source will be possible. The government’s preference should shift from loan to, tax and from indirect to direct tax or income tax. It is time the objective of making income tax the top contributor was included in the next periodic plan, so that we will be on the right track to having a sustainable revenue source and achieving an equitable distribution and redistribution of national resources. The author is Program Manager at Freedom Forum anirudra.neupane@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54862 Individualism Economic development, freedom and ability to pursue one’s interests are important features of individualism. Although Nepal is considered one of the most liberalized countries in South Asia, Nepali society is highly collectivist in nature. A significant proportion of individuals in Nepal do not have confidence to accept personal responsibility for their successes and failures. They subordinate their interests and actions to the group’s interests and actions. They try to get rid of unnecessary challenges and wish to live placidly. Nepali society is in dire need of transformation from a collective mode of thinking to an individualistic one. Until now, Nepali politicians have exploited Nepali individuals’ collective priorities. Collectivism in Nepal has helped change the political regime, but has not helped Nepal gain a strong stance in diplomatic affairs and socio-economic matters.[break] In whatever way possible, Nepali politicians/parties want to control the government. Politicians prioritize power politics over national economy, society, and livelihood of people. Individuals have not been able to feel the presence of the state, bad politics has made the state invisible in Nepal. I argue that it is Nepali individuals’ prioritizing collectivism that is pushing country backwards in socio-economic terms. vous-y-etes.com Until now, democracy, economic growth and development have been rhetorically used by state and politicians, even though these are also the priorities of Nepali people. Election is considered to be an important component of democracy. In every election, politicians exploit community leaders to garner votes. Community leaders have much control over individuals in their group or community. Thus, it is the voice of community leaders, rather than that of individuals, that reaches the state through elections. As a result, individuals suffer. In the long term, rising dissatisfaction among individuals creates a new group that rises against the state. But the cycle continues, as few individuals benefit from a collectivist society. It will be useless to form federal states based on collectivism, whether ethnic or otherwise, unless there is sufficient space for individuals to thrive. Individuals are highly mobile. They are always in search of better opportunities. Often this leads to migration, within state or outside. A group of individuals cannot be expected to be confined to a certain territory. Thus, individuals should also be prioritized in the state restructuring process. Individualism also helps in regulating the democratic system. Individuals are more aware of political, social and economic developments in the country because it affects their individual initiatives. Individual mandate reaches the state, though not sufficiently, through election, as they decide on candidates based on their intelligence. This will help in guiding the democracy and politics of the country. In terms of economic growth and development, individualism will produce a way out for the present poor growth rate. In an individualistic system, people are more competitive, creative and innovative. Occupations are also diversified, because individuals have varied interests, and they come up with innovative ideas. Innovation and diversification of occupations will help Nepal thrive in world economics. However, Nepali society imposes a lot of rules for common benefits, which consequently hampers the individual’s creativity, productivity and competitiveness to compete in world economy. Individuals are competitive only when they have better access to education and health. Individuals in return contribute to state and society in terms of higher economic output, employment, taxes, and so on. However, our society prefers that schools teach things that are acceptable in society. Parents and society impose rules about what to do, what not to do, and even what to think and not think. Children in Nepal do not learn how to think. This hampers their competitiveness and creativity potentials. That is the reason why the literacy rate of Nepal has improved but individualism and socio-economic issues have not. Furthermore, certificate-oriented education of most of individuals restricts innovation and creativity. As a result, the state has to create employment opportunities for those individuals again. As Nepal’s market cannot absorb them all, many people migrate abroad. More problematic is that the educated youth residing within the country neither want to work in agricultural field, nor have sufficient skills to find a job or to create their own venture. Politicians leverage Nepalis’ priority of collectivism to exploit such educated individuals and thus maintain their legitimacy over the state. They use unemployed or underemployed individuals within the country in party affiliated youth associations and student associations. Furthermore, government offices have been overstaffed to increase party influence over society. With such hiring, efficiency and technological advancement in bureaucracy and other government offices have taken a downturn. Similarly, employed youth are bound to collective groups of labor unions, where again, individuals suffer. For example, many individual workers were not happy to lose their jobs at Surya Nepal garment factory, but they had to suffer as the factory shut down because of politically affiliated unions. Thus, individuals have been suffering from collectivism and politicians. In recent years, anti-Indian sentiments have been growing rapidly in Nepal. The reason for the rising external influence in Nepal is the state’s inability to promote individualism. For their personal benefit, politicians used Nepali individuals by turning them into a mass of vulnerable groups rather than competitive individuals. Another reason for the rise of external influence is that the state has turned weaker with rising inequalities among individuals of Nepal and neighboring countries. Now, a state has appeared where the individuals are not competitive and politicians not intelligent enough to tackle the interests of foreign states. Individualism will produce a lot of quality individuals able to deal with foreign interests in Nepal, enabling Nepal to benefit economically from diplomatic relations. These scenarios clearly explain that Nepali peoples’ priority of collectivism has benefited politicians and foreign sectors more, states have failed to perform well in terms of economics and development. Even a highly collectivist country like China has recognized and supported individualism in order to thrive economically. Isn’t this the time to prioritize individual competitiveness in Nepal over common collectivist paradigm to progress economically in this globalized world? The author is a Masters level student of Development Studies at Kathmandu University khanal.kamal@hotmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54828 Air travel safety in Nepal The news of a flight that crashed in Jomsom on Thursday morning left everyone relieved (in the end). There were no causalities. All 21 passengers, including the crew, were safe, although there were a few injuries. Even though this is a cause for relief, the disturbing trend that the crash perpetuates deserves a closer scrutiny. Nepal has witnessed an alarming number of plane accidents in the past few years. In a land without extensive road connections, where many remote areas are connected only by flights, air travel assumes great importance and it is in the interest of every Nepali to reduce the number of flight accidents. Due to its high mountains, high winds, and unpredictable weather, Nepal is extremely vulnerable to flight accidents. High altitude airports of Nepal like Juphal and Lukla are often featured in the lists of “most dangerous airports in the world.” However, that does not mean that we can take accidents for granted. Many accidents can be prevented. According to Aviation Safety Foundation, an organization that provides information about airline accidents and safety issues, the level of implementation of critical elements of safety is pretty low in Nepal compared to worldwide standards. The state’s oversight of aviation safety leaves much to be desired, and Nepal is lagging behind in technical guidance, tools, and Information. Safety concerns are usually not resolved to satisfaction in Nepal as compared to other countries, and Nepal has fewer regulations and legislations concerning flights compared to the world average. Even though Nepal is almost at par with world standards in licensing, certification, and authorization, as well as surveillance obligations, alarmingly, the qualification and training of technical personnel is almost nonexistent. The cause of the accident at Jomsom is yet unknown. Since the purpose of flight crash investigations is to prevent future accidents and not to apportion blame, the exact causes may never be known. Statistics show that half of plane accidents take place because of pilot’s error. Thus great care should be taken to ensure that pilots are not overburdened, especially when flying to treacherous mountain locations. Small aircrafts are often buffeted by winds in these locations, and the combination of fog, which reduces vision, and mountain peaks, which are fatal to aircrafts, create a veritable minefield, requiring pilots to be more vigilant than in normal circumstances. The state of the aircraft itself is also very important, especially in the aforesaid locations where advanced aircrafts can withstand the weather conditions better and make passengers feel safer. The old and outdated aircrafts of Nepal Airlines must be replaced with new ones. Pilots as well as technical personnel should be better trained, an area in which Nepal has been lagging far behind the rest of the world. If we are serious about making Nepal’s skies safer, the issues with critical elements of safety oversight systems must be addressed immediately. Besides the obvious benefit of ensuring the safety of passengers, such steps will also contribute to Nepal’s tourism industry by helping promote Nepal’s image as a safe spot for tourists. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54827 OPEN LETTER TO BABURAM BHATTARAI Dear Dr Bhattarai, Some years ago, while the country was mired in violence and innocent people were being made victims by both the far right and the far left, I wrote you an open letter to forsake violence and choose a non-violent path to achieve your goals. Your party’s stated goal was to mend the country’s ills by rebelling against the then prevailing unjust social, political and economic framework. In the letter, I had predicted and promised ample support from all of us, the common men and women of this country, if you decided to change your means for achieving the end. Your party eventually realized the significance of the message contained therein. You changed course and received that promised support from every possible quarter including the open defiance, on the Maharajgunj street in front of the Institute of Medicine, of the daytime curfew imposed by the then Royal Nepalese Army. The non-violent movement proved to be death knell of the despotic regime of the day. The entire nation sought a regime change and achieved it within a short span of 19 days! Seven years hence, Dr Bhattarai, the ills suffered then by the common men and women at the hands of the old regimes continued under your reign as well. You might retort that it is still early days for you to show a substantial progress. But many wise people tell us that the morning shows the day. This morning for new Nepal, however, has not been very promising. The emergent political class too is engaged in full blown corruption and collusion with vested business interests, hobnobbing with foreign powers for fulfilling their self-interest, staking national interests for the sole purpose of holding on to the purse and power, and exclusion of popular representatives from crucial decision-making process, just as it happened under absolute monarchy, and the Koirala and UML regimes of the Nineties! Republica Dwarfing of the parliament by the executive became the norm in the ‘90s and most regrettably the first elected Constituent Assembly turned out to be more of a dwarf than earlier parliaments. Here and now, we see the annihilation of the basic tenets of progressivism in governance with the judiciary under a sham executive. The real executive, the so-called High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM), sits on the fence, well outside the perimeter of accountability, pulls the strings to control the puppets and presses the buttons to move their robotic arms! Observers, who keep their eyes and mind open, have not seen or felt the change. If they have, it has been for the worse. Hence, once again, I try to needle your ‘progressive mind’ to be receptive to the true voices. Let me begin by dwelling on the ‘progressive mind’. It has to do with the idea of progress, which is to carry the society forward from the status quo to just social conditions based on equal opportunities for all in every sphere of human life. We may not all be born equal but progressivism, at its heart, endeavors to defy this state of inequality, no matter where it comes from. In high political circles like yours, the progressive mind is like an unpleasant guest at a dinner party who refuses to leave even after the host’s explicit displeasure. Conscious of his social responsibility, he does not give a hoot about the humiliation he receives from others busy in merrymaking. He does not budge but continually attempts to raise the many issues associated with deceptive politics and political corruption, unlimited greed and the misuse of natural resources, economic hardships and the widening gap between the haves and have-nots, low wages and poor working conditions, child labor and unsafe consumer products, denigration of the minorities and the weak and their exclusion, exploitation of the laborers and peasants and their lack of collective bargaining power. A progressive mind thinks and expresses. Human thoughts and their expression get limited by social stereotyping in a communist state, which is what you promise your followers. Progress actually demands that such limitations be erased and new frontiers and avenues of fresh thinking and fresh approaches to human life be opened. In short, progress demands an open mind and an open platform on which the thinking mind can operate and express. A progressive mind does not allow the thoughts to congeal into dogma or ideology. Instead, it seeks to create a base or a canvas on which others can paint and build images and structures. A mind that seeks progress has to be able to reject social orthodoxy or a party line. It rather seeks to expand the horizon of human thinking and behavior and to challenge the social prescriptions. At the same time, while creating and expanding, a progressive mind is always aware of the danger of establishing a new cult behavior that tends to disparage and minimize those outside the cult. My complaint is: you did not even allow free expression to the 601 CA members, but chose to promote and impose stark oligarchy of a few on them and the people of Nepal! You took your cues from non-Nepali forces and ignored the national voices. Is that not a fair reason to lament your regime? A progressive mind in Nepal would generate thoughts and a legal order responsive for liberty and equality for people, manifesting as a total release from oppressive forces listed above. It should lead to national actions that create and provide opportunities for all by curbing excessive individualism, so dear to the many business houses and their political associates in the country. You and your UCPN (Maoist) have charted and prescribed activities so clearly inimical to social progress and yet you claim to be progressive. Such a claim is utterly misplaced. Please abandon it here and now. The only conceivable reason for this wholly undeserved claim: to sway the unsuspecting minds in your favor with the sole aim of grabbing political power. Progress is not your aim, Dr. Bhattarai. The only aim seems to be satisfaction of your unlimited greed for political power, and perhaps the purse that comes with it. Your party, alongside some Madhesi leaders with feudalistic base, is promoting ethnicity-based federalism. This has to be an advocacy for incongruous cults. Ethnic federalism is just another form of cult culture, but a sure recipe for division. Religions and cults tend to divide rather than unite humanity. They invite conflicts and wars, the greatest barrier to human progress. If ethnicity-based federalism is not a division into several fragments of the Nepali nation state, what is? Nepal is already a secular state. Why not leave it at that? Here, I wish to remember Krishnamurthi’s famous statement: “A man of religion can never be a religious man”. You are a man of religion, Dr. Bhattarai, an ideologue, but not a religious man with a concern for comprehensive human progress! If you think otherwise, please explain. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54826 Achievement, Appointment and Retirement I wanted to check something to make sure it was true. Not that I doubted the celebrations or the authenticity of the record made, but rather just for the ‘heck’ of it! Or it could also have been a result of having ‘the world at your fingertips’ that my fingertip accidentally landed on this site! Whatever the reason may be, I was on the official website of the organization that lists people who have accomplished what many ordinary mortals can only dream of! I was checking the official site of Guinness’ World Records, and in the search box, typed “longest TV talk show”. To my dismay, the page was talking about some Ukrainian talk show. There were a couple comments asking the members of the organization to update the page, and a couple more venting against the organization. Perhaps, I later thought to myself, the reason I wanted to check this site was not that I doubted the achievement, but rather wanted to see where ‘Lord Buddha’ would feature in that page. Remember, the person who set this record claimed to have done so not for any personal milestones. He had done it because while working in some store in Baltimore, he had been deeply saddened by the fact that the people coming to the store asked where on earth Nepal was, rather than asking on which shelf some detergent was. Now with the feat achieved, many have come forth to criticize the record holder, accusing him of trying to make a personal gain by selling brand Buddha. All I say to them is, slowly but definitely, the world has finally come to acknowledge the fact that he hails from a country called Nepal, and that’s where brand Buddha originated. Perhaps the world is waiting for the Guinness Book’s page to be updated! pezenaspm.com All said and done, one thing is for sure. When Mr Record setter meets the next customer at the store he is working for, he will not have to face the embarrassment of identifying himself. Perhaps a board outside the store with a huge portrait of him alongside brand Buddha is something the store owner is already contemplating! To me, this was an example of one phenomenal achievement we all should be proud of; it was all about putting nation first! Perhaps you and I should start thinking of how to make our nation proud in a similar fashion. A couple weeks later, two interesting events grabbed the headlines in this ever interesting nation of ours. The experience of leading an organization which went on to become one of the biggest of its kind in the country, D2Hawkeye Services, had honed my skills of leadership. This was perfectly in line with what I had been made to practice inside the organization. To me, leadership is all about driving a big caterpillar excavator and not a Maruti 800, something my boss used to remind me every day. The other important quality expected of leaders at our level was the ability to take bold decisions. “It is better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission” was the motto. As a leader you have to take some critical and unexpected decisions, you just cannot let the fear of controversy come your way! This motto is related to the appointment of Lokman Singh Karki to a prominent post of CIAA chief, which made headlines. The interesting thing about this appointment was that, never in my life had I ever imagined that in the 21st century Nepal, one appointment would belittle every other post in the Nepali government setup. With the same last name as Lokman, I am distantly related to him. There is no way I can criticize anyone that I am related to even remotely, especially in the increasingly polarized Nepali society where your surname suddenly fetches you what your good character or educational qualifications cannot. A lot of interesting stories began surfing the moment Karki took oath of the office, when even the President had had to wake up early to do the honors. But what was interesting was how the civil society and student leaders who usually follow in the footsteps of leaders who appointed Karki began crying foul. The clamor reached a tipping point within hours, suggesting the nation was in deep crisis and it would not go back to normalcy (is there anything to suggest we live in a normal nation, I wonder?) unless the decision was rolled back. This is where I remembered my boss. Hours later, the leaders came forth and took responsibility for the decision. There were two things that impressed me the most about these leaders. First, as leaders, they took responsibility for their decisions, and secondly, they did it openly and asked for forgiveness! This is not something that you see very often. It reminded me of a leadership theory which suggests that leadership is contingent upon a situation and you never know when true leadership will emerge. We Nepalis at times tend to get overtly cynical of everything and fail to see the bright side. All I say is, this was a unique moment in history where we got to see true leaders emerge, albeit from a not very difficult time, but from what should have been a fairly straightforward case of government appointment! Finally, the same morning, as the news of appointment broke out amidst all the protests, someone else was making world headlines. I was actually not sure of featuring this incident in my article, but then, I heard of a prominent student leader, who harbors dreams of leading the country one day (in view of the recent list of people who have led us, there is no reason to rule out this possibility!) making a pertinent comment on it. The news was the announcement of the retirement of one Sir Alex, who had led the brand of Manchester United for 26 years! The student leader’s comment was that this guy, who had just retired, either has some personal problem that the world does not know of, or is a ‘mere fool’. The group of people encircling him seemed to agree. And perhaps he was right. In a place where opportunities through fair means are so hard to come by, why on earth would anyone give up anything unless they are forced to? We are revolutionaries, and we will continue to wage revolutions one after another, but not go down quietly. ‘Giving up’ has never been our virtue, and we will stay this way! hiteshkarki@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54825 China-Nepal trade talks In one of my previous articles, I had written about how the private sector should look to produce high quality goods for the Chinese market, while the government should work to remove supply-side constraints (“Overcoming obstacles,” May 21, 2012). The ever-widening trade deficit with the northern neighbor has made us think hard. Apparently, Nepal is going to ask China for support on development of cross-border infrastructure in the scheduled bilateral high level meeting that kicks off this week. But that is not exactly the core area where we need foreign assistance at the moment, although these factors have certainly contributed to low volume of trade with China. Less red tape and constant electricity supply are fundamental to Nepal’s growth and to eventually boost export volume to partner countries including China. Power shortage has badly hit the country’s production system. All of the proposed agendas for the Nepal-China high level meeting are important, but these are secondary when we don’t even have enough electricity and hassle-free bureaucracy, alongside consistent policies to lure investment in hydropower sector. Nepal is pushing agendas such as upgrading of Bhaktapur-Tatopani road, customs simplification, upgrading customs points, establishment of cross-border economic zone in Jielong and Rasuwagadhi and special economic zone near northern border and addressing the ballooning trade deficit with China. Yes, there are non-tariff barriers (NTBs) that hinder bilateral trade between Nepal and China. But before that we have to think about whether we can penetrate the Chinese market without first removing our supply side barriers. In my view, smooth supply of power in the industrial corridors should be our first and foremost priority. China provides duty-free access to 7,787 goods from the least developed countries (LDCs) including Nepal. We have not been able to tap into this benefit due to our weak supply capacity. An acute shortage of electricity in domestic market has held us back. This is the reason the focus this time should be on the prospective Chinese investment on the 750 MW West Seti Hydropower project. The effort that we put into the development of the 18-year-old West Seti project will help us in various ways, and more than the development of other infrastructure in border regions will. West Seti’s developer, Beijing’s CWE Investment Corporation (CWEI), a subsidiary of the China Three Gorges Corporation, is in a wait-and-see mood after the CA’s historic failure. The project’s development largely depends on the country’s political course. This calls for keeping our house in order—holding election on time, promulgating a constitution and eventually attracting foreign investors. The political leaders who will be with their Chinese counterparts at the bilateral meeting should, while seeking different kinds of assistance, be able to clearly articulate what Nepal can do to promote Chinese business interests. Especially in bilateral trade talks, it is vital that each side’s core economic interests be openly discussed. Trade Policy 2009’s first objective is to promote industrial development and expand export in international market. In a bid to synchronize our talks with bilateral trade partners and country’s larger policy framework, we need more energy. Republica A close look at our export basket is disappointing. What we have is minimal: investment in customs points and transportation is meaningless until we don’t have strong production capacity. Penetrating Chinese market is tough for a country like Nepal which imports petroleum products, which amount to more than double its total exports to India. Despite the huge potential in China, Nepal’s export to the country has been continuously declining for more than a decade. There are different reasons but the most crucial is our incapability in upgrading the production chain. Nepal and China have signed more than a dozen bilateral agreements to boost bilateral trade. Expansion of transportation facilities and upgrading customs points between the two countries will only help unscrupulous traders import Chinese goods and re-export them to other countries if we fail to strengthen our supply side capacity. Hydropower development can also help us exploit the service sector, which is in a comparatively better shape. Again, decent electricity coverage is pre-requisite for the development of service sector. Moreover, we have to focus on identifying bottlenecks limiting hydropower development. It is important that Nepal-China high level meeting focuses on the all-important issue of hydropower development. The author is associated with Republica’s business bureau http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54721 Growing criminality in Nepal A recent joint study conducted by the Small Arms Survey (SAS), Nepal Armed Violence Assessment (NAVA) and Interdisciplinary Analysts (IDA) paints an alarming picture of small arms situation in the country. Another related finding is that there has been a definite shift away from politically-motivated violence, which reached its height during the insurgency, to economically-motivated crimes. These days, most crimes take place not with a desire to harm other people in revenge attacks or to get rich quickly, but just to make the ends meet and to secure access to basic healthcare and education services. According to the study carried out across 30 districts, up to 83,500 households possess firearms. This potent mix of poverty and loose firearms could have all kinds of social ramifications. This is the reason the government wants to take back all loose firearms. Its most recent attempt resulted in a haul of 5,500 from various places in the country, a pittance compared to the estimated 440,000 privately owned firearms in existence in Nepal. Most of them were imported through the porous Indo-Nepal border. These firearms are responsible for a rise in criminal activities across the country, including Kathmandu Valley, which has an estimated 10,000 privately-owned firearms. These weapons are mostly used in high-end crimes like extortion, kidnapping and murder. So far there seems to be only a tenuous link between poverty-induced crimes and easy availability of firearms: The high-end criminals seldom face hand to mouth problems. The most interesting aspect of the study is the hinted link between armed groups and politicians. Perhaps it will be some of the same armed criminals who will be used to influence the upcoming CA vote. Such suspicions are heightened by the possibility that the Election Commission’s proposal to bar candidates with criminal backgrounds from contesting election might be scrapped under mounting political pressure. It will be extremely difficult to completely halt the free movement of weapons across the porous southern border, although Nepal Police seems to have had a measure of success in stemming the tide. But that might be the wrong way to go about it. If there is a measure of political stability in Nepal, it will clear the way for an economic revival, which will hopefully curtail most of the economically-motivated crimes. Yet the thousands of firearms cannot be left unaccounted for. We have already seen the devastating consequences of loose firearms laws in the US, which has witnessed one grisly firearms-related murder spree after another, including the most recent heartbreaking massacre of 20 children in a Connecticut school. But make no mistake: a generation of youth trained on the belief that it is okay to use violence to achieve certain ends will take some persuading to curb their natural instinct. This is the reason it is of vital importance that the prolonged political transition comes to an end and a favorable business environment is created to absorb the growing youth population, sooner rather than later. One thing is for sure: the longer the current state of transition is prolonged, the more the likelihood of emergence of new criminals. Our stakeholders often tend to overlook this most obvious but vital point about the state of transition in Nepal. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54720 ENERGY SECURITY At a time the majority of the population spends several hours a day fetching firewood to cook food for the family, energy security remains an unimaginable concept for Nepal. Countries around the world are taking giant leaps in terms of economic development, and their need for power has been growing proportionally to fuel their growth. Unfortunately for Nepal, roughly 85 percent of the energy that the country consumes goes into household cooking. Half the country is still without electricity, and the other half suffers from long load-shedding hours throughout the year. Given that energy is such an irreplaceable requirement for any economy, how are we to push for economic growth if there is no energy? Different bodies in Nepal have been working in different ways to mitigate the current energy crisis. The Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC), in collaboration with various donor agencies, has been working on disseminating various clean technologies to the rural population. While off-grid solutions such as small solar home systems are a quick way to power up villages, these distributed solutions often turn out to be uneconomical, mainly due to scale. However, some institutions are starting to focus more on larger centralized systems using mini- and micro grids, which in theory will bring the costs down significantly. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), on the other hand, has been focused more on developing medium and large scale hydro plants. It has the monopoly over the generation (mostly), transmission and distribution of electricity in the country. Given its status, NEA is responsible for keeping track of the worsening spread between the supply and demand. Even with an electrification rate of only about 55 percent, if the demand is growing at almost 100 MW per year, adding 500 MW in 5 years or 1,000 MW in 10 years is clearly not going to reduce the energy shortage, as it will only be sufficient to balance the increase in load. In other words, the current rate of increase in hydropower capacity is clearly not sufficient. If we assume higher energy appetite per capita as the economy grows, the situation is even worse! Energy security does not mean having too much of one source—hydro-energy in our case—but rather an array of different sources that can complement one another to deliver a smooth, uninterrupted power supply. Diversification is a crucial criterion for energy security. Unfortunately, Nepal is yet to realize this fact. Most of the hydro plants in existence or those being planned are of the low-cost, run-of-river (ROR) type, i.e. plants that use river water and do not have reservoirs to store water, and so have little control over their generation. These ROR-type hydro plants put us at high risk in case of a prolonged dry season or drought. The country of Malawi, for example, which also relies almost entirely on hydro, has had to suffer severe consequences due to droughts in the past. Generation will be high as long as there is abundant water in the rivers, but how will these plants be able to provide power in the dry season when the water levels are low? Adding more ROR-type hydro plants will be of little help in that case.  The word “reliability” is virtually non-existent in the energy industry in Nepal today. Narrowing down the massive gap between the current supply and demand has been the goal till date, but reliability should be another important goal. The table alongside highlights how even the resource-rich countries have diversified their supply portfolio in order to achieve energy security. China, India and the US have large fossil fuel reserves, but only a portion of their supply comes from those resources. Brazil is richer than Nepal in natural water resources and yet only 71 percent of its total capacity is hydro. In case of Nepal, more than 92 percent of the total capacity is hydro and diesel plants account for the remaining 8 percent. Given how the country’s main focus has been on hydro today, these numbers will tilt even further towards hydropower in the days to come. Large-scale hydro may be one of the cheapest forms of energy resources available for Nepal, but there are certain economic costs that people generally tend to overlook. The cheapest does not necessarily mean the best. If we assume no delay, which is a strong assumption for Nepal, such hydro plants take 5-6 years to build. The economic impact of long load-shedding hours is already extreme, so waiting at least half a decade more in such a condition to see a large hydro plant get built could be devastating for the economy. Moreover, these plants demand large plots of suitable land, which often cannot be secured without significant infrastructure expenditure. Most such large hydro resources are located in remote parts of the country, so developing a large hydro plant far away from the load would mean substantial increases in transmission and/or road construction cost. Large hydro has also been linked to several instances of floods, landslides and earthquakes. Furthermore, large hydro stakeholders in Nepal have had to confront various socio-political hurdles on a regular basis during their project cycle. All these attributes of hydropower should also be taken into consideration before deciding to label it as the “best” option available. One way to mitigate the risk of large hydro plants is to develop an extensive transmission network. It is only natural for us to opt for hydro, which is the biggest energy resource for Nepal. But total reliance on just one resource could have dire consequences, especially for a struggling economy such as Nepal. One way to mitigate the high risk, financial or otherwise, of large hydro plants is to develop an extensive international transmission network, linking Nepal with its neighbors that rely on a variety of non-hydro resources such as coal, nuclear, oil and gas. This will allow Nepal to import power from other countries during the dry season, while selling excess power to them during monsoon. The rest of South Asia has been experiencing very high economic growth, which means that they will be able to absorb large amounts of Nepal’s electricity exports with ease. It is true that a few international transmission lines are in the pipeline, but Nepal should consider including countries other than India in this equation. But again, more transmission lines mean higher costs. Energy is the building block of any economy, so reliability should be a top priority for policymakers. Given the abundance of non-hydro resources such as wind, solar and biomass, Nepal may even be able to tap into these resources at a relatively low cost. Sadly, they are yet to appeal our policymakers and the sole power utility. If the country is willing to spend a significant portion of its national annual budget on petroleum imports (about 25 percent in FY 2011/12) or to develop large diesel plants that have very high operating costs, why not consider building an extensive high-power transmission network, which will pave the way for the development of more generation plants, or push for non-hydro renewable resources that are much cheaper than diesel? The author is MD of Danphe Energy Pvt. Ltd., a research oriented renewable energy company providing quality solar and wind products http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54719 ELECTORAL RHETORIC In 2011, Suraj Thapa, then aged 12, crossed Trishuli River using a tuin (basically a rope). He did it along with other villagers to carry over some fruits in the local market across the river. Unfortunately, the rope broke and threw all of the villagers in the roaring currents of Trishuli. Five people were never found. Suraj fortunately survived. This short, real anecdote is indicative of what needs to be done in the country. For children like Suraj, perhaps a bridge would represent a revolution. Perhaps that would literally save his life, and be a step towards prosperity. The important role of a bridge in Suraj’s life cannot be overemphasized. There are thousands of Surajs in Nepal, some literally needing a bridge, while others crave for the metaphorical bridges to a bright future: schools, toilets, and healthy and adequate food. If lives of these poor people who comprise 40 percent of Nepali population according to UN can be improved, it will not be short of a revolution. If one has to choose between the above revolution and a supposed revolution where the whole debate is about who becomes the chief of an anti-graft body or the president with executive power, I would choose the former. Democracy and the processes it entails are very important and the only way to bring about a real change in present day Nepal. However, the current debates are not about building bridges or schools. Those are left to a few INGOs and NGOs. Now that elections might actually take place, my worst fear is that the political debate will again be abstract and not address the on-the-ground concerns of people. The abstract ideas can only be lively if they are debated in line with the daily concerns of the people. Then they cease to be abstract, they become something which you and I can touch and feel. Now an abstract idea such as forming federal states is mostly decided on the basis of political ideology. The dominant rhetoric goes this way: Maoists and Madheshi parties are the most “revolutionary” and so they endorse one ethnicity’s “leadership” per state. At the other end of the spectrum, current and former royalists want a “unified” Nepal as against the “divisive” model proposed by Maoists and Madheshis. Occupying the middle ground, Congress and UML endorse states based on socio-economic “realities”. The debates that really matter are entirely missing or limited to latte-sipping intellectuals. My major concern is that the parties will again repeat the same rhetoric in the debates leading up to elections, without specifying what vague concepts—“revolutionary,” “single-identity province,” “unified” or “divided” Nepal and “states based on socio-economic realities”—actually mean to the common people. What is the Maoist revolution? What are Madhesi parties’ ultimate goals? Why do royalists see federal states as “divisive”? What might be their interest in saying that? What is the middle ground all about? Why has the Congress not uttered anything about democratic socialism? Are they afraid of the tag “socialism”? Why does UML still call itself Leninist when it has abandoned Leninism for all intents and purposes? And finally, how do the answers to above questions connect with millions of Suraj? If left to their own devices, the parties might again get away, never having to link up their vague rhetoric with harsh realities that people like Suraj are living with. The debates that really matter are missing. The little conversation that has taken place has been limited among the latte-sipping intellectuals who cannot speak people’s language. Unlike the usual hostile reaction to politicians, I like their ability to speak in the clearest possible language. I urge them to use this ability to explain their vague rhetoric, political jargons and link them to the daily lives of common Nepalis. Please create a national debate on the things that really matter. Enough of the headlines for politicians sneaking into embassies of Lamzimpat. The author is President, Middlesex University Students’ Union, London http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54676 CPN-Maoist’s rigid poll stand The government, which is believed to be giving final touches to the election related ordinance to announce a new poll date at the earliest, has now invited the political parties not represented in the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) for ‘unconditional’ talks. The call is aimed particularly at CPN-Maoist, one of the 33 agitating parties. So far the Baidya-led Maoist party has been the most reluctant of all the agitating forces to come to a meaningful compromise for timely polls. CPN-Maoist wants the 25-point constitutional amendment that cleared the way for formation of Khil Raj Regmi government scrapped. It also seeks the dissolution of the CJ-led government, roll back of the decision to appoint Lok Man Singh Karki as new CIAA chief and an abrupt halt to citizenship distribution. So far as the other dissenting parties are concerned, there seems to have been some kind of an understanding between HLPM constituents and the agitating parties to remove the proposed one percentage threshold, while the size of the new legislature will be left at 491, as stipulated in the 25-point constitutional amendment. As such, CPN-Maoist currently appears to be the biggest hurdle to announcement of new polls. The problem is that unlike the demands made by other parties that have been agitating against the Regmi-led government, most of the demands made by the Baidya-led outfit are extremely unreasonable. For instance, its insistence that the Regmi government resign to pave the way for meaningful talks is uncalled for. There are many who have strong reservations against the same person assuming the role of both the executive head as well as the Chief Justice at the same time. But the CJ-led government came into existence under exceptional circumstances when all other avenues for a political breakthrough seemed closed. Right now, rather than continue with the acrimonious debate, we believe the country will be better served if all the democratic forces narrowed down their attention on timely polls. If there are free and fair polls by the stipulated timeframe, the Regmi government will go anyhow, in what will hopefully be a smooth handover of executive power to a democratically elected head of the government. On the other hand, the resignation of the government at this difficult juncture will invite many more problems than it will solve. CPN-Maoist’s principled stand against Lok Man Singh Karki is laudable. A person with dubious credentials like Karki should never have been appointed the country’s anti-corruption czar. But making his ouster from CIAA a precondition for talks suggests CPN-Maoist is looking for every little excuse to obstruct the polls. The same applies to its opposition to citizenship certificate distribution. The party is clearly trying to pander to certain sections that are deeply suspicious of any perceived attempt at ‘undermining Nepal’s sovereignty’. We too believe there should be strong oversight over citizenship distribution to prevent fraud, but it would be criminal to deprive citizenships to hundreds of thousands of genuine disenfranchised Nepalis in the name of protecting the ill-defined ‘national sovereignty’. Here too, reason, rather than passion, should guide action. All in all, we would like to see CPN-Maoist genuinely committed to democratic principles. At present, the party can best express it by abandoning its rigid stands and sitting down for talks with the ultimate goal of giving the power back to the people. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54675 KARKI APPOINTMENT Hardly had the nation started reconciling to being governed by a sitting Supreme Court judge as chairperson of council of ministers responsible for holding Constituent Assembly elections, with all the contradictions and dangers associated with the blending of the executive and the judiciary, another bombshell has rocked the beleaguered nation. This time the bomb is the implant of Lok Man Singh Karki as Chief of the Commission for investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). The appointment of Karki, with his questionable credentials and legitimacy, breaches all norms of propriety and morality, particularly since the new CIAA chief has been implicated in the suppression of Jana Andolan II. The manner of his appointment is even more agonizing and disturbing: external forces seem to have twisted the arms of our respected President. The President, who had decided to return Karki’s nomination for reconsideration by the Constitutional Council, was forced to change his mind at the 11th hour. There has been tremendous opposition to this implant from the 33 fringe parties led by CPN-Maoist, student bodies and civil society. NC and CPN-UML leaderships have expressed their sincere apologies for being duped into committing such a crime. Whether this lip service is genuine or not, only time will tell. REPUBLICA The Lok Man Singh saga is only the tip of the iceberg. In an earlier article (“Looking ahead,” Feb 18), I had said that the people of Nepal are indeed worried about a sitting Chief Justice heading government, but they are even more anguished that the idea of CJ as executive head is not homegrown and the management of our nation may have gone out of our hands. UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal was only a ‘spokesperson’ when he announced this bold initiative from the rostrum of his party’s General Convention. Frustrated by the never-ending antics of Prachanda and his cohort and petrified by the relentless day-light robbery of the treasury by the UCPN (Maoist) and their Madhesi allies, NC and the CPN-UML seem to have relented, in the belief that holding timely elections and getting rid of the Bhattarai government was of utmost importance. Little did they know they were playing into foreign hands who were being allowed to dictate on issues of vital national interests. Since the Sugauli treaty in the 19th century, Nepal has occasionally been pushed to compromise its sovereign right, but the Lok Man Singh episode eclipses all other cases as this one deals with a purely internal administrative matter. Nepal has always accommodated the sensitivities of our southern neighbor with whom we share traditional friendship and goodwill. In the 1970’s, the Kuwait Development Fund had financed the construction of the Kohalpur-Banbasa section of the East-west highway. Many international construction companies including Indian and Chinese had participated in the bidding and the government had decided to award the contract to a Chinese company. Then, the government of India sent an envoy requesting King Birendra to cancel the deal, offering grant assistance to complete the project. In deference to India’s request, the project was shelved (at much embarrassment to Nepal and the Fund) and the aid offer was accepted. This however proved very costly for Nepal as it took over a decade to construct the road, compared to the estimated three years. There are many instances where Nepal has bent over backwards to accommodate India in areas of water resources development and its perceived security threats. This said, it would be naïve to blame India for our backwardness and underdevelopment. We and especially our political leadership should take the responsibility for our overall failure. Recently, a responsible official at the Indian Foreign ministry opined that in dealing with India at the government level, most of our political leaders were preoccupied with party and personal matters and seldom discussed issues of national interest. It is most unfortunate that our failure to articulate national interest and our narrow focus in dealings with our neighbors have actually encouraged them to treat us as mere favor seekers rather than equals. No wonder Nepal has now been relegated to the domain of India’s intelligence unit, RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) rather than remain a concern of the Foreign Ministry or high level political leadership. The major fallout of the humiliating disaster of Karki’s appointment has been complete erosion of faith that we had for the office of our President. As the ultimate guardian of our constitution, we had hoped that he would intervene to prevent the implementation of a horrendous decision initiated by a worthless syndicate of four parties, called the high level political mechanism (HLPM) and pushed through by the constitutional committee headed by Khil Raj Regmi, the chairperson of the governing council. With political parties, civil society, the legal fraternity and many others seeking the failure of the recommendation, the President was mentally prepared to send it back for reconsideration. However, under relentless pressure from foreign elements aided by anti-national elements (masquerading as heavyweights in some political parties) and may be, even threats, the President eventually succumbed, plunging the nation into a crisis of sovereignty. Nepal has occasionally compromised its sovereign right, but the ‘internal’ Karki episode eclipses all other cases. As the nation hurtles down the lane of despair and desolation, one wonders if there is a way out. Fortunately some of our political leaders, stymied by the ugly turn of events propelled by their own inadequacies, have begun to assert that our nationalism has been weakened and have vowed to work together to strengthen nationalism and safeguard sovereignty. If our leadership is truly committed to this, the following needs to be done: 1) Expand the current four party syndicate called HLPM to accommodate other parties; 2) Define nationalism, our national interests and our dealings with our immediate neighbors and the international community; 3) Have Khil Raj Regmi resign from the post of Chief Justice and declare the date for the elections; 4) Ensure that political parties take stern action against anti-national elements within their ranks who put pressure on our President to commit such a misdemeanor. Finally, as the guardian of the constitution, it is hoped that the President would take a more proactive role to ensure the implementation of the above to put the nation back on track. The author is Nepali Congress Mahasamiti member from Dhankuta thapa.ajit@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54674 The Diversity Visa or “DV” Program (also known as the “green card lottery”) is an important part of the immigration policy of the United States. The DV Program is very popular in Nepal, but there continues to be much confusion about what the program is and how it works. Most of the people who immigrate to the US do so through family reunification. For example, if an American citizen marries a foreign citizen, he can petition for his spouse to join him to live permanently in the US. Similarly, a naturalized American citizen may want to sponsor her parents to move permanently to the US. The US Congress determined that the great majority of these immigrant visas were being used by only a handful of countries, such as Mexico, India, China and the Philippines. In order to diversify our immigrant visa pool, Congress established the “Diversity Visa” program in which the chance to get a green card is determined by lottery. Citizens of countries that already provide a large number of immigrants, such as India, are not eligible to participate in the DV program. Only citizens of countries that provide relatively smaller number of immigrants to our country, such as Nepal, are allowed to participate. MBUBE.ORG Is it being cancelled? No, the DV Program has not been cancelled. US immigration law reform is a popular topic in the US and news outlets have reported on several proposals being debated in the US Congress. However, since none of the proposals has been passed by the US Congress nor signed by the US President, there has been no change to US immigration law. In fact, many of the proposals under consideration do not affect the DV Program. Who can enter? There is no minimum age requirement; however, US law requires that the applicant have certain educational or work requirements to qualify. The educational requirement is the equivalent of an American high school education, which would be “10 + 2” in Nepal. An applicant who has only an SLC (i.e., 10 years of education), or who took private exams and did not attend regular classes for twelve years, does not fulfill the educational requirements of the Diversity Visa. An applicant who is selected as a winner, but is unable to show that he/she meets the requirements at the time of interview, will not receive a visa and will not receive a refund of any fees paid. A Nepali citizen need not be physically present in Nepal to apply. Many Nepali citizens working in countries around the world apply every year, and many of them are selected. How do I enter? Entering the DV Program is easy and free of charge, but must be done correctly or an applicant can jeopardize his/her chance of getting a visa. Each year, for a period of approximately 30 days around October, the DV Program application is open. Applications are made online, and require basic biographic information such as the applicant’s name, date of birth, nationality and a photograph. One key requirement that causes problems for many applicants is that the applicant must list his/her spouse and every unmarried child under age 21 on the application. One persistent myth is that an applicant has a better chance of winning if he/she enters as a “single” applicant—this is completely untrue. Some mistakenly believe that he/she can omit any family members who do not plan to travel with the applicant. Again, this is incorrect. Others are just sloppy and omit their family members from the application, perhaps because they did not have a passport sized photograph of a child available at the time of application. In fact, an applicant who fails to list all family members simply will not qualify for a Diversity Visa. When an application is completed, a confirmation number appears on the computer screen. The applicant must write down this number and keep it in a safe place! Full information on the Program’s requirements, as well as how to enter, is on the US State Department’s official website for the DV Program: www.dvlottery.state.gov. Have I won? In May each year, the winners are selected from among those who applied online the previous year. Many people receive emails indicating that they have won the lottery and ask for money to be sent. These emails are fake! The US Department of State never sends notification emails to winners. Rather, applicants must check for themselves to see if they have won by visiting the same website where the DV application was completed: www.dvlottery.state.gov. On that webpage, the applicant must enter basic biographical information, as well as the confirmation number received at the time of entry. It is very important to keep one’s confirmation number, because it is impossible to determine whether an applicant has won without it. Even if an applicant has won, he/she may not get the visa if the educational or work requirements are not met, if the applicant has a criminal record, if he/she has a contagious disease such as tuberculosis, or in certain other circumstances. More information for selectees is available at www.dvselectee.state.gov. One piece of advice: Please think twice before using a visa consultant to help you with any step of the process. A bit of advice I would like to provide one piece of advice to those who wish to participate in the DV Program, as well as to those who will find out that they have been selected in the 2014 DV Program. That advice is this: please think twice before using a visa consultant to help you with any step of the process. We see thousands of DV applicants at the US Embassy, and we see many applicants’ hopes dashed because they follow careless or fraudulent advice provided to them by consultants. Consultants overcharge customers, enter information incorrectly, upload photos incorrectly, provide advice that encourages applicants to commit fraud (such as suggesting that a married applicant claim he/she is single, suggesting that an applicant omit family members from an application, encouraging single winners to enter into fake marriages, suggesting that an applicant provide fake educational documents to prove fulfillments of the educational requirement). Instead of using a consultant who is more interested in your money than providing honest service to you, consider using a trusted friend or family member to assist you. Good luck! Thousands of Nepalis have won the DV lottery over the years and moved to the US, enriching our country. Many of these individuals have since become American citizens. The US Embassy wishes the best of luck to all qualified applicants who wish to participate in the DV Program, and congratulations to those who are selected as winners! The author is the Consul at US Embassy, Kathmandu http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54673 The overwhelming victory of the Indian National Congress in elections in the important southern state of Karnataka in early May has shaken up the country’s political scene. India’s troubled ruling party had appeared headed downhill in the build-up to the next general elections, which must be held by May 2014. Now, following its huge win in Karnataka, all bets are off. Karnataka (whose capital, Bangalore, is a symbol of India’s thriving software and business-process-outsourcing industries) had been ruled for the previous five years by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the country’s main opposition party, which governed India from 1998 to 2004. The BJP’s victory in the state in 2008 was hailed as a milestone in its effort to position itself as a natural party of government. Support for the BJP in Karnataka, with its affluent, well-educated voters and its significant Christian and Muslim minority populations, was widely depicted as evidence that the party—usually identified with Hindu chauvinism and an electoral base concentrated in Hindi-speaking northern states—could broaden its appeal beyond its traditional constituencies. As the Congress-led national government (of which I am a member) reeled under a series of political and financial scandals, the BJP increasingly sought to position itself as the obvious national alternative. India’s hyperactive media began to celebrate the ambitions of the BJP’s most visible leader, Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of the western state of Gujarat, who has assiduously presented himself as an avatar of effective government, in contrast to the controversy-ridden establishment in New Delhi. The BJP, however, proceeded to paralyze Parliament with unruly calls for the government to resign. And yet, amid this turmoil—indeed, in a week in which two government ministers resigned in the face of allegations of corruption and impropriety—Karnataka’s voters gave Congress 121 of the state assembly’s 224 seats and reduced the BJP’s total to just 40. The BJP’s record in government—flagrant financial malfeasance, a procession of Chief Ministers, charges of nepotism and crony capitalism, real-estate and mining scandals, policy paralysis, and a free rein to Hindu-chauvinist groups (who attacked pubs, assaulted girls for “indecency,” and disrupted Valentine’s Day)—elicited a decisive rebuke from the electorate. Instead of turning to the state’s two regional parties—one headed by a former prime minister of India, the other by a former chief minister—Karnataka’s voters sought refuge in the tested Congress, enabling it to secure a firm majority in the state assembly. Modi came and campaigned for the BJP, but the party lost seats in every location at which he appeared—a huge setback in a state that it had hoped to use as a platform for its national ambitions. The BJP will not be viable in national politics unless and until it moves away from the limited platform of Hindu chauvinism and shows itself to be more capable than Congress of governing India’s vast diversity. Its performance in Karnataka for the past five years has given the lie to claims that it has begun this necessary shift. Given widespread revulsion at the BJP’s record of corruption and pandering to extremism, it is highly unlikely that the party will be able to retain its current 19 MPs from Karnataka in next year’s general election. Congress, by contrast, will be eyeing the state’s 28 parliamentary seats confidently. The Karnataka state election marks a decisive step forward in the Indian electorate’s journey from the politics of identity to the politics of performance. For too long, politics had become a vehicle for the aspirations of various groups that felt marginalized by the cosmopolitan secular consensus developed in India under its first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. They have asserted themselves in recent years by using the power of the ballot box to claim power on the basis of caste, religion, ethnicity, and other sectarian appeals. BJP won’t be viable unless it moves away from Hindu chauvinism and shows itself capable of governing. Voters initially proved susceptible to such appeals: “Isn’t it time people like us came to power?” is a question that resonates with those who see themselves as excluded. But, in state after state, “identity” voters were soon asking what “people like us” were doing with the power they won. They began to demand improvement in roads, sanitation, electricity, public security, and other necessities of rural and urban development—in short, they demanded better governance. The Karnataka elections even gave rise to a new phenomenon with the creation of the Bangalore Political Action Committee, led by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the chairman of the Bangalore-based biotechnology company Biocon. The BPAC led a non-partisan better-governance campaign to mobilize the city’s young voters, who have often not bothered to vote in state and national elections, registering more than 600,000 new voters and supporting over a dozen candidates from four parties, several of whom won. The message: good governance yields votes, and is thus good reason for politicians to focus on infrastructure and development. Those who in recent years assumed that they could sweep into power by disrupting Parliament and agitating against the government should take heed. Congress has no grounds for complacency, but it knows that if it delivers, the voters will remember. That could make for a far more constructive election campaign in 2014. The author is India’s Minister of State for Human Resource Development. His most recent book is Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54625 Trade deficit with China Nepali officials are busy finalizing agendas for a meeting with top Chinese officials led by state councilor Yang Jiechi. During the two-day visit (May 18-19) of the high-level Chinese delegation, Nepal will seek China’s support to boost its trade, at a time when trade deficit with the northern neighbor has been surging. It has not been hidden that besides its expanding economic interests, China’s political influence in Nepal has also grown with the emergence of China as a global power. In line with China’s growing clout, it is also natural for Nepal to seek Chinese assistance in upgrading its trade infrastructures to the north. As such, the upcoming meeting is set to be dominated by economic issues, including Chinese support on strengthening Nepal’s trade infrastructures and removing non-tariff barriers. Despite the huge potential in export of Nepali goods to China, which offers duty-free access to 7,787 goods from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) including Nepal, export volume to the world’s second largest economy is negligible compared to big imports from there. Weak supply capacity, coupled with slowing growth of industrial and farm sectors, poor trade infrastructure and non-tariff barriers hamper Nepal’s trade with Asia’s largest market. Keeping this in mind, Nepal will ask for support for the upgrading of Bhaktapur-Tatopani road; creation of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) near northern border points and cross-border economic zones in Jielong (of Tibet) and Rasuwagadhi (of Nepal); simplification of customs procedures and improvement of Rashuwagadhi customs with new dry port. But although these infrastructures are crucial for trade promotion, they are not sufficient to give new impetus to Nepal’s slowing trade with China. Until and unless Nepal strengthens its export capacity by increasing production volume and number of exportable products, there is no possibility of bringing down trade deficit with China, projected at Rs 51.94 billion in 2011/12 according to the Trade and Exports Promotion Center (TEPC), up from Rs 44.89 billion a year before. If trade deficit continues to worsen at the current rate, Nepal will face a trade deficit of over Rs 65 billion with China in the current fiscal year. Given the bleak scenario of trade with China, Nepali officials on one hand should seek Chinese support to enhance production of exportable goods which have high demand and enjoy comparative advantage in Chinese markets. Promotion of exports of medicinal herbs, hides and skins, carpet and incense sticks, all among emerging products gaining markets in China, will help dent the trade deficit. But it would be improper to only seek preferential treatment for Nepali goods from China; we also have to enhance our capability to supply quality goods at cheaper prices to Chinese market, which is emerging as a hub for similar products from other countries. Besides, regular dialogue with Chinese officials at government as well as business levels will be instrumental in expanding bilateral trade and exploring new business opportunities by removing existing trade obstacles. Nepal has a lot to learn from the rapid economic development of China. First, it could start with trying to replicate the knowhow and investment strategies that make the northern neighbor a global power. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54624 FALLACY OF DEVELOPMENT On a lazy afternoon stroll along a dusty track in Babiya Birta, a village in Morang district, a window of a one-room structure caught my eye. For me, that picture has come to summarize the challenge for Nepal, reducing the complexity to a simple truth that fits easily within the frame of a window. It was a simple window, cut out in the middle of a room-like structure located behind a rice mill. The structure had no doors or windows, just empty cut-out spaces. Inside there was a pot on boil over a low burning flame. Somebody was eating inside but that was not first visible to me from the window. It was only when I went to take a look inside that I realized somebody was sitting on the floor eating. The person didn’t notice me steal a peek. He ate alone, quietly, sitting cross-legged on a cement floor, hunched over his plate with the concentration of man who knew he had something else to do. When he finished, he got up with ease in one unbroken motion, picked his plate and walked over to the hand well pump outside. He rinsed his plate and left it there to dry. Then he disappeared into the rice mill, which had just started up again because electricity supply had resumed. BISHAL THAPA He must have timed his lunch with the load shedding schedule. In the Birta area, electricity alternates between three hours on and three hours off. Even when the grid does supply, the voltage is so low that half the grinders in the mill don’t run anyway. Clearly, he had no reason to rush lunch. On the window of the one-room structure was an improvised kerosene lamp fashioned out of an old quarter sized whisky bottle. A hole had been broken through the cap. The wick had been laced through and lay half soaked in kerosene. The village development committee of Babiya Birta is about 25 km east of Biratnagar. Around 15,000 people live there; approximately 2,500 families scattered in permanent or semi-permanent houses throughout the area. Like many other places in Nepal, this dusty little town has an eerie feeling of being empty. The young men have all left for work abroad. Nobody is quite sure if those that remain are simply an unfortunate lot or hooligans who don’t want to work for a living. All of the homes are connected to the grid. But there is hardly any supply from the grid. About a quarter have installed small solar systems, which are part financed by subsidy from the government. Another quarter of the homes have battery backup systems that use the grid to recharge the battery. As the kerosene lamp suggests, these makeshift solutions are not adequate. Alongside the kerosene lamp was a stainless steel cup. It was empty. It was likely used for drinking water or possibly tea, though I saw none of the paraphernalia for making tea. There is no municipal water supply. Those that can afford it rely on hand well pumps. Most in Birta can afford it. But the water table has been shrinking. These days the boring has to be much deeper to strike water. Several tests have confirmed trace amounts of arsenic in the water. But nobody bothers much about it. Finding a water source for household use is all that matters. Despite the electricity and water shortages, people still find reason to be happy. There is ample laughter and smiles; except, all of the smiles reveal a greyish coat around the teeth from the strong iron content in the water. One way to tell a local apart from a visitor is from the color of their teeth. Drinking water is the smaller problem. Water for irrigation is the larger challenge, a point that I had discovered the previous night. I had lost my way when I drove into Birta the previous night. Nobody travels those parts at night, especially not someone who might need driving directions. But the Limbuwan banda (strike) across the eastern parts of the country had forced me to reschedule my journey. Fortunately, the banda allowed vehicular traffic after 5 pm and I arrived at the country roads of Birta late at night. I drove on a road alongside the canal for a long time. I would later learn that was the wrong canal to follow. I looked around for someone who could point me towards my destination. But it was close to midnight. Nothing stirred. Much later I spotted a single beam of a motorcycle driving up. It moved in spurts, driving on for a bit, then stopping, driving again, then stopping. There were two men on the motorcycle. They were driving along the canal to check where it had been barricaded, where it had been cut, which field was being irrigated, which was being left fallow. In urban areas, residents get up at three in the morning to switch on their water pumps to snatch the municipal supply that arrives at that hour. In rural areas, men move stealthily under the cover of darkness seeking water for their fields. From the window of that one room structure I saw an open fire inside. A pot with a lid was perched on a traditional three-legged stove. The bottom of the pot had been coated with a layer of mud to make it easier to remove soot from the fire. But that had apparently not prevented it from being charred over time. About 10 percent of the homes in the area have installed biogas plants, which uses animal manure to generate cooking gas. A few use gas cylinders. The rest of the homes are reliant on nature, foraging for pieces of wood, agricultural waste and anything that burns. Even those that have installed biogas plants have to supplement their cooking energy needs with other sources of fuel. Life in Babiya Birta is spent securing water and energy. If we only provided water for drinking and irrigation, energy for lighting and cooking, people can take care of themselves. Every year Nepal’s development programs are laced with billions of rupees for investment in roads and highways, health and education, peace keeping and governance, and many other programs. The development community layers in another thick round of investments on institutional support, reforms, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation. There are countless reports on livelihood strategies and programs that are extensively designed to ensure that the poor will rise from their poverty. All of our development investments are invariably geared at helping people seek decent livelihood, educate their children, build their homes and manage their health. We presume how they will live and design programs expecting them to respond accordingly. If we only provided water for drinking and irrigation, energy for lighting and cooking, we might be surprised to discover that people will find their own ways to take care of themselves. They will educate and vaccinate themselves, treat the sick, build roads, link it to markets, establish institutions and govern themselves. The poor don’t need programs designed to help them get out of poverty. They need water and energy—they’ll take care of the rest. bishal_thapa@hotmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54623 BEHIND KARKI’S APPOINTMENT For those who value ethics in politics, Lok Man Singh Karki’s elevation to chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) last Wednesday dealt a severe blow. Given his questionable past, Karki is clearly not the right man for the job. Yet one good thing the brouhaha and media war over Karki has done is brought some shady characters out in the open. Karki himself must have been flabbergasted to see how he could so sharply divide opinions. I believe it is imperative to conduct background checks of the actors who, covertly or overtly, stood behind Karki and examine their self-interests. Conflicting accounts have surfaced on who proposed Karki’s name. First, Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal reportedly recommended Karki for the top CIAA job. Other members of High Level Political Committee swiftly approved his name. Second, it was CPN-UML leader KP Oli who floated Karki’s name during an informal discussion among HLPC members. Oli’s proposal reportedly pleased Buburam Bhattarai and Dahal, who seconded him instantly. Third, India wanted Karki in CIAA and Nepali politicians accepted the offer like faithful devotees of New Delhi. Given India’s effort to establish its influence in every sphere of Nepali polity, and its track record of repeatedly meddling in our internal affairs, this possibility cannot be dismissed. Hopefully, the real Indian interest in Karki’s appointment and the nature of his relation with Delhi will be revealed in time. REPUBLICA Two other leaders deserve to be mentioned in connection with Karki’s appointment. Nepali Congress’s Krishna Prasad Sitaula is said to have telephoned President Ram Baran Yadav to pressure the latter to okay Karki’s name last Tuesday. Former home minister and UMDF coordinator Bijaya Kumar Gachchadhar had been vociferously pushing for Karki. Outside observers have no way of knowing behind-the-scene deals, if there were any. But these names would not have circulated in the media if they had nothing to do with the Karki saga. Let us now examine the individual interests of all those who plumped for Karki. Not surprisingly, every name in the list has some degree of notoriety attached. Dahal and Bhattarai are among the leaders against whom complaints have been lodged with the CIAA. Maoist leadership has been charged of embezzling Rs 10 billion from PLA funds allocated for former combatants in various cantonments. Likewise, Dahal and Bhattarai doled out considerable sums to party cadres from state coffers during their tenures as the head of the government. Naturally, Bhattarai and Dahal would want someone to cover their tracks at the CIAA. Compared to Dahal and Bhattarai, Oli should have had little to fear from CIAA and no reason to root for Karki. After all, there are no complaints against him at the CIAA, nor has he been indicted in graft cases. Why did he stand for Karki then? Some inferences can be drawn. Oli is accused of protecting criminal elements within the party, chiefly Parshuram Basnet, now the central committee member of UML’s youth wing, Youth Association Nepal. A money laundering case is pending against Basnet. Oli is also a vocal defender of notorious dons whom he has allegedly roped into YAN. Oli could have been looking to curry favor with Karki to protect his henchmen from CIAA’s clutch. Much like Baburam Bhattarai, Oli is also known as someone who is close to New Delhi establishment. While Sitaula’s complicity in multi-billion rupees Sudan scam (which took place in 2007 when he was serving as home minister) has not been established, it is unlikely that such large-scale corruption could have been carried out without his direct or indirect role. Besides, Sitaula openly defended Rubel Chaudhury, the Bangladeshi son-in-law of Sujata Koirala, back in 2010 when Chaudhury was accused of misappropriating millions in Sudan scam, misusing his family visa, running a VoIP racket and supplying fake Nepali passports to Bangladeshis. The likes of Gagan Thapa and Arjun Narsingh KC had raised the issue with the party president back in 2011 and it had caused quite a stir among NC rank and file. Perhaps Sitaula wanted Karki as CIAA head to cover his own misdeeds. Unsurprisingly, Sitaula too is considered ‘India’s man’ within Nepali Congress. Bijay Kumar Gachchadhar is an open book. There are corruption cases against him at CIAA. As home minister, he is said to have halted Nepal Police’s investigation into money laundering. He reportedly transferred officials at Central Investigation Bureau to halt investigation so that Ganesh Lama, the central committee member of Gachchadhar-led Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (Democratic), against whom an anti-money laundering case is pending at CIB, could go off the hook. Gachchadhar’s interest is to save himself and his cronies. No wonder he has started to sing Karki’s praise by projecting him as the most competent officer the nation has had. These leaders and others who remained silent over the issue must have feared reprisal from the CIAA. If so, their fear is genuine. During the first half of this decade, CIAA had established itself as the most efficient anti-corruption watchdog of the region. Back then it raided a number of houses of top politicians and bureaucrats and brought the corrupt to book. Some former ministers and bureaucrats are still serving jail terms. New CIAA chief won’t act against political actors who catapulted him to power, entrenching impunity during his term. Now Karki has come to CIAA on the back of dubious leaders who need to be brought into the ambit of investigation. But Karki can use this opportunity to salvage his image. He need not go searching for corrupt people, for they are all around. He may start with cases of fraud in the cantonments. But chances are that he cannot and will not act against the same actors who catapulted him to power. In that case, he could very well institutionalize misrule during his six-year-long tenure. This is likely because a level of collusion between the head of judiciary (who is also the head of the government), head of CIAA and head of the state is no more a secret. Besides, the current government is not expected to control misrule, it is only mandated to hold elections. Predictably, the four parties and the government are now trying to make Karki episode seem like a normal course of event. They now want to ‘move on’ and complete the electoral processes. Of course, people have power to punish those involved in the Karki saga in the upcoming polls. Meanwhile, a Supreme Court verdict on the case is also eagerly awaited. Whatever the outcome, the controversy over Karki is unlikely to die down for a long-long time. mbpoudyal@yahoo.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54585 Kathmandu valley roads In Kathmandu valley at least, it has become more a norm to break traffic rules than to observe them. It isn’t hard to see why: most people can get away with it. Easily. The pedestrians have it the easiest. Unlike the motorists, they are not expected to follow even minimal rules. They can walk through red light and the traffic police at the intersection won’t even raise his eyebrow. There is no monitoring to ensure that pedestrians are using overhead bridges. Most people find it convenient to run across the short stretch under the bridge than overburden their legs going up and down. In fact, people can be seen crossing the road at the most unimaginable places, even when there are clear barriers to prevent them from doing so. It is clear that they don’t give two hoots about traffic laws. Inexplicably, some initial endeavors to punish jaywalkers petered out soon after they started a few months ago. Then there are the street vendors clogging the major sidewalks, their undesired presence compounding the already pathetic state of the walkways: riddled with potholes, many of them act as virtual booby traps at night. Vehicle operators are only a little better. Virtually every place on the road is a potential stop for public vehicles. During peak hours, it is common sight to witness motorbike riders invade the sidewalk. The private four-wheelers on Kathmandu’s roads, whose numbers are going up exponentially despite the high import tariffs, make the traffic situation worse. The roads are being widened, but traffic jams and noise and air pollution only seem to be increasing. The huge mounds of debris by the roadside are traffic stoppers, and big eyesores. [break] The just concluded World Road Safety Week (May 6-12) was a time for reflection on Nepal’s lowly 127th position on global road safety rankings. Every day five people lose their lives on Nepali roads. According to Nepal Police, as many as 1,780 people died in road accidents in the last fiscal year. Most of the fatalities and indeed most road accidents are the result of reckless driving. The deterrents against unsafe driving have proven inadequate for a long time. The poor condition of the roads is another factor behind steadily increasing road accidents around the country. Back in the valley, it has become very important to install some civic sense among common people. Unless they clearly understand that they will have to pay for their transgressions on the road, they are unlikely to mend their errant ways. Just widening existing roads is unlikely to have the desired effect so long as the attitude of the people using them does not also change. But in order to make people comply with road rules, the least the traffic authorities could do is ensure that the basic infrastructure is in place—and working. Most traffic lights in the Valley are out of order. Promotion of mass public transport like Sajha Yatayat could be one of the ways to go about it. If safe, comfortable and affordable public transportation is available, people will take to them over time. Unimaginative methods like building more roads for more vehicles have, hopefully, run their course. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54584 DAHAL’S INDIA, CHINA VISIT UCPN (Maoist) Supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal visited India soon after returning from China. He has proclaimed that both visits were meant to promote economic development of Nepal. He did talk about development, but his real mission was quite different. High level political visits between friendly countries are common. Even when relations are not very cordial, such visits take place to help break the ice. Nepal enjoys good relations with China and India, and they routinely invite Nepali political leaders for a visit. Many a time, Nepali leaders ask for an invitation and our neighbors comply. So there is nothing remarkable about Dahal’s visits to the neighboring countries.[break] What is remarkable is the mission and timing. Obviously, Dahal had two missions for his sojourn to China and India: First, as his critics have said, he wanted to get the neighbors’ blessings for the forthcoming Constituent Assembly elections. Second, he wanted to augment his national and regional leadership credentials. In small countries, external influence is an important factor in shaping internal political dynamics. So it is understandable that leaders of small countries try to obtain electoral advantage of being close to the larger neighbors. China, as the second largest economic and military power in the world, is trying to establish a wider strategic foothold in Nepal, as more arrivals of Chinese officials now suggest. Although Dahal deserves credit for extracting an invitation from Beijing to become the first Nepali leader to meet with the new leadership team there, China did not commit any new project to hand him any kind of electoral advantage. Similarly, how Dahal’s party performs in the next CA polls in the Tarai and whether he can lead the government after the election depends much on India’s attitude, signals and support. It is, therefore, perfectly understandable if Dahal tried to accrue some electoral benefit from his visits to China and India. However, China and India usually try to steer clear of any controversy or bias just before a general election. Therefore, they are likely to invite leaders from other key parties before the polls in order to strike a balance. As these trips are likely to take place closer to the election, they would wipe out Dahal’s political edge from his visits. Xinhua What is more, neither China nor India made commitments to new projects to hand Dahal political advantage over other leaders. In a sense, his visits were ill-timed. Dahal’s more important mission was to augment his national and regional leadership credentials. Dahal has tried to project himself at home and abroad as the undisputed leader of Nepal. He presumes, with some basis, that he is the natural candidate to fill up the national leadership void left by Girija Prasad Koirala’s death. He has claimed that before death Koirala had asked him to take the nation’s leadership, not just his party’s. To advance this mission, Dahal gambled by integrating only a fraction of Maoist combatants into the army, changing the tactical course of his party in the recent Hetauda convention, and proposing an apolitical election government. His proposal to forge trilateral cooperation among Nepal, China and India was his latest bid to burnish his image not only as a national leader but also a regional heavyweight. Has he succeeded in his mission? Not much. In China, Dahal, like he said, told his hosts that Nepal could maintain one-China-policy and address China’s security concerns more effectively if it were economically developed. For development, he asked Chinese leaders to construct a Nepal-China railway link and invest in hydropower and tourism in Nepal. He also said he tried to remove Chinese apprehensions about ethnic federalism. Well, one-China policy has become a cliché that does not impress Beijing anymore. Barring a few small Central American and South Pacific countries, the whole world has embraced that policy now. Nepal has no option but to stick to it irrespective of its political orientation or development status. To hint that this policy is conditional on China’s investment in Nepal must have sounded churlish to Chinese leaders. Similarly, to imply that Nepal’s progress could promote China’s security sounds like unwarranted arrogance. Externally, Beijing is worried about Washington’s military support for Taiwan and human rights concerns in Tibet, disputes over the Spratly Islands, and Moscow’s resurgence in the north and west. Neither Nepal nor India as such is China’s notable external security threat. However, Beijing is deeply concerned about internal stability and security, and Nepal’s emerging ethnic federalism is related to it. Ethnic federalism in Nepal, China fears, will affect it in three ways. First, it will embolden separatists in Tibet, Xinxiang and other restive minority provinces. Second, it will create too many fragile states along the Nepal-China border that would share cultural affinity with and be sympathetic to the Tibetans opposed to Beijing. Third, a few strong states on the Nepal-India border will further skew strategic balance in Nepal in India’s favor. China will not trust anyone until this vital security concern is addressed. If Dahal truly believes his assurances have allayed such fundamental fears of China, he either does not understand Confucian diplomacy or is delusional. Chinese, Japanese and Korean officials rarely say upfront that they disagree with the other side. Rather, they continue to display polite and pretended ignorance and raise the same issue and ask the same question repeatedly until the other side withers and compromises. This ‘diplomacy of attrition’ is different from Western and South Asian presumptive diplomacy in which officials try to put their interlocutors in the other side’s shoes. By Dahal’s own admission, Chinese officials raised the issue of ethnic federalism at different levels and on multiple occasions. Given his mercurial character, questionable credibility, and lack of governmental backing, it would be delusional for Dahal to think that he, with his few pleasant words, could mitigate the serious Chinese apprehensions related to their vital security interest. It must have been clear to him from Beijing’s indifference to his trilateral cooperation proposal. Dahal’s India visit was a more mixed bag. Dahal might have been able to slightly mend his frayed relations with India. He also secured some measure of sympathy for his federal agenda in which the Tarai will have one or two strong states that India wants and the Hills will have several weak states that it does not care about and China does not like. Beyond that, nothing was accomplished. As a bad prelude, Indian External Affairs Minister Shalman Khurshid shot down Dahal’s trilateral cooperation proposal as premature before his New Delhi sojourn even started. His opaque Beijing visit also gave reason for India to distrust him. Besides, Indian officials do not trust Nepali leaders because they blow hot and cold for their petty personal interests and commit to deliver the sky at the negotiating table but do nothing afterwards. Dahal, more than any other Nepali leader, has undermined his own credibility. He first opposed “Indian hegemony” and “expansionism”; then secretly committed to Indian intelligence agencies to safeguard Indian interests in Nepal in exchange for the freedom of movement in India for him and his comrades during the insurgency. He declared war against India and dug trenches along the border; then, in the next breath, bent over backwards to appease India to get hold of Baluwatar Durbar. Besides, India has had no basis to believe that Dahal could deliver what it wants even if he were sincere this time. It wants to bring Nepal, like Bhutan, under its security umbrella; increase its influence vis-à-vis China, its economic and strategic competitor; weaken Kathmandu by insisting on no more than two strong states in the Tarai; and tap into Nepal’s hydropower potential. Nepal’s national leader would be the one who can keep India, China as well as Western countries in good humor. This is difficult. More so for Dahal if he does not change his mercurial character, mend his tattered trust, and shed his penchant for fooling all the people all the time. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54583 BUDGET TRANSPARENCY Closed government books are an embarrassment to the country and its citizens. How open budget books are is directly proportional to public engagement in decision-making in resource management. It is the government’s responsibility to routinely report to citizens on spending, revenue collection and borrowing during the budget year. The more open budget documents are, the more the citizens’ attention to public money management. Thus it is important that the government produce and publish budget documents to ensure ‘public availability and accessibility’. The documents should be comprehensive and in the right format and language so that people can inform themselves on public finance and question the expenditure of every rupee of public money. Since greater openness leads to better participation, accountability and less corruption, it is up to the Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for producing the budgetary document, to make it happen. Budget information is defined as publicly available citizens and their representatives are able to obtain it through request to public authorities issuing the document, in a timely manner and at no or nominal cost. The public has the right to access comprehensive, timely, useful and accessible budget information, namely the eight key budget documents: Pre-Budget Statement, Executive’s Budget Proposal, Enacted Budget, Citizen Budget, In-Year Reports, Mid-Year Review, Year-end Report and Audit Report. [break] Assessing the availability of the key budget documents for the fiscal year 2011-12 (last time when the budget was presented to the parliament), Nepal produced and published Budget Speech and Budget Details for FY 2011-12 (Red Book) as an Executive Budget Proposal and its supporting documents including the Profile of Technical Assistance and INGOs, Medium-Term Expenditure Framework for fiscal year 2011/12- 2013/14 and Economic Survey, 2010-11. But these documents lacked information on fiscal activities such as extra-budgetary fund and contingent and future liabilities, among others, that can impact government policy. The budget for the fiscal year 2011-12 was enacted on September 20, 2011 without any modifications in the budget proposal unveiled by the Finance Ministry for the first time since the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in 2008. The practice of enacting the executive budget proposal without thorough discussion and possible changes undermines the parliament. The budget oversight provided by the Nepal’s Legislature-Parliament was weak since neither did it amend the Executive Budget Proposal nor hold open budget discussions. internationalbudget.org Ironically, Nepal does not produce Pre-Budget Statement and Citizen Budget, which are two instrumental budget documents that increase public participation during the four stages of budget process: formulation, approval, execution and audit. The Pre-Budget Statement should be made public at least a month before the budget is unveiled in the parliament. The goal is to allow citizens to get timely information on government policy, budget and its broad parameters and facilitate public engagement in the process. Similarly, the citizen budget, which the government should produce and publish at a time the executive’s budget proposal is enacted to demystify the jargon-laden technical aspects of the budget, is yet to come into practice. To ensure that administrative units (ministries, departments and agencies) are held accountable for their expenditure, the In-Year Reports, which are to be issued on a monthly basis according to the OECD-stipulated best practice, should show actual expenditures by each administrative unit. As an In-Year Report, the central bank of Nepal produced Quarterly Economic Bulletin-2011 with the aggregated data of government budgetary operations. It is necessary to conduct a comprehensive review of the implementation of the budget every six months to ensure that programs are being implemented effectively and to identify any emerging problems. The Mid-Term Evaluation Report of the budget-2010/11 was brought out as a Mid-Year Review which failed to cover economic outlook, implementation status and economic scenario, among other important issues. The Year-End Report as the key accountability document consolidates information on the expenditures of administrative units, revenue sections and debt and should cover all the items included in the budget as well as non-financial performance information, according to the International Budget Partnership (IBP), an undertaking which collaborates with CSOs across the globe to analyze and influence public budgets. The Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO) had produced and published the Consolidated Financial Report 2009-10 and submitted to Office of Auditor General (OAG) within four months after the year-end. The document was up to the international standard. Audit Report is an independent evaluation of the government’s accounts by the Supreme Audit Institution, i.e. Office of the Auditor General. The OAG audits annual expenditures of national entities within six months of the end of the fiscal year, albeit only budgetary funds. At a time when the government has initiated discussions on budget for the next fiscal, availability of budget documents as well as comprehensive data could greatly reform the budget system. Though there will be no parliament in the country when the next fiscal year budget is unveiled, the incumbent government with former bureaucrats with vast knowledge and experience of working in areas of critical national interests can pave the way for greater budget openness. It would do the country and citizens great justice if the Chief Justice-led government could deliver on this. The author is IBP-implemented Open Budget Initiative’s Researcher for Nepal sangreela@gmail.co http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54541 New election date The political parties seem no closer to agreeing on a new date for fresh Constituent Assembly polls, two full months after the formation of the ‘election government’ under Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi. Understandably, this inaction on the part of the government and its political backers in the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) has created a lot of frustration and confusion among the people. First, They were misled into believing that the new government would work on a war footing to hold polls by June-end, when the underlying agreement, it later emerged, was all along for November-December election. People should have been clearly told that they would have had to wait a little longer. The strategy of the HLPM and the government to keep them in the dark until the last possible moment created unnecessary suspicions, and revived the fear that the parties are not committed to a constitution through the CA mechanism. One thing that would help clear this air of suspicion that has been building up since is the announcement of a new poll date without any further ado. To its credit, the Election Commission is completely engrossed in preparations for the yet-to-be-announced polls. Currently, it is on a nationwide campaign to update voter rolls and distribute new citizenship certificates in conjunction with Home Ministry. The whole process is expected to be completed in the next two-three months, well ahead of the November-December deadline. The rest of poll preparations is not expected to take more than a month or so. But this is the technical aspect. Such technical nitty-gritty is unlikely to satisfy the common people who have felt let down by their chosen representatives time and again, starting with the dissolution of CA last May. Again, the announcement of a fresh date would restore some of this fast-eroding faith. Fixing a date is of great psychological importance as it will give everyone—the political parties, the media, the civil society, and the people at large—something concrete to look forward to. The latest hurdle in the announcement of a new poll date stems from the failure of the four parties to take smaller parties into confidence over the proposed electoral laws, and on their sincerity to free and fair polls. There are also disagreements over downsizing the CA, the one percent threshold for PR seats and the eligibility of those with criminal background to stand in polls. Mohan Baidya’s CPN-Maoist seems to be in no mood to settle for anything less than resignation of the current government and starting the whole political process anew. Although there are many unresolved issues at play here, ultimately, it is a question of deep deficit of trust, much of it stemming from the unseemly turn of events last May. It is possible to settle most of these contentious issues through meaningful give and take at the negotiating table. Again, it is important that these issues be settled at the earliest and people be given an unmistakable sign that the country is well and truly headed for new CA polls. There might still be plenty of time at hand. But past experience shows that the longer it takes to arrive at meaningful compromises, the harder it is to arrive at just about any kind of agreement. The last thing the country needs at this critical juncture is a never-ending battle of attrition among its political stakeholders. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54540 RENEWABLE ENERGY POLICY The government introduced a revised subsidy policy back in February to increase the spread of renewable energy technologies in Nepal. In revising the existing subsidy policy and recognising the importance of alternative energy sources such as wind in the national energy mix, it has helped spell out some clear priorities. The report cites rural electrification as a major national energy policy concern and underscores the importance of harnessing locally available resources in meeting the rural energy needs. The design of the subsidy rate under the revised renewable policy aims to cover 40 percent of total costs of installations from subsidy, 40 percent from soft loans and remaining 20 percent from direct users or beneficiaries such as community or households. The level of subsidy received by each household or community depends on the remoteness of the settlement or the community, which is consistent with the aim of rural electrification. However, the revised subsidy policy also violate some fundamental economic principles and contain mixed signals and messages which need to be refined in order to translate theory into practice. TRADEINDIA.COM The revised subsidy policy assumes that all VDCs are equally suitable for harnessing all forms of renewable energy. Hence the policy ignores the differences in comparative advantage among communities in terms of resource endowments and availability. It would make more economic sense if the level of subsidy is made dependent on the technology type favourable for each VDC in order to make the best use of the locally available resources. This is to say that it is economically desirable to install wind turbines in only those places where there is ample wind supply. The existing subsidy regime provides flat incentives to install a wind turbine in really windy areas in Mustang as well as less windy areas more favourable for other forms of renewable energy. How can such subsidy policies promote the best use of locally available resources? A detailed feasibility and resource mapping study on the potentials of different renewable energy technologies across VDCs can be the starting point for a rational renewable subsidy policy design in Nepal. The government, as the central planner, is naturally expected to invest more in these assessments and studies. The capital costs of each renewable technology are not documented in the revised policy report. The level of subsidy should reflect the true capital costs of the technology, coupled with additional costs tied to the remoteness of the VDCs. The additional costs can include the costs of transporting the technology. The cost estimates of renewable energy technologies vary across studies and can be problematic for trial technologies like wind in the Nepali context. The capital costs of solar power installations has also fallen dramatically in the international market, although it is still debatable if the fall can be attributed to true market maturity of the technology or to artificial price setting. Learning by doing also implies that the cost of acquiring and installing these technologies falls and should be adequately reflected in the level of subsidy allocated by technology type. This will at least require an annual appraisal or review on the level of subsidy determined by technology type coupled with an assessment of the effectiveness of the policy. Only 12 percent of Nepali population has access to electricity from renewable energy sources, where around 23 MW of electricity is generated from micro hydro schemes, 12 MW from solar PV system and less than 12 KW from wind energy. There is a need to prioritise the established renewable technologies for their quick adoption which will in turn greatly improve rural electricity access. It is not clear whether the revised subsidy policy prioritises these technologies. However, it provisions for the amount of subsidy to increase with the size of the technology, a sensible approach which will help reap the benefits of the economy of scale. Moreover, the subsidy policy accommodates a range of renewable technologies and aims to promote diversity in generation. It goes without saying that promoting diverse energy technologies can improve the security and resiliency of the electricity system. In this connection, waste-to-energy technologies also need to be recognised as renewable energy sources and made eligible for subsidies. For waste-to-energy technologies can be a good solution for the management of the growing volume of municipal solid waste. The process will help generate valuable energy from useless waste. Community empowerment and involvement is a must to improve renewable electricity access in rural areas. The subsidy design also places greater importance on access to credit and cheap loans in order to finance technology installations in rural areas. This will require reforms in the financial sector as well as policy-level coordination between the financial and energy sectors. Hence, the revised subsidy policy also clearly hints that the success of energy sector reform depends on synchronisation of associated reforms in the economy. Community empowerment and involvement is a must to improve electricity access in rural areas. Community-based financial arrangements such as cooperatives can play a vital role in financing rural electrification. However, the success of the revised policy will largely depend on the subsidy delivery mechanism. Corruption issues are hard to tackle in the Nepali context. Developing countries like Nepal may also find it hard to sustain the subsidy system due to limited national fiscal capability. Lessons of successful rural electrification from countries like Peru, Chile, South Africa and Thailand can provide useful insights to design a proper subsidy delivery mechanism in Nepal. The revised subsidy policy has the potential to be a smart renewable energy subsidy regimen. Like I said earlier, a smart subsidy mechanism for rural electrification should lead to an optimum utilisation of locally available resources. The revised policy also sends a clear message to policymakers that current scope of renewable energy sources in Nepal is limited to rural electrification and any talks of their mass integration in the transmission grid shall remain a fantasy for the foreseeable future. I believe this is a sensible approach. The author is a Research Associate in Energy Economics and Policy at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54539 INSURANCE AND DEVELOPMENT The role of insurance sector and its links into other financial sectors is assuming greater importance by the day. While there is a plethora of research on the causal relationship between bank lending and economic growth, and capital markets and economic growth, the insurance sector has not received ample attention in this respect. Financial development promotes economic growth by increasing marginal productivity of capital, by helping channel saving into investment and technological innovation. Empirical studies suggest financial intermediation plays a supporting role. Among financial intermediaries, insurance companies in particular play a vital role in economic growth. They are main risk management tools for individuals and companies. By issuing insurance policies they collect premium and transfer them to economic units for financing real investment. Therefore, the insurance sector could make a significant contribution to economic growth. BESTFINANCENETWORK.COM In almost every economy, the insurance-growth nexus is deepening due to the growing share of this sector in the aggregate business environment. Closer link between insurance and other players in the financial sector also emphasize the important role of insurance companies in economic growth. While insurance, banking and securities markets are closely related, insurance fulfills somewhat different economic functions as compared to other financial services. This in turn calls for a particular set of conditions. Evidence suggests that insurance contributes materially to economic growth by improving investment climate and promoting a more efficient mix of activities. This contribution is magnified by the complementary development of banking and other financial systems. Nonlife insurance contributes to growth at many levels of development. With insurance companies further reinsuring with the international market, it helps protect domestic companies as well. One particular loss will not damage the insurance company; but the insured will also be compensated adequately. Life insurance makes a substantial contribution to growth mostly in wealthier countries, since life insurance is typically a smaller part of the total insurance market in low income countries. The relationship between per capita income levels and insurance penetration is also strong in the other direction—with rising income a strong driver of life insurance coverage. However, it is difficult to establish whether lower insurance consumption at lower income levels reflects reduced demand for life insurance products or constraints on the supply side associated with weak regulatory and supervisory environments and high costs of insurance provision. Contribution to growth Fundamentally, the availability of insurance enables risk adverse individuals and entrepreneurs to take more risks on higher return activities, promoting productivity and growth. Risk management is fundamental to entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurs manage the risk of accidental loss by weighing the costs and benefits of each alternative. In a structured risk management process, this involves: identifying exposures to accidental loss; evaluating alternative techniques for treating each loss exposure; choosing the best alternative; and, monitoring the results to refine the choices. Those who do not apply a structured process still make decisions about risk, although by default rather than design. The scope of an economy’s insurance market affects both the range of available alternatives and the quality of information to support decisions. All insurers have a strong incentive to keep losses at a minimum, which can bring significant social benefits. Insurers also contribute specialized expertise in the identification and measurement of risk. This expertise enables them to accept carefully specified risks at lower prices than non-specialists. They also have an incentive to collect and analyze information about loss exposures, since the more precisely they measure the cost of risk, the more they can expand. As a result, the insurance market generates price signals for the entire economy, helping allocate resources to more productive uses. Insurers also have an incentive to control losses, which is a significant social benefit. By offering discounts for smoke detectors, or other measures that reduce the frequency or severity of losses, they lower their eventual claims costs, in the process saving lives and reducing injuries. On the investment side, due to the long term nature of their liabilities, sizeable reserves, and predictable premiums, life insurance providers can serve an important function as institutional investors providing capital to infrastructure and other long term investments as well as professional oversight to these investments. Of course, these benefits are fully realized only in markets where insurance providers invest a substantial portion of their portfolios domestically. The net result of well functioning insurance markets should be better pricing of risk, greater efficiency in the overall allocation of capital and mix of economic activities, and higher productivity. Importantly, these unique functions of insurance should be complementary to the penetration of banking and financial sectors. For instance, insurance facilitates create transactions such as the purchase of homes and cars and business operations, while depending in turn on well functioning payment systems and robust investment opportunities. The author is assistant General Manager, Everest Insurance Company Limited http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54538 Many of the recent tributes for Margaret Thatcher following her death celebrated her as a “transformational” leader who brought about great changes. There were frequent references to her equally transformational American counterpart, Ronald Reagan. But a more interesting comparison is with her other presidential contemporary, George H W Bush. Though often dismissed as a mere “transactional” manager, Bush had one of the best foreign-policy records of the past half-century. His administration managed the end of the Cold War, the dismantlement of the Soviet Union, and the unification of Germany within NATO—all without violence. At the same time, he led a broad United Nations-backed coalition that repelled Saddam Hussein’s aggression against Kuwait. Had he dropped any of the balls he was juggling, today’s world would be much worse. Although he presided over a major global transformation, Bush, by his own account, did not have transformational objectives. On the unification of Germany, he resisted the advice of Thatcher and others, apparently out of a sense of fairness and responsiveness to his friend, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. In October 1989, Bush responded to a call from Kohl by publicly stating that he did not “share the concern that some European countries have about a reunified Germany.” At the same time, he was careful to let Kohl and others take the lead. When the Berlin Wall was opened a month later, partly owing to an East German mistake, Bush was criticized for his low-key response. But Bush had made a deliberate choice not to humiliate the Soviets or gloat: “I won’t beat on my chest and dance on the wall,” was his response—a model of emotional intelligence in a leader. Such self-restraint helped to set the stage for the successful Malta Summit with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev a month later. The Cold War ended quietly, and the dismantlement of the Soviet empire followed. As Bush and his team responded to forces that were largely outside of his control, he set goals and objectives that balanced opportunities and constraints in a prudent manner. Some critics have faulted him for not supporting the national aspirations of Soviet republics like Ukraine in 1991 (when he delivered his infamous “Chicken Kiev” speech warning against “suicidal nationalism”); for failing to go to Baghdad to unseat Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War; or for sending Brent Scowcroft to Beijing to maintain relations with China after the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. But, in each instance, Bush was limiting his short-term gains in order to pursue long-term stability. Other critics complained that Bush did not set more transformational objectives regarding Russian democracy, the Middle East, or nuclear non-proliferation at a time when world politics seemed fluid. But, again, Bush remained more focused on maintaining global stability than on advancing new visions. Bush was also respectful of institutions and norms at home and abroad, going to the US Congress for authorization of the Gulf War, and to the United Nations for a resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. Although a realist in his thinking, he could be Wilsonian in his tactics. Bush’s termination of the ground war in Iraq after only four days was motivated in part by humanitarian concerns about the slaughter of Iraqi troops, as well as by an interest in not leaving Iraq so weakened that it could not balance the power of neighboring Iran. While Bush’s invasion of Panama to capture (and later put on trial) Manuel Noriega may have violated Panamanian sovereignty, it had a degree of de facto legitimacy, given Noriega’s notorious behavior. And, when Bush organized his international coalition to prosecute the Gulf War, he included several Arab countries—not to ensure military success, but to boost the mission’s legitimacy. When Bush and Thatcher met in Aspen, Colorado, in the summer of 1990, Thatcher allegedly warned him “not to go wobbly.” But most historians agree there was no such danger. With his careful combination of hard and soft power, Bush created a successful strategy—one that accomplished American goals in a manner that was not unduly insular and with minimal damage to the interests of foreigners. He was careful not to humiliate Gorbachev, and to manage the transition to Boris Yeltsin’s presidency in a newly independent Russia. Given the profound uncertainty of a world in flux, prudent management trumped grand visions. Of course, not all foreigners were adequately protected. For example, Bush assigned a low priority to Kurds and Shia in Iraq, to dissidents in China, and to Bosnians in the former Yugoslavia. In that sense, Bush’s realism set limits to his cosmopolitanism. Could Bush have done more had he been a transformational leader like Thatcher or Reagan? Perhaps he might have done more in a second term. And, with better communication skills, he might have been able to do more to educate the American public about the changing nature of the post-Cold War world. But, given the profound uncertainty of a world in flux, as well as the dangers of miscalculation as the Soviet empire collapsed, prudent management trumped grand visions. Bush famously said that he did not do “the vision thing.” Nonetheless, few people at the end of 1989 believed that Germany could be reunited peacefully within the Western alliance. Thatcher certainly did not. The lesson is that in some circumstances, we should prefer leadership by good transactional managers like George H. W. Bush (or Dwight Eisenhower before him), rather than by more flashy and inspirational transformers. The author is a former US assistant secretary of defense and chairman of the US National Intelligence Council, and is University Professor at Harvard University http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54488 Universal health coverage During his first term as US President, Barack Obama spent considerable political capital in pushing a universal healthcare scheme through the obstreperous American legislature. The much-awaited piece of legislation was mainly aimed at covering up to 30 million Americans denied health coverage under the existing schemes. The US has long been criticized for having one of the shoddiest healthcare systems in the developed world, with sky-high expenses and dismal coverage. In contrast, Scandinavian countries offer top-class free health services to all their citizens, so do the likes of France and Spain in mainland Europe. Third-world countries like Nepal are only just taking baby steps towards quality universal coverage. Towards this end, the government has unveiled its twin universal healthcare schemes, one under the Social Security Fund (SSF) and the other under the Ministry of Health and Population. The Health Ministry’s draft policy on National Health Insurance seeks universal health coverage by expanding access to quality and affordable care. For this, the government intends to raise a certain premium from every household and provide healthcare services on cash-free basis. The services will be provided without any premium for those below the poverty line. The new health plan will bring great relief to those uncovered under current programs, which fail to incorporate new diseases. Likewise, the SSF scheme would enormously benefit informal and formal sector workers, many of whom lose their entire life saving when they or their loved ones fall sick. To deal with this problem, the government introduced the concept of social security in July 2010 which envisaged formation of a social security fund to develop social security schemes for workers based on their contributions. Since then, the SSF has been collecting one percent social security tax from the non-taxable basic salaries of workers in the formal sector. The SSF intends to make it mandatory for employees and employers to contribute 10 percent of the workers’ basic salary, to be topped up by another 10 percent from the government coffers. The two schemes could benefit millions of poor Nepalis deprived of vital healthcare services. But there are hurdles ahead that could hinder progress. The first of those is the risk of duplication, whereby a worker in formal sector might claim benefits from both the universal as well as the SSF schemes. The government plans to prevent such duplication through the distribution of biometric smart cards, the first of which are expected by mid-2014. A related problem is that since the biometric cards will be based on voter list provided by the Election Commission, it will leave children uncovered. Moreover, the absence of a legislature means that there is no Act to implement these schemes. The thousands who have contributed to SSF funds are already questioning the rationale of their investment which has been without returns so far. There is a strong case for getting the desired Act through an ordinance since it might be some time yet before the country has an elected legislature. Given the political will, there is no reason Nepal cannot have a top-notch universal health coverage. Unlike in the US where the Republicans have time and again hindered vital healthcare reform, Nepali parties across the political spectrum are one on the indispensability of an inclusive healthcare scheme. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54487 DIGITAL VERSUS PRINT Is print really dying? This debate has been raging in the news world for quite some time now. Whereas proponents of digital media see the future of journalism online, there are others who doubt the web’s potential to be the replacement of print that has dominated media landscape from the very beginning. Things look dire for print. The digital revolution has opened floodgates of information, once a rare commodity that used to be parsimoniously distributed through print. The web is awash with all kinds of news. With people’s access to internet dramatically increasing in recent times, more and more newspaper readers are switching camp, putting a big question mark on the survival of print media. TNADVERTISING.BIZ Speed is the name of the game on the digital superhighway. News portals have superseded newspapers with their ability to break the news and serve quick updates to a global audience at an incredibly minimal cost. What appears in the print today is merely an elaboration on the corresponding story the website carried the previous day. Use of multimedia on the web has made journalistic expressions more vivid and emphatic. Hyperlinks have connected online contents to global networks. Interactivity has made the discourse more democratic than ever before. Understandably, the tide is in online media’s favor. But on the flipside, online media is viewed with disfavor for its lack of reporting depth and credibility. In the jungle of networks infested with lies and rumors, audience even this day turn to print when it comes to having full, analytical and well-verified news. Today mostly online versions run parallel to print editions. Online presence has become imperative in a sense that its absence in virtual space will mean marginalizing oneself from blossoming global digital phenomena. Digital ‘utopians’ back in the early 90s secularized internet as a new world where information should be availed for free. And this is exactly where the current existential crisis for print stems from. In principle, no information can be generated without resource investment. Media is, rather than philanthropy, an industry. News contents are what it sells. It is bound to go bankrupt if those valuable online contents are distributed for free. No industry can survive or thrive without profit. With incremental costs of news production and distribution, and decline in circulation and ad revenues, many newspapers and magazines in the western countries, mainly in the US, have been forced to shut down their print operations. Reports are coming in that even Guardian and Observer are seriously mulling closure of their print ventures. Had it not been for financial loss, the Newsweek, the second-largest news weekly magazine in the US, would not have discontinued its hard copy edition after 80 glorious years of publication. Unlike in the US and Europe, the story however is different in Africa and most Asian countries. In particular, China and India are witnessing boom in their newspaper industry for reasons such as rise of urban middle class, low internet penetration and economic growths. Nepal’s situation is, in most respects, similar to that of China and India. The latest reports confirm that internet penetration in Nepal is approximately 20 percent of national population, which means there are more than five million people who have access to free web contents. The fact that most of the internet users are from cities is certainly having major bearings on the scope of print readership whose strongholds are also urban areas. However, analysts believe that, despite the considerable portion of population having privileges of web access, it barely serves as an indicator of the country’s general tilt to the use of digital media as public consumption also depends on overall economic health including the issues of employment, power supply, stability and steady growth. The Chicago Online launched by the US newspaper Chicago Tribune in 1992 is considered the first online venture in history. In Nepal, Mercantile in 1999 for first time began operation of www.nepalnews.com that hosted its own original contents besides archiving published contents of other publications. Today almost all broadsheet dailies, many weeklies and fortnightlies have their complementary online operations. According to Alexa global traffic ranking, in Nepal, Republica’s www.myrepublica.com, Nagarik Daily’s www.nagariknews.com, Kantipur Publication’s www.ekantipur.com, and The Himalayan Times’s www.thehimalayantimes.com are among the top four new websites having both online and print editions. Other news websites, notably www.onlinekhabar.com and, more recently, www.setopati.com are running online only. These sites, and possibly many others, are gradually evolving into strong, credible brands with their unique dynamic contents and overarching influence in Nepal’s digital media landscape. However, lack of clear revenue bases remains a common worry that the operators, who do not have print editions, have got to overcome. One stark reality is, online may self-sustain but, without its press counterpart, can’t support sustenance of media house as a mainstream media entity. Therefore it is highly unlikely that online ventures will replace print editions anytime soon. Basically, Google ads, other regular ads and paywalls erected against online contents are three major potential sources of revenues for any news websites. The money that web portals in Nepal make through Google ads is minimal, while revenue from regular advertising is still a tall prospect considering its practical difficulties. Creating paywalls, thus making readers pay for online contents, can be the best approach but still the idea is not devoid of ethical issues in addition to the dangers of forfeiture of both online and off-line audience, poor traffic and search engine optimization. Today, several hundred newspapers including big names such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Daily Telegraph have paywalls of some kind as a survival tactics when print media is faced with yet another existential crisis in this internet age. The current debate centers on whether newspapers will be able to adopt survival skills to come to terms with online tide. It does not stand to reason to blame closures of certain print presses solely on the emergence of online media, as the real causes could range from its own management incompetence to its failure to meet professional integrity resulting in once-loyal audience shifting their allegiance. Also at one extreme, today’s debate is not about whether print, as a single entity, will be able to continue its existence. Rather it is about whether individual newspapers will be able to adopt survival skills to come to terms with the new tide. In Nepal, despite limited market, print is still expanding. The spirited initiative recently taken by an investor for an ambitious media launch speaks a lot about the national mood, reflecting that there is still so much left in print media in Nepal. Let us not forget that print has historically defied doomsday prophecies of first radio, then TV’s rise. With its unique innate features, print has all along been able to make the society feel the need of its presence and thus has hitherto remained the leading mass media for hundreds of years. It is hard to say how long it will stay. What can be said for now is, until some effective model is perfected to monetize news websites and their contents, print will remain. The author is online coordinator, Republica arunrai149@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54486 DEVELOPMENT VS ENVIRONMENT Jared Diamond, in his book Guns, Germs and Steel talks about the roots of inequalities in the world. Human beings have been continuously developing their capabilities to achieve more food, good shelter, long life, wealth and prosperity. For instance, 13,000 year ago, hunters and gatherers had to travel from one place to another looking for new food sources. Later, human beings discovered that these food sources could be controlled. They domesticated both plants and animals, and brought the food sources back home. However, this transformation was not as easy as expected, because their close interaction with animals invited diseases. With diseases came more challenges, and innovation began to flourish to overcome the challenges. With innovation came technology, with technology came power, and power led to wealth and prosperity. Therefore, power in today’s age of globalization has been defined in terms of economy, and economy is determined in terms of growth. In the process of growing, developed countries have continuously been engaged in expanding their wants, desires and necessities, while poor countries are still struggling with basic needs. Prosperity became uneven, and consequently, some parts of the world (say North) are richer than others (say South) at present. KITERUNNERGROUP6.BLOGSPOT.COM In recent years, poverty has become the favorite word, both globally and regionally. Huge global fund has been invested in least developed regions and impoverished societies to fight poverty. World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank are some of the major caretakers of the process. But is it possible to get rid of poverty? I admire Jeffrey Sachs for his wonderful book, The End of Poverty: How Can we Make it Happen in Our Lifetime, because he believes that our generation holds the capacity to eliminate extreme poverty in the next 20 years. Sachs’ idea of ‘global fund’ and proper investment to eliminate poverty is very convincing. According to him, the extreme poor lack six major capitals—human capital, business capital, infrastructure, natural capital, public institutional capital, and knowledge capital. In other words, impoverished countries fail to achieve increased saving (at household level) and increased tax revenues (for government spending and investment), meaning the country is in a poverty trap. Therefore, investment on these capitals is essential. But such an investment requires good economy which poor countries lack. Sachs argues that every developed country needs to make “concrete effort” to commit 0.7 percent of their total GNP as Official Development Assistance (ODA) to poor countries. This would eventually, in his belief, make poverty a history. The role of Office Development Assistance (ODA) would be crucial in breaking the poverty trap, because it supports public budget for investment on aforementioned capitals. However, this also means that there is a need for scaling up investment (foreign assistance), including a system of governance that empowers the poor while also holding them accountable. This calls for the need of global partnership and cooperation by redefining the role of the United Nations and donor communities (rich countries) including global financial institutions like IMF and World Bank. It is commendable that the world is making relentless efforts to push a billion poor people up the ladder of development. But when we put poverty aside and focus on the bigger picture, then we will find that there are bigger problems awaiting us. For example, the recent World Happiness Report 2012, edited by Helliwell, Layard and Sachs, has a story to tell. It states that we are living in the age of stark contradictions. There is a huge part of the globe living in unimaginable technological sophistication, while at least one billion on the other part live without enough food to eat. The world economy is setting up new standards with mass production and consumption through technological advancement. The dimensions of our changing world are the outcome of modern economic growth and development. But on the other hand, we are seemingly little bothered about the destruction of the natural environment that the technological advancement has engendered. Environmental degradation, growing inequality in terms of income and wealth, social division, etc are leading the entire human history to another phase of the world, termed Anthropocene by scientists (Here, “Anthropo” means ‘for human’ and “cene” means new geological epoch). This means we human beings have entered a new era, where we are the major factors behind the transformation of the earth’s physical systems, including climate, weather, habitat, carbon cycle, water cycle, nitrogen cycle and biodiversity. Such a transformation is likely to usher global problems of food scarcity, water shortage and natural calamities among others. Its effects have already been noticed in some parts of the world, especially in Africa and Asia. Even in Nepal, the monsoon has shifted. Farmers cannot comprehend the change and keep waiting for rain. Sometimes heavy rainfall destroys all crops, leaving farmers no choice but to restart the process. The world is experiencing various natural calamities, like frequent earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and landslides. These emerging problems forecast a more severe life in the near future. A lot has been spent in least developed regions and impoverished societies to fight poverty. But is it possible rid of it? So does that mean we need to revisit our choices? Is happiness mere economic growth, increased income or high consumption? Is happiness money, or a safer world? Is there something we know we can change but feign ignorance? How long will we run after GNP at the cost of environmental damage? Our main objective now is to reduce environmental degradation and improve our lifestyle. In other words, reducing environmental degradation means correcting our production and consumption patterns, or in general, opting for a new kind of lifestyle which is less sophisticated and less materialist. ‘Living with less’ might not be a problem for those of us who have learned to live without food for some time. But is it equally possible for those who have plenty of choices regarding what to eat, how much to eat, and where to spend? What could be the meeting point of both of these extreme ends? The elitist world wants a billion of us to step up the ladder of economic development. In return, will they agree if we ask them to step down? The author is Director, Center for Youth Studies, YUWA kanchan@yuwa.org.np http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54485 CHAOTIC TRAFFIC IN NEPAL It is common knowledge that the roads in Nepal are not safe for driving. Pedestrians, cyclists, children, and the elderly are among the most vulnerable road users. Notably, Kathmandu Metropolitan City has one of the largest networks of roads in Nepal. There are rules and regulations in place for easy driving, but the so-called intellectuals living in the capital have their own driving rulebook, it seems. They hardly bother with traffic lanes and signs. Peter Friedman, a friend of mine from Germany, once talked about traffic in his native country. According to him, there are no traffic police on the roads there. Traffic moves smoothly with just the help of traffic lights. No bullying is needed on the road, because people are aware of their driving lanes. Vehicles are registered in an organized way, speed photography camera and speed limit signs are installed on roads, so that the lawbreakers don’t escape. The sound of horn is hardly heard. In fact, if any one blows the horn, it becomes a matter of surprise. Traffic updates on radios help maintain low pressure on roads. Vehicles stuck in traffic jams are very patient. No driver stops over zebra-crossings, because they know that it is made for pedestrians. Since pedestrians are slower than motor riders, priority is given to the pedestrians. Public vehicles are friendly to disabled people. There is no air pollution and drivers are equipped with seat belts and proper documents. REPUBLICA Traffic is not as organized in Nepal. Rather, Nepalis enjoy blowing their horns whenever possible, no matter whether they are near a hospital or school. The speed limits and lanes on the roads have no meaning. No turn signals are given, and it is almost a matter of pride to stop vehicles over zebra-crossing. Public buses are always in a rush, like ambulances in an emergency, and nobody dares talk to the drivers. Most youngsters seem to think they are superheroes, so rules do not apply to them. The traffic system of Kathmandu is becoming a joke. Street vendors are seen selling their goods on footpath as if it is the natural right of Nepali citizens, and cattle rest in the middle of the road. Construction materials like bamboo, rods, sand and stone are dumped openly on the road, without proper safety signs or permission from locals. Riders often have no idea what they are going to encounter on the road. The Department of Road and line agencies are careless about damaged roads, open pits, gigantic manholes and hanging electric cables, which cause disturbances in traffic regulation. According to World Health Organization, around 1.24 million people die from road accidents around the world. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among young people aged 15–29 years, and 91 percent of the world’s fatalities on the roads occur in low-income and middle-income countries, even though these countries have only half the world’s vehicles. Half of those dying on the world’s roads are “vulnerable road users”: pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Only 28 countries, representing 416 million people (7 percent of the world’s population) have adequate laws that address all five risk factors of driving (speed, drunk-driving, helmets, seat-belts and child restraints). Road traffic crashes are predicted to result in the deaths of around 1.9 million people annually by 2020. Basic traffic rules are defined by an international treaty, the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. But not all countries are signatory to the convention. Even among the signatories, local variations may be found in its application. There are rules for traffic management in our country, but few pay attention to them. The traffic system is not compatible to the growing number of vehicles in cities, and limited parking zones are becoming a big issue. Time and again, Nepal traffic police have launched traffic programs for road safety, but failed to monitor and maintain them regularly, so the careless and reckless persons are able to violate the law every time. Bizarrely, hit and run cases are becoming minor issues. Reckless drivers escape after hitting pedestrians, and victims are further victimized by rescuers. Police personnel are not where they are supposed to be. They seem to be around early in the morning and late in the night when traffic is low. For better traffic management, there are some steps which can be taken. Special lanes should be constructed for bicycle riders and pedestrians. Issues like noise and air pollution should be prioritized. Income generated from fines should be used to upgrade the traffic system, and driving license and registration systems should be modernized. The existing traffic light system should be updated from time to time without waiting for help from donor agencies. Moreover, traffic education programs should be launched in each school. Public awareness programs initiated in collaboration with local clubs/NGOs and media partners. Highway advisory radio and on-board and off-board navigation devices need to be installed by integrating traffic data with navigation systems. All in all, regulating traffic, reducing the number of accidents, and inculcating a sense of discipline among road users should be Nepal traffic police’s major agenda. Line agencies, policymakers and road users should be sincere in their respective duties to maintain proper flow of traffic. Most drivers are educated and aware of traffic laws, but are unwilling to follow the rules. Only our collective effort can ensure that traffic is safe and orderly. The author is a sociologist girithejorba@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54369 Karki’s appointment Nepal’s hard-earned democracy received a major blow on Wednesday when President Ram Baran Yadav appointed controversial bureaucrat Lok Man Singh Karki as the Chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), in the face of stiff public and media criticism. Karki must now be a relieved man, but millions of Nepalis who fought for the cause of democracy and wanted to see the country tread into a new era of democratic governance must also have had an inkling of how hard it will be to consolidate democracy in this country. Karki’s appointment has created a big rift in Nepali society. A section of the civil society has already hit the streets. Karki had a major role in suppressing Jana Aandolan II as Chief Secretary under King Gyanendra’s regime. But that is not the only thing that made him unfit to head CIAA. Given his tainted past, the same anti-graft body which Karki will now head had deemed him unfit to hold any public office in the future. The implications are deeply troubling. With such a tainted figure at its head, any future CIAA action, legitimate or not, will come under a cloud of suspicion. There is also a fear that Karki will serve the interests of the political masters that helped him get the coveted post. The responsibility for this unfortunate appointment must be borne by the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM). Not only did the HLPM fail to rise to people’s expectations, its constituent parties are now under intense scrutiny for apparently bowing to unwanted pressures from outside. Nepali Congress and CPN-UML leadership tried to come clean at the last moment by appearing to publicly oppose Karki’s appointment, but their initial backing of the former Chief Secretary as the CIAA head makes people suspicious that their last-minute drama was only for public consumption. The parties’ role in Karki’s appointment will add to suspicions about their democratic credentials. There are other culprits as well. The Supreme Court refused to extend the stay order barring Karik’s proposed appointment and then refused to entertain a writ petition against the Constitutional Council’s go ahead on Karki’s name. These decisions will be closely scrutinized in the days ahead. The President, only a day after assuring the people that he would properly study Karki’s appointment before clearing it, gave the controversial proposal his stamp of approval early next morning. What forced him to make a complete U-turn in such a short time? The country’s major political forces played a very important role in overthrowing feudal monarchy, but they have since been complicit in all kinds of anti-democratic moves. It was their incompetence that led to the historic failure of the Constituent Assembly. Now their dubious role in Karki’s appointment will only add to people’s suspicions about their democratic credentials. However, we would also like to reiterate that the latest turn of events should in no way jeopardize the election environment and whatever their differences over Karki, real or cosmetic, the political parties should continue to work together for timely Constituent Assembly polls. At the end of the day, it should be up to the people to decide if they are satisfied with the performance of their elected representatives. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54368 SAFE MOTHERHOOD Indira Gandhi, when asked to state her greatest moment in life, reportedly said, “When I became a mother.” Indeed, if one of the most powerful women in world history regarded becoming a mother as the greatest moment in her life, for ordinary women like us it is no doubt the best moment and a turning point in life. Birthing a healthy baby and holding the newborn child in her arms gives an indescribable feeling of happiness to a woman. For most, it is also a moment of rebirth. On this Mother’s Day, I would like to congratulate all mothers for the sacrifices they have made and all the love they have given their children. The importance of a woman as a mother in every family and society is invaluable. I have no doubt in my mind that the human race would have been extinct a long time ago if mothers were not endowed with endless love, patience and wisdom. Today, as you read this, I invite you to celebrate your mother and think about her life from the time you were in her womb. I also request all readers, both women and men, to become advocates for safer and more respectful motherhood in Nepal and around the world. MOTHERHOOD-CAFE.COM Nepali women’s rights activists talk about a number of rights we would like ensured in Nepal, but often as activists (from advantaged groups) we forget the most basic and important of all rights—the right to a healthy and dignified motherhood. For most women reading this article, childbirth may have been a good experience, but for many other women in Nepal and around the globe, it unfortunately is not so. Accompanying a niece-in-law to Prasuti Griha for her delivery, I was horrified to see the blood on the beds and the floor of the delivery room, and an almost complete lack of privacy or dignity for the women in the throes of birthing a baby. Fortunately, she was a nurse herself, and took things in her stride with equanimity, almost birthing her own baby! However, I was not surprised that after a few months, they had to close the entire place due to infection in delivery rooms. To tell you the truth, I have seen cleaner cow-sheds! But hospital management cannot alone be blamed for the treatment meted out to women or for the shabby ‘up-keep’ of the place. They are overwhelmed with the number of delivery cases. There is literally no time to even wipe a delivery bed clean due to the heavy flow of patients, forget bedside manners or handholding of the woman in labor! But the scene has stayed with me, and I do revisit it from time to time and think there should be a better and kinder introduction to motherhood for all Nepali women. Further, one realizes that the abject situation of maternity care is a failure both of society and a patriarchal culture, and inadequate governance with regard to policy and program (and almost all other aspects!). Our challenge was, and still is, getting women access to skilled care during pregnancy and childbirth so that both mother and child would live, but the care provided should be respectful as well. ‘Respectful Maternity Care’ is becoming quite a buzzword in many developing nations as it is increasingly being realised that a woman’s human rights are seldom realised in the process of becoming a mother. Safe motherhood is not only an issue of physical safety but an important rite of passage with deep personal, social and cultural significance for a woman and her family. In Nepal a number of positive and negative social and cultural practices are related to childbearing. It is important that safe motherhood does not just become a tool to prevent mortality and morbidity. Safe motherhood must include a woman’s feelings, dignity, privacy, choices and preferences, including the choice of companionship. Intrinsically tied to this concept is the treatment received from care providers during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period. The expectation is for kindness, caring, empathy, support, respect, understanding and effective communication, from which a woman can make informed choices during this most important phase of her life. A woman’s relationship with caregivers during this period, if positive, can be reaffirming and lead to an increase in self-esteem and confidence. If the relationship is negative or neglectful, it can inflict lasting damage, emotional trauma, and even death. The sad story of 28-year-old Trishna Bohora of Sirsa VDC of Dadeldhura illustrates such a tragedy of neglect and disrespect. Trishna was recently admitted to the Team Hospital in Amargadhi Municipality and had a normal delivery and a healthy baby. Around 7.30 pm in the evening, she started bleeding. Her guardians requested the attendants to call the doctor or senior nurse, but nobody came until 11 am the next morning, by which time she had bled to death. Her family members then started an agitation, and during the course of it, the newborn also died of neglect. This is, of course, an extreme case of criminal neglect and disrespect, as Trishna was a poor and powerless woman. But many women like Trishna undergo great trauma, neglect and disrespect at healthcare facilities. We can only guess the impact of Trishna and her baby’s death amongst the women of child-bearing age in her village. It is increasingly being realised that a woman’s human rights are seldom realized in the process of becoming a mother. If on this Mother’s Day we truly want to show love and respect for our mothers, we must ensure Respectful Maternity Care rights in Nepal within the context of safe motherhood. Thus, in seeking and receiving maternity care before, during and after childbirth, we must ensure that: Every woman has the right to be free from harm and ill-treatment; Every woman has the right to information, informed consent and refusal and respect for her choices and preferences; Every woman has the right to privacy and confidentiality; Every woman has the right to be treated with dignity and respect; Every woman has the right to equality, freedom from discrimination and equitable care; Every woman has the right to healthcare and to the highest attainable level of health; Every woman has the right to liberty, autonomy, self-determination and freedom from coercion. We must all understand that disrespect and abuse during maternity care are a violation of women’s basic human rights, and move towards legally ensuring these human rights in the context of Nepal along with appropriate human and other resources for quality health care. Such stories of neglect, abuse and disrespect during the process of becoming a mother are just too commonplace in our country to treat this write-up as just an article and forget what it implies for the current and coming generations of Nepali women of reproductive age. We must ensure that not even one mother has to undergo humiliation or abuse, and that all pregnancies and childbirths are beautiful times for all. Only then can we truly celebrate Mother’s Day in Nepal. The author is President of Safe Motherhood Network Federation of Nepal and Chair of the Global Board of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54367 YOUTH ROLE IN FOOD SECURITY Nepali agriculture is typically characterized by small holders and traditional and subsistence farming. The agricultural sector of Nepal has lost its competitive edge owing to a shortage of fertilizers, seeds, irrigation and other productivity-enhancing inputs, resulting in food security concerns for people dependent upon agriculture. The recent decline in agricultural production has depressed rural economies and increased widespread hunger. Based on three global parameters: affordability, availability, and quality and safety, Nepal ranked 79 out of 105 countries in the Global Food Security Index 2012. Two out of every three Nepalis suffer from food insecurity each year. The situation is even worse in rural and remote areas. The continued food insecurity and lack of economic opportunities has triggered out-migration of youth from rural Nepal in search of employment opportunities. This in turn has resulted in the scarcity of labor force in agricultural sector in Nepal, and is the major reason for the increase in international youth migration. MYREPUBLICA Young people make up 39 percent of the total population, defined in Nepal’s National Youth Policy as those aged 16-40. However, 38.8 percent of them are either unemployed or underemployed. Specifically, youth are not interested in farming. Traditional subsistence agriculture has no attraction for the youth, as it has not adapted to the changing socio-economic and climate scenario. A number of polices have guided the agricultural sector to promote food security of Nepal, but have not obtained satisfactory results. The scenario has given rise to a challenge: who will feed Nepal’s population, estimated to reach 47.8 million by 2050? I believe young people constitute a significant part of the population. Understanding the needs and aspirations of this young population is important to raising awareness and advocating for change. In this regard, here are some sustainable agricultural practices which can enhance youth engagement in agriculture and ensure food security for the present and future. Change in food habit Although various cereals are grown in Nepal, the staple food of most Nepalis is rice. Though maize gets a second priority in the hills, rice heavily dominates our food culture, so much so that that people feel deprived if they have to eat any cereal other than rice. There is a need of awareness about food diversification, because often locally produced foods are just as, or more nutritious than rice, but are ignored because of lack of awareness. Educated youth can play a positive role in educating their communities of the nutritional values of locally produced food. Demand based produce Nepal is rich in agro-biodiversity and there are several pocket areas which produce specific crops, like tea in Eastern Nepal. These crops have a high demands and can make agriculture more profitable. Promoting such crops is highly beneficial to increasing the income of farmers and engaging youth in agriculture. Lease hold farming In Nepal, there are large tracts of lands left fallow, and most land is not farmed based on land use classification. Sustainable land (soil) management practices should be used in arable land, otherwise the resulting land degradation and defragmentation may lead to ecological problems. In this regard, leasehold farming will be better for commercial agriculture, which will create employment opportunities. Hybrid seeds can be used only once, hence the youth should conserve local germplasm as an alternative. Product diversification Product diversification, such as making cheese from milk, increases farmers’ incomes. However, care should be taken that the technology used and volume of production outputted have the least impact on the environment. Agri-food opportunities and food-related activities may give high returns if they are well marketed, reducing benefits to the middlemen who collect from farmer and give to wholesalers. Using locally available crops, it is possible to produce nutritious value-based products through processing technologies, like potato chips from potato. The youth can be directly involved in raising awareness and actually running such types of agri-production. Germplasm The open border with India and lack of quarantine and other phyto- sanitary measures has meant a proliferation of hybrid seeds in the markets of Nepal. Hybrid seeds can be used only once, which means that the seeds have to be bought anew every time. The use of hybrid seeds has led to the loss of local seeds. Hybrid seeds are also recorded as having other problems in productivity. For example, using genetically modified seeds had outputted barren cobs of corn in Bara district of Nepal. We should conserve local germplasm not only at the community level, but also at the governmental level. Gene bank program should be maintained more effectively through the government’s agricultural research institutions so as to ensure secure food production to meet increasing demands. The author is Nepal Representative, Young Professionals’ Platform for Agricultural Research for Development (YPARD) ypardnepal@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54325 Victory in ICC Division 3 In the past few years, cricket has been on the periphery of Nepali public’s interest, with young Nepali cricketers performing very well in international competitions, the under 19 team twice reaching the finals of ICC world cup plate championships (once winning it), and more recently, the Nepali national team reaching the finals in Asian Cricket Council(ACC)’s Twenty 20 series. But now, with a victory in the finals of 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division 3, Nepali cricket has leapt into center stage, and rightly so. With the victory over Italy already ensuring their entry into world cup qualifiers, the win in the finals was actually the cherry on top of the pie: something that lifted the team’s morale. But then, this victory is Nepal’s best performance in the history of its cricket, and brings with it the good news of Nepal’s entry into Division 2 of ICC World Cricket League. Support for national sports, especially cricket, has been steadily growing in recent years in Nepal, as evidenced by the throngs of sports lovers who paid to watch Nepal play in ACC Twenty 20 series at Kirtipur in April. Sports, especially at the national level, are important in divisive times because they serve to unite a divided people. With diverse members from different ethnic groups and religions, Nepal’s national cricket team resembles a miniature Nepal. Even as Nepal is trying to come to terms with its ethnic and linguistic differences, all Nepalis are united in their support for this miniature Nepal. Along with the team, the victory has lifted the spirits of the entire nation. We certainly hope they continue to perform at their best in the future and forge a much needed solidarity among Nepali people. One of the reasons Nepal has been improving its play steadily is the international exposure it has been getting through matches with teams of other countries. Before the world cup qualifiers, it is essential that Nepali players be provided extensive training with international teams, which will increase their competence as well as confidence to play at the international level. A conducive environment needs to be created for the Nepali team to consistently do well in the long term. The National Sports Council’s decision to award Rs. 350,000 each to the members of the team is a step in the right direction. As Nepal struggles with ethnic differences, Nepalis unite in supporting a multi-ethnic cricket team. The cash prize will reward current players and motivate future players to think of sports as a viable career option, ensuring that talented players are retained in the field. There is only one international cricket stadium in Nepal, and the proposed stadiums at Mulpani and Pokhara have been stalled time and again. Construction of these stadiums needs to be prioritized if Nepal hopes to encourage excellence in its players and host frequent international games. We applaud the Nepali team’s performance and wish them luck for the world cup qualifiers to be held in New Zealand in January 2014. But a lot needs to be done before Nepal can hope to clear the last hurdle before the ICC world cup. Regarding the development of infrastructure, Cricket Association of Nepal has been passive, sufficing with the initiatives taken by the government. For Nepali cricket to achieve its full potential at the international level, CAN must be proactive in reaching out to the government and prodding it to develop infrastructure and provide facilities and trainings to its players. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54324 NEPAL’S SPACE ASPIRATIONS The recent news that Nepal is examining the feasibility of launching our first geostationary satellite in orbital space comes as a pleasant diversion from the headlines incessantly focusing on our terrestrial, low-life politics. It has taken our government almost 30 years to look up above since the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) first allocated an orbital slot for Nepal in 1984. This news of our orbital ambition has generated widespread publicity at home but it also spread abroad quickly, with the Chinese wire Xinhua reporting it in detail (“Committee set up to study feasibility of launching Nepal’s own satellite,” May 5). The story is entirely focused on highlighting the efforts of the feasibility team. It makes two fringe references to China, one concerning the possibility of leasing Nepal’s satellite partly to the northern or southern neighbor for commercial purpose, and another describing China (and some other nations) as countries that already have satellites. JYI.ORG A day later, India’s The Hindu newspaper reported the story (“Nepal may turn to China for satellite plan,” May 6), citing the Xinhua story and highlighting China’s involvement as one more example of her edge over India in regional orbital race. The article cites how the Indian Cabinet Committee on Security in March had urged the Indian Space Research Organization “to become more active in responding to neighbors’ needs after reports from the Research & Analysis Wing highlighted how India’s lack of interest in the recent past had enabled China’s fast-expanding success in this field.” Noting that the Chinese company, Great Wall Industry Corporation (GWIC), which has helped several developing nations including Pakistan and Sri Lanka, is interested in helping Nepal launch her satellite, the story also points to a potential commercial gain by China in the proposed satellite project. Satellite diplomacy In other words, even in the news of our artificial satellite endeavor, it’s us as a political and economic satellite of our neighbors’ that draws their attention. Both the neighbors are competing in space for national prestige, power and glory, with their eyes set on manned lunar missions within this decade as well as rover missions to Mars. This rivalry reflects in their influence on smaller countries in utilizing their orbital slots allocated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The likely involvement of the Chinese in Nepal’s satellite aspirations and simmering Indian apprehensions is the latest example. China launched its first satellite (DFH-1; 1970), about 13 years after Russia’s Sputnik and 12 years following America’s launch of Explorer-1. According to the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists, of the estimated 1,046 operating satellites in orbit today (excluding a couple of thousand more dead satellites as space debris), 107 belong to China. Some 45 countries have their own satellites in orbit. Since its launch of Aryabhata in 1975, India has so far launched 60 satellites. Both China and India have helped many countries around the world to launch their own satellites and they often compete in this area. China has been supporting Pakistan’s space program for long. The country’s first indigenously developed satellite (Badr-1) was launched in China in 1990. Its first geostationary satellite (Paksat-1) was launched in 1996. In November 2012, China also helped Sri Lanka launch its first satellite, prompting India to approach Sri Lanka. Worried about Chinese advance and concerned about the security and defense implications for the sub-continent, India is now approaching Sri Lanka to lease her empty orbital slots. To thwart likely Chinese involvement in the Maldivian satellite project, and to mend ties that had turned frosty following a recent failed deal in infrastructure at Male, the Indian government recently “intervened at the highest levels” (Hindustan Times, April 5) to submit a proposal on manufacturing and launching the island nation’s satellite. It is not clear if India’s interest in this type of “satellite diplomacy” is entirely motivated by her desire to be “more active in responding to neighbors’ needs” as suggested by RAW, or simply to check China’s fast-expanding success in the region. Prospects Doubts have often been raised over the commercial viability of satellites launched by small, developing countries. The argument is markets in such countries are too small to provide an economic return for the large investment made in satellites. In other words, satellite service is a luxury in such countries. This was largely true until the rise of satellite broadcasting, explosion of internet, and expanding use of mobile telephony. Long distance communication across remote places of the country has improved gradually with radio-relay systems and fiber-optic cables. And today, with expanding demands, satellite communication is becoming a necessity and a reality. Before the information revolution on a global scale, many countries that saw no economic prospects in launching their own satellites leased their allotted orbital slots to other countries. Some smaller countries still do so. For example, the small countries of Tonga and Tuvalu have leased their orbital slots to international parties, generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Meanwhile, Bangladesh is soon launching its own satellite and hoping to earn US $3 billion in the next 15 years. Nepal has spent precious time debating water resources (though not as much as political change) over the years, without any concern for the loss of revenues that could have been generated by leasing our orbital slot, the frequency and location assigned to Nepal for placing a satellite. It’s a scare resource up there to be shared or utilized effectively. Thirty years is a long time, and the recent efforts definitely sound like too little too late. We are used to starting an important task at the eleventh hour, and wishing for an extension or postponement of a deadline. Apparently, this is true in this case too, although ITU constitution urges nations to take into account “the special needs of the developing countries and the geographical situation of particular countries” in the use of orbital slots, a limited natural resource. To note: If Nepal cannot use the orbital slot by 2015, the deadline suggested by ITU will expire and Nepal will have a difficult time reclaiming its lost slot, Narayan Sanjel, a joint secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications, who heads the study committee, told Xinhua. Today, we have a very fast-expanding communication environment, with many commercial entities relying on foreign satellites for their businesses. Nepal currently depends on foreign satellites, and it spends an estimated US $25 million for the services primarily in television broadcasting and weather forecasting. Still, the costs to launch a satellite will far exceed direct economic benefits. The total cost to launch the Sri Lankan satellite (the third in South Asia) was US$ 320 million. It is unclear if India’s interest in ‘satellite diplomacy’ is a way to “respond to neighbors’ needs” or to check China. With prudent planning and execution, and good salesmanship, Nepal could benefit from owning a satellite of her own. Apart from its commercial value, it will benefit our defense system, helping to directly monitor situations and locations of interest to the security sector. It will help enhance our weather forecasting, which has huge implications for agriculture, tourism industry and other businesses. Television coverage is still limited to between 50 to 60 percent of households, with the signal of Nepal Television reaching about 72 percent of the country’s population. Having our own satellite will enable access to TV signals even in the remotest parts of the country. Besides, given the growth of the radio sector, Nepal could see a boom in satellite radio too. Above all, the launch of Nepal’s own satellite will be a huge morale booster with far-reaching social-economic implications for a country emerging out of a prolonged period of conflict, and despair. The study team will have to factor in not only the projected benefits but assess the mode of operation, including nature of partnership between the government and national or foreign firms. Like any mega projects in the country, a project this size that has already invited India’s concerns about impending Chinese collaboration, is sure to mire even the good efforts in endless controversies, right from the beginning. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54323 SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND FOOD INSECURITY Every year, soon after the summer season steps at our door, we expect monsoon to arrive, heralding adequate downpour, which is the only source of irrigation for most of our farmers. Since 62 percent of cultivable land in Nepal is said to be rain-fed, monsoon, as a determining factor of agricultural produce, has a vital role in food security. However, food security is not only about agricultural produces; it is more about people’s access to these produces. In the highly stratified society of Nepal, people from the lowest echelons of the social strata such as Dalits suffer social exclusion and thus are left far behind in the access to food. Food security cannot be understood without taking note of such social dynamics. PREVENTIONACTION.ORG Food security, as Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines it, is a condition where people have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs to live an active and healthy life. Availability, access and utility of food are considered the three main pillars of food security. In other words, to have food security, food should be easily available, accessible and used properly to meet the dietary requirement. Absence of any of these pillars leads to food insecurity. Approximately, 925 million people around the globe suffer from undernourishment. With 578 million people living under the duress of hunger, Asia and the Pacific region ranks first in terms of food insecurity, according to FAO. Likewise, recent National Planning Commission (NPC) findings suggest 25 percent Nepali are food-poor. Needless to say, the majority of those who suffer are from excluded social groups. For example, 35 percent Dalits in Nepal are reported to be food-poor, which is nearly three times higher than the number of Brahmins. The entitlement theory proposed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen could be helpful for us to understand the relationship between food insecurity and social exclusion. Sen discusses food in terms of entitlement—a sort of right, which a person is entitled to enjoy and establish her ownership and command over. According to this concept, people’s inability to establish this ownership—and not a lack of required amount of food—leads them to hunger and other severe forms of food insecurity such as famine. Capability, or people’s ability to lead a life that they have a reason to value, therefore, is essential to overcoming food insecurity. Social exclusion, however, prohibits a person from establishing entitlement over food. Deprived from social relationships, a socially excluded person is bereft of knowledge and skills essential for combating hunger and undernourishment. Sen suggests endowment, production possibilities and exchange condition as determinants of entitlement. While endowment refers to the ownership over productive resources such as land and labor, production possibilities is about the ability of a person to gain employment. Likewise, exchange condition refers to the environment where a person can barter her craft products with staple food to escape food insecurity trap. Social exclusion strips a person of all these elements, and thus makes the victim suffer from hunger, which is exactly the case of Dalits in Nepal. Dalits are systematically excluded from land ownership. Indeed, land did not belong to anyone before it was commoditized in the 1950s; it was state property. Those with access to corridors of power—obviously from the upper strata of society in terms of both caste and class—managed to register land in their names, while Dalits were excluded from this process. The impact of such an unjust and unequal land distribution continues to be felt in Nepal. As recent studies suggest, five percent people own 37 percent of arable land, while 24.4 percent people, mostly Dalits, do not own land; 44 percent of Tarai Dalits are landless. In addition to depriving them of land, social exclusion has further marred the production possibilities of Dalits. They lack the skills and knowledge for decent employment. Suffering hand-to-mouth problems, they use a large portion of their productive time in earning food for survival, which restricts them from gaining academic qualification and training for professional careers. Although there appears to be some improvement in this regard because of recent policies of affirmative action in education and at state mechanisms, the plight of the Dalit mass is still pathetic. While limited qualifications restrict many of them from entering the job market, those who are qualified also find it hard to get jobs because of entrenched prejudices. Dalits’ hold on officer and above position in both government and non-government agencies is one percent or below, whereas privileged caste groups have more than 70 percent hold. The data clearly depicts how biased the job market in Nepal is against Dalits. Excluded from land and consequently deprived of job opportunities, the only options available to Dalits have been their traditional occupations and labor. Their skills of ironwork, leatherwork, tailoring, entertainment and labor for agricultural sector and cleaning purpose have been their main sources of livelihood. However, these occupations are facing challenges these days. The traditional occupations are based on the agrarian notion of barter system, which therefore yield very low monetary returns for Dalits today; on the other hand, young generations of Dalits appear indifferent towards these occupations due to the feeling of humiliation associated with them. As a result, only 19 percent young Dalits adopt their traditional occupations. Around 35 percent Dalits are reported to be food-poor, which is nearly three times the number of food-poor Brahmins. Moreover, under the sway of globalization and liberal market economy, Dalits find it hard to compete with the influx of foreign goods. In principle, people with occupational dexterity should have seized the global market offered by globalization, but unfortunately, this has not been the case with Nepali Dalits because of the absence of proper policies. Instead, non-Dalits appear to be seizing the opportunity. The leading tailoring centers, garment and shoes companies, iron and music industries in the country are owned by non-Dalits, yet they are not treated as Dalits. Thus the exchange condition for the socially excluded group, Dalit, has not been favorable. Because of social exclusion and consequent capability deprivation, Dalits are left with very limited opportunities. Households spending more than 75 percent of their expenditure on food are more likely to suffer food insecurity. Thirty-nine percent Dalits households, according to the 2013 NPC report, fall under this category, which is 6.5 times higher than the proportion of Newars, nearly four times higher than the Brahmins and nearly double than the Chhetris. The percentage of Newar, Brahmin and Chhetri households spending a high percentage of their expenditure on food is 6, 11 and 20 respectively. Social exclusion and food insecurity are thus mutually inclusive, as is evident in the case of Nepali Dalits. Therefore, it is first important to address social exclusion to overcome food insecurity. khyamu06@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54322 POLITICAL SYMBOLS One way political party communicates with the general mass is through symbols. It uses symbols to reaffirm its existence and display its strength, from which it derives the ability to portray itself as a legitimate party. Popular leaders and accomplishments—which could be political, economic or socio-cultural contributions of national interest—are two such symbols. BP Koirala, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Ganesh Man Singh of NC, Manmohan Adhikari and Madan Bhandari of CPN-UML were leaders whose appeal spread across parties and people of different political beliefs. They significantly contributed to the founding of their parties and to different democratic movements. The movements against autocratic regimes in 1940s/50s, 1990 and 2006 were outcomes of popular sentiments to gain supremacy of the people in polity. These leaders and the movements embody a huge symbolic value in Nepal’s politics. The symbols that the NC and UML rely on continue to be strongly restricted to the aforementioned personas and movements. For the Maoist parties—the new power in Nepal’s multiparty politics—the rhetoric of “People’s War” and of being “agent of change” and the “party of the masses” are dominantly used symbols. In all likelihood, the rhetoric will continue to be used to identify and portray the party for years to come. The tendency to strongly rely on old symbols is reflective of the parties’ failure to provide strong leadership and deliver socio-cultural, political and economic advancements in the contemporary political landscape. In other words, this reflects a weak polity. The fragile political environment and increased public insecurity that become prominent in such a polity provide ideal platforms for undemocratic forms of governance. Therefore, the symbols and the factors that propel or hinder their creation become issues of public interest. In this light, some questions need scrutiny. Why haven’t we had any other leader whose political contributions, in spite of their active involvement in politics for decades, do not measure up to what the above leaders achieved? Why do the symbols used by Nepal’s major political parties largely remain the same? In a democracy, the state of polity and political parties’ ability to create symbols are strongly dependent on three factors pertaining to political culture and party system—using democracy as ‘means’ to advance socio-cultural, economic, political achievements; culture of self-appraisal; and opportunities for new leadership. These interrelated factors reinforce each other and often, one follows the other, creating a cycle. Hence, when democracy is viewed as a means to achieve a just and equal society, it can positively instigate parties to focus on their performance. This promotes a culture of self-appraisal and provides avenues where strong leadership can emerge. A strong leadership always makes democratic space a means to achieve people’s expectations. The opposite trend is visible in Nepal. Multiparty political space that came with democracy has served as an end in itself for the very forces who led the democratic movements. Power-politics has become so entrenched that party and individual politicians’ interests superseded national interests and many potential leadership perished under the ambitions of a few in the echelons of power. Corruption, patronage and criminalization of politics became deeply entrenched as they became means to ensure one’s strength among different competing rivals. When power-politics gave way to autocracy again, absence of self-appraisal culture meant that some pertinent questions were not asked by the concerned political parties. For instance, while holding the seat of government for most of the democratic period, how did the NC and UML work towards realizing the popular aspiration that instigated the fight against autocratic regimes? What was these parties’ role in the downfall of democracy in 1960 and 2002? Questions pertaining to political parties’ ideology and performance have fallen within the blind spots of the parties. How do the lives of Maoist leadership reflect the spirit they say the “People’s War” carried and their claim of being “the party of the masses”? How do the actions and decisions of different political parties reflect their respective ideologies? In other words, political actors have failed to evaluate their performance, ideology and inter- and intra-party issues vis-à-vis their alignment with people’s expectations. One consequence is that a discord is evident between the ideologies professed by the ‘democrats’ in Congress and the ‘communists’ in UML and their actions. Many leaders, who before 1990 showed signs of turning into strong leaders, instead transformed into incompetent, unaccountable politicians when they came to power post-1990 and 2006. It is this breed of incompetent, unaccountable leaders who continue to hold the echelons of power in the party and the government. They view their position as legitimate given the ‘sacrifice’ they made during the pre-1990 era, and are adamant about not giving up their hold on the parties to the ‘new’. So the ‘new’ voice, often the younger, aspiring and dynamic cadres of the parties, continues to be suppressed for the sake of the ‘old’. But politics can only carter to the needs of the changing times when political parties give space to ‘new’ voice in decision-making. Every political party in Nepal has a group of young leaders whose thoughts and approach to pertinent socio-political or economic issues orient towards a more constructive and positive outcome as compared to hoary ideas of the ‘old’. Hence, the culture of ‘old’ embracing a caretaking role by delegating party roles to the ‘new’ becomes intrinsic. But the new and young have been systematically sidelined. Ultimately, given a deeply-rooted patronage system in which the party system functions in Nepal, they risk being ‘institutionalized’ in the ways of the ‘old’. Inevitability of new symbols Perhaps, nothing more than the cumulative degradation of the political parties explains the failure of the contemporary polity to handle challenging political transition following Jana Andolan 2. Politics is marred by a deficit of trust among political actors and of leadership capable of bridging mistrusts. So, political deadlocks have become a norm. In such a political scenario, political parties and leadership must assess their roles and make desirable changes in the aforementioned traits of political culture and party system. This is essential for the very existence of political parties. Because, as they operate in dynamic socio-cultural, economic and political contexts, political parties have to create new symbols they can identify with to strengthen their position in the fight for political power. Strong reliance on old symbols, on the other hand, reinforces the inability to create new ones, that is, weakens their ability to deliver and produce strong leaders. Subsequently, a time may come when the rift between the old symbols and parties claiming those symbols becomes unbridgeable. Don’t we already have NC and UML having to defend their socialist and communist ideology respectively? Old symbols are relevant only if they are used as foundations upon which new ones are created. The author is a research officer with the Asian Study Center for Peace and Conflict Transformation (ASPECT) http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54273 Karki as the head of CIAA What a shame! The so-called custodians of democracy in the country have once again openly defied public opinion, this time by agreeing to appoint Lokman Singh Karki as the new head of CIAA, the country’s chief anti-graft body. The Constitutional Council okayed Karki as new CIAA chief on Sunday, in clear defiance of the spirit of 2006 Jana Andolan. A government-appointed commission had clearly implicated Karki in trying to suppress the popular uprising as the then chief secretary. But the CC’s go-ahead on Karki’s name was not unexpected after the Supreme Court refused to extend its stay order on a writ challenging Karki’s proposed appointment on moral and legal grounds. Yes, theoretically, the CC headed by Khil Raj Regmi could have blocked Karki’s CIAA appointment forwarded by the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM). But it would have been suicidal for the government, formed on the recommendation of the same HLPM, to do so. Thus, ultimately, the four parties represented in the HLPM will have to take the responsibility for Karki’s proposal as the new CIAA top man. There clearly is more going on than meets the eye. For the government to proceed with Karki’s appointment despite huge public and media backlash suggests there were strong forces at play. But that does not take away from the fact that it was ultimately up to the HLPM to consider the appropriateness of a controversial figure like Karki as new CIAA head, after his name was thrown into the ring by Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. It is interesting that at the start both Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, two of the four HLPM constituent parties, seem to have happily endorsed Karki as CIAA head. It was only after widespread public and media criticism that the two parties tried to distance themselves from the ‘Maoist sponsored’ proposal. Yet it would be more appropriate to say that it was top NC and UML leadership who gave the proposal their stamp of approval. There has always been strong opposition to Karki’s proposed appointment among the rank and file of both the parties. It is still not too late for the HLPM to propose someone with better credentials as head of CIAA. Whatever the motivating factors behind Karki’s proposal, it unquestionably sets a very dangerous precedent. It suggests that the leaderships of big parties can bend the law as and when it suits their needs. It makes their democratic credentials a suspect, making them willing accomplices in abetting impunity. If the proposal gets the President’s final approval, Karki’s appointment as CIAA chief could one day come to be seen as a clear stance of subversion of democracy by those who should have been its torchbearers. Given these grave consequences, we believe it is still not too late for the HLPM to reconsider its decision and propose someone with better credentials for the coveted post. We are not in favor of bringing the constitutional President into controversy. The big political parties should take the burden of deciding on Karki’s case upon themselves. Everybody makes mistakes. The HLPM constituent parties should not be afraid to admit theirs. They must realize that such a brazenly anti-democratic move will one day come back to haunt the country’s democratic forces. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54272 SIZING-UP THE CA A parliament made up of members elected by the people is a prerequisite to any democracy. While this is undisputed, what is less understood and more disputed is the parliament’s size—the number of representatives a parliament should have. Commonsense suggests this should depend on the size of the country—mainly population—which would imply that large countries have large-size parliaments and smaller countries have smaller parliaments. This perception is sensible but not quite true. India has the largest population of all democratic countries, but its parliament has just 545 members. (Here we abstain from counting the upper houses of parliament which, in large part, are unelected.) However, mid-size countries like the UK, Germany, France, Italy, have larger parliaments than India, and even comparably smaller countries (Poland and South Africa) have parliament size close to that of the US. REPUBLICA Another way of comparing parliament size is to look at it as the ratio to total population, or number of people per parliament member. By this measure, India tops the list, with population of close to two million per member; US elects a representative for three quarters of a million; while Brazil elects one for every half a million. Overall, most of the world’s democracies elect a member for close to or over 100,000 people; a few countries elect a member for less than 50,000 people. The lowest number of people represented by a parliament member is for Ireland—just under 25,000. Nepal’s case The dissolved Constituent Assembly (CA) had 601 members, of which 340 were elected and 261 were nominated on the basis of proportional representation [PR] system, basically determined by the size of popular votes each party had received in the general election. Compared to the size of the country’s population of nearly 30 million, each CA member represented about 50,000 people which, as discussed above, is on the lower size of the representation scale. Historically, this low-size representation has not always been the case. In the first general election held in 1959, the parliament size had been fixed at 109 members—all directly elected—for a population of about 10 million, which implied nearly 100,000 people per member. Parliament size was nearly doubled in the 1991 election to 205, which more or less kept unchanged the population per member ratio of about 100,000. Increasing the parliament size comprising just the directly elected members to 340 during the 2008 CA election reduced the representation ratio to just over 80,000 but the number was still in line with past elections. Adding 261 nominated members to an already bloated parliament was a radical shift in the representation system. Also Nepal seems different to other countries in terms of frequent changes in the number of parliament members—which has increased with each succeeding election. Looking elsewhere, the US House of Representatives number at 435 has been unchanged since 1911; and India’s at 545 members was fixed in 1950. Similarly, Britain’s at 659 seats and Japan’s at 480 have been maintained for decades. Of course, with rising population and, in some cases, expanding territory (the US), population-size per member have doubled or tripled over the past 50- or 70-year period but this hasn’t affected the parliament size for most countries. Nepal thus presents a unique case for ever-changing parliament size which, however, has more to do with other considerations than population increase. Such “other considerations” has never been discussed publicly except in the context of 2008 CA election when the PR system was introduced. Primarily, the argument was that a second-layer of representation based on share of total electoral votes would more accurately reflect a party’s nationwide appeal and help parliament become more inclusive than under the traditional system of constituency-based majority voting. Size matters Nepal’s parliamentary experience can be analyzed in many ways but let us just focus on the size—should this be 100 or 200 or 600? Surprisingly, there is no agreement on an ideal size. Looking at the population measure, Nepal is definitely an outlier. Fifty thousand or less population per member is too small in the global context. Most countries of similar size have at least 100,000 population per member; larger countries have generally around 200,000-300,000 population per member. This global view makes a strong case for a drastic reduction of parliament size in Nepal, to the range of 100 to 200 members. Besides global comparability, there is the question of manageability and work efficiency. The size of a deliberative body like parliament affects its productivity. Psychological studies confirm that work efficiency of individual members of a group—parliament or other such forums—diminish after the number reaches 100, and noticeably so after the 500-member threshold is crossed. There are obvious problems with managing large numbers, be that a factory, a club, or a parliament. Personal accountability is diminished; finding common ground for consensus becomes arduous; and partisan interests tend to sideline national interests. All these problems were apparent during the four years of CA’s operation that rendered it ineffective and an utterly useless. Finally, size also matters for economic efficiency. While large size diminishes productivity, it adds to the cost. For large countries even with lavishly large parliament [Germany, Britain], the cost of running a legislature amounts to no more than a small fraction of the national economy. However, for a small and poor country like Nepal, sustaining a 600-member legislative body is a big burden on society, especially when parliamentary spending adds very little or nothing to national wellbeing. Nepal’s choice Our reckless use of the parliamentary system reflected, in main part, in the outsized choice of legislative body has rendered the task of governance much more difficult and, equally importantly, the cost of keeping the legislative infrastructure in place has been a drag on the national economy. Even with the background of disappointing performance of last CA—attributed mainly to its unwieldy size—there has been strong opposition to reducing the number to 491, comprising 240 elected members and 240 members nominated under the PR system, with the rest of 11 members probably being non-political appointees. But the truth is that even a 491-member-size parliament will be too big, both efficiency and economy-wise. Effectiveness of national legislatures—or of deliberative bodies in general—diminishes with the size, after the optimum size has been reached. What will be the optimal size of legislative body for Nepal? Surprisingly, this important aspect has been little studied. This is unfortunate, because the size of parliament needs to be looked at as the most prominent consideration for a workable democracy. Here, the small is beautiful and sensible. A small-size parliament will have a clear mandate and measurable accountability, to perform in the best interests of the nation and not to serve partisan and group interests. The latter orientation was quite evident in the last CA, with prominence given to regional, communal, and ethnic issues that, for most part, were at variance with national interest. The global context makes a strong case for drastic reduction of parliament size in Nepal to 100-200 members. From this perspective, the PR system, which is divisive and distortionary, must be done away with. For the vast leeway enjoyed by party leaders in the selection of MPs makes the parliament less than a truly democratic institution. Rationality and cost considerations would favor cutting down the CA size drastically, say to 100. Such a small size would make the CA—and later the parliament—a truly national institution. In the main part, a smaller size parliament can become a platform to deliberate on national issues, balancing out the petty issues of ethnicity, regionalism, and indigenousness in a way that these become local level concerns where they rightfully belong. The final point in the resizing the CA is the distribution of constituencies—the criteria to be used in the allocation of 100 legislature seats nationwide. The simple, sensible, and equitable arrangement will be to allocate each of 75 districts—large and small—one parliamentary seat which, among other things, will give all districts a direct stake in the federal union. The remaining 25 seats can be distributed among the largest 25 districts based on their population. Finally, in a situation of 50-50 tie-up in parliament, the President can be given the role of casting the tie-breaker vote, similar to the ex-officio vote cast by US Vice President when there is a stalemate in the 100-member US Senate. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54271 DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE ARMY If we take a look at the extensive changes carried out by the governments in the post-monarchial era, the most challenging and controversial change has been the issue of democratization of Nepal Army. The reason this issue has been so controversial can be attributed to the diverse perceptions of democracy as conceptualized by various political parties, scholars and individuals. Democratization means different things to different organizations and people. Democratizing the national army according to universal tenets of democracy like electing leaders, exercising democratic rights, etc is probably out of the question. However, certain elements of democracy like adherence to law, accountability, good governance, and competence can be implemented quite realistically in the army. The democratization of Nepal Army should center on increasing the professionalism of NA. Emphasis should be given on making NA qualified, competent and capable strategically, tactically, technically, and with respect to resources. The center of attention should be on raising the core competencies of the Army and discouraging the undue involvement of NA in political and other unaffiliated areas. Improving and maintaining these core competencies and professionalism is, in fact, at the heart of democratization of the army. The democratization must aim for competency in its given mission, civilian control—in recognition of the sovereignty of the people, protection of apolitical and non-partisan culture, inclusiveness, adherence to International Humanitarian Law and basic human rights principles, and good governance reflecting transparency, responsibility and accountability. TRAVELANDTOURNEPAL.COM According to Samuel Huntington, professionalism in the army comprises of expertise, responsibility and corporateness. A professional armed force does what a democratic government asks it to do on behalf of the nation and the people, it does not ask why. A professional army is never political, and vice versa. NA should internalize this, and should enhance the professional aspects of the NA personnel through trainings. NA’s recent past has been difficult, with it getting flak for allegedly being loyal to monarchy, being undemocratic, non-inclusive, and for violating human rights. NA is probably the organization most scrutinized by civil society, media, and politicians alike. NA has established itself as a strong instrument of national security in history. NA has not only subordinated to legitimately constituted governments, but also established professional capacity and ethos by becoming more accountable and inclusive. NA’s recent plans, policies and proceedings promise to shift the paradigm in order to give the institution a face-lift to suit the present context. These policies revolve around three realms; the need for enhanced Civil Military Relation (CMR), raising the professionalism of NA, and the welfare of soldiers. Holistically, these policies are directed at reforming the NA. NA has played an instrumental role in the integration of combatants, complying with Comprehensive Peace Accord, which is seen as a prelude to the entire peace process. NA has demonstrated that it is a major tool of the state that carries out the legitimate orders of the government of the day, which substantiates the essence of better CMR. Undoubtedly, an appropriate relationship between the military and the state manifests the functioning of a vibrant democracy. Winston Churchill once stated that there is nothing wrong in change, if it is in the right direction. NA’s promotion system in the past was an intensely anti-entrepreneurial structure, instead of being a “cutting-edge meritocracy”. Promotion was solely based on seniority and trainings. Reward was based on the length of service rather than knowledge, intelligence, or innovation. The seniority system had culminated in widespread stagnation in middle-level officers. Frustrated with the limited upward mobility, many outstanding officers were in constant panic, and either looked for alternatives, or resigned when they found better opportunities. Probably this prompted a reform in the promotion system, for the first time since the inception of NA. According to the new grading system outlined in the Nepal Army Service Regulation 2069, promotions are now based on scores obtained by eligible candidates for seniority, current service, work performance, training, service in remote and difficult areas, medals, and evaluations made by the promotion board. This will also send a message to junior officers to maintain high standards of integrity and professionalism. This policy, over a period of time, envisages establishing certain standards of decency and professionalism, thereby benefiting the army and the country. Democratizing NA according to universal tenets of democracy like electing leaders is probably out of the question. But any change in the system offers dichotomous circumstances. On the one hand, even a change for the better is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts. On the other hand, if we don’t change, we don’t grow, and if we don’t grow, we aren’t really living. However, there is room for improvement. It is desirable that the policies do not change with every change of command, and are allowed to stabilize over a period of 5 to 10 years before they are reviewed for their efficacy. The chunk of weightage in making policies is carried by the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) made by senior commanders. Thus the commanders need to exhibit moral courage in reporting objectively. There is also a great need for the promotion board to be surgically objective in implementing the policy to good effect and in making it sustainable. Picking vibrant and competent officers and making them future leaders on the basis of merit is praiseworthy and daring. NA seems to be moving towards an overhaul according to the need of the hour. To achieve its objectives, NA has revealed its short term, midterm and long term goals. NA will struggle to be a high-performance organization if leaders fail to encourage thoughtful dissent. Even if the changes are brought to realization, the members of the organization are likely to want to hold on to the old systems because they justify the past and are a source of their pride and self-esteem. Naturally, any new policy when introduced is bound to attract criticism, as it entails certain sacrifices; but effort should be made to view the changes in a holistic manner. The author is a Major in Nepal Army http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54270 NEPAL’S LAGGARD ECONOMY Most Asian economies experienced high economic growths along with increased foreign investment in the last few decades. While countries such as Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were roaring in the eighties and early nineties; other countries like China, India, Vietnam and Mongolia have firmly held the tempo of higher economic growth in the past decade. These countries have not only attained higher growth, but also reshaped the landscape of global economy. For example, China beat Japan and Germany to become the second largest economy of the world. Some economists believe that a higher rate of saving, higher investment in human capital, structural transformation, and a shift of labor force from traditional to modern contributed to the growth miracle in a number of emerging Asian economies. While most of Asia was contributing to reshaping the global economic landscape, Nepal largely remained dormant on the economic front. Though a number of factors have contributed to its sluggish economic performance, political instability comes to the fore. Such instability has weakened institutions and worsened the law and order situation. General unpredictability is heightening in Nepal. An average investor who expects a good return for his investment with low risks cannot find an investment-friendly environment in Nepal. KULPREETH. WORDPRESS.COM The instability has not only extended the transition but also created a number of power centers. The fragmented state power and increased burden of dealing with so many vested interest groups ranging from political parties to goons have dissuaded entrepreneurs. The situation does not inspire confidence in a businessperson to borrow the capital at a high interest rate from a bank in order to venture into a new business, and deal with a number of influential labor unions in order to successfully run it. A laborer, meanwhile, is suffering from the problem of daily necessities, and having no dreams for tomorrow, finds himself a loser in the current business environment. He thinks he is exploited due to an unfair distribution of business returns, evident in his remuneration far below the sustenance level. But it is hard to distinguish between a loser and a winner in a dilapidated political economy like ours. Winners and losers may be apparent in a thriving economy with a competitive environment where there is a high demand for labor. But undoubtedly, one can easily conclude that ordinary folks suffering from hand to mouth problems are the biggest losers in a laggard economy. Though it is evident that political instability remains a prime factor contributing to sluggish economic performance, it is also true that major stakeholders have disregarded the long-term interests of Nepal. Many of these stakeholders wasted time and energy on issues that are peripheral to development, poverty and inequality. Neither major political parties nor donors have identified the core priorities of Nepal’s economic development. Political parties have been selling agenda that easily fuel waves of romantic furies, whereby people can be fooled. Donors have their own agenda, which may not necessarily align with the need and rationale of the broader and sustainable spirit of development. Nepal’s core priority is the development of major infrastructure such as transportation, electricity, health, and education. Since Nepal is in a political logjam, donors could have swayed political parties and got them to forge a common understanding on the development of infrastructures. Donors’ role in convincing development stakeholders and mobilizing higher foreign investment is particularly important in times of crisis. It is undeniable that only a huge investment in infrastructures can promote forward and backward linkages among the sectors with the most potential such as tourism and agriculture. The time, energy and resources spent by various interest groups in the last two decades would have transformed the fortunes of a country like Nepal, had they been made in the area of infrastructure development. Stakeholders waste time and energy on issues that are peripheral to development, poverty and inequality. Nepal not only lags behind the emerging economies of Asia, but conflict-plagued Africa has also leapt ahead of it. While Nepal has been struggling to sustain a four-percent growth, many African economies have been enjoying a buoyant growth. Countries such as Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Rwanda and Ghana, despite going through civil war in the past, have claimed a growth of eight percent in the last few years. An improved business climate has supported the transformation of Africa. The Economist has recently labeled Africa a “hopeful continent”, a notable upgrade from its earlier qualifications of a rising continent in 2011, and hopeless continent in 2000. A salient feature of the African growth is that it has been able to engage and increase the presence of emerging and competing players of the global economy such as China, India, Brazil and Russia. Unfortunately, Nepal, despite being situated between two giant emerging economies, missed this historic opportunity. The growth train that many Asian economies have been riding for the last few decades and that some African countries recently jumped on to has left Nepal behind. Even though early riders have been enjoying the ride, Nepal should rush to catch the growth train soon. Strong and stable institutions, decent work culture, and a jumpstart to invest in infrastructures and human capital should cement the path for higher growth. The writer is an economist gunakarbhatta@yahoo.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54223 Exploring vocational education The jury is still out. What is the best way to tackle unemployment in developing countries? Should the government spend more on tertiary education to produce graduates with better academic credentials? Or should the emphasis be on imparting employable skills to the youth, given than nearly half a million of them leave the country in search of menial jobs every year? The reason the first approach seems to be falling out of favor with development planners is that there has been very little bang for the all the bucks that have gone into tertiary education in Nepal. Except for the graduates in hard sciences, others find it very hard to land decent jobs. This is the reason Nepal, and other developing countries, appear more and more willing to explore vocational education to fill the skills gap in the job market. In this connection, the Department of Education (DoE) is starting a pilot vocational training project for students of grades IX and X, with the involvement of 100 community schools across the country. Initially, the courses on offer will cover agriculture, engineering, hotel management, computer training and livestock farming, all areas of vital importance for Nepali economy.[break] The goal is to make school education practical and skill-oriented to boost students’ career prospects. Vocational training for the youth is a great idea, particularly if it can be taken side by side with formal education. In this way, students won’t have to make the difficult choice between a degree (a matter of prestige) and gainful employment (a matter of bread and butter). There has been some criticism of introducing vocational training as early as high school. The fear is that even the students who might do well in higher education might be tempted to take the easy way out and stop their studies even before they enter university. But this line of argument is hard to justify in a country where over half a million youth leave the country in search of work every year. If they could be equipped with employment skills, many of them would surely stay back and make meaningful contribution to national economy. Besides, new studies suggest a strong positive correlation between vocational education and personal income. One 2012 study carried out by the Employment Fund, a multi-donor basket fund, found that people earning an average of Rs 2,471 per month prior to any vocational training boosted their pay up to Rs 8,933 after such a training. Building a sizable workforce with marketable skills will be crucial for the development of a self-sustaining economy, not dependent on foreign largesse even to cover the basics. Since the private sector will disproportionately benefit from a skilled workforce, there is a strong case to involve private players in vocational training. A strong vocational training base (as in Germany and Scandinavian countries) has been proven to reduce unemployment, boost economy and spur innovation. There is no reason Nepal cannot reap similar benefits. In the 21st century marketplace, it is not academic credentials but the capacity to make meaningful contribution to workplace that sets one apart from the rest of the pack. Since the traditional education system has fallen woefully short of imparting such valuable skills, there is a strong case to explore vocational education opportunities to fill the void. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54222 A patriot for Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) is a person whose ruling passion is the love of his country. Patriotism, however, is the last refuse of the scoundrel. The conflict inherent in the characterization is impossible to miss but not difficult to understand. What the most famous lexicographer of English language seems to be saying is that when love of the country is not accompanied by the willingness to make sacrifices for it, the fervor is most probably phony. Nationalism is often the phoniest form of patriotism. Long-distance patriotism is possible—that is what envoys, spies and soldiers serving abroad do—but risks are relatively high in comparison to likely rewards. For most people, patriotism requires an unwavering commitment to the land of their birth, adoption, or desires. Circumstances sometimes may force patriots to go into self-exile, but they work tirelessly to return back ‘home’.[break] If love is the passion of a patriot, nationalists live by hate. Religious nationalists despise heretics. Ethno-nationalists loathe minorities. Nationalists advocating purity of race or ethnicity abhor ‘polluting’ presence and are willing to exterminate them—Hitler is merely a personification, the idea of superiority of one’s race is more widespread in the world than is admitted in civilized conversations. Given half-a-chance, it is not very difficult to imagine what Hindutvabadis would do to Muslims or how Mullahs and Ayatollahs would treat not only ‘kafirs’ but even believers in sects of Islam different from their own. Buddhist monks of Burma and Sri Lanka are not too well known for displaying excessive ‘karuna’ towards Rohangiyas and Tamils of their own countries. thegospelcoalition.org A patriotic-nationalist is a psychopath. The combination of love and hate is a dangerous mix. A nationalist-patriot is possible but unlikely. Real love, whether for a person or a country, makes fanatical hatred difficult to cultivate. That could be one of the reasons zealots of all persuasions consider songs, arts and literature effeminate and unwarlike. Nationalists of Nepal claim that they are also patriots but most of them would be ready to trade it for a more comfortable life at the first opportunity. The Nasiri Regiment, which would later become the 1st King George’s Own Gurkha Riffles, was built for hordes of Gorkhali deserters rushing to join the ‘enemy’ they had fought so valorously. Fungible fealty Reasons behind the weak fidelity of Gorkhalis towards their state and society are many and complex, chief among them is perhaps a complete disconnection between the ruling families and the people they have ruled over for centuries. The country has been treated as property for so long by so few families that the people left out of the charmed circle have little loyalty for the land. At best, it provides them with a platform to explore more lucrative opportunities at home or abroad. The rich and powerful are world citizens. The poor and weak have no country. The middleclass is what makes a state exist and run. Due to closed nature of Permanent Establishment of Nepal (PEON), ambitious among the bourgeoisie feel that they have hit the glass ceiling. They want to go where they believe their talent and competence would be better compensated. Most eDV aspirants are hardly from the bottom ladder of Nepali society. Many of them actually have done quite well for themselves but believe that their country should have done more for them in lieu of what they have done for it. The patriotism of the petty-bourgeoisie is so visible because it’s so shallow. It breaks easily. All it needs is a selection number of eDV Lottery and the prospective Non-Resident Nepali (NRN) begins to pour scorn over the country of his birth. The ones that had failed to make to the winners’ list would wait patiently for the next draw of lots. The US government publicized the result of eDV Lottery on May Day. The choice of the date is telling: the US government and industry need more and more energetic, loyal but docile people to run their global empire. Additionally, ties with the homeland of immigrants must be sufficiently weak to break easily in order to bind them to the idea of American exceptionalism (“the greatest country ever to exist”) and attendant duties and obligations of citizens of the New World. From South Asia, Bangladeshis, Indians and Pakistanis are not eligible for eDV draws. Nepalis have always made excellent mercenaries and it is likely that eDV winners would serve the New World Empire as diligently as they had served the Old One, especially because the promises of rewards are higher. Implications for Nepal, however, are probably not very encouraging. Most of eDV winners have been reared either in the Mahendrabadi or Marxist traditions. They would continue to harangue the land they have deserted with long-distance sermons about advantages of assimilation, uniformity and integration over coexistence, diversity and identity. Cries will become shriller when they would have to face explicit (hate crimes) and implicit (condescension) discrimination becoming increasingly rampant in US society. President Barack Obama declared May 2013 as Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Inherent to the proclamation is a separate admission that “South Asian Americans—particularly those who are Muslim, Hindu, or Sikh—have too often faced senseless violence and suspicion due only to the color of their skin or the tenets of their faith” as is the resolve to reform immigration laws so that “America can continue to be a magnet for the best and brightest from all around the world, including Asia and the Pacific”. All eDV winners, despite their illusions, are hardly the best and brightest of the world. The country of their origin would have to bear the brunt of their frustrations and consequent implications. Inescapable otherness At first sight, the continued existence of racial and ethnic discrimination—whether at personal or institutional level is immaterial—appears irrational and ‘primitive’ indicating the failure of modern civilization. However, it is so widespread that it can’t be completely illogical. Four years ago, neuroscientists of University of Toronto Scarborough discovered that there was a basic difference “in the way people’s brains react to those from other ethnic backgrounds”. Findings confirmed results of previous researches that “people were less likely to feel connected to people outside their own ethnic groups”. Competing political ideologies of what historian Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012) called the “short twentieth century”—starting with the First World War in 1914 and ending with the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991—refused to accommodate quest for identity and dignity. Little wonder, assertion of identity has become the most pressing form of resistance after the decomposition of capitalism into putrid plutocracy and a challenge for oligarchies that have emerged from the rubble of communism in former Soviet Union and East Europe. Established societies prefer the identity of the political borders—even a die-hard conservative like Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) once admitted that a man may climb Everest for himself, but at the summit he plants his country’s flag—but cultural boundaries would be more important for people extracted from their roots and planted in alien lands. Political identity among Nepalis has always been weak; but the official cultivation of Gorkhali chauvinism is as old as the history of the ‘unified’ country. It would get a lot worse before starting to get better. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54221 CITIZENSHIP THROUGH MOTHER The law of Nepal, to some extent, has provided mothers the right to transfer citizenship to their children. Article 8 of the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007 and Section 3 of the Citizenship Act, 2006 have guaranteed equal rights to men and women in transferring citizenship to their offspring. But in practice, mothers cannot transfer their citizenship to their children in the same way as fathers do. There are some confusing provisions in laws which have made the practice of transferring citizenship complex for women. The first difficulty lies in describing a woman’s identity on the basis of her marital status. Only women who are married to Nepali men are capable of transferring citizenship by descent to their children. If married to a foreigner, a woman can only transfer citizenship by naturalization to her child, if the child is born in Nepal. [break] Similarly, provisions for single mothers transferring citizenship without disclosing the father’s identity have not been identified in existing laws. The provisions are not clear with regard to children born out of wedlock, i.e. through prostitution or from rape victims, trafficked women, surrogate mothers etc. The legal provision only states that “father or mother” can transfer citizenship to their child, but is silent on whether unmarried mothers can transfer citizenship. The law is also silent on whether married women can transfer citizenship to their children without disclosing her husband’s identity. In cases where citizenship by descent is given to children through their mother, the mother’s name is mentioned on the citizenship, but the father’s name is still recorded as “unidentified.” This proves that a mother’s independent identity is still not fully respected in Nepal, because a father is mentioned in any case, even if he is not identified. gatesfoundation.org The stories of mothers who are unable to transfer their citizenship to their children are pathetic. Mira Thapa (name changed) from Bardiya stated “when I tried to transfer citizenship to my son, they issued the citizenship, but through his father’s lineage. They had written Buwa Thaha navayeko (father unidentified) on the document. Because of those words, my son refused his citizenship, and the document is with me. He says it’s better not to have a citizenship than have one with words that will humiliate him throughout his life.” Another story is of 18-year-old Rama Karki (name changed) from Nepalgunj, who, being deprived of citizenship from her mother’s identity, is unable to pursue her further studies. Since 1992, the Supreme Court has issued a series of landmark verdicts with regard to citizenship rights and the protection of women’s rights in transferring citizenship. But those verdicts have not been satisfactorily implemented in other cases. In 2011, the Supreme Court made another landmark decision in Sabina Damai’s case by granting citizenship right by descent to children, if either mother or father has a Nepali citizenship. Sabina Damai, who faced challenges in obtaining a citizenship with her mother’s identity in Dolakha, filed a writ petition. The decision given by the court on this case was progressive, suggesting that the court had left patriarchal thinking behind, and giving rise to hopes that children born from single mothers, including from rape victims and divorcees, will be able to obtain citizenships from their mother’s identity. This verdict on this case respected women’s independent identity, holding that as per the Interim Constitution and Citizenship Act, a child can claim citizenship if either of his/her parents hold a Nepali citizenship. It also directed the government to create the necessary mechanisms to distribute citizenships from mothers’ identities. Even after this decision, the government officials in districts insisted that this decision was made only for Sabina. If any other individual wants a citizenship of such nature, they need to file a case. If the court gives an order, the officials will implement it, but not issue a citizenship through a mother otherwise. The cases of Mira Thapa and Rama Karki mentioned above are glaring examples of such practices. Officials of the Home Ministry state defensively that they have already issued directives to all the district administration offices clarifying the constitutional provision and the decision of the Supreme Court. But the response we get from implementing authorities in various districts is exactly the opposite. Nepal is a signatory of many international human rights instruments like the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights), ICCPR (International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights), CEDAW (Convention for Elimination of Discrimination against Women) and CRC (Convention on Right of Child), which have recognized the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of sex with respect to the right to citizenship, and the right of child to be protected in the issue of citizenship. As Nepal is a party to these instruments, it is obliged to make necessary laws or to amend discriminatory laws relating to these issues. Nepali constitution and laws are not completely in line with the said international human rights instruments. To some extent it has regarded men’s lineage as official and has treated women as second class citizens, without fully respecting women’s independent identity. This proves that the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 and the Citizenship Act 2006 have failed to recognize gender equality in the real sense. The government has sent mobile teams to various parts of the country to distribute citizenships. It has also urged all eligible voters to obtain their citizenship certificates and register their names for the new polls. Whether the distribution of citizenship would protect citizens’ rights, or whether it is just a way of increasing names in the voter list is a matter of serious concern. But the major concern of this article is that every mother who wants to transfer citizenship to her children through her own identity should be respected, as her right to do so has been guaranteed by the constitution and mandated by the Supreme Court in various cases. In conclusion, the government needs to ensure adequate mechanisms to guarantee citizenship to all those children who are deprived of citizenship from their mother’s sole identity in order to respect the principle of gender equality by protecting the right of women, especially the right to citizenship. At the same time, unclear and confusing legal provisions need to be amended to meet the criteria of the principles of International Human right instruments. The writer is an advocate and LLM student avimaupreti@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54220 YOUTH-LED NGOS The recent amendment in the 1980 TU regulation on Organization and Educational Administration regarding the age of candidacy on Free Student Union (FSU) election has initiated a fresh discussion on the age of youth politicians. The Supreme Court (SC) order has further provided legitimacy to the amendment made by TU. At the aftermath of the amendment, the 2015 FSU elections will see only candidates aged below 28 competing for the elections. The recent amendments have been widely acclaimed by students, academia, society, and some student unions. The age bar levied thus will end the deeply rooted culture of old leaders competing in FSU elections. The average fresher at a college is 18, while the leaders of FSUs are generally a couple decades older than these freshers. The huge age gap not only creates frustration among students, but to some extent contributes to the failure of the leaders to address students’ issues properly. The age bar will hopefully end the culture of student leaders looking for political shortcuts through FSUs.[break] It is not only the FSU that requires an age bar. Age bar is also much needed in the youth social sector. The count of umbrella organizations of non-political Youth organizations has reached three. The Association of Youth organization of Nepal (AYON) has listed more than 90 registered member youth organizations in its website, while the website of Youth NGO Federation Nepal claims that it has united more than 2,000 youth-led organizations of Nepal. Apart from that, several other unaffiliated youth-led organizations and youth clubs exist in Nepal. The promising number of youth led organizations becomes a matter of concern when it comes to the age of the leaders of these organizations. Over the last couple of years, youth-led organizations have criticized the leaders of political youth organizations, calling them undemocratic and age-insensitive. To some extent, the blame for the situation goes to the country’s National Youth Policy, which is almost nonfunctional. The national youth policy defines 16-40 as the age of youth. This naïvely paves the way for the presence of older leadership at political as well as social youth organizations. The guiding document itself is not free from controversy, and lacks serious workout towards its implementation. irnustian.com Youth-led social organizations should also practice intra-organizational democracy, and create enough space and mechanism for the younger generation to lead. There are youth organizations which are led by individuals rather than by a team of young people. The faces of the leaderships have not changed for several years. Rather than creating space and opportunity for young people, several youth-led organizations have been heavily dominated by a handful of older people. Until and unless the leadership is handed over from a handful people to fresh talents, youth-led social organizations will not be able to make remarkable or sustainable impacts on society, and do not hold the moral authority to condemn political parties. The change should start from within. Furthermore, youth-led social organizations are heavily dependent on donor agencies, and leadership tends not to change due to heavy budgeted projects and long project durations. A change in the leadership at youth-led NGOs is required for them to be able to raise burning social issues related to youth. Issues faced by a 25-year-old female can be better raised by a 25-year-old female than a 35-year-old male. Besides, the issues that were relevant ten years ago may not be of concern now, and this change in priorities can only be mainstreamed when youth organizations are led by fresh leaders. There are models of youth-led social organizations like Rotary Club and Leo Club where the leadership transfers every year, providing leadership practice to several young people. However, the trend is not carried over in other youth-led NGOs of Nepal. Asking all the youth led NGOs to follow the same model will again be impractical, considering the nature of activities that they carry out. However, youth led NGOs can certainly practice a model where the leadership changes every 2-3 years. Both bottom-up and top-to-bottom approaches must be adopted to address the issue of leadership stagnancy in youth-led social organizations. These organizations need to adopt a clear democratic process in practice rather than in paper to promote leadership transformation. To aid that, the national youth policy must be updated to meet the changed expectations of young people, and the age bar for a person to be considered “youth” must be reduced to 30. The author is the President of YUWA, a youth run, youth led organization, and assists Professor Mitchell Duneier in an online course offered by Princeton University dipendra@YUWA.org.np http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54172 Freedom of media in Nepal Tensions ran high this time last year as the Constituent Assembly entered the final few days of its four-year-long existence. Pressure was mounting from all kinds of vested interest groups for a constitution of their choice. Passions ran so high that even common decorum was flouted in many places. One of the main victims of this heightened passion was free press. Freedom Forum, an NGO working for freedom of expression, documented 88 cases of violation of press freedom in a two-week period spanning May 8-24, 2012. Then in January, 2013, 22 journalists had to leave the far-western district of Dailekh fearing retaliation by cadres of UCPN (Maoist) for reporting on the case of Dekendra Thapa, the Dailekh-based journalist who was murdered during the insurgency. These signature cases are clear indicators of the unsafe and rather challenging working climate that Nepali journalists have to operate in. Two recent cases—of indiscriminate beating of RSS journalist Ramesh Lamsal and the Supreme Court’s decision to curtail the movement of journalists inside its premises—buttress the same point. Of course it is not all gloom and doom for Nepali journalism. In recent times there have been some laudable interventions from the judiciary to bring the violators of press freedom to book. For instance, on April 22 Morang District Court sentenced two persons for an assault on Biratnagar-based Khilnath Dhakal, a reporter with Nagarik daily. Likewise, on Feb 25 Jhapa District Court sentenced Yuvraj Giri, the main accused behind the murder of journalist Yadav Poudel, to life imprisonment. This is in addition to the momentum in the investigation of Dekendra Thapa’s murder. Still, prosecutions are few and far between: FNJ, the umbrella organization of journalists in the country, recorded 227 cases of attacks on media persons, including abductions, disappearance, intimidation and other incidents, between May 2012 and April 2012. Very few of these cases have been satisfactorily solved. While talking about the challenges facing Nepali journalists, we believe the media fraternity also needs to be aware of its inherent flaws. Perhaps the biggest problem, at least in big media organizations, is lack of representation. A large section of the population continues to believe that major media houses still fail to represent their voice. This was a reason there was so much ire against the big media houses that were perceived to be doing the bidding of the ‘traditional forces’ in the lead up to CA’s dissolution. The cozy relationship between journalists and politicians, especially outside the capital, also undermines the credibility of media in Nepal. Media ethics is just in its infancy, with the majority of journalists just starting to come to grip with concepts like plagiarism and proper attribution. But there can be no doubt that the state has to lead from the front when it comes to protecting freedom of expression and people’s right to be informed. For this it is important that journalists be guaranteed a safe environment where they can work without any coercion. Unless the state realizes the vital role of media in the functioning of a democracy, journalists will continue to face various kinds of unwarranted restrictions while carrying out their duty. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54171 LEADERS AND LEGACY Poet Laxmi Prasad Devkota has this to say about enlightenment at the end of his life: “Neither did I accumulate devotion, nor did I acquire acumen; nothing matters but Lord Krishna, as I approach the life’s end.” We human beings are wired to mellow with advancing age. Atheists in their youth become religious in old age; the religious become devout; the greedy become generous; the fiery become gentle; the sinner become pious; and non-charitable become charitable. We worry more about legacy and afterlife, as we get closer to the eternal journey, as Devkota has so nicely said. But by the time we realize, it would usually be too late to do good deeds to build better legacy or better afterlife. Let me illustrate this point citing two events in April 2013. British Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher died and Pakistani Iron Man Pervez Muserraf was arrested. Both events have stoked strong passion for and against these once remarkable politicians, imparting a lesson to all others that what you do to make yourself iron man or iron lady eventually comes back to haunt and does not give you a second chance to rectify your mistakes. EURONEWS.COM For starters, Thatcher was the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom who served from 1979 to 1990. Elected as Member of Parliament in 1959, Prime Minister Edward Heath appointed her as the secretary of state for education and science in 1970. She would earn the nickname of ‘Thatcher the milk snatcher’ for cutting funding for milk made available to children at school. After her party lost the election, she defeated her mentor and became leader of the opposition in 1975. As leader of the opposition, Thatcher vehemently criticized the Soviet system in 1976, and a Russian journalist gave her the nickname of Iron Lady in Krasnaya Zvezda, a Soviet government newspaper. She became prime minister in 1979 after winning the general elections and went on to win two more polls and lead the government. She was a strong opponent of welfare state and Keynesian economics. As a prime minister, she relentlessly denationalized public enterprises, deregulated the private sector, cut public spending, destroyed the power of trade unions, and fought the Falkland War against Argentina. Thatcher increased indirect taxes and reduced direct ones, paving the way for the biggest transfer of wealth from the poor and the middle class to the rich. The poll tax—a flat-rate tax introduced to fund local government activities—sank her popularity and forced her to resign. After resigning as prime minister, she led a mostly secluded life. When I met her in 2008 at a royal reception, she was suffering from severe dementia. As she came around with her daughter, she fancied my son and talked with him for half an hour in the Buckingham Palace Gardens. She asked him about his school and life in the United Kingdom. As soon as my son answered, she asked the same question again, forgetting her earlier enquiry. To us, she seemed like a warm and compassionate human being, not the milk snatching iron lady. When she died at the age of 87, one group of people mourned and the other celebrated. While mourning is a spontaneous and appropriate human reaction when someone dies, jubilation is not. But those who lost their jobs and whose lives were ruined by her policy as well as their children who suffered the consequences celebrated her death. Out in the streets, people carried banners that depicted her as a Satan. They burnt her effigies and chanted slogans against her. A song about her—Ding dong the witch is dead—hit number two spot in the national chart. General Pervez Musharraf, as chief of the army staff, deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a coup in September 1999 and appointed himself chief executive a month later. In 2001, he became the president. Under orders from the Supreme Court, Musharraf conducted general elections and his party emerged as the largest outfit in the parliament, though it fell short of an outright majority. He ruled the country with an iron fist appointing compliant prime ministers. In the face of his party’s loss in the general elections of 2008, his declining popularity, corruption cases, confrontation with the judiciary, and criticism from Western countries for transferring nuclear technology to North Korea, Musharraf’s position became precarious. The court denied him another term as president and put the final nail on his ambition for reelection. As Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of the Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, agreed to impeach him in the parliament, Musharraf resigned and went into exile. Pakistani officials served in fear under Musharraf. For instance, at a breakfast in Washington DC, I asked Pakistani Ambassador to the United Nations Shamsad Ahmed to go and greet Benazir Bhutto, in exile then, who was seated next to our table. But he could not muster the courage and advised me to do it alone. I greeted her and spoke for a few minutes before the breakfast. In March 2013, Musharraf returned from exile to “save Pakistan.” However, the court disqualified him for parliamentary elections from four constituencies due to the criminal cases against him. He then fled the court and went to his villa. But two days later, the police arrested him from his villa near Islamabad. In the latest development, the Peshawar High Court has barred him from running for office for life. This is the first time such a senior army figure has faced justice in Pakistan, where the army has a country rather than the country an army. Iron Man Musharraf could land in jail for many years to come. People might not ridicule leaders when they exercise power. But leaders face justice after they retire or die. Thatcher and Musharraf were at one time the most powerful people of their countries, and they ruled ruthlessly. By the time they realized that they had to mend their ways, they were unceremoniously kicked out. Now the ghost of their past has been haunting them—Thatcher after her death and Musharraf after his return to Pakistan from exile. The experience of these two leaders must remind leaders of Nepal and elsewhere that history could be cruel to them as well. Even if they escape justice in court, they will have to face the court of public opinion at a time when they would have no power or no life. Well, those leaders who have done nothing deserving to be remembered by posterity do not need to fear history. They will evoke neither accolade nor vilification after they retire or die. The challenge is for those who have wronged people and the nation or who have tried to shape history the wrong way. People might not have the guts to ridicule such leaders when they still exercise power directly or indirectly. But these leaders face public justice without fear or favor after they retire or die. For politicians, janata is Janardan (the people are Krishna). People can bless and condemn them alive or dead. Neither power, nor money, nor relatives, nor the items of luxury they accumulate through fair or foul means can save their legacy. What can is people’s love and respect, even after they set out in the eternal journey. Life is ephemeral and may not give you a second chance to mend fences. The sooner the leaders realize this and do some good, the better for them and for Janardan janata. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54170 WAY OUT OF CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS Nepal now has its 5th Executive Head of State since the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Accords. Sworn in as the Chairman of the Interim Electoral Council of Ministers, Khil Raj Regmi also happens to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In a normal democratic system we do not see this kind of peculiar arrangement, since having one person oversee two branches of government may lead to an imbalance in the system, or worse, some form of autocratic rule. This also limits the normal checks and balances seen in healthy democratic systems. However, this arrangement, as proposed by the Maoists, seems to have been the only way out for Nepal in its current political crisis; Nepali Congress, UML and other democratic parties, who had previously resisted the proposal, finally agreed to this peculiar arrangement as the primary means to pave a path for future Constituent Assembly elections. After the Supreme Court put, for the fourth and final time, an end to CA extensions, were politicians simply going to ignore the Supreme Court and create another crisis on top of a crisis? No, but more importantly, the Supreme Court stood firm on its decision, and thus the CA was unable to apply for a fifth extension. This, in the Western legal tradition, is called a “hammer provision”. It is usually seen by the parties as an arbitrary point in time once reached, a provision comes into play, much like a hammer coming down on a gavel, thus settling the matter. TAKOCONSULT.RU Hammer provisions serve to provide an incentive for the parties to try as hard as they can to reach a consensus (even one that is built on mutual gains for everyone) up until the last minute. In Nepal’s case, what we witnessed is nothing more than a series of failed “do-overs” or repeated attempts that involved no new negotiating strategies to help the parties break impasse and complete an agreement. Up until that time, the message from the court was simple: There are no serious consequences to real failure. So why should the parties take the process or the situation seriously? Why would parties change when there is no incentive? Worse yet, once the Supreme Court indicated that this was to be the last attempt to reach an agreement, it too failed to dictate a provision that would accrue in the event of failure. So, after the time elapsed, which is when the hammer would “fall”, there were no provisions to impose on the parties. The court in essence provided no guidance and thus left the end result of the process completely unanswered. This scenario reinforces the notion that political inaction should lead to swift, certain and severe consequences. Civil society should expect and demand results from its political leaders. They must work, even to the point of uncomfortable compromise, to reach agreements on core issues. If they fail to do so, then as political leaders, they should suffer the consequences. The problem in Nepal is further compounded by the peculiar balance of power arrangement, with Regmi as the head of both the executive and the judiciary, as it lacks a proper means of checks and balances. This situation confuses matters and severely risks the ability of the branches of government to check one another. If anything, a balancing mechanism needs to be negotiated before any major decision is carried out. And since the special arrangements were made as a last resort for CA elections, the political parties need to find a consensus agreement before the elections so that the constitution may be drafted, ironically, on-time. There is no reason, excuse, rationale or justification not to try to reach an agreement before the elections. We recently witnessed repeated attempts without any new strategies to help the parties break impasse. Those individuals and parties that maintain an entrenched attitude need to be critically questioned or be seen as having less than transparent motives to continue this slow moving constitutional crisis. In fact, we strongly believe that the major issues must be addressed quickly while the political momentum and any sense of goodwill exist to allow compromise. Timing is everything, just like a hot piece of metal is easy to hammer right out of the forge, the longer the politicians wait—either because of determined resistance or sheer inability to act in a crisis—the more the metal will cool, and the forging process will not produce any quality results. The sound of failure will ring quite clearly several months from now when they begin to pound on cold unmovable steel. Only when Nepal acts decisively, bravely and with determination may it finally get off this unproductive political merry-go-round. This can be accomplished in part by forcing a “new status quo peace agreement hammer provision” that has both positive and negative consequences wherein individuals and parties will want to support the rewards and jointly avoid the costly negative consequences. Polkinghorn is Executive Director of Center for Conflict Resolution at Salisbury University, the US Rana is a PhD student at Kennesaw State University, USA http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54169 INTERNATIONAL MIDWIVES’ DAY A leader recently reminded us that: “Women represent half of the world’s population, and they are responsible for the other half.” Yet every day, almost 800 women die in pregnancy or childbirth. Every two minutes, the loss of a mother shatters a family and threatens the well-being of surviving children. Evidence shows that infants whose mothers die are more likely to die before reaching their first birthday than infants whose mothers survive. Of the hundreds of thousands of women who die during pregnancy or childbirth each year, 90 percent live in Africa and Asia. The majority of women are dying from severe bleeding, infections, eclampsia, obstructed labor, and the consequences of unsafe abortions. 90 percent of these deaths are preventable, and we have highly effective evidenced-based interventions. Working for the survival of mothers is a human right imperative. It also has enormous socio-economic ramifications—and is a crucial international development priority. MODERNALTERNATIVEPREGNANCY.COM While Nepal has made tremendous progress in reducing Maternal Mortality, there are still an estimated 1,200 women who die every year during pregnancy or while giving birth. This translates to an average of three women per day. For every woman who dies, 20 or more are injured or experience serious complications. The major associated reproductive health morbidities in Nepal are Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) and Obstetric Fistula (OF), which affects women in isolated areas as their access to quality maternal health care is difficult. Obstructed labor accounts for six percent of maternal deaths (NMMS 2008/2009). It is estimated that around 200-400 new OF cases occur every year in Nepal. Similarly, POP affects about 10 percent of women nationally and is the most frequently reported cause of poor health among women of reproductive age and postmenopausal women. Low availability of skilled birth attendants, extensive physical labor during pregnancy and immediately after delivery (including heavy lifting), early childbearing and short birth spacing are some of the factors contributing to high rates of pelvic organ prolapse. Nepal is very close to reaching its MDG Goal 5 on reducing maternal mortality by 2015, but much more needs to be done to continue progressing, given there are still too many women who deliver at home, often in difficult conditions and without skilled assistance. To further reduce maternal mortality and associated morbidities, the country needs to pursue a three-pronged strategy: One, all women of reproductive age need to have access to contraception to avoid unintended pregnancies. Two, all pregnant women need to have access to skilled care during pregnancy and after child birth. And three, all those with complications need to have timely access to quality emergency obstetric care. Yet, in Nepal, only one in three births is attended by a skilled birth attendant, a full range of contraceptives are not widely available and accessible, and the referral system to deal with complicated births needs further strengthening. Universal access to family planning can reduce maternal deaths by as much as 30 percent. It is essential to help every young person, woman and couple to decide freely if, when and how many children to have. This alone could help prevent 87 million unintended pregnancies worldwide—so many of which result in unsafe abortions in developing countries—and close to a third of all maternal deaths. Midwives not only provide family planning services, but their invaluable counseling skills are instrumental in empowering women and couples to make the decisions that are right for their particular situation. All women of reproductive age need to have access to contraception to avoid unintended pregnancies. May 5 is the International Day of the Midwife. Around the world there is an estimated shortage of some 350,000 professional midwives. This means that many women and their newborns die from complications that could have been easily prevented by a health worker with the right skills, the right equipment and the right support. It has been internationally proven that legalized, independent and well trained midwives can significantly decrease Maternal Mortality. Midwives are the unsung heroes of maternal and newborn health. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is closely working with the Nepali government in advancing Midwifery education and cadres. The 2006 Government SBA policy clearly reflects MoHP’s position of new cadres of professional Midwives as a crucial Human Resource for maternal and neonatal healthcare. We count on the Government of Nepal to have midwifery education and regulation in place and for making provision for midwives in their human resource strategy. Let’s acknowledge and celebrate midwives, especially on this important day, given the crucial role they play in saving lives and strengthening national health systems. Midwives deliver—and not only babies. They save lives of mothers and newborns, and promote good health in societies as a whole. They are the essential workforce in an effective healthcare system. The author is Representative at United Nations Population Fund http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54133 Kamalaris across Nepal The career prospects of five-year-old Simran are bleak. A daughter of an ex-Kamalari (indentured female laborer), she was conceived in the house her mother was sent to serve. Simran does not know who her father is: her mother was sent back to her ancestral home when she got pregnant. Hema, Simran’s 55-year-old grandmother, is now running from pillar to post to give her granddaughter a family name, which is a must for Simran’s recognition as a Nepali citizen. Like Simran, hundreds of young children born to women who were sexually exploited in servitude, are fighting what appears to be a lost battle for justice and recognition. Under the Kamalari system, thousands of young women have been tortured; many have simply disappeared, a few even found dead under mysterious circumstances. Although the country outlawed the Kamaiya (indentured labor) system as far back as 2000—with the final Supreme Court ruling against the Kamalari system in 2006—thousands of women continue to be exploited. Thousands more await justice even after being freed. Despite legal provisions, continuous pressure of rights activists and international community, the Kamalari system is far from being abolished. One would assume that the first step towards that goal would be proper documentation of Kamalaris. Traditionally, Tharu girls as young as six have been handed over by their families to high caste landlords by way of paying back loans taken by their parents or grandparents. Although its form might have changed, the practice endures. Much of the evidence is anecdotal, since the government has taken no initiative to properly document former and serving Kamaiyas. But Tharu activists believe more than 5,000 Tharu girls are still working as Kamlaris in various parts of the country. This suggests that the legal measures in place —like Kamaiya Labor (Prohibition) Act 2002, Children’s Act 1992, Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 2000 and Human Trafficking and Transportation Act 2007—have proven inadequate, and not necessarily because they are inherently flawed. It is more likely that the political will to implement them has been found wanting. Again, there has been some progress. Thousands of Kamlaris have been rescued and put in makeshift shelters in recent times. But even there, they face dire livelihood and career prospects. Many of them don’t have any identity. Often, they are victims of sexual exploitation and inhumane torture, and as a result are in poor mental and physical health. As if to add salt to their wounds, those found guilty of exploiting and torturing them tend to get away with their crimes, either by using their ‘high-level connections’ or bringing the right officials. The head of the Interim Election Council Khil Raj Regmi recently met a delegation of ex-Kamalaries and assured them that the government would, among other things, take ‘concrete measures’ to punish the guilty, rehabilitate the victims, provide young Kamalari girls with scholarships and set up a separate fund for their welfare. Hema, the 55-year-old grandmother, has heard enough of these pledges. She will only be convinced when her young granddaughter gets justice, starting with her recognition as a Nepali citizen. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54132 CLIMATE DIPLOMACY Surrounded by two giant economies—China and India—and with a massive presence of development agencies representing developed nations, Nepal is under pressure to find a way to diplomatically tackle intense global climate politics, and raise its voice effectively at the global platform. Nepal’s dependence on donor countries for developmental works, and the necessity to maintain neutral relations with neighbors on various political, cultural and economic issues call for caution and tact in dealing with climate change issues. Recently selected as the chair of least developed countries (LDCs), the pressure to act effectively and responsibility is mounting for the country, as expectations from member countries grow. Developed countries are demanding that along with them, rapidly growing economies like China and India be legally bound to reduce emissions of green house gases (GHGs) like carbon dioxide. However, countries like China and India are of the view that developed countries have already reaped enormous benefits even as they have polluted the world. Hence they should be proactive on climate change and take the lead by binding themselves legally to cut GHG emissions, rather than ask the developing nations to make the sacrifice. This is the crux of global negotiations. But many other issues embedded in climate politics have made it complex. Until and unless these issues are resolved, there is little chance that the countries will arrive at a solution that can be implemented globally through legally binding provisions. These issues have been debated for the last two decades. SCIENCEOFTHETIME.COM Many take climate change as just an environmental problem to be settled through multilateral environmental agreements between countries, but it is not that simple. Climate change is not only about rainfall patterns and floods, it is not just an agenda of agricultural and environment sectors. In the developed world, big businesses have a hold over oil market. They invest huge amounts to convince people that climate change is propaganda and that there is no need to worry. Many politicians in the US, especially the Republicans, believe that there is no such thing as climate change, leave alone express their readiness to fight it. Climate change deniers are scattered all over the developed world, and are as active as climate activists in developing and least developed countries. There are still arguments at the global level on the reliability of facts and figures presented by the scientific community on climate change, but most scientists agree that the reality of climate change can no longer be denied, with its effects visible all around. Along with arguments over whether or not climate change is real, there is another fear that threatens climate negotiations. The developing world fears that the developed world is trying to decelerate the pace of their development by placing a millstone around their necks in the name of carbon emission reduction. Though it is not expressed in negotiations, the developed world, it is feared, doesn’t want the developing countries to grow unconditionally, as the carbon emission reduction provision in the Kyoto Protocol (an agreement between the countries under United Nations) places legally binding obligations on them. They want this provision to be extended to the developing countries as well. Caught in this clash of egos and world powers are poor and vulnerable countries like Nepal that have been trying to convince both the parties of the urgent need to deal with these issues and come up with a workable solution. Poor and least developed countries cannot do much to solve the problem, as it is beyond their control. They have no option but to convince the developed world to support them in fighting climate change and to urge the developed world to take immediate steps to reduce GHGs like carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The negotiations are getting tougher by the day due to growing pressures interest from various vested groups. Developed and developing countries have been sending veteran diplomats to climate change negotiations to make sure that each gets the favorable end of the deal. The missions attending the global negotiations are growing, and the tension during the talks indicates the countries are taking the issue seriously. Poor countries have no option but to try to convince the developed world to help them fight climate change. Amidst this complexity, Nepal has become the leader of 49 LDCs. In the next two years, it needs to be at its diplomatic best to deal with other members of LDC group as well as the rest of the world. As a nation, it can compromise on many issues, but as a leader, it must satisfy the other 48 LDCs, and make sure their voices are heard clearly in global debates, a tricky and risky prospect. With its selection as LDC chair on climate change, Nepal needs to urgently mobilize its diplomatic community to establish its leadership in climate change negotiations and send a message to the global community that despite political instability at home, Nepal is capable of effectively fulfilling this global responsibility. The country’s diplomatic community, for which environmental agenda like climate change is a matter of low priority, should now be retrained and made proactive to establish the country as a leader in climate change. The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment should try to convince diplomatic missions that climate change is not just an environmental agenda, but a great opportunity to establish effective diplomatic leadership in the global arena. Climate change, as such, should not be taken just as a responsibility of the Environment or Forest Ministry, or seen only in terms of the projects that will enter the country in coming years. Definitely, the Environment Ministry is the focal agency in dealing with climate change, but it is the government of Nepal as a whole that has become the chair of LDCs group; the nation should act collectively to prove to the global community that Nepal is a good leader. According to a Chinese proverb, “If the lips are gone, the teeth will grow cold.” In other words, if two parties share a common interest and one is hurt, the other will be too. It will be Nepal’s challenge to convince the global community of this fact. The author holds a master degree in environmental science from Tribhuwan University and has been participating in UN climate negotiations toramesh25@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54131 SPORTSMANSHIP OF BHAICHUNG BHUTIA The month of October in Sikkim can be pleasant, a time when the rolling hills wean themselves from the receding monsoon. The mild autumn days call for light pullovers, and colorful shades of hosiery are displayed on Gangtok’s ridges and malls by the hill station’s residents. It was one such moment in an October afternoon of 1992. The main Palzor stadium in Gangtok had every stand and gallery filled with roaring football spectators watching the prestigious Governor’s gold cup semi-final. A group of school boys in the local team, Sikkim Reds, gave a harrowing time to seasoned footballers from Mohun Bagan, one of the three soccer giants of Kolkata. HINDUSTANTIMES.COM Mohun Bagan, one of the world’s oldest football clubs, carries a proud legacy of football in Bengal since the British colonial heydays of 19th century. As the local amateurs drew intricate dribbling patterns over the dusty field with the ball, the home crowd ruthlessly yelled as the hapless Kolkata professionals were thoroughly beaten in each department of the game. The keen eyes of Mohun Bagan coach Bhaskar Ganguly, who himself was an ex- captain and goalkeeper of the Indian football team, fell on the sturdy legs of the hill lads; more particularly on the deft feet of a 15-year-old striker with the name of Bhaichung Bhutia. This boy with his dribbling skills had mesmerized the Mohun Bagan coach during the 90 minutes of play time, the Kolkata coach was in love with Bhaichung’s game. Although the Kolkata team struggled and finally beat the local lads with the help of an extra-time free kick; technically the schoolboys from Gangtok had given a psychological drubbing to the Kolkata professionals. When the match ended and the local crowd deserted the stand, this boy was instantly picked by Mohun Bagan’s mentor and offered a lucrative contract in the plains. My friend and classmate Bhaichung gave up his board exam. He decided to leave our school’s humble muddy playing field and ventured into the football capital of India with its 120,000 capacity Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata suburbs where he was destined to exhibit his football skills. Since then, there was no looking back for this diminutive Himalayan Maradona. I still recall reading a letter he had sent to the boys at Tashi Namgyal Academy’s dormitory. In the letter he graphically described his reverse flying kick goal that made JCT Mills the champions at a tournament in New Delhi. He revealed that after lifting the trophy, he could not sleep that night. It felt like a sweet fairy tale to him. He was affiliated with a couple of top-division clubs in India before settling on the likes of traditional Kolkata power house East Bengal, where he played the longest in red and yellow stripes, and later on in the maroon and green jersey of Mohun Bagan. Back in those days, we flipped through the pages of Calcutta’s Telegraph in our school library to look at Bhaichung rubbing shoulders with Cheema Okeri in practice sessions. Cheema was the Nigeria-born footballer, the biggest football star in India before Bhaichung took up the mantle from his predecessor. Bhaichung repeatedly failed class tests. He lost promotion and stayed in the same class, ultimately becoming my junior. He failed in almost every subject, the only subject he passed without much effort was mathematics. He once said that he could pass mathematics as it did not require long study hours. He grasped whatever algebraic or trigonometric concepts he could in the irregular bits and pieces he caught between his U-12 and U-16 football training camps from Bangladesh to Kerala. He was an extremely intelligent footballer. He played soccer with brain as much as brawns. I remember an inter-house match in which I was the goalie of the opposite team, and surviving 90 minutes of Bhaichung’s onslaught was an ordeal. I ended up conceding half a dozen goals from under my legs and above my head. Although there is no dismissing the abilities of this football prodigy born in a remote village in south Sikkim; fortune was also on his side. He happened to play in the right place at the right time. Just when Indian finance minister Man Mohan Singh opened India’s economy and satellite TVs were starting to break Door Darshan’s monopoly; Bhaichung launched his career with multinational endorsement deals in an unleashed tiger economy. Soon he was a household name in a country where every sport other than cricket is sidelined. His international club ventures showed mixed results. In 1999 he played for Bury FC, a third division club in Manchester, England. His stint there met with a premature end as he was plagued with knee injuries. He then returned to India and rejoined East Bengal. On a loan from the Kolkata club, he played a few seasons for Perak FA in Malaysia. He was outstanding in the national team. Under his captaincy, the team won the Nehru Cup and AFC Challenge Cup for India. He lifted SAFF Championship three times. He was India’s most capped player, playing in more than 100 international matches. He received sporting’s highest laurel, the Arjuna award, and also Padma Shri from the President of India. In October 2010, he established Bhaichung Bhutia football schools in Delhi in partnership with Nike. Off the field, he won the reality dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, but he faced professional contract violation charges from Mohun Bagan for participating in the show. Although the professional team from Kolkata beat the local lads, the schoolboys gave them a psychological drubbing. In August 2011 he announced his retirement from international football. The Indian soccer fraternity gave a befitting farewell to Bhaichung during his last match in the Indian team against the German giants Bayern Munich. He locked horns against Schwienstieger, Muller and Gomez. Although India lost the match, the spectators in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi cheered for Bhaichung one last time on the night of 10th January 2012. He made a full circle and returned to East Bengal at the end of his active club career. He said that he wanted to hang up his boots in the lockers of East Bengal, the club in which he started his football journey as a young lad in the early 1990s. Now he plays part time football in United Sikkim, the club that he owns and founded to hone the talent of young Sikkim players. A stadium is being built in his name in Namchi, his home town in south Sikkim. He has a flourishing spicy pickle processing business. Going back to October of 1992, Shah Rukh Khan who was launching his Bollywood career back then had a film released that year, in which he plays a young man leaving Darjeeling to try his luck in the plains. I remember a song in which the actor is shown getting on the toy train and singing goodbye to his hilly brethren. Shah Rukh’s song was also applicable to Bhaichung who was also leaving the hills then to try his luck down in the plains. The song from the movie Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman goes ‘Dil Hai Mera Deewana…Yaaron Meh Toh Chalaa…Meri Manjil Duur Hai…Par Jaana Jaroor Hai…Hey Dosto Alvidaa’ One went on to become India’s biggest film star, the other, India’s biggest foot ball star. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54130 LETTING GO OF EGO “That’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spotlight, losing my religion (ego), trying to keep up with you, and I don’t know if I can do it” sang R.E.M.’s in Losing my Religion. By nature, it seems that ego drives us, makes us who we are, enables us to achieve what we want. But I also find that ego gets in the way, forces us to view others through our own rose colored glasses, makes us expect things to be a certain way, when we inherently know that they cannot or should not. One might think that having lived in India, and now in Nepal, would lead me to look at things differently. On many days, this is the case, as I do have more patience and understanding for different ways of living and being. But in many moments I revert back to my, “don’t let me fool you by my laid back California upbringing”, type A personality. CDN.PASTEMAGAZINE.COM It isn’t easy being a human being, as we tend to want things done “our way”, as if somehow we know the way. The reality however is very different, as witnessed by the very confused state of the world. This didn’t happen by chance. One can see many people investing in their egos, especially world leaders as they try to exert their power over citizens, or make it known that their country is now the “big guy on the block”. The rhetoric, the “my guns are bigger than yours”, the movement of weapons threatening others, is all something that is quite frightening and screams out, “we will show you!” Growing up with my parents and two sisters in a Jewish household in America, there always seemed to be a need for acknowledgement, to be well educated and achieve in the classroom or at home, the need to have stuff, the need to have a professional job, or trying to keep up with others, more in a material sense than anything else. I do feel privileged to have grown up in the US and I would never trade this upbringing, but when I think about how much of the world’s resources Americans use, I wonder what this is truly about. When I witness how others also admire or want to live this lifestyle, I feel that it only leads to the earth’s further destruction. But I don’t want to be selfish and deny others, because I’ve had this experience. On the other hand, I also feel that many might hate me or totally dismiss this lifestyle because they know “the” way. My life has gone in the opposite direction. I live on a volunteer’s allowance now, on which I’m comfortable here, but on which I would be in dire poverty in the US. While I might marvel at gigantic homes and the amount of stuff within these homes, I wonder why this type of status is necessary, especially given the fact that I can peer out my window from my flat in Sanepa Chowk and see people living in one room “shacks” with no amenities. Given this environment where as human beings it seems necessary to want more resources for ourselves and our families, selflessness doesn’t seem to be a part of our core fabric. Yes, maybe in some individuals it is, the saints of the world, people such as Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., those living in monasteries/nunneries, those who dress and eat the same food and don’t have stuff. I marvel at a gigantic home, and wonder why it is necessary. People are living happily in one room “shacks” with no amenities. I think a lot about my son, who is living as a postulant in a monastery in California as a devotee of Paramahansa Yogananda. Whenever I speak with him, which is maybe once every six weeks, or when I’m able to see him, once or twice a year, he always seems beyond happy. As if somehow, he has transcended ego and is leaning towards selflessness. He doesn’t spend time on the internet, and at this point in his training, is somewhat restricted in his outside dealings. He primarily spends his time in service. Although my life is devoted to interacting with the outside world, to networking, planting seeds and trying to make things happen, I also feel that service is a key. However, I question whether I can be selfless, not needing recognition, doing “good” things without letting others know and without thinking further about this, and living without expectations from others. Given the constant bombardment of wanting/needing to achieve, seeing what others are doing, and facing the inequities in life, which really drives me, this isn’t easy. By keeping the image of my son and his chosen path in my mind, I somehow feel that I have a chance. I think that it all comes down to thinking less and less about this and letting the thoughts of recognition pass without dwelling on them I wonder how different the world might be if we all could be a bit more selfless and really appreciative of others and their lives. But maybe this is totally opposite to the human condition. Possibly, if we all try to be a bit kinder, more empathetic and less ego driven, the world would presumably be a better place, not only for ourselves, our families and friends but for anyone born and fortunate enough to spend time here. The author has been a VSO Nepal volunteer since June 2012, working as a partnership builder in the corporate and media sectors Michael.Rosenkrantz@vsoint.org http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54027 Dahal’s recent visit to India The Indian interlocutors were apparently impressed. Pushpa Kamal Dahal put on all the charms to woo back the South Block mandarins who have been deeply suspicious of the UCPN (Maoist) chairman’s loyalties ever since he, in the capacity of the prime minister, sacked former army chief Rookmangud Katawal in 2009 despite India’s strong reservations. His strident anti-India sermons during the insurgency have not been forgotten by seasoned observers of Nepal in India either. But after his latest trip to New Delhi, some of the same people are starting to believe that Dahal is genuinely committed to addressing Indian concerns vis-à-vis Nepal. Although Dahal played up his India visit as an important milestone in Indo-Nepal relationship, it was clearly meant to allay old fears on his eligibility as someone who could lead Nepal without jeopardizing vital Indian interests. With new CA polls on the horizon, Dahal seemed determined to clear the way for his ascendency to government leadership by getting New Delhi’s blessings at the eleventh hour. He made all the right moves in the Indian capital. But if Dahal believes he has once and for all put to rest all of India’s concerns over his loyalty, he is clearly mistaken. Suspicions have been built over time. Removing entrenched doubts will take more than vigorous flesh pressing and gift of the gab that Dahal is noted for. It is, rather, what he does back home than what he says in New Delhi that matters. For instance, it would not have been lost on Nepal observers in New Delhi that despite the apparent shift in Dahal’s overt anti-India stand, he still chose to visit China before coming to India. Nor would his repeated call for ‘trilateral cooperation’ between India, China and Nepal have gone unheeded. Although Dahal did not raise the issue during high-level meetings with Indian leaders including PM Manmohan Singh, he has been pushing the issue for some time now. India, which continues to view Nepal as an indispensible part of its security umbrella, is highly suspicious of any such attempts to ‘balance’ Indian influence in Nepal. Moreover, as relations between India and China improve, India has no need for an ‘intermediary’, even in trade-related matters, something which Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid made crystal clear on the eve of Dahal’s India visit. Dahal’s biggest achievement from the recent visit is undoubtedly the part it has played in thawing of relationship between New Delhi and UCPN (Maoist). This is important because many in Indian establishment are still queasy about allowing a party that labels itself after Mao to hold the reins of power in Nepal, right next door to the Naxalite heartland. Maoist vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai is a trusted Indian ally. Now with Dahal seemingly committed to democratic principles, India’s fear of the prospect of a Maoist-led government under Dahal after new CA polls must have been allayed to certain extent. The fact that Dahal didn’t raise the thorny issue of the revision of the 1950 treaty, nor the intractable border concerns, must have assured India as well. Since none of the important national issues were raised during Dahal’s discussions with Indian leaders, his visit will have little or no effect on bilateral ties. Nonetheless, the level of trust that seems to have been built between the biggest democracy in the world and the biggest elected party in Nepal bodes well for the future of democracy in the country in the throes of transitional politics. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54026 For a country as poor as India, growth should be what Americans call a “no-brainer.” It is largely a matter of providing public goods: decent governance, security of life and property, and basic infrastructure like roads, bridges, ports, and power plants, as well as access to education and basic health care. Unlike many equally poor countries, India already has a strong entrepreneurial class, a reasonably large and well-educated middle class, and a number of world-class corporations that can be enlisted in the effort to provide these public goods. Why, then, has India’s GDP growth slowed so much, from nearly 10 percent year on year in 2010-11 to 5 percent today? Was annual growth of almost 8 percent in the decade from 2002 to 2012 an aberration? I believe that it was not, and that two important factors have come into play in the last two years. First, India probably was not fully prepared for its rapid growth in the years before the global financial crisis. For example, new factories and mines require land. But land is often held by small farmers or inhabited by tribal groups, who have neither clear and clean title nor the information and capability to deal on equal terms with a developer or corporate acquirer. Not surprisingly, farmers and tribal groups often felt exploited as savvy buyers purchased their land for a pittance and resold it for a fortune. And the compensation that poor farmers did receive did not go very far; having sold their primary means of earning income, they then faced a steep rise in the local cost of living, owing to development. In short, strong growth tests economic institutions’ capacity to cope, and India’s were found lacking. Its land titling was fragmented, the laws governing land acquisition were archaic, and the process of rezoning land for industrial use was non-transparent. India is a vibrant democracy, and, as the economic system failed the poor and the weak, the political system tried to compensate. Unlike in some other developing economies, where the rights of farmers or tribals have never stood in the way of development, in India politicians and NGOs took up their cause. Land acquisition became progressively more difficult. A similar story played out elsewhere. For example, the government’s inability to allocate resources such as mining rights or wireless spectrum in a transparent way led the courts to intervene and demand change. And, as the bureaucracy got hauled before the courts, it saw limited upside from taking decisions, despite the significant downside from not acting. As the bureaucracy retreated from helping businesses navigate India’s plethora of rules, the required permissions and clearances were no longer granted. In sum, because India’s existing economic institutions could not cope with strong growth, its political checks and balances started kicking in to prevent further damage, and growth slowed. The second reason for India’s slowdown stems from the global financial crisis. Many emerging markets that were growing strongly before the crisis responded by injecting substantial amounts of monetary and fiscal stimulus. For a while, as industrial countries recovered in 2010, this seemed like the right medicine. Emerging markets around the world enjoyed a spectacular recovery. But, as industrial countries, beset by fiscal, sovereign-debt, and banking problems, slowed once again, the fix for emerging markets turned out to be only temporary. To offset the collapse in demand from industrial countries, they had stimulated domestic demand. But domestic demand did not call for the same goods, and the goods that were locally demanded were already in short supply before the crisis. The net result was overheating—asset-price booms and inflation across the emerging world. In India, matters were aggravated by the investment slowdown that began as political opposition to unbridled development emerged. The resulting supply constraints exacerbated inflation. So, even as growth slowed, the central bank raised interest rates in order to rebalance demand and the available supply, causing the economy to slow further. To revive growth in the short run, India must improve supply, which means shifting from consumption to investment. And it must do so by creating new, transparent institutions and processes, which would limit adverse political reaction. Over the medium term, it must take an axe to the thicket of unwieldy regulations that make businesses so dependent on an agile and cooperative bureaucracy. One example of a new institution is the Cabinet Committee on Investment, which has been created to facilitate the completion of large projects. By bringing together the key ministers, the committee has coordinated and accelerated decision-making, and has already approved tens of billions of dollars in spending in its first few meetings. In addition to more investment, India needs less consumption and higher savings. The government has taken a first step by tightening its own budget and spending less, especially on distortionary subsidies. Households also need stronger incentives to increase financial savings. New fixed-income instruments, such as inflation-indexed bonds, will help. So will lower inflation, which raises real returns on bank deposits. Lower government spending, together with tight monetary policy, are contributing to greater price stability. Because India’s economic institutions could not cope with growth, its political checks and balances kicked in. If all goes well, India’s economy should recover and return to its recent 8 percent average in the next couple of years. Enormous new projects are in the works to sustain this growth. For example, the planned Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, a project with Japanese collaboration entailing more than US $90 billion in investment, will link Delhi to Mumbai’s ports, covering an overall length of 1,483 kilometers (921 miles) and passing through six states. The project includes nine large industrial zones, high-speed freight lines, three ports, six airports, a six-lane expressway, and a 4,000-megawatt power plant. We have already seen a significant boost to economic activity from India’s construction of its highway system. The boost to jobs and growth from the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, linking the country’s political and financial capitals, could be significantly greater. To the extent that democratic responses to institutional incapacity will contribute to stronger and more sustainable growth, India’s economic clouds have a silver lining. But if India’s politicians engage in point-scoring rather than institution-building, the current slowdown may portend stormy weather ahead. The author is Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the chief economic adviser in India’s finance ministry http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54025 BUREAUCRACY AND ELECTIONS Critics of the newly formed interim council were quick to attack the council for being slow and not striving harder to hold elections in June. The current state of discussions suggests that it will most likely happen in November. In addition, some opinion makers were quick to blame state bureaucrats of being happy with current status quo, and accused them of trying to postpone elections for as long as they can. The implicit suggestion was that local bureaucrats tend to benefit significantly in absence of elected officials. The dread created amongst political activists in Tarai-Madhesh has been cited as an example of how this bureaucratic status quo results in despondency in the system. However, not many have actually bothered to ask the bureaucrats how they feel. The fact that a status quo situation with no elections stands to benefit a handful of corrupt bureaucrats does not mean the entire bureaucracy is hell-bent on ensuring the postponement of elections. In the past few months, I have had opportunities to observe local and national level bureaucrats speak their opinions on popular public and political perception of Nepali bureaucracy. Contrary to popular belief, the bureaucrats stressed that they want elections just as badly as everyone else. They want local elections to be held before national elections. And many of us thought that they were happy with their current hold on power—handling local level duties of 22 different ministries and 58 different elected officials. 1.BP.BLOGSPOT.COM The perception of local bureaucracy being mired in corruption stems from a number of instances of corruption that have occurred and been reported. However, local bureaucrats suggest that transparency and accountability in municipal or VDC level governments is much higher when compared to other line agencies of Nepali government. Therefore, when local bureaucracy honestly reports and disseminates its transparency and accountability findings, Nepali media is quick to pounce on the few ‘negative’ instances in the overall transparent and accountable governance scenario. In other words, much of the perception about corruption in local bureaucracy is a creation of the media, according to local bureaucrats. Although Nepali bureaucracy, especially VDCs and municipalities, get bad press for occasional instances of corruption, their role in keeping the country functioning during the absence of stable political government has to be lauded. Local elections have not happened in over 14 years, and elected representatives in local bodies have been absent for over 10 years now. In this entire duration, the fact that Nepali state has been functioning, and Nepal has not become a failed state, is a miracle with much credit going to our well oiled bureaucracy. While accusing the local bureaucracy of mismanagement in decision-making, we have to take into account three kinds of pressures that local bureaucrats have to bear. First, decision-making in local level has to be done in a manner that appeases all sections of local society. Therefore, whether a VDC secretary or municipal executive officer likes it or not, he/she has to seek suggestions from local political actors while making decisions on complex problems. Any complex decision has to be taken with a political buy-in from all local political actors from all parties to ensure that they help in containing any possible public outburst against such decisions. Second, although all party mechanism (APM) has been officially disbanded by the Nepali government, it still operates as the de-facto decision-making body in the local level. Earlier, when the APMs were created, they only had members from seven different political parties. Therefore, it was easier to come to a consensus in decision-making. However, the de-facto APMs of today consist of dozens of political parties—large and small—which has made decision-making very difficult in local government. Since each party wants a share of the pie, decision-making at local level has been obstructed incessantly in recent times, and productivity of local bureaucrats has fallen due to this obstruction. Not having elections benefits a couple corrupt bureaucrats, but does not mean all of bureaucracy is bent on avoiding elections. Third, when the de-facto APM comes to a consensus and takes a decision, it is the local bureaucrat who has to take ‘ownership’ of that decision and abide by it, because the APM does not ‘technically’ exist in the eye of the law or national government. When questions are raised by activists and media about how budgets are allocated and how projects are undertaken, VDC secretaries and municipal executive officers are thrown under the bus by these de-facto APMs who do not come to the bureaucrats’ assistance in defending those allocations and undertakings. It is very easy to accuse the entire bureaucracy of being corrupt and opposed to elections. However, the ground realities and interactions with local and national level bureaucrats provide a different understanding. Contrary to popular belief, local bureaucrats recognize that politics of opposition is necessary to make local decision-making process more transparent and accountable. They also realize that bureaucracy is an apolitical mechanism, and that is how it should be. Therefore, they demand local elections as much as the public. It’s just that nobody has been listening to what they have to say, because opinion makers are preoccupied with their own biases and opinions on how much the Nepali bureaucracy opposes elections. mukhanal@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54024 BUILDING COLLAPSE An eight-storey building being used as a garment facility collapsed in Bangladesh on April 24. Hundreds died and the death toll continues to rise. In the past too, hundreds have lost their lives in fires in garment factories in Bangladesh. Even as these tragic events generate condolences and expressions of sympathy, they also provide a rare opportunity for the custodians of Nepal’s National Building Code (NBC-94) to engage in some much-needed introspection. Valuable lessons can be learnt from such incidents. This and other tragic incidents could spur modification, improvement and implementation of NBC-94. A sense of urgency is important since the media’s attention is fleeting and a sympathetic public’s memory short. Could such man-made hazards take place in Nepal in general and Kathmandu in particular? On the weight of evidence, the answer is a definite ‘Yes’. Walk the streets and back alleys of Kathmandu and there is abundance of unmanaged construction and unplanned change in occupancy. Are these buildings being used as originally intended? Or were they even designed for any specific use? AP Tall building intended as apartments are being used as hotels; single-family residences have turned into offices, educational facilities, critical care health care facilities and schools; hotels are being converted to shopping malls. These conversions triggered perhaps by the changing business environment and societal demands overlook potentially deadly consequences. Stakeholders and authorities charged with public safety should be alarmed. It will be premature to jump into conclusions on the collapse of the eight-storey building in Bangladesh. What we do know is that when buildings, designed for one purpose find another use without proper investigation and upgrade, occupants enter a different hazard level for earthquakes, fires and other ‘loads’. Structural components in buildings are designed for anticipated additional imposed loads (live loads) based on their intended use. Consider a single-family residential facility. According to NBC, the uniform load for residential buildings ranges from 2.0 to 3.0 kilo-newton per meter square (KN/meter square), i.e. 40 to 60 pounds per square foot. Hotels, hostels, boarding house range from 2.0 to 4.0 KN/meter square. Educational buildings range from 3.0 to 5.0 KN/meter square. The California Building Code 2010, on the other hand, assigns a live load value of 40 pounds per square feet for single family residential building. That same building if used as an apartment is designed for a live load of 50 pounds per square feet. These ‘live loading requirements’ are upgraded when structures find other ‘higher hazard category use’ such as educational institutions, restaurants. Designing buildings for ultimate unforeseen uses will however be uneconomical. Buildings with change in use should be evaluated through investigative engineering for their capacity to sustain a different load. Proper enforcement of building codes could significantly reduce the chances of events like the recent Bangladesh tragedy. In Nepal’s context, this means proper revision of the NBC-94 to addresses “change of use or occupancy” issue. As things stand, NBC-94 is merely a document that fails to meet its singular and primary objective of ensuring public safety miserably. Other well-established regulations recognize safety hazards and place limits on building heights, area and number of stories based on use and type of construction material. Such limitations allow for scientific analysis of structural and non-structural aspects of safety. Tall building intended as apartments are being used as hotels. Single-family residences have turned into offices, educational and healthcare facilities. Whether the eight-storey building in Bangladesh met the safety requirements for housing a garment factory remains questionable. But as noted in the media, it was constructed illegally. Obviously, safety codes were ignored, a practice that is all too common in Nepal as well. The Bangladesh tragedy suggests the need for urgent reforms on safety issues that are inadequately addressed in NBC-94. One such issue is “escape mechanisms” from buildings. Principals of exiting from buildings, such as those found in the California Building Code, call for at least two continuous, unobstructed, undiminished access to exiting system from each floor, separated adequately from each other to allow choice of access for the people during emergencies. Properly and adequately designed and pre-engineered escape mechanisms in buildings—especially from taller buildings and building holding a large number of people—give ample time for escape during disasters. The NBC-94 needs urgent modification to deal with these issues. But this will happen only when the custodians of the Nepal National Building Code and development stakeholders learn important lessons regarding both structural and non-structural aspects of building safety from the tragic event at Bangladesh. The author is a California-licensed professional engineer and visiting faculty at KU http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=54023 The Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) has not been officially registered in Nepal despite the promulgation of the Non-Resident Nepali (NRN) Act-2008 and Rules-2009. NRNA was established as an umbrella organization of NRNs in 2003 with the aim of bringing all NRNs together, maintaining solidarity among them, protecting and promoting their interests abroad, enhancing Nepal’s dignity, contributing to national socio-economic development, and ensuring NRNs’ legal status in Nepal. The two years threshold set by the government to recognize a Nepali citizen living abroad as a NRN seems to be delaying the registration of NRNA in Nepal. The NRNs want a 182 days threshold as in other countries instead of the current two years. They are also demanding an amendment of the law to include the provision of dual citizenship. The government has granted certain privileges to NRNS such as NRN identity card valid for ten years, the right to purchase and sell land for residential purposes, the right to open a bank account in convertible foreign currency, and the right to run an industry or business. With the expectation of attracting their accumulated capital, experiences, skills and technical know-how, the government allows for a repatriation of their investment and profit earned out of investment to their domicile and tax exemption. The NRN card can be issued from both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nepali missions abroad. However, government data shows that only about 650 NRNs have been officially registered so far. This data seems nominal in relation to the number of Nepalis residing abroad—more than three million Nepalis are expected to reside in countries other than SAARC countries. The NRNA has already observed its 5th NRNA Global Conference. The government provides a certain amount of money from the state-coffer annually to organize it. The NRNs have pledged to establish Nepal Investment Fund worth US $ 100 million to support Nepal’s socio-economic development, which is yet to materialize fully. According to NRNA representatives, political leaders have promised to address their concerns, which is essential for taking them into confidence. The protracted political instability and unfinished task of writing a constitution do not give much hope of their concerns being addressed. Notwithstanding, it is the duty of all Nepali people to facilitate and contribute to consolidate the historic achievement. In this context, the financial, technical, moral and other support of NRNs is highly appreciated. They can express their love for Nepal and Nepali people by developing and harnessing hydropower, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure development, mines and mining and service sectors, which they have done and will do by investing their capital, knowledge, skill, technical know-how and experience. It is also imperative to address problems such as massive poverty, economic disparity, unemployment, low economic growth, food and fuel shortage, protracting load-shedding, trade deficit, reducing balance of payment, huge burden of foreign debt servicing, and resource constraints in the country. Despite possessing abundant national resources, a large number of economically active manpower, liberal and open economic policies, cheap labor cost and the vast potential market (due to borders with the geographically and demographically largest Asian countries of India and China), Nepal has remained a donor driven, agro-oriented and least developed country. Nepal’s water resources, agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, mines and minerals, service, ICT and infrastructure development are the most promising sectors that can transform its national economy from subsistence agriculture to one of trade, tourism and investment. Due to lack of adequate capital investment, advanced technology and modern management skills, these sectors have remained underdeveloped and unexploited. In this context, the NRNs could be Nepal’s most reliable and sustainable development partners. They can play an instrumental role in the socio-economic transformation of the nation and establish a peaceful, prosperous and just modern Nepal, which can contribute to addressing people’s overwhelming desires and expectations in the country. But for that, the government, political parties and bureaucrats should be proactive towards addressing NRN’s legitimate concerns. If necessary, they can consult with NRNA representatives, academicians, intellectuals, and other stakeholders, and take references from good practices of India where NRIs’ capital, knowledge and expertise are being effectively utilized in socio-economic transformation. Political slogans, donor-driven policies and donor prescribed medicine could not create a new Nepal, and so, a strong base of sustainable income and investment, like NRNA, is the need of hour. The author is affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rebantakc@yahoo.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53967 Karki’s appointment in CIAA The Supreme Court’s refusal to give continuity to its interim order against the proposed appointment of former Chief Secretary Lokman Singh Karki as the head of CIAA, the country’s chief anti-graft body, could set a dangerous precedent. The court has effectively lobbed the ball into the court of the Constitutional Council (CC) and President Ram Baran Yadav. Seen another way, the apex court has passed the buck back to the four-party High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) which settled on Karki’s name as the new CIAA head. It is unlikely that the Khil Raj Regmi-led government and the CC comprised of the government head, an ex-chief justice and three sitting ministers will go against the recommendation of the HLPM, their potent progenitor. But the government’s tacit backing will not give any more legitimacy to such a troubling anti-democratic move. According to Article 119 (5) (e) of the Interim Constitution, a person will not be eligible for appointment as CIAA chief commissioner or commissioner ‘unless he/she has sound moral character’. Similarly, the Constitutional Council Act, 2066 clearly mentions that while recommending a person, ‘his/her social prestige, sound moral character, honesty, public attitude toward him/her and his/her previous service…’ shall be considered. Karki fails the eligibility test every step of the way. He is someone who has been found guilty by a government-appointed commission of trying to suppress Jana Anadolan II. His strong backing of former monarchs, even while the tide was turning against them, speaks volumes about his democratic values. He has been implicated in corruption charges and had to be removed from office after staff under him refused to take orders from a person of such dubious credentials. It is interesting that the writ petition was filed even before the HLPM had formally endorsed Karki’s name. But why did the Big Four agree on such a tainted figure in the first place? HLPM must rise to the challenge, withdraw Karki’s name, and appoint someone with cleaner image. The excuse of UCPN (Maoist), the party which proposed Karki’s name, that there is nothing wrong in appointing someone like Karki when they have agreed to work together with the forces that once placed price tags on their heads is a cheap cop out of their responsibility as a democratic party and a futile attempt to add a sheen of legitimacy to an indefensible move. Yes, the latest SC verdict does seem to have cleared the way for Karki’s appointment. But that is just one way of seeing it. It can also be interpreted as SC’s attempt to hold the so-called democratic parties to account. The HLPM constituents must rise to the challenge and withdraw Karki’s proposal, and appoint someone with a cleaner image in his place. It is clear that NC, UML and the Madheshi forces accepted the Maoist proposal since they could hide their own shenanigans through the appointment of such a controversial figure as the chief of the country’s main anti-corruption body. They now have a chance to set the record straight. The Big Four made a grave mistake. They are paying for it in lost credibility. The second mistake could prove costlier still, and not just to themselves. It would be a body blow to the country’s democratic future itself. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53965 INDIA-NEPAL TIES The relations between Nepal and India have been close, cordial and multidimensional since time immemorial. Our relations have been nurtured by history, cultural ethos, traditions and customs; unique in their nature and scope rarely found in the world. In a similar vein, relations at the people-to-people level have evolved through centuries, sharing common aspirations for economic progress, peace and prosperity. At the same time, I feel there is much more potential to strengthen bilateral cooperation. I see vast opportunities before us. We should build upon the age-old cordial relations between two countries and close friendship between our peoples, focusing more on economic and commercial cooperation. The realization of this potential for mutual benefit constitutes our vision for Nepal-India relations in the next decade. India is a country of great civilization. Being the largest democracy in the world, India and its people have paved the path of freedom, democracy and independence through their relentless struggle against British colonialism and support for such struggles in other countries. The freedom struggles led by Indian leaders like Mahatma Gandhi had a cascading effect in places under British colonialism. It would not be out of place to say that India has been an inspiration for struggles against domination and injustice around the world. Nepal is at the crossroads of great transformation in its socio-political set-up through massive political overhaul after more than 200 years of its existence as a nation state. As you all are aware, Nepal embarked upon the new path of democratic ideals after the conclusion of the 12-Point Agreement among major political forces including the then Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The historic 12-Point Agreement, concluded in New Delhi itself, has been marked as a milestone in the annals of political development of Nepal that helped end 240 years of feudal autocratic rule and usher in a republican setup of governance. Through the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, we paved the way for peaceful transition in Nepal. In this context, we, in Nepal, highly value friendship, cooperation and understanding shown by India, Indian leaders and its people to the aspirations of the Nepali people. Nepal is still in a state of fundamental political and economic transition. Nepal’s transitional phase has many dimensions: conclusion of the peace process, coming up with a new constitution through the Constituent Assembly and setting the agenda and creating environment for economic prosperity. The political process that followed the CPA has been instrumental in creating conducive environment for the protection and promotion of democracy in the country. The Maoist army has been integrated into the national army and the government is going to establish Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Disappearance Commission to address other issues of the peace process with the consent of the major political players. We would like to end this transitional phase at the earliest through fresh elections to the second Constituent Assembly which is expected to be held in the near future. I am confident that new elections would help bring political stability in Nepal and strengthen the hope and aspirations of the people for republicanism, democracy, federalism and peace. All major political parties have agreed to new election for the Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution for Nepal by incorporating people’s wishes. For this purpose, my party gave up its ruling mandate and agreed to form an election government under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice, ensuring that the upcoming elections would be held in a free, fair and acceptable manner. Having briefly touched upon the present political scenario, I would like to draw your attention to certain aspects of economic development of Nepal. Nepal’s two close neighbors—India and China—have been marching towards modernization and economic advancement, unparalleled to any country in the world. Both the countries have had awe-inspiring economic achievements. Nepal, a tiny Himalayan country, situated between two economic giants, cannot and should not remain out of touch of the ongoing development spree in the vicinity. Having two rapidly growing economies in the neighborhood, it would be rather unfortunate for Nepal to remain under-developed, poor and backward. I strongly believe that an economically sound and developed Nepal is not only in the interest of Nepal and Nepali people, but also the larger interest of India and China. It is obvious that Nepal’s economic development would herald political stability in the country which, in the long run, would contribute to addressing the security concerns of India and China. A prosperous and developed Nepal is the best way to ensure security, peace and stability in the region. Nepal-India relations have been based on the principle of peaceful coexistence, sovereign equality, and understanding of each other’s aspirations and interests. In the context of the 21st century and in view of a changed global scenario, I believe that Nepal and India should give a new impetus to their bilateral relations and redefine their relations by collectively summing up past experience. The goal is to further consolidate the whole gamut of bilateral relations in order to uphold the aspirations and interests of both countries. I would like to see Nepal-India relations develop on the basis of true friendship, cordiality and mutual cooperation. Nepal is very much aware of India’s security concerns and it adopts a firm policy of not allowing any activity against its friendly neighbors on its soil. India is the largest development partner of Nepal. We applaud India’s continued interest in Nepal’s development projects. I would like to take this opportunity to appeal for more investment from India in Nepal on projects ranging from hydropower to manufacturing industries, infrastructure development to Information Technology, and from agriculture development to tourism promotion. Many people question my rationale of trilateral economic cooperation in the development of Nepal, which will involve India and China. I would like to make it clear that in the changed global and regional context and ever growing economic relations between India and China, trilateral cooperation in various mutual projects in Nepal is very much possible. It is our vision for the future. Let me also clarify that by no means do I wish to undermine or replace our centuries-old bilateral relations. Rather, I believe that only by promoting bilateral cooperation between our neighbors can the basis for a trilateral cooperation be created. I am confident that Nepal’s economic development is possible through such cooperation from our friends. It would lay the foundation of prosperity of Nepal and Nepali people, which is not only in the best interest of Nepal but, equally, in the best interests of India and China. Traditionally, Nepal has played an important role in connecting India and China through its many trade routes and, at the same time, enjoyed peace and prosperity for its people. My visit to India this time has been mostly concentrated on finding ways to further develop our bilateral relations in the 21st century. Nepal-India relations should be seen as the best example of bilateral relations in the world. In the coming decade, I would like to see these relations further strengthened and consolidated to the mutual satisfaction of our two countries and people. I believe that the changed global dynamics and successful conclusion of transition in Nepal will create a conducive atmosphere for further development of our relations. Our efforts should be focused to that end. Edited excerpts from the Maoist Chairman’s speech at a program organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in New Delhi on April 29 http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53964 IMPACT OF POPULATION CHANGE Nepal is now passing through demographic transition, a phenomenon of long-term change from high to low mortality and fertility. Such transitions have already been completed in developed countries, whereas developing countries are still working their way through it. In the early stage of the demographic transition, fertility rate falls more slowly than mortality rate, leading to an increase in the number of children, or baby boom, followed by a surge in the number and share of the working age population. With labor force numbering high (relative to the population dependent on it), more resources are automatically freed up for investment in economic development and family welfare, signaling an increase in the productive capacity of an economy on a per capita basis. This phenomenon is called the demographic dividend, a time-limited window of opportunity for rapid income growth and poverty reduction. Both fertility and mortality rate in Nepal have been declining since 1960 and 1950 respectively, implying Nepal’s entry into the demographic transition. The fertility rate (child per woman) and infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births), which were 6.10 and 187 respectively in 1960, declined to 2.59 and 32 in 2010, according to the World Population Prospects 2010 of United Nations Population Division. Accordingly, the dependency ratio (number of dependents per 100 persons of working age) started to decline from 123.5 of 1980 to 105.8 in 2010. The declining rates of fertility and mortality, as well as the rising share of working age population are signals of the demographic dividends that Nepal can reap for sustained development. RENEELYNNFROJO. WORDPRESS.COM The dividend period continues for five or more decades until the generations with an ever-increasing labor force near retirement age. Based on the UN Population Division’s projection, it can be concluded that in Nepal’s case, the period of population dividend will continue until the end of this century. For instance, infant mortality is projected to decline continuously, but fertility rate will decline to 1.72 by 2060 and increase thereafter. Likewise, the report also projects that the dependency ratio will fall to 62 by 2050 and increase gradually thereafter, reaching 90.6 by 2100. The size of population aged 15-64 was 5 million in 1950 and 18 million in 2010. The share of this population group will peak in 2050, reaching 32 million, and then decline gradually. These trends imply that Nepal may experience population aging and declining support ratio only in the end of this century. Nepal will not emerge economically unless it seizes this demographic window of opportunity, as emerging economies did in the 1970s. One-third of East Asia’s economic growth was attributed to this economic shift. Thus it is right time for Nepal to take the benefit of increased productive capacity that comes with a growing labor force, reduced burden due to declining number of dependents, and reduced childbearing responsibilities of women due to declining fertility. Nepal’s ongoing demographic transition can be converted into a dividend or gift only by providing productive employment for the growing labor force, promoting savings and productive investment, and raising investment in shaping high-quality human capital. The need is to adopt better population policies, plans and programs as well as take the population variables in account in other sectoral policies such as education, health, and food security. Specifically, key efforts to reap the dividend may be adequate investment in education and health to transform youth into a productive force, labor market flexibility, strengthening the rule of law, improving the efficiency of government operations, and guaranteeing contract enforcement. It is the right time for Nepal to take the benefit of a growing labor force and declining number of dependents. Despite such explicit benefits, Nepal is yet to formulate and implement any policies to seize the demographic dividend. Instead, many dominant forces in the economy are working against the way of exploiting the dividend. Inadequate resources devoted to enhance the growth of human capital, discriminatory practices towards employment and education, shaky macroeconomic situation, fragile governance structure, political instability, and lack of well-functioning markets and institutions are examples of such counter-productive steps. The major policy focus now is on promoting foreign employment rather than productive employment at home. It should be realized that increased foreign employment is not the first or the best solution to the problems of poverty and development. Many countries have received huge amounts of remittances, for years, but the remittance did not necessarily translate to growth. Remittances are not the highway to a better future. They are a wobbly crutch that millions of Nepalis must rely on because there is no better way to support themselves at home. The dividend period is a window of opportunity offering a transitory bonus, and dividends will not come automatically. It depends on the implementation of effective policies. Ignoring these long-term trends may be tempting, but failing to respond now may take Nepal down an unwelcome and unavoidable path of economic decline. Thus, it is crucial for Nepal to implement development strategies to reap the dividend. The author is Assistant Director at Nepal Rastra Bank bc_birendra@hotmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53915 Irregularities in private schools The list of public grievances against private educational establishments is long: The schools charge exorbitant fees, sell stationary, textbooks and uniform items from within the school premises to rake in profits; stuff many students in a single classroom, and so on. In most of the schools, students need to be readmitted each academic year when they are upgraded to higher grades. With a view to checking such anomalies, the Supreme Court ruled last year in May, directing the concerned government bodies—Department of Education and Ministry of Education in particular—to take stringent action against schools engaged in such activities. Among other things, the ruling had strongly directed the schools to not charge more than Rs 25 for an admission form and Rs 100 for examination fee. Stepping on the same verdict, the Department of Education had issued Private and Boarding School Directive, which prohibits schools from raising tuition fees for three years, and does not allow them to charge admission fees each year. But hardly any of these initiatives have seen the light of day. Private schools are found to be flouting the directive and the SC’s order; some of them charging admission fees double the previous year’s figure. A school monitoring team led by Kathmandu’s District Education Officer recently found Daffodil School and Meridian International School to have charged Rs 31,260 and Rs 22,150 respectively for admission. To hoodwink the monitoring team, these schools had reportedly concealed the fee chart of previous years. Likewise, Paragon Public School, Pathshala Nepal and Shuvatara School were found to have charged each student Rs 500 for an admission form. We don’t mean to single out these schools, but it is hard to believe they are the only ones disregarding government directives and indulging in irregularities. According to a news report, a school management rakes in as much as Rs 100,000 in commissions from publications whose books they sell. All this despite the fact that Ministry of Education and Department of Education have consistently issued warnings to the schools to abide by the directive and threatening them of punitive actions if they are found to be evading it. Private schools’ disregard of government regulations has not only tarnished their own reputation, but also invited protests from different student bodies. It has given an excuse for CPN-Maoist’s student body to enforce school shutdowns in various parts of the country in this crucial period of a new academic session. Nepal National Independent Student Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) has shut all private schools in Tansen and a couple of them in Nawalparasi. It’s a given that private schools have contributed to the development of the country’s education. They have held back a significant number of children from well-off families in the country, who otherwise would have gone to neighboring countries in search of better schools. But their high fees and other expenses have deprived a large number of poor children of quality education. If strictly implemented, we believe Private and Boarding School Directive can help to make quality education accessible to the poor as well. While Department of Education needs to widen its monitoring and bring the guilty to book, private schools should cooperate with the government. There is no other way than to abide by SC’s verdict and DoE’s regulation. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53914 INDIAN DEMOCRACY In a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin earlier this month, the Indian Prime Minster, Dr Manmohan Singh, had a lucid commentary on India’s democracy. “India is a well-functioning democracy with full respect of fundamental human freedoms and human rights of the population and that in our system of government there is a very important place for civil society actors to influence government policies, to criticise government policies, and to agitate in a peaceful manner for the resolution of any problems that they may choose to emphasize,” he said (PTI, 11 April 2013). Dr Singh should know a thing or two about the Indian democracy. He is the only person outside of the Gandhi family to have served two full terms as Prime Minister, assuming that this term is not torpedoed before next year’s general election. He has described questions about a third term as “hypothetical,” which could mean not ruling it out entirely. AP Dr Singh is a veteran of Indian affairs, a luminary who will leave a distinctive mark in the country’s contemporary history. But he has never won a general election where he has been voted in directly by the people. Yet, as Prime Minster, he represents the aspiration of 1.2 billion people in the world’s most populous democracy. Dr Singh is a member of the Rajya Sabha from Assam. The Rajya Sabha, or Council of States, is the upper house of the Indian parliament. Its members are elected indirectly, by elected members of the state legislature. The upper house was created partly because framers of the Indian constitution believed that a Parliament consisting only of a directly elected single chamber, such as the Lok Sabha, would be inadequate to meet the diversity and challenges of a free India. Dr Singh has been a Rajya Sabha member from Assam since the early nineties. He rents a flat in Guwahati (Nadan Nagar, Sarumataria, Dispur, Guwahati, Assam) for an address–very conveniently from the former Assam Chief Minister, Hiteshwar Saika. The framers of the Indian constitution may have thought long and hard, debated well into the night about a political system that would best represent the complexity and diversity of India. They may never have imagined that it could simply require a Chief Minister to rent out his spare flat to the Prime Minster to make it all work. Dr Singh remains the undisputed leader of a “well-functioning democracy” despite never having won a direct general election. He is Prime Minister on the basis of a rented flat in Guwhati. What, then, is in a constitution anyway? Dr Singh isn’t the only member of the current India Cabinet to have never won a direct general election. “In our country elections are not contested between personalities. Our national polls are not a beauty contest. It is fought between political parties. Based on its manifesto, ideology and performance, a party contests an election,” Jairam Ramesh, Indian Union Minister for Rural Development said in Vadodara earlier this month (NDTV, 14 April 2013). “Our system is not like the one in America—the presidential system wherein two people contest polls and based on how one looks, talks or cracks a joke. Elections should not be trivialised, it is a serious matter,” he added. Minister Ramesh should know a thing a two about elections. He has never contested a direct popular election. He has never had to take his “manifesto, ideology or performance” directly to the people and asked for their vote. He is a member of the Rajya Shaba from Andhra Pradesh, and has been one since 2004. Like Dr Singh, Minister Ramesh is a veteran of Indian affairs. He plays a key part in the functioning of the Government and the Congress party. Previously, as Minister of Environment and Forests he advocated for stronger implementation of environmental and forest protection acts, blocked the clearance of several large infrastructure projects, and had become the biggest bane of Indian industry. But in a subsequent cabinet reshuffle, Minister Ramesh was promoted to full Cabinet Minister, transferred from the ministry of environment and given charge of the important ministry of rural development. There are 34 members currently in the Indian cabinet. Eleven of them, including the Prime Minister, are from the Rajya Sabha. Most of them have never contested or won a direct popular election. A third of the minsters in the current Indian cabinet have not had to explain their “manifesto, ideology and performance” to the public voter in direct general election. Their constituency, instead, are the elected members of their own party in the state legislature who have to vote along party lines. When the framers of the Indian constitution were designing the Rajya Sabha as way of representing India’s complexity and diversity, did they ever imagine that a third of the cabinet would never have won a direct popular election? Direct elections, the ability of every individual to have a say in the formation of their government through the ballot, is the most fundamental underpinning of a democracy. When Dr Manmohan Singh stood up in Berlin and said India is a “well-functioning democracy,” the whole world applauded without disagreement. Nobody asked him how his government can be considered to be representative of India when the country’s voters have had no direct say in selecting a third of his cabinet. When Minister Ramesh roared into the tribal area of Odisha, put a stop to mining in those hills and claimed that “tribal people are not showpieces,” nobody told the minister he had no right to represent tribal people because he had never won a popular election in his life. Actually, he’s never even bothered to contest one. Whatever the esoteric debate on whether the Indian constitution allows the full variety of aspirations to be represented through its political system, India continues to function politically within its complex context. Akhilesh Yadav, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, summed it up rather neatly. “FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and CII (Confederation of Indian Industries) are pitching for their candidates. If they have their candidates, then farmers and poor will also say that they also want their PM,” he said (Economic Times, 22 April). When Dr. Manmohan Singh said India is a “functioning democracy,” the world applauded without any disagreement. Yadav was mostly mocking the fact that Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, the two likely Prime Ministerial candidates for the next general election, had been invited to speak by the business associations FICCI and CII respectively. But in many ways, Yadav’s statement also captures the functional confidence in the Indian political system to represent the diversity of interests and values. Nepal has been mired in a polarizing debate on whether the federal states should be carved on ethnic lines. This issue has stalled progress and come to symbolically represent a way of addressing centuries of accumulated injustice. As the curious case of the Indian democracy illustrates, there is no perfect constitution, only functional ones. God could probably create a perfect constitution. Unfortunately, we did not elect any God to our Constituent Assembly. Let’s stop playing God and get on with the show. The author is a consultant on energy and environment bishal_thapa@hotmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53913 SYNDICATES AND CARTELS The title of this essay is derived from the title of another essay written in 2010 by Jeff Nielson about the financial crisis in the US. In the article, he explains how Wall Street’s (together with its derivative markets’ like Casinos, Insurance Companies etc) pre-meditated moves created the housing bubble in the US, which derailed the economy of the country. The author refers to the tactics used by Wall Street and its derivatives in their attempt to manipulate the economy of the country for their sole benefit as “Economic terrorism”. Examples of economic terrorism plaguing Nepali economy are syndicates and cartels. Their latest attempt to foil the economy was evident in the attempted disruption of service of the newly revamped Sajha Yatayat in Kathmandu. Sajha Yatayat provides high quality service for the same price as other buses, and the Transport Association already sees this as a threat to their syndicate in less than a month of its operation. Unfounded accusations and claims have been made against Sajha Yatayat by Transport entrepreneurs, who have been syndicating transportation services in the city for more than 10 years. Apart from their baseless accusations, they have also put forth irrational demands like cancellation of the route permit of Sajha Yatayat and compensations for transportation operators providing services in the routes of Sajha Yatayat. In normal conditions, after healthy competition private entrepreneurs would have ultimately provided the best quality service to consumers at the lowest possible price. But transport entrepreneurs instead formed a syndicate and increased their presence and power. This is why they now appear to be more powerful than the state, and have also been able to manipulate discussions, talks and decisions related to price, service, route permit and other details several times. PAKISTANLAW.NET The strike called by petroleum tanker operators a few weeks ago is another instance of economic terrorism. There are plenty other instances when Nepal’s economy has faltered due to such malignant acts. The routinely observed petroleum products’ crisis (including the very essential cooking gas) and stubbornness of entrepreneurs in the industry to comply with the government’s policies and laws are also examples of such terrorism. Just before August 2012, gas entrepreneurs had threatened to stop the supply of LP gas if their demands for syndicate and cartel system in LP Gas supply and distribution were not addressed. It was only after the government flexed its legal and authoritative muscles regarding the supply of essential goods that the entrepreneurs came to the table and signed the agreement to introduce red and blue colored cylinders in the market. But even then, it was not carried out until the government agreed to form a technical team to undertake a study on the profit and commission that the entrepreneurs would get from this policy. When entrepreneurs are threatened in such ways, their main weapon of defense is a syndicate or cartel. A syndicate is a joint association of entrepreneurs through which they share both their resources and risks. They also fix the prices of goods and services in order to have maximum profits. It clearly implies that syndicates can’t be the first choice of consumers. In such a scenario, if an entrant delivers either higher quality goods/services at same price, or same quality goods/services at prices lower than the one fixed by the syndicate (where this entrant still has considerable profit to gain from the price margin in both cases), it can easily claim a large section of the pie in the market. But why don’t we see that happening, and why do syndicates continue to thrive and grow? The answer lies in the threat syndicates pose to entrants on the strength of their combined resources and power. Through coercion, syndicates can require entrants to abide by their rules and regulations. Any entrant is thus obliged to join the syndicate association because otherwise it needs an assured security and protection to run its business alongside the syndicate, which our government fails to provide. But if an incumbent entrepreneur defaults and operates on its own outside the syndicate system, then the whole syndicate association will collapse in due course. The principle here is again that of free and competitive economy; the defaulting incumbent either reduces the price, or increases the quality of goods/service, or both, and then it can claim a large share of market. Having witnessed the potential market share through competition, another defaulter arises from within the syndicate association and follows suit, until the whole syndicate association collapses into near-perfect competition. Then again, this hasn’t happened in Nepal because moderately big organizations in the business are in the syndicate association, and since they can control prices, keep big price margins, have greater authority and claim big piece of the pie in the market while still being in the association, they won’t default. While it would seem lucrative for relatively smaller organizations to default because then they can have opportunities for growth through performance and competition, they won’t do so, either because of the fear of association’s might or because of lack of proper market security from the government. In a free competitive market, syndicates are illegal and lethal. Even in Nepal, Competition and Market Protection Act 2063 recognizes it as an anti-competitive practice, defining it as illegal and punishable. But since our laws and practices rarely align, syndicates have been damaging the economy for well over a decade now, and they will continue to do so in future if it is not checked in time. When entrepreneurs are threatened, their main weapon of defense is a syndicate or cartel. In this situation, alert, informed and educated consumers can be very beneficial to the ailing economy. And the second best way (the first being enforcement of laws and practices) to fight such malpractices is through civic engagement and practices. Consumers must boycott syndicate business practices as far as possible. During petroleum tank operators’ strike, some twitter discussions suggested consumers to completely boycott the petrol pumps that threatened to stop supply and distribution. Though boycotting completely might not be possible, it will give a signal to the syndicate operators that economy is a balance among producers, suppliers and consumers. In Nepal, consumers are seen as mere buyers. But in any economy, the end consumers are the center of the economic wheel. They are the ones who keep the wheel rotating. After the recession, the economy of Europe is still sluggish because of austerity measures followed by governments, and not enough spending at the consumers’ end. Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart (American Multinational retail corporation), said, “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” So, end consumers must be well aware that they are an essential and integral part of the economy. They themselves with their spending power are the synergy that can fight the mal-practices like terrorism from syndicates and cartels. And it is high time Nepal utilized that synergy to its full potential. The author is an Economics graduate with interest in Public Policy barshaaa@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53912 MICRONUTRIENT POWDERS Anemia among young children has been a public health problem for a long time in Nepal. While the government is trying the best it can to reduce it, the prevalence of anemia has remained high. Stakeholders who support the government are puzzled as to what causes anemia in children and how public health burden can be reduced. Some of these stakeholders include international organizations that cleverly posit themselves as enlightened elites who know the fool-proof answer. These organizations have convinced the government’s child nutrition agency, using a variety of attractive techniques well known to the actors in Nepal’s development industry, to distribute micronutrient powders (MNP) to children two to six years of age. This distribution of MNPs, supposed to be sprinkled over food, has encountered more than a few problems at the implementation level. Children have refused to take any food sprinkled with MNPs. However, those who funded this government program claim that the powders do not change the color or taste of food. Since we have heard both sides of the story, I leave it to the readers to decide who we should believe–the mothers of children who have refused to eat food adulterated with MNPs, or the so-called experts of international organizations whose children do not seem to need such powders? ARUNA UPRETY These organizations have been distributing MNPs in many countries, spending a large amount of energy and resources in this exercise. So large that if the same amount of money and energy was used to implement sustainable nutrition programs, the very existence of these MNP-toting organizations in developing countries would have been at stake long ago. Despite large scale implementation in multiple locations across the developing world, there is no sound evidence that MNPs have helped reduce anemia among children. These organizations do cite some articles that claim to have such evidence. However, scientists working in technical capacities within universities, research organizations and technically mandated UN specialized agencies have on several occasions mentioned that this claim is baseless, since the quality of such evidence is scientifically poor. Further, a joint statement by WHO and UNICEF on combating childhood anemia published in 2004 recommends that children’s anemia can be controlled by using sustainable multi-faceted, multisectoral approaches that are specifically tailored to local conditions. Sadly, the MNPs distributed in over a dozen of Nepal’s most impoverished districts do not take local realities into account. International organizations bought the concept wholesale, like the bulk purchase of MNPs, from some extreme conditions existing elsewhere in the world. It is claimed that the MNPs contain 15 vitamins and minerals, including iron. When asked why they needed to put 15 minerals in the powders to control anemia, which is basically iron deficiency, these international organizations sheepishly answer that the vitamins and minerals don’t cost much, since more than 75 percent of the cost is incurred in the packaging of the MNPs.   It is a known fact that given their vested interest—agreements with the for-profit industries that have patented MNPs—international organizations that force governments to implement MNPs are adamant. They are not willing to admit that MNPs are not effective, or even to step down silently. Usually, they woo the governments of developing countries by offering frequent international travels and other lucrative opportunities. Their interests are vested in personal egos, and also mutual benefits connected with companies that market medical and nutritional products in developing countries (only developing countries, since developed countries do not tolerate such marketing tricks). MNPs will cause dependency, as the community will stop giving homemade food like rice, lentils, vegetables, etc to children. The distribution of imported nutritional products such as MNPs will cause (and has already caused in many cases) dependency, as the community will stop providing homemade food like chapatti, potato, rice, lentils, vegetables, beaten rice, etc to children. On one hand, the National Planning Commission has acknowledged that nutrition is a multi-sectoral issue that requires coordinated actions. On the other, the government has already accepted donors’ prescriptions of MNPs. This is contradictory, because highly placed government officials at the Ministry of Health have stated that such products have no meaning in families suffering from hunger or food scarcity. One of the brochures of MNP claims that MNPs will “make your child happy, healthy, and strong.” If that is the case, then do the people who give MNP trainings to villages administer MNPs to their own children? When I repeatedly write that we have to support sustainable solutions, international donors raise their brows. Perhaps I should request the readers to suggest a solution. Which approach should we choose—a home-grown, empowering and sustainable one, or an externally prescribed administration of a controversial product? The author is a doctor focusing on public health http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53868 Creating poll environment Despite the formation of the Chief Justice-led Interim Election Council one and a half months ago, uncertainties continue to prevail in the country. The prolonged phase of uncertainties has now led the people to believe that things are not moving ahead as expected. When the four major political forces – UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, CPN (UML) and the United Democratic Madhesi Front – decided to form the government under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi, the general feeling was that the country has headed into a new phase with high expectations that the election of the Constituent Assembly would be held soon. But with the delay in nomination of election commissioners and other hurdles, the much-needed preparations for fair and free election are yet to be completed. Unlike a section of the society which believes that the government has been delaying the announcement of the date for new polls, which is now likely to be held in November, we believe that it would be too early to announce the date as there are many other issues needed to be addressed before that announcement. To begin with, the Election Commission’s proposal on eligibility threshold of one percent for seats under proportional representation electoral system and downsizing of the CA from 601 to 491 members has been challenged by many parties. Those opposing the proposal argue that the women, Madhesi, indigenous communities, Dalits and other marginalized groups would not be strong enough to voice their concerns if the threshold is implemented and the CA is downsized. We do agree that the one percent threshold for the proportional representation system would deprive the smaller parties and marginalized groups from being represented in the CA, which could make it less inclusive. However, reducing the number of representatives could be possible if it ensures representation of all groups like in the previous CA. These are just the technicalities that need to be worked out before announcing the poll date.[break] And more than that, ensuring the participation of all the major political parties in the electoral process is a must. The CPN-Maoist led by Mohan Baidya has not only decided to boycott the election but has vowed to disrupt the process. Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum Nepal led by Upendra Yadav and Federal Socialist Party of Ashok Rai, and many other smaller parties, are also against the ongoing process. Thus, the immediate need now is to bring these dissenting groups into the negotiating table and include them in the overall process, as keeping aside these major forces out of the process would not ensure free and fair polls. CPN-M and other dissenting parties should also understand that the country has already adopted the election government, and going to election under the present government is the only viable option at present. The party who always puts forward their agenda arguing that they are working for the people must be ready to take their agenda to the people. Therefore, there should be immediate efforts to begin the dialogue between the four parties and other dissenting parties and create a proper environment for the polls. Announcing the poll date alone would not solve the problem. The government and the Election Commission are there only to support the political parties and it is up to the parties to work towards finding a solution to overcome the current uncertainties. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53867 It is a welcome news that India has formed two separate expert groups to advance sub-regional cooperation—one among Nepal, India and Bangladesh (NIB) and another among Bhutan, India and Bangladesh (BIB) respectively—on water resources management for hydropower development in Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins (The Hindu, April 15). This suggests a change of track in Indian policy towards its neighbors. The Indian government’s change of policy on shared water resources in the region was exemplified by the Framework Agreement for Development between India and Bangladesh during the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Bangladesh in 2011, wherein both the governments agreed “to harness the advantage of sub-regional cooperation” in the power sector and water resources management. Not only that, according to the Joint statement issued during the visit, the two Prime Ministers had directed their experts to formulate necessary terms of reference for joint projects in the shared river basins. Going by the history of sub-regional cooperation on water resources and energy connectivity, the subject has remained a taboo so far as the Indian government is concerned. One may be reminded of the fact that when the subject was mooted in the first Summit of the Heads of States of the SAARC countries by Nepal and further advanced by the Bangladesh President in the Banglore Summit of 1986, the Indian Prime Minister almost dismissed the idea out of hand, saying, “We have not sought to melt our bilateral relationship into a common regional identity.” [break] During negotiations on Farakka Barrage, which basically turned out to be an issue of sharing of Ganges water between India and Bangladesh, the proposal of Bangladesh to expand the scope of the negotiation and include Nepal in the Joint River Commission was refuted by India on many occasions. It has repeatedly opposed inclusion of transit connectivity of electricity in the scope of the meaning of ‘transit to the landlocked countries’. Several attempts through track-two diplomacy backed by studies on regional or sub regional cooperation on water resources among the countries sharing the waters of Ganges and Brahmaputra have not resulted in any success so far, mainly because of the strict policy of bilateralism pursued by India. Against this backdrop, no wonder water resources cooperation has been taken as a subject of “bilateral” nature that does not merit discussion in SAARC. Given these historical facts, one wonders: Why this sudden change of heart? The issue calls for an inquiry. The watchers of South Asian waters may find this change as being prompted by the fact that in recent days India has been alarmed by China’s initiation of the construction of a series of hydropower projects, including the planned 320-MW hydel project with a reservoir of 28 million cubic metres at Jiacha on the main stream of Brahamaputra. Such a move, the Indians claim, may affect the River Linking Project along with other consumptive uses downstream in India besides creating environmental and other problems. This concern was reportedly expressed by the Prime Minister of India to the Chinese Premier on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting in Durban last month. India, though an upper riparian country for Bangladesh and lower riparian for Nepal in the case of Ganges river, has adopted a policy of differential bilateralism. India’s policy of fait accompli under the so-called policy of bilateralism on matters of water sharing—be it in the case of Farakka Bridge or Tankapur hydro-project or recently the Tipai Mukh Dam against which serious concern has been expressed by Bangladesh—is very much evident. In matters of water resources India so far has used its geographical position to pursue its own objectives, often at the cost of meaningful regional initiatives. However, in the case of Brahamaputra it shares the concern of Bangladesh, as both India and Bangladesh are lower riparian to the river. Hence, it frantically seeks a common ground with Bangladesh to argue against the reported Chinese initiative on the Bharamaputra. It is noteworthy that India abstained in the voting at the UN General Assembly on the “Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Use of International Watercourses” whereas China voted against it. Hence both the countries flout the international legal regime on watercourse. However, if India is to make a case against China on the use of Brahamaputra waters, there is no option for it than to argue the case on the basis of the principles enshrined in the above convention. This is the reason India is trying to add strength to its argument by aligning itself with Bangladesh and Bhutan. Thus, in a way China’s reported initiative on Brahmputra river can be seen as a welcome development, one which has forced India to cooperate sub-regionally with Bangladesh and Nepal on the use of the waters of Ganges. This also helps India not only to build its international credentials but also to establish a strong case in the case of the Ganges. But to make this policy shift meaningful, India needs to gain the confidence and trust of its neighbors. The starting point for India could be to change its recently published Water Resources Policy which negates any sub-regional cooperation and stresses on bilateralism on international watercourses. Second, India must get rid of its hitherto policy of fait accompli on the projects with cross-border implications. It also needs to shun secrecy on the water related data and information. Data on international waters should be openly put up in public domain. Real cooperation does not start without openness to the partners. LIU RUI/GLOBAL TIMES Third, there is a need to establish examples of cooperation at the regional level by doing projects which could be cited as a win-win case for all the cooperating countries. China may want to join such projects as sustainable conservation and utilization of the trans-Himalayan river and its eco-system is vital for us all. Fourth, India’s credentials on honest and just implementation of bilateral agreements need to be buttressed by even being prepared to review past inequitable treaties and arrangements with its neighbors. Given the imperatives created by the impact of climate change on shared ecology and water, there is no option for the countries than to cooperate for equitable gain. We can only hope that the apparent change of heart in Indian policy is genuine. The writer is a water expert and former Secretary at the Ministry of Water Resource http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53866 PREPARING FOR POLLS Let us suppose that all election related tasks have been completed, election date declared and all the disgruntled political forces have come onboard of the election process: Doubts remain; Mohan Baidya’s CPN-Maoist seems fairly committed to disrupting the election by every means possible. But let’s say even this force has been convinced, and Baidya’s concerns addressed. Yet this election is going to witness perhaps the most multiply fractured electorate in the country’s history. Its outcome may not lead to success in constitution drafting and ensuring lasting stability. In all the major polls we have had so far, there were two clear cut choices for the people. In a way, 1959 election was something like vote for Nepali Congress, or don’t vote. One could choose between reformed Panchayat and multiparty rule in 1980’s national referendum. In 1991 polls, and in other parliamentary polls that followed, one could vote for NC or UML. The situation was somewhat similar in 2008—one could choose between the forces that fought a ten-year long war for republic and federalism, and forces that had exercised parliamentary politics all along. By all standards, 2013 is going to be completely different from all of these. [break] NC and UML leaders claim the upcoming election is an opportunity to institutionalize democratic system by thwarting Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s ambition of establishing a ‘communist authoritarian federal republic.’ But things are not so simple. The country remains divided on several ideological, regional and political lines on issues of federalism. At least six different schools of thoughts on federalism are at play now. One, the country should go federal but current five development regions should be turned into five federal states. This is because, says this school of thought, five federal states are economically viable and geographically suitable—each of the five regions borders China in the north and India in the south. Such states can gather support from both northern and southern neighbors and can stave off the prospect of disintegration as well. The traditional right wing forces like RPP and RJP and some of the NC leaders have tacit support for this model. Two, let us create 7 to 13 or 8 to 12 provinces, with at least two to three in the Tarai, but let us choose names that reflect multiple identities. NC and UML are in this camp. Three, there should be 10 to 14 provinces, with two for Terai, but they should be named so that they reflect the single ethnic identity of the dominant groups living in the respective provinces. Republica Madhesi and Janajati parties and UCPN (Maoist) are staunch advocates of this model. Four, there should be no federalism for it leads to the disintegration of the country. Five, we don’t care how many provinces there will be, but we want Far-west, Midwest, Western region and Chitwan as an undivided entities. Six, there should be autonomous Limbuwan, Tharuhat and Newa states. On the eve of November polls, assuming that election is fixed for this month, these voices will be more dominant. There will be more than one hundred parties forwarding these agendas. According to recent statistic, there are 119 parties—more than double the 54 we had in 2008—registered in Election Commission. Given this, the election outcome will be much more diverse than in the past, and will bring to the fore several discordant voices. With the threshold of proportional representation electoral system relaxed and high possibility of retaining 601 as the size of the new CA, its composition is going to be such that there will be no single party with a two third majority. The fractured mandate will breed confusion with multiple forces blowing their own trumpets but none of them coming around to consensus on vital issues. History will repeat, and the new CA will fail much like the old one. So what should be done? Such a situation can be avoided if parties start proper homework right now. If they start forming alliances along two clear lines of for and against single-identity federalism, people will have clear options. If we are to make this election a referendum on federalism, the parties will have to formulate their election agenda on the same basis. Here is why. For us to be able to have a new statute in place, there needs to be an overwhelming majority for one form of federalism: Few provinces reflecting multiple identities, or many provinces reflecting single ethnic identity. The risk is that the proponents of single identity may emerge dominant, and the country may go for a hard-to-sustain federal model. But if that’s what the people want, there is no reason why we should not adopt it. If NC and UML want to prevent this situation, they will have to forge an alliance with likeminded forces and strengthen their position. So far, UCPN (Maoist)—though its perennial flip-flops on federal issue must be taken with caution—and Madhesi and Janajati parties have stood in favor of single identity federal set-up. And NC, UML, and right wing parties like RPP and RJP are toeing the line of few provinces reflecting multiple identities. This polarization needs to widen and each of the alliance should come up with a clear cut agenda on federalism. The process seems to be gaining ground, slowly though. NC president Sushil Koirala and UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal have been floating a proposal of election alliance between the two forces. The possibility is that RPP and RJP will join the bandwagon. Likewise, Maoist chairman Dahal Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called for an alliance with the Madhesi and Janajati parties. Such a polarization may not be good for healthy democratic practices, but it will give people a clear choice: Either you support us or support our rival camp. But does this alone guarantee a result-oriented election? Given their proven track record of working against people’s mandate and given their reputation of crossing the floor when it comes to taking decision on crucial national issues, one cannot trust the political leaders this time either. In 50 years of electoral practice, political leaders have taken people’s votes, promising to bring them prosperity, but more often than not, they have worked against people’s interests. In other words, the covenant between the leaders and the people has been unilateral in nature. They are not obliged to address people’s concerns because there is nothing binding in this covenant. We need to make the covenant more binding. Politics is an act of social contract, said 18th century political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The crux of social contract theory is that individuals consent to surrender some of their freedoms to the decision of a majority, in exchange for protection of their remaining rights. It is with this hope that they voluntarily consent to give up certain freedoms to obtain the benefits of political order. It is time to broaden the area of such a contract. Let us make each candidate that seeks votes give us in black and white that he (it is he most of the times) will give us a constitution in return, and that he will work according to the agenda stated in the manifesto. Let us make him give us a copy of election manifesto with a promissory note at the end that says he agrees to work according to our mandate, and let us make him put his signature at the end. Politicians will have nothing to lose in this pact if they care for the people. And on the other hand, it will make people feel empowered. Might sound like a farfetched proposition, but I find the idea really fascinating. mbpoudyal@yahoo.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53865 BRITISH MINISTER’S VISIT TO NEPAL This is my fourth visit to Nepal in three years. This says much about the importance which the UK Government places on the near 200 year-old relationship between the United Kingdom and Nepal. There are few countries which attract the affection and respect of ordinary Britons in the way that Nepal does. So many Nepalis have made the ultimate sacrifice when serving in the Brigade of Gurkhas, often at Britain’s greatest hour of need and defending freedom.[break] I am here to look at how the UK is giving something to give back in recognition of that. Naturally my visit will look at how the UK, as Nepal’s largest bilateral donor, is supporting efforts to combat poverty. For example, I will be inaugurating a new bridge across the Sabha Khola River, built with UK Aid. This bridge will give 700,000 people the opportunity to trade their products and ensure they are able to access schools and health clinics more easily. This is an excellent example of how the UK-Nepal partnership can reduce poverty. The second reason for my visit is to better understand what is needed to set the whole country on a path to stability and prosperity. When I was last in Nepal in June 2012, Nepal’s political leaders were grappling with the regrettable dissolution of the Constituent Assembly and the subsequent political stalemate. So I am pleased to see signs of progress towards holding elections. Free, fair and credible elections are vital to ensure a much-needed political and constitutional settlement. Without this, it will be difficult to create the foundations for lasting democracy, stability and prosperity. I am sure that Nepal’s political leaders recognize that the country has been too long in limbo. What better way to resolve the situation than to give you—Nepal’s voters—the chance to vote for a government which can support economic growth and greater prosperity. Throughout my stay here, I will encourage all the political leaders I meet to support the Interim Election Council and Election Commission in their challenging task between now and elections. Only the nation’s own leaders can make elections a reality and ensure that they are peaceful, credible and of the highest possible quality. The coming months will be critical and will need everyone from across the political spectrum to work together. In particular it is important that everyone entitled to vote gets the opportunity to do so. The UK, through DFID, plans to provide up to 1.3 billion NPR for the preparation and holding of elections. We also plan to fund domestic, regional and international observers and provide support to civil society organisations and the media to help ensure more women are elected. Nepal set a high standard in 2008, electing one of the most inclusive and diverse assemblies in the world, it should not set its ambition any lower this time. A new constituent assembly with a fresh mandate will be able to complete the important task of drafting a new constitution as foreseen in the Comprehensive Peace Accord. Nepal has achieved much since 2006 and I encourage all of Nepal’s leaders to take the next step to resolve the current constitutional vacuum, by holding free, fair and inclusive elections that will allow the people to deliver a fresh mandate. The author is Minister of State in the Department for International Development, UK http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53818 Children battling autism They may not develop in the normal way. They may not like eye contact, may not even notice movements. They may start speaking much later than normal kids. They may not even interact with other kids, eschewing pretend play altogether. They may not like changes in routine, and can be unusually attached to objects. Parents might be forgiven if they think their child is mentally disabled, but in fact, these children might just be suffering from autism. Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder that affects the development, socializing, and communication of children. On the other hand, parents might also be forgiven if they think their autistic child is just lazy, because these children can be exceptionally intelligent in specific areas. Their IQ can be higher than other children of their age. Autistic people do not process context, which might lead to dangerous behavior like climbing to great heights with no realization of the danger it entails, but it also gives them clarity in processing information where others might be confused by the context. Autistic people have trouble processing pretensions and lies, which often gives them clarity in analyzing emotions and relationships. And when such gifted children go on to school and do not perform well, parents often think they just lack the motivation to do so, when actually autistic children may not respond to normal teaching methods. Though there is no data available for autistic children in Nepal, autism affects roughly 1 in 88 children in the US, leading to assumption that a similar proportion of children in Nepal probably suffers from autism. But there is so little awareness of autism in Nepal that very few of them get the help they deserve. Because it is hard to communicate with autistic children, parents and the society as a whole often neglect them, which hampers their socializing and communication even more. Furthermore, the causes of autism are unknown, and it has no cure, which means that an autistic child lives with his (autism affects more boys than girls) condition his entire life. Autism neither has any known causes, nor cures. It cannot be prevented or healed. But it can certainly be diagnosed. Autism is one of the many areas that the government needs to pay increased attention to. Currently, there are no policies or programs to address autism. Since autism neither has any known causes, nor cure, it cannot be prevented or healed. But it can certainly be diagnosed. The government can initiate awareness programs to help parents recognize autism in their children, teach parents to communicate with their autistic children, and help autistic children realize their full potential. Many autistic individuals are gifted with visual, musical, or intellectual abilities, and many intelligent and talented people with developmental difficulties in childhood like Albert Einstein, Hans Christian Anderson, Amadeus Mozart, Michelangelo, and Emily Dickinson, are thought to be autistic in retrospect. Each child deserves the best from the society so that he/she has a fair chance of reaching such heights in life, and ultimately, society as a whole can benefit from their talents. Until now, private organizations have been fulfilling the niche demand of creating autism awareness and educating autistic children, but the government also needs to open day care centers and schools where autistic children can thrive. After all, autistic children have the potential to do what their normal counterparts are able to, if they are accorded proper care and attention. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53817 FUTURE ECONOMIC POLICIES It is a fact that the South Asian region was much more integrated in the colonial era than in the post colonial age. Political problems as well as inward-focused economic strategies pursued for development contributed to a delinking process leading to a decrease in intra-regional trade from 20 percent of total trade in 1948 to 2 percent in 1967. However, now the tide seems to be moving in a different direction, even though it is too early to predict. Starting from 1990s, the theme of economic liberalization and export orientation has gained prominence in policy making in all South Asian states. There is a new trend of general convergence in economic policies. The role of the state is also being viewed from a different perspective. The “commanding height model” that viewed the state as the principal guide and investor in the economy is giving way to a partnership concept known as the “regulator and facilitator model” where state policies encourage the private sector to take the lead in investments. This has had a dramatic impact in unleashing the suppressed economic potential of India, the largest country in the region. Other South Asian countries are also following the same logic with varying degrees of success. KNOWLEDGEINFUSION.COM The important point is that this new focus on liberalization and private sector participation has encouraged countries to gain from intra and inter regional trade. China and South East Asia are already following this approach with new vigor, and South Asia is gradually, though hesitantly, moving in the same direction. The interstate political dynamics of the region is one reason for this hesitation. The general unwillingness of South Asian countries to form a strategic vision of economic cooperation that allows the gravitational force of the large and dynamic Indian economy to pull all other member states in the path of collective prosperity is another reason. Over the years, South Asian countries have shown great willingness to form institutions for South Asian regional economic cooperation. SAARC is an example. In the last two decades since the inception of SAARC many studies have been undertaken under its auspices to explore opportunities of economic cooperation and trade expansion as well as to take concrete steps in poverty alleviation in member countries. There has been a lot of noise on this front, but in fact, not many concrete steps have been taken. A strictly bilateral approach rather than a regional perspective is the preferred course of action. Nevertheless, over the years intra regional trade in the SAARC region has increased from a low 2 percent to 5 percent, but is still far below the 20 percent achieved before the 1950’s. In the meantime, India has taken new initiatives to promote economic links with East Asia. Neighborhood Economics There are two powerful forces at work in the South Asian region. Viewed from a gravity model perspective developed by economists and geographers, India is the most important country in the region. The size of the country, the dynamism of its economy and the distance factor involved imply that smaller South Asian countries will find the gravitational pull of the Indian economy vital in their quest for prosperity. In fact, this is one important reason to believe that in the years to come, economic logic will become increasingly more powerful in India-Pakistan relationship. This logic could be deemed naïve on the ground that the dispute between the two countries is rooted in many other issues that override economic considerations. This may be true. Nevertheless, economic well being of citizens is crucial in providing legitimacy to any democratic government in the region. On this score, the gravitational pull of Indian economy could be increasingly hard to resist in the future for any democratic regime in Pakistan. In this regard, Pakistan’s journey towards a democracy is a good omen for regional cooperation. The other economy that has the potential to exert a strong gravitational pull in South Asia, especially for the smaller South Asian countries, is China. China’s economy has been on a high growth trajectory for over two decades, and the Chinese do not have to do much to make their presence felt. The growth in their size means that even if the Chinese do not do anything deliberately, they are becoming a factor in all countries around the world, more or less like the US. China’s size, dynamic economy, and the perception of great future potential has a built in advantage, it means that other countries, especially the neighbors, will feel its presence even without deliberate design. This logic gets more compelling when it is realized that the Chinese aim to surpass the US economy in terms of total output in the next twenty years. The growth of Chinese economy has been a factor in the expansion of trade of the South Asian region, and the most important participant in this process has been India. In smaller countries like Nepal, trade with China has expanded rapidly, while at the same time trade deficit is increasing unsustainably. From a practical perspective both China and Nepal must address this issue so that new production units for exports to the Chinese market are set up in Nepal. Even in India, it is clear that Chinese export pattern is causing anxiety and concern. Again, according to the gravity model, it is easy to see that the growing size of the Chinese economy, its increasing focus on investments in provinces bordering South Asian countries, and its massive program to improve transport infrastructure to facilitate trade with neighboring countries means that its gravitational pull is constantly increasing, even if we are to ignore the political dimension. Nepal is bound to feel this pull in the years to come, especially when the railway from Tibet is extended to the Nepali border. Nepali policymakers, even those belonging to ideologiaclly different parties, are almost unanimous about extending the Chinese railway network from Lhasa to the Nepali border with the ultimate objective of opening a new land route for trade between China and India. Expansion of transport infrastructure that includes both rail and road transport in provinces bordering South Asia, including Myanmar, means that cost of transferring goods from China to its neighbors will decrease significantly in the future. For the smaller South Asian countries, China is now definitely emerging as a country with a new and powerful gravitational pull factor. This has implications for all South Asian countries, including of course India. This is where economics interacts with politics. For smaller South Asian countries, the gravitational pull of Indian economy will remain important in future, but it may not be in India’s national interest to take this factor for granted while designing trade policies. This is a perspective that remains unappreciated. China’s size, economy, and future potential means that countries feel its presence even without design on its part. Nepal’s trade deficit with India is increasing in an unsustainable manner. This cannot continue for long. Both countries must implement policies to reduce this yawning trade deficit, focusing on products where Nepal has a comparative advantage. Many Indian and Nepali scholars have suggested that both agricultural and industrial production units could be set up in Nepal with Indian help and facilitation to supply products to northern and north eastern markets in India. Similarly, as India advances in the IT industry, Nepal too has the potential of developing a thriving IT industry of its own, so that regional growth leads to regional prosperity. Time to Change The gravitational pull of Chinese economy and the pattern of its investments to facilitate and encourage trade with neighboring countries has both economic and political implications. Perhaps for both economic and geo-political reasons, it is now time for Indian policymakers to review their bilateral focused mindset with neighboring countries and begin to conceptualize the whole South Asian region as one economic hub linked with South East Asia and China. A strictly bilateral relationship that uses the gravitational pull of the larger Indian economy may not bring about the desired results because the gravitational pull of China in economic terms can no longer be ignored. So, a change in strategy is the need of the hour, and it consists of two major elements. First, it is necessary to view South Asia as one economic region with India taking the lead to promote and encourage regional economic integration and industrialization for collective prosperity. A strictly bilateral thinking will not allow a holistic approach of this nature to take roots. Second, based on new theories of product fragmentation and supply chain in international trade, the private sector, with support from the government, could be encouraged to build new production capacities in all the smaller countries in the region. A two-pronged strategy of this nature could lead to a balanced relationship between India and other South Asian states, and also between East Asia and South Asia. This will be to the economic and political benefit of all the countries in the region, both in South and East Asia, including China, in the years to come. The author is co-chairman of Rastriya Janasakti Party prakash_dr@hotmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53815 CARTELS AND SYNDICATES The idea behind forming a cartel is pretty straightforward. It allows business to charge a higher price than they could if they competed against each other. To consumers it means less return for their money. In other words, poor quality of services for the money paid. As expected, corporations like the idea of coming together to fix prices because it means higher profit to them. But it is bad for the public. It is bad economics, and anti-capitalist. It is to limit cartels that the United States government passed the Sherman Act of 1890 which made it illegal to form a cartel. GOLEGAL.CO.ZA But as companies always try to do, they found a way to game the system. They realized that instead of forming a cartel, they could just merge and fix prices. And when faced with competition, they could temporarily reduce their price to drive out competitors. As the protector of the public’s interest (imperfect, but still the best), the government passed another act—the Clayton Act, in 1914. This act limited using corporate muscle to one’s advantages, and encouraged competition. For example, it prohibited exclusive sales contracts and price cutting to kick out competitors. It also prohibited a director from serving on the directorship of two corporations that are competitors. What was happening prior to the Sherman Act was crony capitalism, and what happed after is proper capitalism. Economists dislike crony capitalism because it stifles competition, and misallocates resources. At the heart of capitalist philosophy is the idea that businesses compete against each other. The idea is that when they compete, they innovate ways to provide higher quality products at lower cost. Policy makers know that very well. To foster such an environment, therefore, the government makes it easier for new business to enter the market, and protects the new entrant from getting bullied by existing competitors. In the presence of a competitive environment, the business that provides the higher bang for the buck survives, the rest leave—they get into other businesses that they are good at. When everyone does what they are good at, the society becomes better off. In the language of economics, this is efficient allocation of capital. The transportation syndicate is an example of a cartel. Bus owners have come together to form an organization that fixes prices and works on behalf of its members. It scares off competitors by threatening to destroy their vehicles and their lives. The syndicate members continue to provide poor services at high prices and make hefty profits. There is nothing wrong with hefty profits. But there is a problem when new businesses are not allowed to make a profit for themselves, the profit of existing transport providers is reduced, and at the same time, no better service is provided to the public. It is wrong because the consumers are forced to pay more for something that would cost less. It is wrong because it stifles innovation to provide better service at lower cost. In the Nepali context, equally interesting is why the government hasn’t done anything to limit the excesses of these cartels. Clearly, busting this mafia will improve the quality of transportation, and reduce the cost of travelling. Since travel costs are a large proportion of the expenses of the poor, it will benefit the poor the most. Yet no politician, including those that champion the interest of the poor, has taken these syndicates to court. Neither has any government come up with new laws to protect the public and new businesses that want to enter the transportation market. Worse still, they do not even oppose these syndicates publicly. Do we not have the legal framework to go after these syndicates? If not, why aren’t we making one? Corporations like coming together to fix prices because it means higher profit to them, but it is bad for the public. In contrast, the government has been very vocal and prompt about what it perceives as problems with private school education. It has come up with regulations that try to fix a problem where none seems to exist. In the private education industry at the school level, there used to be few barrier limits. This has led to a wide range of private schools, catering to a wide range of consumers—the very rich, rich, moderately rich, not-so-rich, and poor. Interestingly, the new rules of the government increase the barriers to entry. In other words, it works in favor of existing big schools, but against budding entrepreneurs who could possibly provide better quality education for less. It’s anybody guess as to what limiting competition will do to private education. Just like in the case of transportation syndicates, most likely the consumers that are going to be hurt the most are the not-so-rich and the poor. Instead of meddling with an industry that has the qualities of a free market, the government should try to meddle with industries that are more concentrated—that is, those industries that are dominated by a few players. The new rules should focus on making it easier for new players to enter and innovate. This will not only provide employment, but also give the public better service for the limited money they have. These are instances where by a stroke of pen, the government can provide better service to the public. 680anand@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53816 In May 1981, Pope John Paul II survived an assassination attempt. Thirty years later, Osama bin Laden was killed by United States Special Forces. But, looking at the world now, one could easily conclude that the inspirational leader whose credo was Franklin Roosevelt’s injunction to fear only “fear itself” has lost, and that the fanatic who wanted fear to dominate the world of the “infidels” has prevailed. Today, fear is ubiquitous, and the bombings at the Boston Marathon must be understood in that context, for the attack both highlights and deepens our pervasive sense of insecurity. The scale of the Boston attack was, of course, much smaller than that of September 11, 2001. But Americans will remember this homegrown plot as a highly symbolic moment: An attack on a venerable international sporting event on Patriots’ Day. The marathon is a cherished event, for it reflects the peaceful values of a democratic society that seeks to transcend its challenges through sheer endurance. Will an attack on such a symbol reinforce the prevalence of fear in an American society that was once defined by hope? Fear of terrorism is only one segment of what might best be described as a multi-level structure of dread. Domestically, there is fear of “spontaneous” massacres like the slaughter in December of schoolchildren in Newtown, Connecticut. Internationally, there is fear of civil wars in the Arab world; of social unrest in crisis-ridden Europe; and of war in Asia resulting from North Korea’s brinkmanship or the irresponsible escalation of territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. And then there are global fears linked to climate change, epidemics, cyber wars, and more. The list seems endless. Revisiting my 2009 book, The Geopolitics of Emotion: How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation, and Hope are reshaping the World, it seems clear that fear has gained the upper hand. Does this mean that a fearful West has prevailed once again? And is fear in the rest of the world a response to the West’s strength, or to its new weakness? Either way, the West has now spread its negative emotions, after having once imposed its mostly materialist values on the rest of the world. It is, of course, too early to say whether this is a sign of deep change, or merely a passing trend, and reality is, no doubt, much less simple. But, to distill the essence of today’s mood, one could say that fear is the direct result of the process of globalization: The world is not necessarily flat, but it definitely feels smaller—and “others” appear more menacing than ever. In the aftermath of World War II, a group of idealistic Frenchmen bent on reconciliation with their former enemy declared that France would have “the Germany she deserved.” That is, German behavior would be a function of how France behaved toward its defeated neighbor. In the same vein, we will have the “other” we deserve. If our behavior is based on fear, we will look with suspicion on all those who are different from us, deepening the alienation of the millions inside and outside our countries who believe that they cannot integrate into even the most open societies. Their response could, in turn, call into question that very openness. Of course, in today’s interdependent and transparent world, no society can protect itself fully. There is no isolation from globalized markets, your neighbors’ identity crises, or the humiliation felt by those you have tried with so much (at times misguided) energy to integrate. The simultaneity of unmanageable uncertainties—the crux of globalization itself—may lure some into seeking to reverse a process that has become inescapable and over which no one has control. Given that all alternatives to globalization are unrealistic, frightening, or both, how can we sublimate, transcend, or at least channel our fears? Can Western societies remain what they are, or at least should be—open, tolerant, and respectful of difference—while responding to demands for greater protection against the multifaceted threats, whether imagined or real, that we face? How we answer these questions will in large part determine whether, in a relentlessly globalizing world, fear has the last word? Moisi is Senior Adviser at IFRI (The French Institute for International Affairs) and a professor at L’Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53764 Gold trade gone awry Like any other international business, in a competitive, functional economy, bullion trade is supposed to follow the common business model: if the international market price goes up, it should rise in all the countries, and vice-versa. The gold traders in Nepal seem to have turned this commonsense market logic on its head. When gold price was soaring in the international market in the wake of the global financial crisis (as people started parking their earnings in the safety of the yellow metal), Nepali bullion traders made bumper profits. But when the international market price started declining a couple of weeks ago (which is believed to have been triggered by rumors of massive gold sellout by the bankrupt Cyprus), instead of trading the metal at reduced prices, Nepali traders shut up their shops. Rather than take the profit-loss cycle as a natural course of any business, Nepali bullion traders apparently want to turn a profit, always. The only way this can be achieved is though devious means. Things seemed to be taking an interesting turn on Friday. Many jewelers called off their ‘indefinite strike’ on the day after government assurance ‘on the formulation of standard regulation on monitoring of jewelry shops’. They had been closed in protest of the government’s surprise inspections. But there is more going on than meets the eye. It was curious that bullion traders agreed to open shops at the precise moment that the international bullion prices seemed to be recovering from their slump. Up until this time, they had been vehemently opposed to the idea of opening up their shops, even as wedding planners desperately needed the precious metal. They had also resisted any government intervention to check their wrongdoing tooth and nail. It was curious that bullion traders agreed to open shops at the precise moment bullion prices were recovering. The kind of underhand tools employed by traders was breathtaking in their brazenness. Many gold traders were tampering with the machines which weigh precious metals. The government report prepared after the surprise inspections suggests bullion traders have been cheating customers by selling adulterated gold. It was thus laughable of the traders to cry wolf at government ‘highhandedness’. In this state of prolonged political vacuum, everybody seems ready to cut corners to get ahead, their scrupulousness relaxed in the perceived climate of lawlessness and impunity. The state is almost non-existent in its lack of response to such unscrupulous acts. We believe this is a terrible lapse of the state’s responsibility towards its citizens. Transition or not, there can be no justification not to check illegal practices that inconvenience common people. But these practices continue everywhere. There is adulteration in every kind of food, from the tomato sauce served in posh restaurants to the vegetables sold in flea market. Our public vehicles make no attempt to add to passenger comfort and safety. All they seem to be interested in is profit maximization. Vital reforms are resisted across the board. A hallmark of a democracy is its ability to protect the vital interests of its citizens. In this, Nepal seems to be failing miserably. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53763 Kathmanduites can from time to time enjoy unpolluted air when political parties call for a Nepal banda. In little more than a month, the 33 agitating political parties, a majority of them little known to people, have enforced nationwide shutdown twice against the agreement of the Big Four to install an election government under Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi. The unpolluted air comes at a high price. Strikes make it impossible for the sick to get to hospital. Businesses close, wage earners lose their bread and butter, students miss their classes, and people cannot buy daily supplies, such as milk for their children. Everyone suffers. During the latest strike called by the 33 parties, I went for a walk. I could see both the joy and pain in the faces of the people on the street. In a momentary relief from traffic and pollution, people were happily walking in the middle of the road and children were enjoying football and cricket. But those who ventured out on motorbikes were facing a visible nightmare. REPUBLICA In one incident, I spotted two motorbikes at a distance. A group of eight to ten protestors was marching near a crossroads. As soon as the protesters saw the motorbikes defying their call of strike, they ran to threaten the motorbike riders. Although the police personnel at the scene outnumbered the protestors, they simply chose to watch on as spectators. They did not try to protect the bike riders. Nor did they prevent the protestors from shutting down shops, vandalizing those that refused to, or take any action against those stopping traffic and torching vehicles that defied the strike. Further down, I met three senior lawyers who were on their way to a meeting. We talked about recurring strikes and their negative effect on people, public services and the economy as a whole. I asked whether the forceful imposition of nationwide strikes should be considered a violation of human rights. All three agreed it was and were of the view that the government should take action against the few protestors in order to protect the human rights of the majority. Human rights include not only the freedom of expression and belief but also freedom of travel without harassment and threat and freedom from fear and want. The use of force to close shops, ban vehicles from the roads, and harass people who defy banda is also a violation of basic human rights. Strikes and protests have become a common phenomenon in Nepali politics. Even as few as 10 to 15 persons can create havoc in a neighborhood and greatly inconvenience the people, while 50 to 70 police personnel at the scene look on, not doing anything to stop the senseless disruption in people’s lives and destruction of people’s property. Why were the police deployed if they were not supposed to protect shops, vehicles and people and drive away hooligans who were taking the law into their own hands? In a democracy, people enjoy freedom of speech and assembly, but not at the cost of other’s rights and freedoms. While trying to safeguard one’s rights the protesters shouldn’t encroach into other’s rights and freedoms. According to the Home Ministry, two buses, two trucks, three jeeps and five motorbikes were vandalized during the banda I discussed above. None of the hooligans has been brought to justice for this. If the state does not do anything to prevent wanton strikes, disruption of people’s lives and trampling of human rights, then citizens need to take action. When the Maoists had called for an indefinite strike on May Day in 2010 and paralyzed the country, civil society and ordinary people had spontaneously come out on the street opposing Maoist excesses, something the Maoist leaders had never expected. This had forced Maoist chairman Prachanda to withdraw the nationwide strike, though he had warned that the opposition to the Maoist strike was a war by the ‘clean’ against the ‘dirty’ and that the dirty would retaliate against the ‘clean’ when the time comes. Hardships for people apart, the economy loses billions of rupees every day of a strike. For example, the nationwide strike called by trade unions in India in February 2013 in response to the violence in Noida (New Delhi’s suburb) is estimated to have cost India nearly Rs. 26 billion in two days. Similarly, in July 2010, Bharat Banda called by the opposition against a hike in fuel price cost the economy around Rs. 130 billion. In Nepal, a single day of nationwide banda costs the economy almost Rs.2 billion, of which the industrial sector alone loses nearly Rs.346 million. A poor country like Nepal cannot afford such colossal losses every few days. In view of this, political parties should abandon bandas as a means of protest. They can have peaceful rallies and protests in which people voluntarily participate, but closing shops, stopping vehicles and vandalizing property of those who do not agree with their protest should be a definite no-no. If the political parties fail to act responsibly, it is up to the government to protect people and their property and preserve their basic human rights. If we closely watch these political protests, one can see that the majority of participants are unemployed youths not associated with any political party. Some of them are even available for hire. Thus one of the solutions to the problem of wanton bandas could be creating more employment opportunities for the youth. If they had jobs, they would not hit the street at the call of every Tom, Dick and Harry. Why are the police deployed if they cannot protect people and drive away hooligans taking law into their own hands? As we know, the Arab Spring that brought down powerful and entrenched governments in several countries, including Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya, was sparked by the slapping of an unemployed youth in Tunis by a policewoman. Although the Arab Revolt brought down autocratic governments in those countries, continuing protests cripple them even today. Likewise, in Nepal, the People’s Movement in 2006 abolished the monarchy, but continuing protests continue to plague the country. Wanton bandas are only one part of the story, however. Some political parties and their sister organizations routinely engage in extortion from individuals, business houses, banks, schools and hospitals. They threaten with dire consequences if their demands are not met. If someone refuses to pay, they meet with dire consequences. They are beaten up; their property is vandalized; their land confiscated by these parties and sister organizations. Such activities, together with frequent labor unrests and recurring strikes have discouraged local and foreign investors and slowed growth. Investors want profit, not political charity, and such a discouraging investment environment will only hold the country back. If we want our country to progress we must be able to end such extortions, labor unrests and recurring strikes. In Western democracies, protestors give prior information to local government about their planned protests and local government assigns a certain place and provides security. This arrangement protects the right of protestors to protest and the right of other people not to be disturbed. The participation in protests is entirely voluntary, not imposed using threat or violence. Those who violate others’ rights to exercise their own rights are brought to justice. Something similar is essential in Nepal in order to protect the rights of common people and to boost investment and economic progress. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53762 MEDITATION FOR STRESS RELIEF People of our era are busy in their respective jobs, and all the hustle and bustle of daily life. We can hardly even manage time to care for our mental and physical health. Without good health, all our earning is useless, and without a proper combination of body and mind, our life will be miserable. But good health depends on our actions, the genuine software which we install in our mind decides the performance of our hardware. Desire is the doorway to success, but some desires end in achievements, and some do not. Those unfulfilled desires then turn into frustration, anxiety, insomnia, blood pressure, and crime, which are all interwoven. Many people seek drugs as a solution to these problems, hoping for quick recovery, but it does not give a lasting solution. In fact, the solution is within us. Instead of medication, we need to choose meditation! ONLINEMBA.COM But then, what is meditation? It is a mental discipline, mindfulness, non-judgmental awareness, and an exploration of the inner potential of self. It is about mastering our mind, while a drug enslaves the mind. Many people are of the impression that chanting mantras like “Om” repeatedly, focusing on breathing techniques, or concentrating on a statue of a god is meditation, but it is not so. In fact, meditation is an ancient oriental art, it is neither an act that can be performed, nor an object to concentrate on. Such objects could be tools for beginners of meditation. There is quite a lot of difference between concentration and meditation. True meditation is watchfulness and complete awareness. Each individual is unique, the seed of Bodhisattva is within us, and it is up to us whether we nurture it into a full-fledged tree, or let it shrivel like a useless weed. Meditation is becoming a new-age fashion. However, it should be taken as a rediscovery of the ancient wisdom of oriental masters. Meditation has been given importance by many religions. The meditative state of mind is declared to be the highest state in which the mind exists by yogis. Methods of meditation have been cross-culturally disseminated at various times throughout history. There are different types of meditations which can be practiced, and people of all body type and sizes, gender, age, ethnicity and sexuality can benefit from them. Meditation can facilitate a greater harmony between the mind, body and spirit. Those who regularly practice meditation harvest many physiological, psychological and spiritual benefits from it. Mediation is the only way to master our mind, it is the only tool to control our horse-like mind that prances where it wills. But still, frustrated people who need it most pass over the idea of meditation. They seek quick recovery through tobacco, cigarettes or alcohol, and may even graduate to more expensive (and more addictive) drugs like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD, ecstasy, opium, marijuana, and Psilocybin Mushrooms, Phencyclidine etc. Such drugs have an immediate effect on the mind and body, so the users feel a kind of immediate relief, but in fact, it is not a solution to their problems. Since 1960s, meditation has been the focus of increasing scientific research of uneven rigor and quality. Many research studies have been published on the various methods of meditation which can influence a person’s metabolism, blood pressure, brain activities, and other bodily processes. Some Western medical practitioners use meditation for counseling and psychotherapy, while relaxation techniques are used for achieving mental and muscle relaxation to reduce daily stress and strain. Eastern meditation traditions and psychedelic drugs became very popular in America, and it was suggested that LSD use and meditation were both means to the same spiritual goal. Many practitioners of eastern tradition rejected the idea, including many who had tried LSD themselves. Aldous Huxley, English novelist and critic interested in Hindu philosophy, best known for his dystopian novel Brave New World (1931) was a user of LSD. In 1954 Huxley published a book The Doors of Perception, which made him a popular guru among Californian hippies. In contrast, writer Robert S De Ropp says, “LSD is the door to full consciousness, but it does not help to pass beyond the door”. Robert himself used LSD, and confessed through his book In The Master Game that LSD can give a glimpse of consciousness, but it ultimately fails to give consciousness. There are many differences between concentration and meditation. True meditation is watchfulness and awareness. Our mind does two things: thinking and acting. Thinking is like accelerating a vehicle in neutral gear, and acting is like accelerating the vehicle on top gear. If we accelerate the vehicle and increase the gear, the vehicle moves, and in contrast, when we do not increase the gear but continue to accelerate, the vehicle just makes noise. For the vehicle to move, there must be a proper combination of gear and accelerator. The noisy vehicle can be compared to a frustrated and disturbed mind which has plans but no action. This state of mind is not trustworthy. The mind is like a horse without control. Sometimes we may make a plan to wake up at 5 o’clock in the morning, but fail to do so, missing a plan we make consciously. Many times we make resolutions to stop doing one thing or to start doing another, but most of our resolutions go in vain. Our mind makes plans, and the very mind persuades us to postpone the plan for next day. Can we trust our own mind? There is always a gap between thoughts and action. If we can act according to our thoughts, then there will be no frustration. But that is not always possible, and that is when the mind does not know what to do. Frustrated minds are always seeking some relief which leads to drugs addiction, which is sometimes fuelled by wrong companionship and up-bringing. Once the drug is in, it is hard to get it out. Those who are addicted to drugs are regarded as a burden by their family, society, and the entire nation. The rich arts of meditation and yoga, which can provide lasting solutions to frustrated minds, are in shadow. We should appreciate the efforts of those who do their best to make people aware of the benefits of healthy food habits, meditation, yoga and sport. It is never too late to start. Once we know the hidden secrets of meditation, we will be able to distinguish between drugs and meditation. Meditation and yoga are the ultimate tools for a healthy and harmonious living. Let us install genuine software like meditation in our minds, and maintain the hardware part with regular exercise for a progressive, prosperous, peaceful, and healthy nation. The author is a sociologist girithejorba@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53761 DAURA SURUWAL The age-old status of mayalposh-suruwal as Nepal’s official outfit has fallen victim to the political tug-of war between Maoists and other major political parties. Pushpa Kamal Dahal was the first Nepali Prime Minister to take the oath of office wearing a suit. Baburam Bhattarai insisted on following Dahal (whom he has described as “leader of leaders”) and was never seen in a mayalposh-suruwal as Prime Minister. The President of the country continues to wear mayalposh-suruwal, as did all non-Maoist Prime Ministers, including the well known Nepali revolutionary and intellectual BP Koirala. A recent photo of the suit-clad then Prime Minister Bhattarai watching senior Nepali bureaucrats in gleaming white mayalposh-suruwals during Nepal’s Democracy Day celebrations looked like a scene from shadow boxing between the suited-up Prime Minister and the defiant bureaucrats. Since Khil Raj Regmi’s ascent to power the shadow boxing has ceased, as his cabinet has brought mayalposh-suruwal back into official vogue. What is behind the Maoists’ rejection of the mayalposh-suruwal that has symbolized Nepali identity at home and abroad for over 150 years? NARESH KOIRALA Louis Edward, author of Politics of Dress in Asia and the Americas and Professor at School of Modern Languages and Cultures in Hong Kong University, says politicians in Asia and Latin America invoke “dress as a symbol of their vision for their ‘nation’ and a way of identifying themselves with their people. Gandhi experimented with many Indian dresses in search of one that would most represent the ‘Indian’ by obscuring caste and regional differences”. In Indonesia, Sukarno came up with Safari Suit and the black peci cap; Marcos of the Philippines modified the traditional Barong Tagalog, and Mao Zedong designed and made Mao suit famous in China. Unlike our Maoist leaders, they all had the creativity to modify their national outfit and don a new piece of fashion that to them was equalizing, and was affordable by their countrymen. Most Nepalis cannot afford to wear a western jacket and do not know how to tie a tie. No dress could be more distant from rural Nepali people than a suit and a tie. There is no ethnic group in Nepal which has ever identified itself with Western Suit–not the peasants, not the factory workers—none. True, young Nepali men increasingly wear a shirt and western trousers as an informal working dress on a daily basis; but the outfit that unequivocally and at a glance tells the world and other Nepalis of their identity is the mayalposh-suruwal. That is why, during family festivities and in formal functions, Nepalis assert their identity by wearing mayalposh–suruwal. A few years ago, in a public demonstration in Hong Kong demanding parity of employment status between the Nepalis and the locals, regardless of their ethnicity, Nepalis wore mayalposh-suruwal. The Gorkhaland protesters wore mayalposh-suruwal to assert their Nepaliness and distinguish themselves from Indians. Non-Resident Nepalis wear mayalposh-suruwal when guests are asked to wear their national dress. Dhiraj Kumar Sah, a madeshi, posted in the website of the Worldwide Nepalese Student’s Organization (WNSO): “I am proud of the fact that among all the populations of the world, my country’s national dress identifies me as a Nepali.” By rejecting mayalposh-suruwal, instead of getting closer to people, the Maoists have distanced themselves from Nepali identity and culture. This is particularly ironic for a party that has built itself on a claim of unity with the poor and the deprived.So what could be other reasons for the Maoist push for the Western style suit? The Maoists gutted the library in the Sanskrit University, destroyed Prithvi Narayan Shah’s statue, tried to change Nepal’s National flag and stymie the centuries old Indra Jatra festival by withdrawing government support. The rejection of mayalposh-suruwal may be a continuation of their agenda to do away with everything with feudal vestiges. If one follows this logic, Nepal itself should be destroyed. It was stitched together by an allegedly brutal feudal lord called Prithvi Narayan Shah. The suit isn’t devoid of symbolism, it has a symbolism all its own, which is one of Western sense of beauty, formality and class—“modernity”. The government of Bangladesh, prior to the ascent of Sheik Hasina, tried to present an aura of modernity by requiring their civil servants to wear suits to work. Sheik Hasina revoked the fiat and a Bangladeshi columnist Maswood Alam Khan said: “Wearing suits and stuffing our necks with a tie, in spite of ourselves, is a sartorial fashion we have borrowed from the British who were our colonial rulers. Our ancestors enjoyed punishing themselves by mimicking the British style and fashion, which was seen as synonymous with being chic and modern. They wanted in vain to be ‘brown sahibs’!” Are Nepal’s Maoists the new brown sahibs? For a political party that gets its lifeblood by condemning “imperialists” and “colonialists”, and shouting about Nepali nationalism until every one is deaf, mimicking an imperialist dress seems contrary, and devoid of any cultural or historical attachment. If the mayalposh-suruwal does not represent Nepal’s ethnic diversity, alternating it with bhoto-suruwal and kurta-dhoti would work. But a Western suit? What meaning could it possibly have in Nepal except to connect it vaguely with elitism and Western hegemony? The author is a geotechnical engineer and member of NRN Canada naresh1@shaw.ca http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53643 Loktantra Day message On the seventh Loktantra diwas, the country’s mood was somber. Seven years ago it appeared that the changes set in motion by Jana Andolan II would swiftly usher in an era of transformation that Nepali people had patiently waited for—for over 60 years! That prospect of establishment of a New Nepal appeared even brighter with the successful holding of the Constituent Assembly polls in 2008, against great odds. But people’s hopes were dashed when the popularly elected body failed to deliver on its promise, due mainly to unbridgeable differences over the issue of federalism, the central plank of a new constitution. This is the reason seven years down the line, the country remains at a difficult crossroads, with the national polity divided right down the middle. The issue of federalism remains intractable as ever, and no new date for election of a new Constituent Assembly has been announced one and a half months since the formation of the election government under sitting Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi. But there is hope yet. This is not a utopian hope that everything will be picture perfect for the country hereon in. There are big obstacles ahead, no doubt. The differences between the political parties in the ruling coalition and the opposition that have been hindering the announcement of a new poll date appears no closer to a resolution, and it is becoming clear that holding free and fair CA polls will not be an easy task in this divisive atmosphere. And even if the polls go ahead without a hitch, coming up with a viable constitution through the new body, which again is likely to be divided along partisan lines, will be extremely difficult. The proposed provision in the election-related ordinance that the Constituent Assembly proper will remain in place for five years adds to people’s suspicion: if the political parties really believed they could come up with a constitution through the CA mechanism, why couldn’t they agree on a shorter tenure of the new CA, say a year, while the parliament was allowed to complete its full five-year term? Despite these hurdles, our hope is based on the fact that there really is no alternative for the political parties other than to elect a new CA and give people the long-delayed constitution through it. The political parties understand very well that if they fail to deliver on their promise yet again, their very relevance will be questioned, doing irreparable damage to the country’s long march to an uninterrupted democratic order. It would also give anti-democratic elements in the society a new lease of life. We are also confident that despite their pre-poll posturing, which seems to be fanning divisive tendencies, the political parties have learned valuable lessons from the last (failed) constitutional exercise and will engage with one another in an atmosphere conducive to meaningful compromise. Although any map of the federal democratic republic of Nepal will be complex in the end, given the political will there is no reason a compromise document cannot be worked out. A document which could signal the true beginnings of a New Nepal. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53642 EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS It’s been over a month since the last much talked about, much dreaded, SLC examination ended. As we know, this examination is held nationwide every year at the end of secondary education. Everyone who wishes to study 10+2 (Grade 11 and 12) and go on to university must pass this examination. This year, some 547,000 youngsters took SLC. If this year’s result, expected sometime in June, follows the trend set last year, only 47 percent of the candidates are going to pass this examination and almost 290,000 boys and girls (53 percent) are not going to make it. Those who pass SLC are mostly from private schools – they pass thanks to their good schooling and their advantaged family background. In the past ten years, the success rate of students from private schools in SLC examination has been around 90 percent. Those who perform poorly are usually from public or government schools where the success rate in SLC has been between 30 to 50 percent. CCS.K12.IN.US This would not have been a great problem had it not been for the fact that over 80 percent of students in Nepal go to public schools. Those 80 percent mostly belong to socially and economically disadvantaged households. They live in shanty towns and small villages, and either belong to ethnic communities, or linguistic minorities, or both. Many of them are far superior and much smarter than children who go to private schools, but do not do as well because of number of reasons. Apart from the poor family background they come from, the primary reason for their failure in SLC is the schools they go to, which are impoverished, with government funding barely covering the salaries of the teachers. Teacher absenteeism is high, and courses are never completed on time. Homework is hardly checked, and remedial support for struggling students is nonexistent. The schools are not supervised, and teachers rarely receive any professional support. In 1971, when the government decided to take over the management and financing of all erstwhile community supported schools, it did not foresee the magnitude of its financial commitment. With the population growth rate of 2.2 to 2.66 percent from 1970s to early 90s, student population increased by several folds, and with it, the number of schools. Government funding was being spread too thinly over many schools. The government with its weak machinery soon discovered that it was too difficult to supervise and manage all schools in the country. Realizing that the education system had grown too unwieldy, the state started to handover the management of schools to communities. Through the Seventh Amendment to the Education Act 2001, the state also opened the door for private sector to operate for-profit schools. Since then, thousands of private schools have opened up. We now have over 6,000 private schools educating almost 20 percent of students. This compares very interestingly with figures from some developed countries. According to 2009 Program for International Student Assessment Report by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 10 percent of students in the US, seven percent in Canada, 6 percent in UK, New Zealand, and Switzerland, 2 percent in Singapore, and 1 percent in Norway attend private schools. In any case, private sector involvement helped ease the government’s financing problem to some extent. Private schools have also demonstrated that they deliver educational services better than public schools. Encouraged by the government’s unwillingness to open new schools despite the rising demand, and perhaps enthused by the international neo-liberal agenda advocating a reduced role for the state, private schools proliferated. A 2005 study carried out for the Ministry of Education states “…there is hardly any teaching-learning in many rural secondary schools. It is not just about the lack of physical, instructional, and human resources. Even when resources were available, there was no teaching and learning.” There is every indication that people are losing faith in public education system, and a mass exodus is taking place from public to private schools. Public schools have now become a refuge for the children of poor and disadvantaged families. It is exactly for this reason the failure of public schools is of very little concern to people like us. Dissatisfied with public schools’ inability to prepare their children for higher education and subsequently for job in the globalized economy, the elites had quite some time ago started looking for other options, at home and abroad. The Seventh Amendment 2001 just paved the way for private providers to respond to such demands. Schools in Nepal, for all practical purposes, now seem to operate under a dual system—one for the rich and the other for the poor. One breeds more success than failure, and the other, more failure than success. It is true that the courses of study for both types of schools are same, and students from both sit for the same SLC. The system thus has the semblance of two types of schools operating under one system. The reality, however, is different. The widening gap between these two types of schools is frightening, since it is creating stratification in an already over stratified Nepali society and undermining our social cohesion. It categorizes students into “social classes” according to their socio-economic backgrounds and then provides them with unequal educational opportunities leading to very unequal benefits. I hope I am not off the mark when I say that education in new Nepal has failed to be “a great equalizer of the conditions of men” as American education reformer Horace Mann said as early as 1848. Our education system instead seems to live up to the claim made by cultural and economic reproduction theorists Prof Samuel Bowles and Prof Michael Apple that “education simply perpetuates the existing class structure and it never helps inter-class mobility.” I am sure we all agree that education ought to be about lifting up, not weeding out. Without a good and strong public education system, those who are born without money and power will never have a chance to make their lives better by developing new knowledge and skills. Our public schools just need more resources and much more attention to help close the gap between children who have a head start and those who don’t. But where do we start? Radicals of the Left, who hold private schools responsible for the deterioration in public education, believe we need to do away with all private schools so that public schools can receive the attention they deserve. This will also purportedly put an end to excessive commercialization of schools and commoditization of education. The widening gap between public and private schools creates social stratification and undermines our cohesion. Radicals of the Right will want to promote more private involvement in education, and have the government arrange for voucher system which will allow even the poor to attend private schools. They argue that voucher plans will pressurize public schools to do better because if they do not, they will lose kids to private schools. There is a third view, to which I subscribe, which is neither excessively pessimistic about the state, nor excessively optimistic about the market. Proponents of this view believe there is no alternative to strengthening public education. They contend that state withdrawal from its commitment to public education is tantamount to, to use Prof Henry Giroux’s words “a retreat from democracy”. They believe public education serves as an apprenticeship for civic life and helps build a more cohesive society, something which a newly emerged democratic country like Nepal cannot ignore. They say “yea” to limited no-profit privatization, but “nay” to commercialization in education. Inspired by John Dewey’s idealistic assertion, they believe education should “take part in correcting unfair privilege and unfair deprivation, not perpetuate them.” Although I am far from happy with the present state of education in our country, I am far from pessimistic about its future. The famous Welsh academic, critic and novelist Raymond William was wise to say that hope is one of our most valuable resources. Our hope is our young people–those of whom have committed to dedicate two years of their life to serving rural schools. It is these people, and thousands others who will follow them, that will inspire us–parents, policymakers, politicians, and people in general, to act to sustain education as a public trust for future generations, and make it live up to the ideals propounded by reformer like Horace Mann and philosophers like John Dewey. kemathema@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53641 LAND REFORM “Drafting Agriculture Development Strategy is in the final stage.” In this face book status posted anonymously, an official at the National Planning Commission commented: “Congratulations! Another report will be added to the cupboard of the Planning Commission.” Though this is just an example, it illustrates the Nepali habit of making policies in haste and shelving them later. A 20 year long-term Agriculture Development Strategy, prepared under the guidance of John Miller, has failed, and the nation is going to receive another agriculture development strategy prepared under foreign leadership. Land use is mentioned in this strategy, but land ownership is completely bypassed. Agricultural development cannot be possible unless the current inequitable land ownership policy is adjusted. To transform Nepali society with its predominantly agriculture-based population, it is imperative to improve land and agriculture policies. SOUTHASIAREV.WORDPRESS.COM During the 1960s, Nepal had the highest agricultural productivity in South Asia. But in the early 90s, its productivity dipped. The reason has to do with policymakers’ oversight of the fact that growth of agricultural production depends on the relationship between ownership and production system. Land ownership is a major factor in determining productivity, and thus becomes a major concern for agricultural development as well. Equitable distribution and proper use of land are parts of agricultural development. Land and agricultural development have common goals: to increase productivity, creating a safe working environment for low-scale and landless farmers who are the most prolific farmers. Analyzing agricultural development and land reform separately is inadequate in trying to develop a holistic policy. Agricultural development and land reform should be analyzed in relation to the entire socio-economy of a country. The main problem in agriculture today is that most farmers who are dependent on farming do not own the land they farm on. Those who have enough land don’t work in the field, but take a large amount of the production, leaving a tiny portion for the workers. A large amount of cultivable land is being captured by such elites. But farmers who have been working in the field for generations either don’t own land or are limited to a tiny portion of cultivable land. A study (Community Self Reliance Centre 2009, Land Tenure and Land Ownership in Nepal) has shown that 34 percent of agricultural land has not been registered. How can farmers maintain their enthusiasm to work when the land they own is not legally theirs? The study has also shown that 22.7 percent of farmers who are fully dependent on agriculture for their livelihood are landless. Some of them work on others’ farms, and the rest are obliged laborer as ploughmen and herdsmen. A large number of farmers are still fighting for their tenant rights. They are compelled to spend their time collecting funds to fight for their rights instead of working in the fields. On the other hand, tenants, who have no legal documents, are being victimized. As a result, neither the tenants nor land owners are ready to make any long term investment in farming. Even minor issues like setting a boring pump up in the field are debated. In such a scenario, how can we expect sustainable growth in agricultural production? This paradoxical ownership situation has caused exploitation of farmers and agricultural laborers. The end of unjust land ownership is always at the centre of land reform debates. It is essential to introduce a new module of land and agricultural reforms in order to democratize land ownership and increase production in rural areas. When landless farmers obtain land, they will produce for themselves rather than for submitting to landowners. That will motivate them to be more dedicated to farming and increase investment. The above mentioned study has shown that 90 percent of women farmers, who should be provided land ownership rights because they are currently working as daily wage laborers, do not have any such rights. Despite this, the current strategy under development does not seem to take women into account as anything more than laborers. Using cultivable land for non-agricultural purposes has become as serious an issue as redistribution of land itself. Towns have been built on fertile land as well as on river banks. Industries are established on cultivable land, from where they will have easy access to markets. This has created a series of negative effects on towns and both cultivable and public land. This situation cannot be improved unless there is a prohibition on keeping land barren for no reason. When we are able to provide land to the landless, secure their tenancy rights and protect cultivable land, only then will agricultural development be possible. deujaj@csrcnepal.org http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53598 The epidemic of bird flu Viruses that transmit through birds, especially chicken, were first found to be lethal for human beings in 1997, when a strain of bird flu called H5N1 was discovered in Hong Kong. And now, China is in the news again for a possibly new strain of virus. This strain, called H7N9, has already infected more than 105 people, and 21 have lost their lives to this epidemic. Though the current strain of bird flu in China was not detected until last month, it has already claimed more lives than the previous strains did in entire decade in China. Infection of people who have not come into contact with chicken, and infections of a cluster of people together—husband and wife, brother and sister—has led to speculation that the virus may be able to transmit from one person to another. Combined with the fact that this strain of the virus is proving more difficult to detect than earlier ones, H7N9 threatens to be far more deadly than previously known bird flu. There should be no doubt: bird flu is dangerous and deadly. It spreads easily, it has had a 53 percent mortality rate in the people it is known to have infected, and once it spreads, it spares none. In this context, it is very important that poultry farmers and businesspersons act responsibly and take effective measures to prevent this from spreading further. For example, when bird flu was earlier discovered approximately a month ago in Bharatpur and barely a week ago in Chitwan, a large number of poultry were culled, and tons of feed destroyed at significant loss to the poultry farmers. Poultry farmers and government authorities need to be appreciated for acting to protect public health despite the huge personal losses it must have incurred. In contrast, bird flu was also recently discovered again in Jhapa, but the farmers were found to have dumped the chicken in Aduwa River instead of informing the concerned authority. Veterinarians’ test showed that all of these birds were infected. The officers even confirmed that sometimes locals have been found to be selling infected birds. Research tells us that close proximity to live birds infects humans even more easily than contact with dead birds. Businesspersons who continue to live in close proximity to these birds hoping to sell them soon are endangering their own lives. They are being irresponsible not just towards the society, but also towards themselves and their close ones. They may overlook this danger at the cost of their own health risks. When chickens start dying suddenly, poultry farmers should bring them to the notice of authorities. Because an outbreak of bird flu inflicts huge losses on poultry farmers, who must destroy all their stock, the government has been providing compensation to farmers so afflicted. Animal Health Directorate has distributed Rs. 10 million to poultry farmers over the last four years. This praiseworthy step by the government should provide the necessary incentive for poultry farmers to act conscientiously for the sake of public health. When chickens start dying suddenly of mysterious causes, poultry farmers should consider it their duty to bring them to the notice of authorities instead of dumping their stock anonymously. It goes without saying that infected birds must not be sold at any cost, and officials at borders and checkpoints must be especially vigilant for signs of bird flu among imported chickens. It is imperative that all possible measures be taken to halt the spread of bird flu before it infects more and more humans. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53597 MEDIA & CA-II As we head towards the birth pangs of the second Constituent Assembly polls, hopefully due in November, Nepal’s news media are accorded with yet another opportunity to brave criticism, valid or not, and at the same time to demonstrate courage and professionalism in covering the historic elections. Too often, election monitoring by observers, support by donors, or coverage of polls by the news media is characterized by a short attention span. It is only during the official campaign season lasting a few weeks that many of these actors enter the arena, trying to appear businesslike. Already, the “free and fair” formula, trumpeting the seemingly impending polls, echoes across news channels. This phrase over the years has become so clichéd that it actually stirs up allergic reactions toward the very idea of freedom and fairness. Yet a keen reading of this principle is indispensable now that we are besieged by its sounds. MEDI BELORTAJA/TOONPOOL In their essay, “What makes elections free and fair?” (The Global Divergence of Democracies, 2001) Jergen Elklit & Palle Svensson explain that elections are free, if before polling day there is freedom of movement, speech, assembly, and association, freedom from fear, equal and universal suffrage, and if on polling day there is opportunity to participate in the election. Elections are also “free” if there are legal possibilities of complaint after the polling day. Likewise, elections are “fair” if before polling day there is a transparent electoral process, an election act and an electoral system that grant no special privilege to any political parties or social group; presence of an inclusive electoral register; an independent, impartial election commission; impartial treatment of candidates by police, the army, and the courts of law; equal opportunities for political parties and independent candidates to contest elections; impartial voter education programs; an orderly election campaign (observance of a code of conduct); equal access to publicly controlled media; and no misuse of government facilities for campaign purposes. Elections are “fair” if on polling day there is access to all polling stations for representatives of the political parties, accredited observers, and the media; secrecy of the ballot; absence of intimidation of voters; effective and proper design of ballot papers; impartial assistance to voters; proper counting procedures and measures for transporting election materials; and impartial protection of polling stations. Also, elections are “fair” if after polling day, there is official and expeditious announcement of election results, impartial treatment of any election complaints, impartial reports on the elections results by the media, and acceptance of the election results by everyone involved. Measured against these yardsticks, we can clearly see that our pre-election conditions in some respects are not that impressive. Security is a key issue. Some fringe political parties have declared they will boycott the polls. They have obstructed voter registration and vandalized some electoral offices. There is also the fear that many voters might be left out while others might be double-registered illegally. Fairness is also somewhat in doubt. Questions regarding the electoral process persist, and there is a fear that major parties are trying to secure some special privileges. Approval of poll ordinance remains pending because of disagreements among political parties over a proposed eligibility threshold for proportional seats and the criteria banning candidates with criminal background from contesting the polls. Many voters in remote areas are beyond the reach of officials or mass media, making impartiality in voters’ education difficult. A horse-race voting cannot help determine the real quality of a representative system. In a true democracy the tenacity of public spirit helps sustain their democratic ambitions. A self-governing people not merely vote for a candidate in a periodic election, but also show their preferences on a continual basis. And to make any such well-informed decisions in today’s increasingly mediated environment, they rely largely on the media. The media also often turn into battlegrounds for political spin or manipulation by candidates or political parties. Thus during the election process, there is the need for an independent and impartial media monitoring mechanism that keeps a tab on the practice of “free & fair”, and an accurate reporting of the polls. More important, quality of coverage is measured in terms of media’s willingness and ability to serve as “voters’ voice” rather than in terms of their traditional obsession with political speeches. It is noteworthy here that the CA election of 2008 was subjected to a comprehensive 45-day media monitoring program undertaken by Press Council Nepal (PCN) and supported by the international community. As the director of that program I had the opportunity to oversee the monitoring process and to analyze media coverage of the polls. Campaign 2008, a public report on that program, is a compilation of massive data. Although some sections of the media appeared partisan and violated the election code of conduct, coverage was generally restrained and supportive of the election process. Incidents of political obstruction of the news process and cases of self-censorship were reported sporadically. Coverage on inclusion issue was scanty and news reports were largely focused on political sound bites. Starting with the pre-campaign period offers a natural orientation. Skim-reading stories with election-related headlines in two of the nation’s leading Nepali language newspapers between March 15 and April 15 confirms earlier trends: the coverage is largely speech-focused, process-oriented and conflict-centered. Half of the 114,000-word cumulative content came from Kantipur. It carried 96 news stories, and 21 opinion pieces, editorials or interviews, etc. on elections. Likewise, Nagarik had 89 news stories, and 20 opinion-related materials. A majority of stories are built solely on utterances by Khil Raj Regmi, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and fringe party leaders protesting the elections. Other articles refer to uncertainty about the election date, poll ordinance issues, obstruction of voters’ registration, etc. Lacking unified and consistent voices on election plans, the overall effect is disorienting. One bright spot is a creative approach to voters-voice reporting in both newspapers. During this period, Kantipur carried at least five news reports (Janamat, meaning “public opinion”) with quotes from civil society members from around the country. The blurb from Durlabh Singh Jhukal of Dadeldhura sums up the predominant local sentiment: Politics should have been taken care of by politicians themselves. However, we must do our part to make the elections a success. Stories with election-related headlines confirm trends. The coverage is speech-focused, and process-oriented. Similarly, Nagarik carried several short reaction stories giving voice to the rural public, including a conflict victim from Tanahu, an elderly man from Chitwan, farmers from Sindhupalchowk, and a Kusunda community from Dang. Singha Ram Chepang of Lothar VDC, Chitwan walked to the voters’ registration outpost hoping to claim an old-age allowance for himself. The rural voters see the election as a way to better their livelihood than anything else. For example, people from Ramite Khola VDC, Morang are deliberating on ways to make “development” their agenda for the upcoming elections. Of course, a voter’s approach to media in election can be costly, time-consuming and arduous. But it is the right thing to do in a representative system, and it is also enterprising, innovative, and rewarding in the long run. There could be more investment in better technologies, but they often lack a long-term perspective. Technology evolves fast, and the hardware donated to PCN in 2008 worth millions of rupees is already primitive and useless. Monitoring technologies that support natural language processing, speech recognition, machine generated translation, multimedia indexing, and retrieval should be acquired in this age of big data research. Nepali media may be free and fervent today, but they are far from being sufficient professionally, or fair. Before they are assessed for their works, they need support, in the form of outreach, refreshers and training in election reporting, and enterprise story projects focused on public opinion themes. Above all, monitors themselves need monitoring. Some are multi-million dollar networked leviathans led by well-placed INGOs while most others are small initiatives. Often, these remain guarded and their output is rarely made public or shared with voters. The Election Commission as well as other major actors and donors with shared interest in the electoral process should devise a coordinated, integrative mechanism in terms of poll conditions, procedures and media content. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53596 Our society witnesses cases of rape with numbing regularity. No matter how tough deterrent measures are, it does not seem to matter to the pathological obsessions of rapists. The rape and robbery late last November of a migrant worker returning home from Saudi Arabia, a chilling reminder of the country’s atrocious treatment of women, has left the national psyche unsettled. The public fury that followed culminated in an organized citizens’ protest called #Occupy Baluwatar, clearly sending out a message that enough is enough, and also, at same time, rekindling optimism about redefining Nepali womanhood, especially when the country is transitioning to an inclusive, tolerant nation. Partly inspired by the illustrious Arab Spring, the “Occupy” series is an international protest movement that began against economic and social inequalities, with the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City in September 2011 being the first such campaign. In the following months, the movement, which uses the #Occupy hashtag, spread to several countries and scores of major towns across the globe. Started on December 28, 9 AM, largely through social networking on the Internet, the Occupy Baluwatar protest made strong calls for an end to all forms of violence against women and for broader legal and institutional reforms to ensure rights and respectability of women, sparking a reawakening of Nepali feminism. TIA rape victim Sita Rai and four others, namely Shiwa Hashmi, Bindu Thakur, Chhori Maiya Maharjan, Saraswoti Subedi, all of them victims of violence—have all become a new epitome of Nepali women’s long, tiring struggle for wider liberation. REPUBLICA Feminism has historically been women’s ideology to fight ‘male supremacist’ attitudes, a contributing factor to gender-based violence (GBV), also known as violence against women (VAW). It, however, does not represent one specific school of thought. As a form of activism, the movement has undergone shifts in its focus in different time periods. While its first wave in the late 19th century stressed on basic issues such as suffrage, its second wave beginning in the 1960s chiefly focused on political consequences of gender differences. One step ahead, the third wave that began in early 1990s concentrated on diversity issues of race, gender and ethnicity, with democratic ideals becoming core recipes for governance structures worldwide. Today the movement is no longer viewed as ‘only-women task’ or merely as ‘selfish identity politics’. The Occupy Baluwatar campaign commands no less young male activists, in defiance to the traditional barrier of ‘intrinsic’ sex differences. Rising above the myopic outlook, men all around the world today have been able to stand alongside women for feminist causes. And this very shift in perception has, like elsewhere, made Occupy Baluwatar protest an appealing site for reinventing feminism. The American Political Science Review recently published a report after conducting a study it claims to be the largest so far in terms of scope of data. The study includes every region of the world with varying degrees of democracy and variety of world religions, encompassing 85 percent of the world’s population. Titled ‘The Civic Origins of Progressive Policy Change: Combating Violence against women in Global Perspective, 1975-2005’ and published after five long years of rigorous data processing, the study confirms that mobilization of feminist movements is more important to change than things such as a nation’s wealth. It maintains that autonomous (free from political ideology) feminist movements were the first to articulate VAW issues and were key catalysts for government actions to address them. The study concludes that such movements could be powerful tools to mitigate and combat practices including sexual attacks, trafficking, and other violations to ‘women’s body and psyche’. Autonomy of body and self-determination is a central tenet of feminism. While on the surface it might seem reasonable to attribute sexual violence such as rape to factors ranging from psychosomatic and psychopathic conditions to law losing its deterrent effect, the real cause, on closer scrutiny, is found embedded deep in the society’s unequal power structures. To be precise, rape is an act of power. It is not sexual attractions but gender relations that actually cause rape. Sexual assault is an offshoot of social inequality, the direct product of ingrained socio-cultural ethos that establishes structures of power and privileges. Simone de Beauvoir once wrote: ‘One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman’, asserting that gender roles are a social construct. Theoretically, unless these deeply seated unequal power relations of domination and subjugation between male and female are reconciled in society, the rewiring of social attitudes for broader gender equality and practice is not possible. At a pragmatic level, among other things, guarantee of the rule of law and social justice is equally necessary. A protest sometimes becomes necessary to shake the society’s conscience. Occupy Baluwatar campaigners have summarized their concerns in two sets of demands in a protest note, with the subject line ‘Justice and Rule of Law’ handed to then prime minister Baburam Bhattarai. The short-term demands are related to providing justice to victims and punishment for the guilty. The long-term demands, distilled in eight brief points, seek extensive legal and institutional reforms that would not only ensure safety and security of women and strict enforcement of criminal law, but also guarantee them an equal footing with men with an inclusive participation in governance . Sexual assault is an offshoot of social inequality, direct product of ingrained socio-cultural ethos and power structures. Compared to the global trend, feminist consciousness grew much later in Nepal, after the restoration of democracy in 1990. It was the time when feminism in international sphere was relocating its agenda to diversity issues, which also helped Nepal set its own agenda around empowerment of women, in general, and mainstreaming of marginalized women minorities, such as Muslim, Madhesi and Janajati women. With negation of mobilization, coalition, political ideology and proxy agenda, the Occupy Baluwatar campaign already marks Nepal’s departure from conventional protest culture. The fact that five victims projected in Occupy Baluatar come from diverse cultural backgrounds demonstrates its capacity to accommodate intricate inter-sectional gender issues, dismantling the orthodox belief that feminism is devised primarily to safeguard the interests of a small group of elite women. Inclusive civil services policies, abortion bill, legislations of property inheritance rights, court verdict in favor of citizenship acquisition in mother´s name, and 33 percent women representation in the erstwhile Constituent Assembly could be considered some key achievements made in resituating Nepali women in society. One reason why, despite preemptive and penal measures, VAW cases keep replicating is the lack of specific agenda set by women themselves. The current Khil Raj Regmi government has already ‘appreciated’ the campaign for ‘bringing many things to the government’s notice’ and Regmi has given his word to meet the demands, prompting the protesters to effect a voluntary 15-day truce. Also, the reality is, the Occupy Baluwatar campaign is somewhat fractured by internal contradictions such as deviation from original ideals, adoption of political issues, and alleged infiltration of NGO interests. Now that the country is headed to new CA elections, a historic opportunity for women to strongly commit their presence in legislature and script their long overdue rights in the new constitution, the question is, will this campaign be able to carry on its initial spirit and momentum while redefining Nepali womanhood on broader terms in the long run? The writer is online coordinator, Republica arunrai149@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53595 NEPAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE In late April, Nepal will attend yet another climate conference organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany. Unlike the past, Nepal will not just be a mere participant at this conference, but will also lead the 49-nation Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group for the very first time. As a leader, Nepal will have to rise above national interest and even bend backwards to accommodate the views of other countries, especially the majority of African nations in the LDC Group. LDCs are one of the most vulnerable groups of countries after failing to get a legally binding international agreement at a climate change summit (COP15) held in Denmark in 2009. Now, another opportunity beacons for 2015, which cannot be missed. The inaction of developed countries is already placing heavy burden on these poor countries. In the last few years, not much has been achieved at the UN climate meetings in terms of tackling the catastrophic climate change. For an acceptable outcome in 2015, the LDC Group must engage in substantive policy issues, adequate coordination within and outside the LDC Group and in astute high-level political diplomacy. DUCKRABBIT.INFO Can Nepal live up to the expectation? The recently organized thematic coordinators’ meeting in Kathmandu bringing together various LDC countries sends a positive signal. This meeting has helped send out an explicit message that Nepal is ready to lead the Group regardless of the challenges ahead. This positive attitude will be imperative in the days ahead as well. In the LDC coordinators’ meeting, the new chair, Prakash Mathema, vowed to build on the existing foundation, enhance Group’s capacity, strengthen coordination, and work closely with other groups such as Africa and AOSIS, all of which will be the key. Although LDC are the most vulnerable group of countries and it is the least responsible for the climate crisis, the Group has promised ambitious and encouraging climate change policies to set the bar high. Similarly, the LDC Group chair has also vowed to take leadership with the mantra of “follow us”. If this is to be achieved, the Chair and the Group members will require much more prudence. A climate vulnerable Group like LDCs on the driving seat at the negotiating table is reassuring. With hard work, coordination and planning they can play a role in establishing consensus for 2015 agreement. LDCs will have to prove to other negotiating parties and groups that they have the determination and capacity to lead from the front. Addressing issues such as adaptation to the impacts of climate change, loss and damage (irreversible harm), financial support for climate actions and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (to maintain the world’s average temperature rise below 1.5 degree Celsius compared to pre-industrial level) are extremely important for LDCs. Appropriately addressing these issues at the international front and effectively implementing them at the national level will determine the development and prosperity of poor LDCs like Nepal. The immediate challenge remains implementing the National Adaptation Program of Actions (NAPA) addressing urgent and immediate needs and formulating and implementing the National Adaptation Plans (NAP), which will be integrated into mainstream development programs. Several climate negotiation meetings will be organized in 2013 and the LDC Group will have to be strategic on taking forward the process related to NAP formulation and implementation and on getting an agreement on an international mechanism on loss and damage. The unconvincing mitigation pledges from the developed countries poses grave risk of permanent loss and damage in vulnerable and low lying coastal areas. Similarly, climate finance will be another major issue after the failure of developed countries to live up to their commitments. No concrete short or medium-term guarantees were made at the annual climate conference (COP18) held in Qatar last year. Raising mitigation ambition is another key aspect for LDCs as this is going to determine sustainable development of already poor and marginalized countries. Also, under new negotiation setting called the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), LDCs will have to employ every possible means to move from a conceptual basis to more content oriented phase and start fleshing out elements they want to see in the 2015 agreement. In order to achieve the overall objectives of the LDC Group, a strategic approach will be crucial—better coordination among LDC members and increased clarity on political, scientific and policy issues will determine the outcome. Nepal, as the new chair of the LDC Group, will have to cordially work with Group members to build from the groundwork laid out by the former chair, Gambia. It will have to continue building the trust and value the positions of the Group. The year 2013 will be an important milestone year for the LDC Group, on how they envision a legally binding international agreement for 2015. The chairmanship of Nepal for 2013 and 2014 will have paved most of the groundwork for the future deal. Hence it is of utmost importance that Nepal takes the responsibility with perseverance, but also caution. The LDC Chair has made a fine start and will have to continue to govern so as to get the substance, process and the politics of future climate negotiations right. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53545 Upcoming electric crematory Death is a somber affair. The bonds built over long years of getting to know a person, a tiny bit at a time, are cruelly severed in an instant. It might take years for a person to come to terms with the loss of a loved one. Some never do. This process of adjusting to a new reality begins soon after the initial shock of the news of a death. One of the main reasons behind the elaborate cremation rites in Hindu culture is to give mourners the assurance that their loved ones will go to a better place if the right process is followed, which can bring enormous relief to those left behind. Burning corpse in open pyre and scattering the remains in a holy river has traditionally been considered an indispensible part of this ritual. But all that is set to change with the establishment of an electric cremation facility at Pashupati Aryaghat that is scheduled to come into operation in the next few months. Understandably, the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has made electric cremation optional, at least in the initial phase. People will take time to get used to this new form of bidding a final farewell to their loved ones. But there are compelling reasons why it will eventually catch on. It is economic: compared to around Rs 7,000 it takes to cremate a body in open pyre, the same process costs Rs 1,000-1,500 in an electric crematory. It is time-saving: it takes 45 minutes for a corpse to burn out in an electric crematory, compared to four hours in open pyre. Convenience will eventually trump religious concerns, as has been evident in many parts of India where electric cremations have become the standard. This rapid conversion has been possible since there is now widespread realization that there is more than people’s convenience is at stake. Mourners can perform last rites, including giving dagbatti, before a corpse is placed in the crematory. A traditional funeral pyre consumes up to 500 kg of wood. In Pashupati Aryaghat alone 50 corpses are burnt in open pyres every single day. As such, traditional Hindu cremations have proven to be a big drain on forest resources. Half-burnt corpses also pollute vital waterworks. This is the reason open-pyre funeral has been banned in parts of India. In fact, there is no valid reason to continue open-pyre cremation anywhere. The mourners can perform all the last rites before a corpse is placed inside the electric crematory, including giving dabgatti. At the end of cremation, there will even be enough remains to dispose of in holy waters. This initiative has been long time in the coming: It has been over 20 years since PADT first mulled the idea. We are confident that the new crematories will fare much better than the one imported by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City 28 years ago which has become defunct without ever being used. For this there must be efforts to educate the public on both personal and environmental benefits of electric cremation. What mourners want most of all is a dignified departure for the deceased. Surely, harming Mother Nature during the final exit is not a very dignified way to go. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53544 POST MDG AGENDA Following the endorsement of the Millennium Declaration at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a common set of development targets agreed by all the world’s leaders, were adopted in 2002. All these global development targets have 2015 as their endpoint. As the target date to achieve the MDGs approaches, UN Member States around the world are in the process of reviewing the MDGs and shaping post-2015 development agenda, a UN led process aimed at determining the global development framework beyond 2015. The MDGs need to be consistent with human rights principles, in particular the principle of non-discrimination, empowerment and participation. Among other international instruments, the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to which Nepal is a party protects the right to self-determination, allowing people to determine their own economic, social and cultural rights. The human rights-based approach emphasizes participation of right holders, including those from marginalized background, for the ownership of development and for making the development process sustainable. The UN Millennium Declaration itself acknowledges the vital need for genuine participation of all citizens in UN Member States. DHF.UU.SE But despite Nepal being a signatory to many international mechanisms to protect the right of all people to participate in development efforts, lack of participation of marginalized people, which is often the result of discriminatory access, continues to bedevil Nepal. Consequently, the distribution of basic services under the MDGs is discriminatory and fails to meet people’s basic needs. The MDGs aim to monitor the progressive realization of certain human rights. However, lack of participation of marginalized people in planning, policy making, implementation and monitoring of development activities has created hurdles towards the achievement of this goal, thus weakening the prospects of sustainable development in Nepal. The failure to achieve sustainable development in turn has curtailed the prospect of vulnerable groups enjoying fundamental rights, including the right to food, health and education. Nepal received an MDG Award in 2010 for its outstanding national leadership, commitment and progress towards achievement of the MDG Goal 5—Improvement of Maternal Health. One of the aims of the MDG Award is to honor and celebrate excellent efforts of the government and civil society organizations (CSOs) in advancing the MGDs. Unfortunately, the effort put in by the government and other stakeholders to educate CSOs from the marginalized communities on the Post-2015 development agenda, on advancement of MDGs with their meaningful participation, has been extremely limited. Almost zero participation of marginalized people and their representatives in UN’s MY WORLD online survey where people were asked to “choose your priorities for a better world” (with the results being shared with respective world leaders) is a stark example of this limited participation. The government of Nepal has failed to broaden its consultations with the most excluded and marginalized people and their representatives on the Post-2015 development agenda. This is despite the fact that wider discussion on the participation of marginalized people and their representative CSOs in reviewing the MDGs and shaping the new development agenda is crucial to addressing inequality and social exclusion, as identified by the UNDP-Nepal as a major challenge to achieve the MDGs. In order to overcome this challenge, Nepal must own up the reaffirmation of the UN General Assembly’s High-level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs in 2010 that safeguarding human rights of all people is essential to achieving MGDs. One of the essential criteria to review the MDGs and to define the Post-2015 development agenda should be whether the MDGs facilitated the participation of the socially, culturally and economically marginalized people, including religious minorities, in development activities. Furthermore, the process of prioritizing Post-2015 development agenda should review the participation of marginalized peoples in policy-making, including the current Three Year Plan and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. Post-2015 development agenda in Nepal should replicate best international practices. As such, sharing the best practices on meaningful participation of marginalized groups in setting their Post-2015 development agenda will be crucial. India is a good example of how dialogues and inclusive national and regional consultations can be held with the support of the UN agencies and national stakeholders. For example, the Post-2015 National Consultation Team in India has taken the innovative approach of welcoming online comments and questions from general people on the Post-2015 development agenda. It is crucial to encourage marginalized groups to share their priorities as a part of the development goal post-2015. As outlined by the UN Secretary-General in his roadmap for Post-2015 development agenda within Member States, inclusive consultations should be extended to marginalized groups, which should be made to share their future development priorities. Enhancing local level consultations is essential to keep local stakeholders updated on Post-2015 development agenda and increase their participation in shaping, implementing and monitoring the Post-2015 framework. Government negotiations for the future development agenda should be based on the outcome of the local and national consultations that are actively participated by marginalized people and their representative CSOs. The donors and UN agency, and UNDP in particular, should build partnership with wider stakeholders at the national and local levels on the basis of their thematic expertise and be actively engaged in consultations on the urgent Post-2015 development issues and agenda. This should be done with meaningful participation of marginalized groups. Capacity enhancement and greater engagement of media people, in particular the local media personnel, is essential in order to mobilize them to disseminate information on the MDGs and the Post-2015 development agenda. The process of shaping the Post-2015 development agenda in Nepal should not be limited to a few hand-picked CSOs and consultants. Meaningful participation of marginalized people and their representative CSOs in setting the Post-2015 development agenda will go some way in removing the criticism that MDGs are inadequate measures of development and are forced from top down by donors without inputs from the people on the ground. Broad consultations at the national and local levels with the meaningful participation of marginalized people is a must to tailor the Post-2015 development targets to local needs and to achieve inclusive, people-centered and sustainable development beyond 2015. The author worked as Human Rights Officer at OHCHR-Nepal http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53543 ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY Nepal has adopted a policy of nonalignment in its conduct of foreign policy. Despite significant changes in national, regional and international dynamics, Nepal’s diplomatic practice has, since the beginning, been focused on defending its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. Though it has included garnering bilateral and multilateral assistance for development activities, promotion of national economic interest has not been given much preference in Nepal’s multifaceted external engagement. After the restoration of democracy in 1990, Nepal focused on economic diplomacy as a new dimension of its foreign policy execution and diplomatic dealings, and also adopted policies of liberalization and privatization. But Nepal is still struggling with a huge trade deficit, low economic growth, high unemployment rate, mass poverty, food and fuel crisis, and energy shortage. Global climate changes has emerged as yet another challenge for Nepal. The limited expansion, diversification, and development of Nepal’s bilateral, regional and multilateral relations have not been enough to promote and enhance Nepal’s economic interests. STAT.EZONE.MN Nepal’s trade and commercial relations are limited to a handful of countries. More than a third of its international trade is conducted with India and China. Nepal is home to a magnificent range of mountains including the world’s highest, it is the birthplace of Lord Buddha, land of brave Gurkhas, home to breathtaking natural beauty and rare flora and fauna, and is filled with historical monuments and cultural heritage. Nepal thus has the potential of becoming a premium tourist destination and establishing tourism sector as a sustainable source of national income. Despite all these resources and the hospitable behavior of Nepali people, Nepal’s tourism sector is still underdeveloped and unexploited. The abundant water resources of Nepal are untapped due to inadequate capital investment and paucity of advanced technology and management skills. The country is facing a dire energy shortage, putting its nascent industrial development at risk and resulting in capital flight. Nepal has not been able to reap any benefits from EU’s “Everything but Arms” initiative, under which Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC) are eligible for duty free and quota free (DF & QF) market access in the EU market. Furthermore, it has also lost DF & QF market access in the US. Nepal’s abundance of natural resources, economically active and cheap labor force, well-developed banking and financial institutions and substantial market potential (including its immediate neighbors) have not been enough to attract foreign investment. Nepal’s economy has not progressed from subsistence agriculture to more lucrative sectors of trade, tourism and investment even after over two decades of democratic rule and start of economic diplomacy. Nepal is still designated a LDC. Hydropower, agriculture, tourism, bio-diversity, herbal processing, mines and minerals industries and infrastructure development are the sectors with the most potential of attracting foreign investment through astute economic diplomacy at bilateral, regional or multilateral levels. Such investments can bring meaningful changes to Nepal’s socio-economic status and people’s lives. However, prolonged political uncertainty, energy crisis, poor industry-labor relations, and weak law and order situation are posing as big stumbling blocks. In the context of the recent historic political changes and people’s desire and aspirations, it is imperative to direct Nepal’s diplomatic engagement towards attracting foreign investment. The investment should optimally be used to explore Nepal’s plentiful natural resources and promote tourism industry. Lucrative new labor destinations should be explored to absorb the growing workforce, which will help improve the country’s socio-economic status and to attain a sustained, broad based and inclusive economic growth. Hydropower, tourism, bio-diversity and herbal processing are the sectors with the most potential. Nepal should make sincere efforts to reap benefits from its immediate neighbors—India and China—through clever economic diplomacy instead of just focusing on maintaining balanced relations in the neighborhood. Nepal can attract capital investment and technology from its immediate neighbors to exploit its water resources, promote tourism, build infrastructure, develop and commercialize agriculture, and promote the service sector. This can contribute to reducing trade deficit, generating employment, increasing national revenues, and reducing poverty, and also promoting mutual understanding, cooperation and collaboration in the neighborhood. Nepal should execute its diplomacy around an idea floated by former PM Baburam Bhattarai. It should develop a trilateral economic cooperation mechanism to develop Nepal as a vibrant bridge between the two Asian powers. This concept will not only benefit Nepal, but also add to mutual understanding and cooperation between the two emerging global powers. It will contribute to their common interest in regional and global forums as well as promote sustainable regional peace and stability, which is crucial to maintaining global peace and stability. The author is affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rebantakc@yahoo.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53542 QUALITIES OF A GOOD SCHOOL Many educationists always talk of a “good school”, or a “model school”, but what exactly does a “good school” mean? In many parts of the world, schools have turned out to be a lucrative business, and many people have left their jobs to start one. This has resulted in the privatization of one basic right of the child: the right to education. This has left the children of low income earners and the poor in government schools, while private schools have become a reserve for the rich. Not all are in it for the money, as some go out of their way to make their institutions exemplary in terms of quality. For the latter, the question that follows is, “what is quality education?” and “what is a good school?” Recently, there was a conference on “Quality Education in the Classroom”, courtesy of the government of Nepal, Department of Education and Rato Bangala Foundation in conjunction with civil society. The International Conference, the first of its kind in Nepal, brought together scholars from far and wide to demystify this buzzword “quality”, and how it can be made a reality in classrooms. The conference culminated in the “Kathmandu Commitment on Quality Education”. TELEGRAPH.CO.UK Going back to the subject in question, every school wants to shine and be in the lead when it comes to providing quality education. However, this has been far from reality owing to a number of factors, e.g. low motivation, inadequate teaching-learning and financial resources, and overemphasis on scores. As an educator with a specialization in Early Childhood Learning working for VSO Nepal in Myagdi, I can attest to the fact that quality needs us to do more than what we are doing. I strongly believe in investing in the early years as a foundation for future learning. The reason we are not getting “there” is because there is inadequate investment in Early Childhood Education. The situation is dire and something needs to be done. At the school level, there are three key stakeholders: teachers, parents, and students. “A teacher affects eternity,” it is said, and therefore, teachers should be given consideration as we push forward to more meaningful learning. A teacher should be someone who is committed, passionate about his/her work, and has the best interests of the child at heart. A teacher should see the child as who s/he truly is, and look beyond race, ethnicity, caste, religious background, socio-economic status, size, and even gender. A teacher should nurture children’s inborn abilities and talents by providing a rich, stimulating environment that allows children’s potential to blossom and flourish. It is not a question of covering the topic of the day, rather it’s about a holistic approach where children, during their stay in school and classrooms, are provided with opportunities to understand and develop themselves emotionally, socially, mentally, and language-wise, among other ways. This calls for individuals whose motivation goes beyond monetary gain. Teachers must be focused on building a stronger society by producing useful citizens with a myriad of skills who are capable of contributing positively to the health of the nation. Secondly, it is high time parents were sensitized towards their key role in the process of teaching and learning. Their duties go beyond sending their children to school; they also need to contribute to decision making and extending support to further learning at home. Low motivation, inadequate teaching-learning resources, and overemphasis on scores hamper the performance of many schools. At the center of all this is the child, who has a young mind and is curious and creative, and who comes to school eager to explore and learn. Every morning I walk into school, I am moved by the willingness of these very able learners who, given the right environment and resources, can invent, create, discover and acquire knowledge by themselves. Knowledge acquired thus can turn out to be more permanent than what is acquired through textbook teaching. Through supportive parents, experienced, ambitious and motivated teachers, and visionary leadership, children can reach their full potential and access limitless opportunities. A good school encourages children to think, invests in staff development, has classrooms which are a buzz of activity by both the teachers and students (classrooms as workshops for learning), inculcates the value of independent learning where students initiate and take charge of their own learning, displays children’s work in the classrooms, has classrooms with resources displayed and readily available for use by the learners, has resources made by both the teacher and students, and last but not least, shapes the character of learners. This, with the government living its promise of “schools as zones of peace” will see Nepal scale to higher heights beyond the norm of rote learning. The author is a Basic Education Volunteer, working for VSO Nepal in Myagdi virginia.ngindiru@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53494 Federalism and Nepal The federalism agenda has been firmly established in Nepali political discourse following the success of Jana Andolan in 2006, the Madheshi Uprising in 2007 and the subsequent movements for recognition by the traditionally marginalized communities. But more than six years after the 2006 uprising which dismantled the old unitary order under a hereditary monarch, the kind of federalism best suited for the country continues to be a matter of acrimonious contestation. Traditional parties like Nepali Congress and CPN-UML want more emphasis on ‘viability’ component while carving out federal states, while the new forces in UCPN (Maoist) and the Madheshi parties believe the question of ‘identity’ should be given more importance. The older parties are accused of trying to preserve their old monopolies; the newer ones are blamed of attempting to extract revenge on certain communities and instigating divisive tendencies. It is this bitter debate on federalism that sank the old CA ship, and if workable compromises cannot be worked out, it is sure to imperil any new constitutional process as well. There is no way the country’s two big neighbors would leave it ‘up to the Nepali people to decide’ as the potentially divisive issue of federalism in Nepal, with its greater geo-political ramifications, is being played out in this strategic location. During Maoist Chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s recent trip to the north, the Chinese are reported to have expressed their concern that federalism might invite more instability in Nepal. Beijing is clearly afraid that an ethnic model of federalism could spark fissiparous tendencies in Nepal, an alarming development next door to the restive Tibet. This is one of the reasons for China’s more visible role in Nepal in recent times, a development which undoubtedly spooks South Block mandarins long used to considering Nepal under India’s security umbrella. Likewise, New Delhi wants the division of federal states in Nepal to serve its security and regional interests. Some allege India of attempting a wholesale ‘Sikkimization’ of Nepal by instigating the Madhesh-based parties to push an ‘unviable’ federal model. The Europeans and Americans are blamed of trying to expunge their colonial guilt by backing ethnic monitories in Nepal, not to forget their pet project of ‘proselytizing Christianity’. [break] There is no way to settle these doubts and hunches one way or the other. Nonetheless, the growing paranoia over ‘foreign meddling’ does reflect the extent to which present-day Nepal is influenced by external forces. Again, nothing surprising here: international diplomacy has been centered on ‘promotion of national interests’ since the 15th century, with powerful nation states jostling for space and influence wherever there is political vacuum. The upshots are seldom pretty. The biggest danger for Nepal is that if its political interlocutors with the outside world are deemed incapable of keeping their own house in order, foreign forces might bypass the Nepali political class to work out answers to Nepal’s problems themselves, either individually or collectively. This perception of ‘incompetence’ of Nepali political class will only grow the longer Nepali actors take to settle the federalism debate. Unless a compromise formula can be worked out in a not too distant future, more than prolonged instability might be at stake for Nepal. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53493 STUDENT POLITICS IN NEPAL When the venerable newsmagazine The Economist held a readers’ poll to ascertain the Capital of the World (COW), New York appeared far ahead of London and Singapore. The headquarters of United Nations may have had something do with the choice. That, however, is only part of the story. The Big Apple has emerged as the information hub of the world. In contemporary economy, information is the power that propels engines of communication, entertainment and financial industries. The Chinese know it and have begun to invest in a big way in the city that never sleeps. Rumor in the COW town has it that the Chinese have bought several floors of the World Trade Centre. Indians too are to be seen almost everywhere. The abbreviation IT has come to mean an Indian Techie. That is not to say that there are no Pakistanis or Nepalis in the field. However, even they seem to rather like being mistaken for the better known South Asians. After all, few Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepalis or Sri Lankan are confused for the Chinese.[break] With the exception of Arabs—Boston blasts have done no good to the image battered irreparably in the wake of 9/11—everybody feels at ease in the COW town. Europeans find New York most agreeable among all cities in the US. The same perhaps could be said of East Asians, Africans, Caribbeans, and South Americans. This is not a city where one can dig deep roots; perhaps it can never be home to anybody. That’s precisely the reason people work insane hours. Homes are for relationships. At the work place, well, one works. cruisenaplesflorida.com The New York Nepali community, said to be the biggest in the US, is less visible than in smaller towns. Obsessed with politics, they fail to interest ambitious professionals trying to climb the slippery pole of success. A young IT professional confessed that attending one community meeting was enough to depress him for the whole week. “They can’t speak two straight sentences without condemning Indians. I work with them and find them competent and compassionate. Why should I worry about Kalapani and Susta here in New York? Let folks back home sort out these issues.” The IT professional enamored with his Indian colleagues has a point. Whether it’s Susta, Kalapani, extra-constitutional government or vile politicos, those struggling in Nepal are better placed to face such challenges than the word-warriors pouring outrage at visiting Nepalis. Indignant posts in the Cyberia helps release some of the guilt that ‘nationalist’ Nepalis are acculturated to feel for having deserted their motherland. However, that too is entirely unnecessary: In the modern world, stamp on the passport is increasingly a choice rather than destiny. Nepali-Americans can do their ancestral land proud by becoming better Americans, just as Gorkhalis in Assam, West Bengal and Sikkim have learnt to be Indians in heart and spirit. The sky neighbor Putting India and the US in the same sentence might appear anomalous at first glance, but Americans are close neighbors of every country on the planet. That cancels out the characterization of Nepal as yam between two boulders: The boulder hanging from the sky is more powerful than the two on the ground put together. While it is true that Americans have almost always backed Indian position in Nepal, reconciliation between Beijing and New Delhi may prompt the US to better coordinate its Nepal policies with Europeans and Japan—the two other sky neighbors of the land-locked country. The first US ambassador to Nepal Henry Stebbins stated goals of its foreign policy in no uncertain term. He had declared, somewhat grandly, that Nepal fell within US “Defense Perimeter” requiring protection against communism. The failure of US policy has been its success: It can intensify its engagement under the pretext that the “Defense Perimeter” needs better policing. European interests in Nepal are less overt. That could be the reason Hindu fundamentalists allege that proselytization is the main purpose of European missions. However, it can be safely assumed that they are not for any form of communist regime in Nepal. The power and prosperity of Europe have come through free trade. Democracy, human rights and impunity are good instruments to keep the state enfeebled even as the market is unleashed to go on rampage. They may not say it in so many words, but most Europeans seem convinced that Nepal is too poor to afford social welfare measures and must pass through anarchic capitalism to establish market forces with an abiding interest in the stability of the system. Befitting its status as preeminent power in the world, the US has cultivated widespread contacts in Nepal’s PEON corridors. In any case, the future of power elite in Nepal—political princes, inheritors of bureaucrats’ ill-gotten fortunes, and bright progenies of established professional—have all chosen to live and work in the New World. It is widely believed that many of them hold two passports but unless the drive to legalize their status succeeds, few are likely to own it up. The US lobby in Nepal has become so well-entrenched that now it works almost voluntarily. Over last two decades, Europeans have made huge investments in the most flourishing of all Nepali industries: The NGO sector. It employs almost the entire English-speaking middleclass of Nepal. Many of them have begun to mature and make investments in banking, insurance and trading. The combined weight of Europe and the US, however, doesn’t match the penetration of Indian minders in Nepal. The Nehruvian doctrine of Himalayas as frontiers of Indian mainland continues to dictate policies of Nepal’s more prominent land neighbor. What do the Chinese really want from Nepal? This question has never truly been answered. The four Ts—Tibet, Taiwan, Tiananmen Square and Trade—are aimed more towards the West. Emptying of Tibetans from Tibet appears to be helping Beijing colonize the water source of Asia by repopulating the place with Han Chinese. Dragon’s breath Mahendra tried to woo the Chinese, risking American ire and Indian displeasure. Americans had to be later placated with the complicity of Nepal in Khampa misadventures. Indians extracted their price by making Mahendra acquiesce to the occupation of Kalapani. Birendra banked upon the Chinese to extricate him out of Rajiv Gandhi’s aggressive South Asian policies. It badly backfired. Gyanendra did the Chinese bidding at SAARC only to discover that empires are under no obligation to return every favor of hard-pressed minor sovereigns. It may not have been apparent during the Cold War, but BP Koirala’s dalliance with Beijing probably alienated him from both the US and Soviet camps. After Pushpa Kamal Dahal, every important politico from Sushil Koirala to Jhalnath Khanal to Bijaya Gachhedar is slated to visit Beijing. China probably keeps India informed of its interactions with Nepali interlocutors. Americans, however, have to depend upon Indian guarantees for the ‘good behavior’ of Nepal’s fickle political class. Balancing interests of the US, Europe, China and India in the coming days is going to be the key challenge to peace and stability in Nepal. It is easy to say that if the country is united, no force can play spoil-sport. The elusive unity, however, is unlikely to be free of pushes and pulls of geopolitics. Nepal’s Bahun Communists—Messrs Dahal, Khanal & Co.—would do well to recognize limitations of their tripartite formulation and realize that sky neighbors are realities of the globalized world. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53492 One fine afternoon in August 1657, Niamat and Khwaja Chisti were enjoying hukka in the quarters of the Mogul royal palace. Passing hukka over to his friend, Niamat said “I am not a historian, but I am one of the Emperor’s personal attendants. I can pick up the whiff of decay emanating from the centre of the empire that has not yet reached other nostrils.” Another afternoon some 356 years later, a student was enjoying peanuts at Tribhuvan University’s open ground with his classmate. Passing peeled peanuts over to his mate, the student said: “Our University has been infested by the party-plague, and yet nobody smells the invasive rats.” Despite the differences in time and space, the chords of anxiety for the future of their respective institutions are akin in the voices. Former, the personal attendant of the Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan in Sudhir Kakar’s novel Crimson Throne; whereas the latter, a university student. Tribhuvan University today is not as powerful and influential as the mogul regime had been. But it is certainly the hope and aspiration of poor and marginalized students across the country. Nepal’s oldest university accommodates all students equally despite the inequality in their economic and social classes besides making impacts in country’s developmental as well as political changes. The mogul attendants, apparently, played no role in elevating their emperor to the throne; whereas Nepali students have played a major political role in raising their party leaders to power. University colleges had been vibrant political forums, and its students the harbinger of political change. Therefore, it would be unfair not to acknowledge their legacy. Republica In the history of Nepal’s political movements, we find students always in the frontline of protests. Rishikesh Shah, in his book, Nepali Politic: Retrospect and Prospects, has pointed out that students were largely responsible for the agitational activities of political parties post-1951. It was because political activities were convicted by the king’s special tribunal under the 1969 Act in 1970s, but the court released student leaders. Emboldened by the court’s ruling, the students continued their campaigns against the panchayat regime. In the late 1970s, student uprisings became so powerful that then King Birendra Shah had to bow down before them and declare a referendum. In the unfair referendum that took place in 1980, students had to put up with the fists of Vidhyarthi Mandal sponsored by royalists. Blue, the color of multiparty system, lost the battle to yellow, the color of party-less Panchayat. However, ordinary Nepalis realized the strength of students. Twenty-four years after the referendum, students took to the streets again, initiating movements for a republic in a peaceful way. On January 8, 2004, in a meeting at a corner of Ratna Park, student leaders declared that Nepal would be a republic at any cost. In fact, popular movements for republic had started a year before the political parties had even thought of alternatives to monarchy. Why did students take it upon themselves to declare Nepal a republic whilst their mother parties were doing no more than protesting the king’s move? It was because they knew that the leaders were still victims of an old political mindset that endorsed the king’s divine right to rule. Only after Gyanendra Shah sacked reinstated Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for the second time in 2005 did the political leaders begin to mull over the term “republic” (partly because they witnessed the coup being celebrated with deepavali in the streets of Kathmandu). But students had been way ahead of the politicians in recognizing the public’s mood. I remember the day in early 2004 when, on my way back from Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus, I greeted party leaders sitting on the road in front of Ghantaghar. I wished them luck, assuming they needed it. That was the day of the Referendum in colleges all over Nepal, held by students against the parties’ wishes, where students would vote for their preferred political system—republic or monarchy. Republicans won by more than ninety percent of the total votes, if I remember correctly, over royalists, even when party leaders would not let the word republic escape their lips. Sitting under the scorching summer sun begging for the reinstatement of the parliament, they longed for a change of heart in the king. The term republic, which was a sacrilege for the parties and for which Maoists were launching underground armed struggle, the students were singing in chorus right under the king’s nose. Student leaders, with support from members of civil society, artists, and people, prepared the stage for the parties to walk up and take charge. But when leaders held sway over the republican regime, then began the series of humiliations for student leaders. Party leaders resumed their old ways in the aftermath of the Constituent Assembly election of 2008. The youths who fought for republic were allotted barely any constituencies in the election. Instead, they found themselves welcoming nouveau riche goons in their youth organizations and mother parties. Professor Lok Raj Baral, in his book Regional Paradox, has aptly observed that “Political parties have knowingly kowtowed to criminals, aspiring political leaders courting criminals for their wealth, and the latter demanding political legitimacy in return.” Alas! The students who pushed monarchy out of politics and paved the way for the political parties were offered humiliation in return. Mother parties dissolved the elected leadership of students unions, and nominated new committee members close to party leaderships. Political parties have always been interested in appointments of the university’s top posts. Students have very little or no say in the appointments of temporary teachers, whose qualifications sometimes amount to pleasing respective party leaders. The university is falling apart, materially as well as academically, and students are unable to do anything but witness the vertical fall. Recently, NGOization of civil society has rendered all resistance movements against party tyranny useless, and students are not free from the malady either. Since student unions are affiliated to various political parties, it has weakened students’ collective voice by making them fight each other. Affiliation to political parties has atrophied students’ ability to advance their genuine interests and demand creative educational environment in university colleges. Until the 1990s, student organizations were largely free from such bullying from party bosses. Student union elections are scheduled to be held on May 27 of this year. Age restriction on election candidates, recently introduced by TU authority, has angered the parties’ grey-haired folks. However, the news of election is a solace to students who faced humiliation, and revives our hopes of saving the country’s oldest university. All eyes are set on TU students, wondering if students will elect genuine, non-partisan leaders and rescue the university from rats. Let’s hope they act with prudence, unlike the mogul eunuchs Niamat and Khwaja Chisti who waited until the empire disintegrated. The author manages Adventure Samsara, a company which operates bird watching tours and trekking in Nepal. preminnthapa@yahoo.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53491 The sea of humanity besieging the Shahbag area in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, for the last two months, has had an unusual demand—unusual, at least, for the Indian subcontinent. The demonstrators have been clamoring for justice for the victims of the genocidal massacres of 1971 that led to the former East Pakistan’s secession from Pakistan. The demonstrations have been spontaneous, disorganized, and chaotic, but also impassioned and remarkably peaceful. Many of the several thousand demonstrators at Shahbag are too young to have had personal experience of the killings that marked the Pakistani Army’s brutal, and ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to suppress the fledgling independence movement. But they are animated by an ideal—the profound conviction that complicity in mass murder should not go unpunished, and that justice is essential for Bangladeshi society’s four-decade-old wounds to heal fully.[break] What is curious about this development is that the subcontinent has preferred to forget the monstrous injustices that have scarred its recent history. A million people lost their lives in the savagery of the subcontinent’s partition into India and Pakistan, and 13 million more were displaced, most forcibly. But not one person was ever charged with a crime, much less tried and punished. An estimated million more were massacred in Bangladesh in 1971, and only this year have some of the perpetrators’ local allies been tried. Almost every year, somewhere on the subcontinent, riots, often politically instigated, claim dozens—sometimes hundreds and occasionally thousands—of lives in the name of religion, sect, or ethnicity. Again, investigations are conducted and reports are written, but no one is ever brought before the bar of justice. To paraphrase Stalin: The intentional killing of one person is murder, but that of a hundred, a thousand, or a million is merely a grim statistic. The idealism of Bangladesh’s young demonstrators, however, points to a new development. The outpouring of emotion evident at Shahbag was provoked by a decision of an international criminal tribunal convened by the government. The tribunal, which tries cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity, found a prominent member of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist political party, Jamaat-e-Islami, guilty of complicity in the killings of 300 people, but gave him a relatively light sentence of 15 years in prison (prosecutors had sought the death penalty). By demanding severe punishment for those guilty of war crimes—not the Pakistani Army, long gone, but their local collaborators in groups like Jamaat-e-Islami, Al Badar, Al Shams, and the Razakar irregulars—the protesters are also implicitly describing the society in which they wish to live: secular, pluralist, and democratic. These words are enshrined in Bangladesh’s constitution, which simultaneously declares the Republic to be an Islamic State. While some see no contradiction, the fact that many of the collaborators who killed secular and pro-democracy Bengalis in 1971 claimed to be doing so in the name of Islam points to an evident tension. If any proof of this clash of values were needed, it came in the form of a hugely impressive counter-demonstration against the Shahbag movement led by activists of the fundamentalist Islamic movement Hifazat-e-Islam, which occupied the capital’s Motijheel area. Unlike the Shahbag events, the counter-demonstration was well-planned and organized, and conveyed the stark message that there was an alternative point of view in this overwhelmingly Muslim country. The male, bearded, skull-cap-wearing protesters shouted in unison their agreement with speakers who denounced the International Crimes Tribunal. Their supporters include activists of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-Al-Islami-Bangladesh, which has fought alongside the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The debate between religious fundamentalism and secular democracy is not a new one on the subcontinent. But the issue of justice for the crimes of 1971 has brought the divide into sharp relief. The Shahbag protesters reject Islamic extremists’ influence in Bangladesh, and even call for organizations like Jamaat-e-Islami to be banned, while Hifazat-e-Islam and its supporters want the country’s liberal forces repressed, secularist bloggers arrested, and strict Islamism imposed on Bangladeshi society. The young people at Shahbag are mainly urban, educated, and middle class; Hifazat derives its support mainly from the rural poor. Traditional versus modern, urban versus rural, intellectuals versus the peasantry: these divisions are the stuff of political cliché. But, all too often, clichés become established because they are true. The Bangladeshi government’s sympathies are closer to the Shahbag protesters than to the Hifazat counter-demonstrators. But it must navigate a difficult path, because both points of view have significant public support. The authorities have even taken steps to appease the Islamists by arresting four bloggers for their posts. But the government remains resolute in its support for the international tribunal. The irony is that true religion is never incompatible with justice. But when justice is sought for the crimes of those who claim to be acting in the name of religion, the terms of the debate change. The issue then becomes one that has been avoided in Bangladesh for too long: whether claiming to act according to the requirements of piety provides an exemption for murder. The outcome of the standoff in Dhaka should provide an answer in Bangladesh, and its implications could reverberate far and wide. Tharoor is India’s Minister of State for Human Resource Development http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53448 Although the country is home to over 100 indigenous languages, people overwhelmingly rely on Nepali for communication purpose. This is because often Nepali is the only way to communicate for two ethnic groups that do not speak each other’s language. Because indigenous languages can only be understood by a select group of people, speakers of these languages are deprived of many opportunities that come from communicating with larger groups. Moreover, lack of proficiency in Nepali keeps them from meaningful engagement with state mechanisms. Because of Nepali’s growing popularity, many indigenous languages are dying out. Eleven languages— Byangsi, Chonkha, Longaba, Mugali, Sambya, Pongyong, Bungla, Chukwa, Hedangba, Waling, and Khandung—have already become extinct, and some other indigenous languages including Koche, Lhomi, Kisan, Kusunda, Lingkhim, Kagate, and Chintang have less than 100 surviving speakers. There are 34 other endangered languages in Nepal, each with less than 500 speakers each. The extinction of local dialects should be a matter of national concern. Languages contain unique features like idioms, rhymes, or distinctive cultural terms that are often lost in translation. Languages carry with them the knowledge of entire cultures, and once a language dies, the culture is in grave danger of being misinterpreted. Language also provides clues about the cultural and emigrational history of its speakers. These are incentives enough to preserve dying languages, but there are also many practical benefits of doing so. Research suggests children learn faster when taught in their mother tongues than in languages they are less comfortable with. Historically, when two languages have come into contact, they have often enriched each other, one providing terms the other lacks. English, for example, is the language with the most number of words, just because it came into contact with so many different languages around the world. Languages carry the knowledge of entire cultures, and once a language dies, the culture is in grave danger. There are many obstacles to preserving dying languages. Language, like religion and culture, cannot be practiced in isolation. A lone user of a language can derive very little benefit from it. For example, the three speakers of Kusunda language in Nepal live in different places, and their knowledge of the language is of no use to any of them. But the revival of nearly extinct languages like Hebrew in Israel and Maori in Australia indicate that not all hope is lost, and that with enough encouragement, endangered languages in Nepal can be saved. The government’s initiative to provide education in mother tongue is an initiative in the right direction, but focus should be more on teaching the language itself rather than teaching the entire curriculum in a language, which could limit children’s horizon. Private initiatives to document endangered languages should be supported by the state. Languages spoken by a sufficient number of people should be granted the status of official languages in future federal provinces, which will make the lives of native speakers easier. Awards and other incentives to scholars and writers in these languages will keep them motivated to keep their language alive. Most of all, families that have inherited these languages must make it a duty to pass it on to their children, because language is as precious a gift as any other cultural component that can be passed down the generation. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53447 CA AND FEDERALISM Nepal’s body politics has been terribly sick for quite some time. But its caretakers are seeking treatment only for the symptoms, not the disease. If we do not insist on treating the disease now, it will likely lead to a bigger regret later. The caretakers, who fight all the time for power, have given the patient wrong food and drinks and administered nostrums that have worsened the condition further. They gave us hope that election to a Constituent Assembly (CA) and abolition of monarchy would prepare a potion to cure the disease. The monarchy was abolished and the CA elected. But the CA could not produce the potion because the caretakers poisoned it to death with corruption, mistrust, discord, and self-centered myopia. Evidently, the immediate cause of the CA’s death was the caretakers’ self-centered myopia on a key ingredient of the potion—nature and number of federal states. The Maoist caretakers wanted 14 states based on ethnicity in the hills and on geography in the plains. The Congressites and Marxist-Leninist wanted 7 to 13 that merged identity, geography and economic viability. The Madheshis wanted one, at most two, state(s) in the Tarai and more than 10 up in the hills. They all stuck to their guns to shoot the CA to death. DAVIDICKE.COM Both internal and external factors caused the discord. Internally, the Maoists hope that a fragmented Nepal will succumb more easily to their dream of proletariat control. Their rhetoric that they are trying to redress historical injustice on minorities is a false facade. The NC and UML want states that are viable and that preserve multiculturalism. The Madheshi parties want few states in the plains so they can use their economic weight, strategic location and proximity to India to bend the entire country to their will. Our neighbors and friends have their own worries and agendas. China, for instance, is worried that ethnic federalism in Nepal could send a wrong signal to its poor and restive minority provinces in the west. India, on the other hand, is eager to see that the Tarai has no more than two states to make Nepal its de facto province. Western countries want to expunge their sins of genocide committed by them against the native people in their countries or colonies by encouraging ethnic federalism in Nepal and to have unobstructed freedom to convert minorities to Christianity. They must be already drawing the battle lines for a civil war between Hindus and Christians in Nepal 20/30 years down the road. Just before the CA died on May 27, 2012, the caretakers seemed close to agree on 11 states under time pressure, leaving the names and boundaries as the only sticking points. The emerging agreement fell through as the Maoists and Madheshi parties backtracked at the last minute, at the behest of their external backers. You may recall that Madheshi parties opposed the deal after a friendly diplomat urged some of their CA members at a dinner to unleash a storm against multiple state proposals in the Tarai. You do not need an enemy if you have a friend like that. Federalism is an emotive issue. To strike an agreement, the caretakers should have, in addition to identifying identity and viability as the basic parameters, assigned weight to them and assessed their implications. But they did not. Negotiations on the issue, therefore, were ordained to fail from day one and they did. Nothing has changed since. The caretakers wasted their time—some trying to keep their chair and others trying to snatch it. Short of a miracle, the gulf on federalism is unlikely to be bridged in the next CA unless a new approach is pursued. There are two options which can prevent the CA from being poisoned to death by the same factors once again: one, formation of a constitution drafting committee and putting the draft constitution it comes up with for an up-and-down vote in the new CA; two, having a referendum on the nature and number of federal states during the next general election. A few weeks ago, Bhagirath Basnet and I had argued about the need to constitute a constitution drafting committee and put up the committee’s draft for an up-and-down vote in the CA (Oligarchs and elections, April 3). That is a shortcut. However, I understand that this shortcut will not be acceptable to those parties that fear that public opinion is not on their side. The most democratic and viable way to narrow the disagreements on the nature (ethnic, regional, or geographical) and number (5 to 14) of provinces in federal Nepal and neutralize unwarranted external interference will be a referendum. Such a referendum will empower the Nepali people to express whether they want a few economically viable states and low taxes to support them or too many economically unviable states and high taxes. The CA can then decide the names and boundaries of states. Nepali people must insist on referendum on federal states to ensure the preparation of the right potion by the new CA. It will not be outlandish to have such a referendum on the nature and number of states. Several countries —including Canada, Switzerland, Finland, France, the Philippines and Germany—have provisions for initiatives or propositions for such referendums at the national level. The US has it at the state level. States in the US hold such referendums together with general elections, at a small additional cost of printing an extra ballot paper and putting an extra ballot box at each polling booth. For instance, in the November 2012 elections alone, 38 US states conducted referendums on 174 propositions, including on the right to die, genetically modified food, same-sex marriage and legalization of marijuana. Voters voted to choose the president, members of congress and members of state congress, as well as to express their views on the propositions, in the same visit to the polling booth or with the same click online. In Nepal, Article 157 of the Interim Constitution provides for a referendum on “matters of national importance.” Nothing could be more important for the country now than taking a decision on federalism. If the cabinet decides and the president approves, just the way constitutional hurdles for the election have been removed, the referendum could be held by simply placing an extra ballot box at each polling booth and an extra ballot paper, as in the US. We know the limitations of our caretakers. They could not produce the much-sought potion, and killed the machine meant to produce it. They could not hold the election on their own in accordance with the Interim Constitution, so they appointed temporary caretakers and mauled and raped the constitution to do it. Like fish out of water, they are desperate to get back into the pond. They want your vote but they do not respect your vote or the due process. The caretakers will not go for the referendum unless the Nepali people insist on it. Therefore, the Nepali people now have a choice to make. They can insist on the referendum on the nature and number of federal states to ensure the preparation of the right potion by the new CA. Or they can let the caretakers have their flawed way that is sure to prevent the preparation of the potion to treat the ailing Nepali body politics, and at best, to produce a potion that the majority of people may find abhorring when the cost of running so many states begins to break their back. Maybe the New Year will give us wisdom to treat the disease from which the Nepali body politics is suffering, not just its symptoms. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53446 WORKER EXPLOITATION In 2008 I was working in the welfare department of a company in the UAE. My remit was to look after the welfare needs of Nepali employees. From the day I landed in Dubai, I was to hear the stories and see the lives of laborers who came all the way from South Asia, the Philippines, and beyond, expecting to earn some money, save enough and leave. In my ten months with the company, I visited several labor camps built on the outskirts of the cities in the deserts. Laborers were bused to cities in the morning to work at construction sites, shopping malls and other places. They returned to the camps in the evening. Although laborers in Dubai have no right to organize themselves, their basic needs such as shelter and healthcare are provided for (or are supposed to be provided for) by the company. They enjoy weekly holidays and return tickets to their country of origin (in most cases), and in case of any casualties or death, welfare funds cover them. CCRWEB.CA But it is also true that many laborers live in poor conditions because unscrupulous manpower agents back home charge them hefty sums, promising them the impossible, and require the workers to hand over an entire year’s earnings to pay back the money spent on migration process. As a result, many get frustrated, and some leave the company and work illegally, jeopardizing their legal status and work possibilities. Also, for someone coming from a country like Nepal with green hills and plains, living in a desert away from city areas and among a predominantly male population could be frustrating. I found the situation so grim that I wrote a piece for a Nepali daily in Kathmandu with the title “Agony of Nepali workers in the Gulf.” Later I came back to Nepal and worked with different organizations in different sectors. It was then that I started to realize that the condition of workers in the UAE, where there are no trade unions, and which is often the target of Human Rights Watch and western press for poor treatment meted out to laborers, was in many cases better compared to Nepal. In Nepal, most private organizations do not cover even the basic needs of laborers. They do not abide by the labor laws of the country. Forget about healthcare, insurance, and recreational facilities for workers, most organizations do not even provide a cup of tea or a tablet of citamol when needed. And when the issue of labor rights arises, they begin blaming labor unions and their vandalism. In fact, the politicization of labor unions in Nepal has done more harm than good. They have created a wrong impression on the general public. Now the public feels that labor unions are just a group of trouble-makers wreaking havoc and disrupting investment environment for the political gains of their masters. This has shadowed the genuine demands of workers. The situation is particularly grim in organizations where the management, knowingly or unknowingly, treat junior staffs poorly. Staff in these organizations may not even get weekly leaves or compensation for extra work. Interestingly, they are not even supposed to fall sick (that would be wonderful if possible), when other employees of the same organization enjoy regular weekly offs and other benefits. Instead, they are, in some cases, compelled to do household chores—like taking their managers’ children to schools, bringing them back home, etc. They cannot speak out in fear of being abruptly sacked; they seem to be at the mercy of their bosses. Junior staff may not even get weekly leaves or compensation for extra work, when other employees enjoy all the perks. According to Nara Karki, an organizational performance development coach, the hard work and role of junior staffs like peons and security guards are not recognized, so they at times feel insecure. Even the condition of mid-level staff is not very rosy. A recent MBS graduate who works for a private company said to me, “Mostly, rules are made in such a way that if an employee needs to take a day of leave, there are many steps to be followed. On the other hand, the management does not appreciate employees for their achievement and good work, or wish them on birthdays and festivals—simple things that would build employee morale and help create a better working environment without any financial burden to the company.” In his book The Fifth Discipline, MIT professor Peter Senge talks about the disciplines of systems thinking, team learning and building a shared vision for an organization. He also highlights the importance of high morale in employees for a successful organization. I am sure there are some organizations in Nepal that believe in appreciating the value of their workforce, both in policy and practice, but they are few and far between. The author has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Delhi University, India keshbmalla@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53445 INTEGRATION AND REHAB OF EX-COMBATANTS The Nov 1, 2011 Seven Point Agreement among the political parties settled four core issues related to integration of Maoist ex-combatants. As per the agreement, a maximum of 6,500 personnel would be integrated into Nepal Army; those interested would have to meet the standard norms of NA with some concessions on age (3 years), education level (one level) and marital status; each combatant had to individually meet the standards; and the highest rank would be that of the major, with the Special Committee to decide on the demand for some higher ranks. There was an agreement to pay Rs 5-8 lakhs in two installments to those opting for voluntary exit. There was also an agreement on creation of a new Directorate in the NA to accommodate the new recruits. Integration and rehabilitation of such a large number of ex-combatants at 28 different locations was a management nightmare, considering the country’s difficult terrain, a difficult political environment and slack work culture. Logistic and manpower needs were huge. Careful and detailed operational planning and preparations were crucial. One small problem in one area could spread and delay or even derail the process. REPUBLICA Yet following the political decision, the Secretariat (of the Special Committee) successfully completed re-verification and regrouping work at all seven cantonments and 21 satellite camps simultaneously: 17,052 Maoist Army Combatants (MACs) were re-verified and given new Special Committee ID cards, while 2,550 were found missing. Around 9,000 chose integration whereas little over 8,000 opted for voluntary exit in the first phase. Next phase of work reduced the number of camps to fifteen with the vacant camps handed over to the NA and the APF. The third phase comprised of the handover of weapon containers and perimeter security to the NA. Finally, a selection process ascertained the actual number of MACs opting and qualifying for integration. The rest were given bank checks for voluntary exit. The Secretariat completed its difficult responsibility without a major hitch and a vital part of Nepal’s peace process was completed. In this huge, complex and sensitive task, if the role of the members of the Special Committee was important, the integrity, diligence, commitment and dedication of the members of the Secretariat was as vital. Their sense of mission overrode administrative hurdles, personal grievances and political differences. Operational know-how of the Coordinator, support of the members of the Secretariat and readiness of the staff to go beyond the call of duty were what made this project a success. The readiness of the security forces, the NA in particular, to meet its obligations on a short notice was admirable. The Chief Secretary (Member Secretary of the Special Committee) helped move things, which could otherwise have remained stuck in bureaucratic muddle. All in all, successful Integration and Rehabilitation (I&R) of the MACs proved that Nepalis are as capable in peace building as highly trained and experienced international experts. But while the Special Committee’s role has come to an end, there are big challenges ahead. So long as the political transition does not come to a successful end, even the things we consider success today could unravel. Transition has to be managed well and completed. Only then can the peace process be presented as a real success. Conflicts in the post Cold War world are mostly internal and limited to the developing world, but the intellectual tools for conflict resolution and peace building have been developed elsewhere. The financial and operational leadership also come from mainly multinational arrangements or the UN. External roles interfaced with local interests can create problems of intellectual ownership, political leadership and operational expertise in the management, integration and rehabilitation of rebel army combatants. Initially, Nepal faced these problems as well. But political will driven by the power of ideas took back the intellectual ownership and made this part of Nepal’s peace process a nationally driven exercise. Finally, political leadership supported by operational/management expertise led to the success of the supervision, integration and rehabilitation (SIR) of the MACs. Of course, Nepal’s political conflict is far from over. But with UCPN (Maoist) formally renouncing violence during its recent General Convention, and even the breakaway CPN-Maoist unlikely to resort to violence as an instrument of political change in the new scenario, the successful completion of the integration and rehabilitation process looks to have transformed the violent conflict into peaceful competition for power. But the political transition has to be managed well and completed soon. Only then can the peace process which ended the long years of violence and counter-violence causing so much pain and hardship to the Nepali people can be presented as a real success story and a model of peace building to conflict-torn societies around the world. The author was a member of the Secretariat of the Special Committee for the Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of the Maoist Army This is the second of a two-part article. The first was published on April 17, 2013 Building peace http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53399 Sajha bus resumption The expected backlash against Sajha Yatayat’s resumption of bus services has started in under a week of its re-launch in Kathmandu. Expected because the transport syndicates that maintain an iron grip on operation of public vehicles in Kathmandu, like in the rest of the country, were sooner or later sure to cry foul at this ‘kick in their stomach’. Up until now, propped up by their political masters in right places, the private syndicates were given a free reign to set arbitrary prices, run substandard vehicles, and do pretty much as they pleased, quality service and passenger safety be damned. Whenever the voice against their bullying tactics got loud, they threatened to bring the country to a grinding halt. Even pressing reforms were resisted tooth and nail. The result is there for all to see: the barely functional, overcrowded vehicles run on the whim of their operators plying Nepal’s roads. The transport entrepreneurs making a fuss over Sajha’s reentry in public transportation in the valley are surely aware of their hypocrisy. If they had been able to provide reliable services, there would have been no need to revive Sajha. The truth is that the valley folks who rely on public vehicles to get around had had enough of unscrupulous operators who packed in people like sardines and charged them arbitrary fares. The seats reserved for women and people with disabilities were invariably occupied by wrong persons. On the other hand, in under a week of its operation, people have showered praises on Sajha for exemplary service: Its buses run on time and stop at fixed spots. It would be wrong to evaluate social initiatives like Sajha only in terms of their monetary returns. They offer flexible ticketing options and make sure the reserved seats are filled by the right persons. If people are satisfied by Sajha services, as seems to be the case at this initial stage, they have every right to choose it over other options on the road. It is natural for private transport operators to feel a little threatened by the new glitzy green vehicles of Sajha Yatayat. But rather than mutter under their breath at this ‘injustice’, they should take it as a wake-up call. They must realize that if they wish to stay relevant, they must dismantle the syndicates and compete on a level field to attract passengers. The degree of the state’s involvement in peoples’ daily affairs is a matter of great debate right across the world. Free-market fundamentalists tend to decry just about any kind of state intervention. While this hands-off policy might work in places with strong rule of law and robust regulatory measures, in a country like Nepal that is characterized by weak law enforcement and absence of oversight over private players, the government must take the lead to usher in vital social reforms. Sajha’s latest foray into urban transport is a case in point. It would be wrong to evaluate social initiatives like Sajha only in terms of their monetary returns, although there is no reason why the popular Sajha buses cannot be self-sustainable. Now that this wonderful initiative has been set in motion, there is a need to ensure its sustainability, through good times and bad, rather than abandon it at the first sign of hurdle, as has been the case many times in the past. And if they show no signs of reform, perhaps now is also the perfect time to take on the illegal transport syndicates. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53398 REMEMBERING MARGRET THATCHER The life and times of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who died two weeks ago evoke many strong sentiments among her supporters and detractors. I was not one of her fans. As someone with social-democratic leanings, I detested her tough conservative policies. Nicknamed the “Iron Lady”, her leadership style was harsh and uncompromising. Her socio-economic policies known as “Thatcherism” emphasized deregulation of the economy, less government, lower taxes, privatization of state-owned companies, more freedom for business and consumers, and weakening the power and influence of trade unions. Before she became Prime Minister, Thatcher was Secretary of State for Education and Science. In that capacity, she implemented harsh public expenditure cuts on education, including the abolition of free milk for school children. This provoked strong protests and earned her the moniker: “Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher”. Her cuts in higher education spending resulted in her being the first Oxford-educated post-war Prime Minister who was denied an honorary doctorate by Oxford University. Like her contemporary, US President Ronald Reagan, Thatcher opposed many aspects of the modern welfare state and Keynesian economic policies, advocating instead an ideologically unfettered capitalism. AP In international affairs, Thatcher aligned herself with Ronald Reagan’s combative distrust of Communism; opposed sanctions against the South African apartheid regime, and dismissed Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress as a “terrorist organization”. She showed strong antipathy towards European integration and opposed proposals for the European Union. As someone who generally stood for policies that were contrary to the cult of Thatcherism, I considered myself rather anti-Thatcherite and Reaganite. But a personal experience and exposure to Thatcher in 1990 gave me a more nuanced view of the kinder and gentler human side of this Iron Lady. Summit for Children The occasion was the World Summit for Children at the United Nations on September 30, 1990. As a senior UNICEF official, I was personally involved in organizing that historic Summit. It was the largest gathering of world leaders in history until that time. Never before had the UN hosted as many as 71 Heads of State and Government, and several hundred ministers, dignitaries and celebrities on one single occasion. I was personally involved in the substantive preparation of the Summit, having had the privilege of being a key drafter of the ‘World Declaration and Plan of Action for the Survival, Protection and Development of Children’ that the assembled leaders eventually endorsed. But our biggest challenge turned out to be the protocol and logistical arrangements which were unprecedented and daunting. As so many Presidents, Prime Ministers, Kings, Emirs and their spouses had never been to the UN at the same time previously, we had to figure out how to sequence the arrival and departure formalities for them. When Heads of State and Government visit the UN, there are no guards of honor or a 21-gun salute with pomp and ceremony as during their State visits. However, a minimal courtesy required was for all leaders to be personally greeted by the Secretary-General upon their arrival at the UN. But with 71 such leaders, it would take at least 2.5 hours even if we allowed only minutes each for their motorcade to enter the UN, for dignitaries to disembark, and for the Secretary-General to greet them, before the next motorcade arrived. Important leaders would naturally not wish to spend 2-3 hours twiddling their thumbs just waiting for the last leader to arrive before the Summit started. As all national leaders consider themselves as very busy VVIPs, Ambassadors of every country wanted their leader to be among the last one to arrive. A further complication in New York is that there are special security/protocol procedures for the US President. All traffic around the UN is completely “frozen” for about an hour before his arrival and departure at the UN, and there are no exceptions made. This meant that for a Summit scheduled to start at 10 am, if the US President arrived at 9:45 am, all other leaders had to be there by 8:45 am, which meant that the first of the 71 leaders had to be at the UN by 6:30 am and wait there till 10 am for the opening of the Summit. Understandably, we had a huge challenge to persuade any leader to be among the first to arrive. To tackle this problem we had to concoct a very creative solution. If one of the more important world leaders were persuaded to be at the UN that early, other leaders could possibly be persuaded to arrive early enough to have some personal time or “a bilateral meeting” with such a leader. But which important leader could be convinced to come that early? Next to President George H.W. Bush, who was scheduled to fly into New York to attend the Summit that morning, the most important leader confirmed to attend was British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. So we decided rather hesitantly to approach her through the British Ambassador to the UN and our contacts in London to explore if she could “do a very special favor to the children of the world” by being among the first leaders to arrive at the UN at around 6:30 am in the morning on the day of the Summit! To our pleasant surprise, Mrs. Thatcher agreed, as apparently she too wished to have a few bilateral meetings with some world leaders attending the Summit, and her handlers figured out that she would actually save some time by holding those meetings right at the UN instead of at her hotel or at the UK mission to the UN. Memorable Breakfast Delighted by this ingenious solution, we arranged for a special early morning buffet breakfast at the North Lounge of the General Assembly building, and framed the invitation as “Breakfast with Maggie” for any Head of State or Government who was willing to arrive early at the UN. Lo and behold, suddenly, there was no shortage of leaders who were eager to arrive at the UN even in the wee hours of the morning for this “special breakfast”. Thus our protocol and logistical problems were solved, with Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar—along with UNICEF’s Jim Grant, myself, and other senior UN officials present to meet and greet the leaders at the crack of dawn! For me, it was undoubtedly the most memorable breakfast of my life. It was fascinating to watch from the sidelines world leaders rubbing shoulders, and it was especially gratifying to witness the Iron Lady casting her charm with fellow leaders as she spoke with them in a very caring manner on the touchy-feely subject of children and their well-being. After the grand opening session at the General Assembly Hall, the “real Summit” took place at the ECOSOC Chamber which was specially refurbished for the occasion with a large square table (called the “round-table”) to seat exactly 72 persons—the 71 world leaders plus the UN Secretary-General. All other dignitaries sat in the outer circle and in the galleries. The proceedings of the Summit were carefully choreographed. To ensure that leaders did not give long country-specific statements, and to avoid repetition of general platitudes about children, the Summit agenda was divided into four specific themes. For the first time in the UN’s history, leaders were given a strict time limit of five minutes each for their remarks. Many diplomats protested such “unreasonable” time limit for their leaders, but as the Summit was only one day and there were around 80 speakers, there was no choice but to insist on such time limit. We were quite apprehensive that many leaders would not respect such time limit, but to our very pleasant surprise, almost all leaders stuck to the limit, and yet made very profound and pithy statements. Iron Lady, Human Heart One significant exception was Margaret Thatcher, who delivered her prepared statement in exactly five minutes, but then asked the Chair to grant her a few additional minutes to make some impromptu remarks on how very deeply moved and touched she had been by a special UNICEF video shown at the opening of the Summit. She exhorted to all leaders to take its message seriously and act accordingly. Her impromptu remarks were tender and heart-felt, acknowledging the most touching statements by other leaders like Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia, Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, and other war-torn countries. She even recited a lovely English poem with very motherly feelings. Coming from the “Iron Lady” who had been so gracious as to devote nearly three hours of her precious time entertaining all the early arriving leaders in the wee hours of the morning, the extra time given to her was happily accepted by everybody! http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53397 BHANUBHAKTA RAMAYAN The Ramayana was first written by Valmiki and spread all over the South Asian subcontinent, to the effect that over the years, many of its local versions are not really similar to the original. Of course, there are bound to be differences in language, and the other minutiae. But even aside from stylistic details, let us look at how our very own Bhanubhakta Ramayana compares to Valmiki Ramayana in some of the major turning points of the story. Most of the times, Bhanubhakta Ramayana retains the simplicity of Valmiki Ramayana, missing out on many dramatic details. For example, the sumptuous Swayamvar scene, in which Sita is given away in prize for breaking the Shiva dhanush, does not exist in Valmiki Ramayana. Janak is just demonstrating the bow to Ram when Ram accidentally breaks it, and the impressed Janak decides then and there to wed his daughter to this worthy man. Bhanubhakta follows suit by skipping the Swayamvar, which, according to some modern versions, was attended by Ravan himself. ARTOFLEGENDINDIA.COM Lakshman Rekha now defines Ramayan, and is immediately recognizable as one of its key parts. Hence, many readers will be surprised to hear that it does not exist in Valmiki Ramayana. In keeping with the original, Bhanubhakta also has Ravan introducing himself and then carrying Sita off by force, without an intermediary rekha. However, this part deviates significantly from the original in other ways. To recap, Laxman was standing guard over Sita while Ram was chasing a deer. After hearing Ram’s cries from the jungle, Sita exhorts Laxman to leave. In Bhanubhakta Ramayana, however, it is not the real Sita who forces Laxman to leave. Rama, being the omniscient god that he is, had already entrusted Sita to the safekeeping of the fire-god Agni, and created a shadow (chhaya) Sita out of Kusha grass. It is the same fake Sita who covets the golden deer, and speaks harsh words to Laxman. The Chhaya Sita serves many purposes in the story: first of all, it exonerates Sita of her crime of sending Ram after the deer, and also of speaking harsh words to Laxman (sexually explicit content, no less, where she accuses Laxman of lusting after her when Ram is away). Second, it categorically proves Sita’a purity, again, when she is asked to do so by Ram. The Sita who lived with Ravan was made of Kusha, and perishes in the Agni Pariksha. The real Sita, who, being safe with Agni, never even saw Ravan, is handed back to Ram by Agni at this moment. Chhaya Sita also highlights an important detail in which Bhanubhakta differs from Valmiki: Ram’s godhood, due to which he was able to foresee Sita’a abduction and thus make a duplicate of her. In Valmiki’s version, Ram goes through all his adventures as a man, but according to Bhanubhakta, he was born a full grown god, and only returned to childhood after his mother expressed a wish to watch him play as a child. After that, at every stage, Ram’s godhood is stressed to the point that it grates in the ears, especially in scenes where Ram is supposed to be emotional. When Ram leaves home, or when Sita is abducted, for example, and Rama starts weeping, Bhanubhakta says that he was “just acting” to appear human. Same thing when Laxman faints after a fatal arrow from Meghnad: he was just acting to appear human. This also means that the little details of Ram’s godhood that we took for granted do not appear in Valmiki Ramayana. The floating stones of Ram Setu, for example. Ram Setu does exist in Valmiki Ramayan, but is built by the gifted architect Nala, and is made of trees, vines and stones that are real and sinking. Bhanubhakta sticks to this version, but a normal, physical bridge is no fun at all, and a man who can make stones float must certainly be a god! So when the idea of the floating stones came around from India (specifically, from an eleventh century version by Tamil poet Kamban), they stuck, and people even began swearing that if “Ram” was written on a stone, it would float. And then there is Ram’s relationship with other characters in the story, that are supposed to be based on his godhood. Vibhishana, for example, is supposed to have recognized early on that Ram was a god, and exhorted Ravan to surrender. But according to Valmiki, Vibhishan was just a hungry man who allied with Ram for the throne of Lanka. Sugriv, similarly, did not worship Ram, but allied with him in a relationship of mutual gain: you kill my brother and give me a kingdom, I find your wife and defeat a kingdom. Quarrels and threats in this so-called relationship of “unending love” are aplenty, cleverly disguised by Bhanubhakta as a relationship between a lord and his devotee. Since Ram is so deified in Bhanubhakta’a version, it follows automatically that Ravan is vilified in contrast. When he comes to abduct Sita, he already knows what a wretched person he is, and how far out of his league Sita is. Before touching Sita, he rubs his hands in the mud, so that he does not sully Sita’s pure person with his touch. And later in Lanka, when Sita refuses his marriage proposal, Ravan threatens to fry her in hot oil and consume her with delicious spices! Such cannibalism was far from Valmiki’s vision of a gentlemanly Ravan! The differences between the simple Valmiki Ramayan and the richly embellished version that we know today are stark. Ravan’s attraction is turned down quite a bit from the original: Valmiki describes that when Hanuman saw Ravan for the first time, he was overwhelmed by the magnetic attraction of Ravan’s regal personality. But of course, Bhanubhakta affords him no words of praise. On the other hand, Ravan’s ferocity is played up quite a bit: his years long tapasya that grant him a boon of invincibility (a clause that can suspiciously be fulfilled only by Ram), his ten heads, and the source of amrit at his navel, are all later inventions that find a prominent place in Bhanubhakta’a version. In Valmiki’s story, Ravan is just a king, and though powerful, he is mortal, has just one head, and the gods have no idea of how his future will unfold. Ram wins the war by dint of his courage and battle skills, not through the knowledge of Ravan’s (non-existent) secrets. When we look at the simple Valmiki Ramayan, and the richly embellished version that we know today, the difference is stark. Later folk additions have given it flavors, enriching the bare bones sketched by Valmiki. It is hard to say which story is the “true” story, because Ramayan is as much folklore as literature. It is the folklore additions that have often captured our imagination so well that they have come to define our understanding of the story and of the social values it expounds. However, what these differences do tell us is that our religious stories are made by human beings, over time, in clearly visible delineations. From a simple adventure story, Ramayan became a religious story that was the object of intense devotion, and the values it endorses changed likewise. It was not handed down by “god”, and hence, it is useless to cling rigidly to any one version of them as the “ultimate truth”. Myths and the morals they preach are made to fit social norms of a particular time, and may easily be reconstructed from time to time to fit changing social settings. sewa.bhattarai@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53396 CONFESSION PAGES IN FACEBOOK Social Media trends offer some unique experiences to the users. Confession pages, a new social media fad, are mushrooming these days. Though there is no actual evidence of how and where the global trend of confession pages started, the trend in Nepal is seen to be influenced by confessions pages in educational institutions of the US and India. Over the last month, several confession pages have been started by anonymous users in the name of various educational institutions in Kathmandu. The anonymity of these pages is their core appeal. Lively anonymous posts collected from online forums are posted in facebook pages, which have become the new hangout destinations for a large number of youngsters. CARDINALNEWMANSOCIETY.ORG Page visitors wait for the mysterious admin to post new content. Their interest in reading more confessions is evident on the walls of such pages. The deluge of comments requesting the admin to post new content is an example of the craze. These kinds of pages provide students both the opportunity and the risk of expressing things they would not share with otherwise. The use of technology as tool to raise a voice of protest is not new. Several political changes including the Arab Spring used technology as a powerful tool. In Nepal too, we have witnessed the positive use of technology for social causes. However, the recent trend is very new to the education sector. Such pages not only provide a platform to confess personal feelings but also act as a podium for students to express their views publicly on diverse issues. Out of 80 randomly chosen confession posts from 8 different confession pages based in Kathmandu, 38 percent were related to love and liking, 22 percent complained about teachers and schools, 19 percent were negative statements of hatred while another 19 percent were alumni who talked about their memories, and two percent were about other subjects. The trend clearly shows us that love and mismanagement of educational institutions are not the only issues discussed. These pages also contain information that could ruin the image of a person in a single moment. Statements of hatred and negativity can be found all over the pages. This kind of negativity is establishing itself as a new way of bullying. The pages could also easily damage the hard-earned reputation of educators and educational institutions. These pages do not violate the rules of Facebook so long as the contents remain within the bounds of civility. Students who set up confessional pages must do so under their real names, as per Facebook policy. But they can choose to cloak their identity as page administrators. Tackling these confession pages is likely to be a challenge to the regulatory authorities due to their anonymity. On a different note, these pages have empowered students with a unique and powerful tool which never existed in the past. Students have been using the tool to raise a voice against the malpractices at their institutions. Their posts range from complaining about the teaching-learning style at their educational institution to making fun of a particular teacher’s teaching style. But in the big picture, these forums not only provide a platform for students to express their dissatisfaction, but also point out the urgent need to understand students’ perspective in education. This will also democratize educational institutions and increase their accountability. The power not only resides with students, this tool equally serves as a window for educators and educational institutions. It creates an opportunity to the educators to review their own activities from the perspective of the students and understand their psychology. Hence, it serves as a learning opportunity for educators and educational institutions as well. The author is the President of YUWA and assists Professor Mitchell Duneier in an online course offered by Princeton University dipendra@YUWA.org.np http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53304 Earthquake preparedness The country is consumed by the prospect of new Constituent Assembly polls. Everywhere, people are debating whether there will actually be an election by December. If yes, who do they vote for? Newspapers are filled with stories about the election commission’s preparations (or lack of it). Lost in this cacophony are other matters of even greater concern, like the country’s wretched earthquake preparedness. The recent whopper on the Iran-Pakistan border doesn’t seem to have exactly scared the daylights out of the concerned authorities here. It should have. Nepal’s lack of earthquake preparedness should be a national scandal. Kathmandu, the most earthquake-prone city in the world, also ranks among the most unprepared to face the challenges posed by a big quake. In the event of an earthquake measuring 8 (or higher) in the Richter scale, up to 60 percent of all infrastructure in the valley could be flattened; 60,000 people are projected to die. Emergency services would be crippled; vital information links broken. It would be mayhem all around. In order to minimize damages from future earthquakes, the government is reportedly bringing out a new guideline to retrofit buildings. Currently, more than two-thirds of all constructed buildings and infrastructures in the country are deemed seismically unsafe, all built without adhering to the National Building Code (NBC). But whether the new guidelines will actually strengthen current and future infrastructure remains a big question. After all, NBC, enacted as far back as 2003, is yet to make any discernable impact on infrastructure safety, expect for a few pockets like Dharan which have been able to enforce the code rigorously. There is no reason Dharan’s success cannot be replicated in rest of Nepal. But unlike Dharan, which bore the brunt of the 1998 earthquake which killed 700 people nationwide, the rest of the country does not seem to have woken up to the grave risks of sitting on NBC in perpetuity. Most urban settlements are bobby traps, awaiting the trail of destruction that could come anytime. Let there be no doubt of the scale of the crisis at hand. If the CA polls cannot be held this year, the country would undoubtedly be in deep trouble. But in the event of a 7.8 earthquake (the scale of Tuesday’s earthquake on Iran-Pakistan border), the damages would be bigger still. Yet most urban settlements continue to be bobby traps, awaiting the inevitable trail of destruction that could come calling, anytime. Neither is there the political will to carry out this difficult, but very doable task, nor is there the desired level of public awareness on building safety. Precautionary measures to be adopted during earthquakes (including the now famous duck-hold-cover technique) have received plenty of hype, but the even more vital task of strengthening existing and future infrastructure seems to have gotten relatively less attention. If the message of the great dangers posed by unsafe buildings makes the public panic, so be it. If the price of making people do the right thing for themselves, their families and the society is spreading a bit of panic, it is a price worth paying. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53303 GREEN SPACES IN CITIES With ever increasing population, the urban areas of Nepal are becoming the unhealthiest places to live in. Health statistics show an alarming rise in mental problems, depression, hypertension, and heart and respiratory problems in urban people of all ages. Open green space is a key contributor to quality of urban life, which is otherwise highly stressed. Such open spaces or parks are needed to ensure that cities remain economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable. Public parks with grass fields, shrubs, flowers and trees not only add to the aesthetics of a city, but also provide a social meeting place, relaxation spot, dating spot, and venue for games and exercise. The young can jog, the elderly can do yoga, the retired can sit with their colleagues and improve community harmony, and lovebirds can pass time in each other’s company. Such parks help maintain the balance of oxygen in air and balance the ecosystem. Nepal’s 2011 census report shows that 4.5 million people are living in 58 municipalities, which is 17 percent of the total population. A sharp increase in urban population was seen in a more recent census, indicating that unmanaged population is creeping into urban areas without proper plans for drinking water, drainages, roads and greenery in the cities. Most of the existing municipalities have been classified urban merely due to their population size, though they lack the basic requirements for a city. Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), being the most planned, cultured, historic city of Nepal, and the richest in resources due to its status as the capital city, should have been an exemplary city for emerging cities—but in fact it is the most haphazard city. Park at bay in Singapore. (Photo: Vikash Satyal) There are virtually no public parks in KMC. Early in the morning we can see Tudikhel bustling with joggers and yoga practitioners. For most citizens of KMC, it is the only open space where they can breathe. However, it is not a park. Ratnapark was smashed a few years ago. The three remaining public gardens: Balaju Park, Tribhuvan Park and Sankha Park, serve their purpose, but their size and location makes them less significant. Open public parks accentuate every city of the world. Our neighboring countries India and China are developing not only in socio-economic standards, but also in urban greenery. Bangalore and Shanghai are emerging green cities. In India, in the last decade, awareness for the need of green cities has established ‘Park & Garden Society’ which is assimilated in urban planning so that greenery is maintained in all new urban planning. Currently about 297 sq km of Delhi is green, and it is estimated that in Delhi, 22 sq m green space is available to each individual on average. When I visited Delhi a few years ago, I was surprised to find a park every five minutes. Some of these parks were small, the size of Ratnapark, and some like Swarna Jayanti Park were about five times the size of Tudikhel. Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, was modernized after independence. Now 57 percent of its area is covered in greenery. Similarly, Bangalore, the city of gardens, has more than 700 parks. The little patch of land called Singapore has no water resource of its own, and buys water from Malaysia. It recycles and conserves almost all rainfall and water reserves. It is said that it does not waste even a single drop of water. It was Lee Kuan Yew who in 1968 initiated the vision of Singapore as a garden city, that now, through “Gardens by the Bay” project, has made the city the greenest of the world. It has achieved this by improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emission, preserving biodiversity, and increasing greenery at every possible place: on roads, terraces, roofs, and bay areas. KMC is spread over 50 sq km. According to official sources, one million people lived here in 2011. However, unofficial sources have estimated that more than the same number of additional people always resides in the city as temporary dwellers. The city lacks many prerequisite for healthy living such as adequate drinking water, clean roads, and pollution-free environment. In addition, it has nearly exhausted all its natural resources. It has lost open spaces, green areas and natural water in rivers and ponds. This is the result of our greed and selfishness, of thinking only about our family and not about the larger community. KMC has less than 2 sq km of public green space, including Shankha Park, Balaju Park, and Ratna Park. What is more frustrating is that there is no initiative for green space in our ongoing urban development plans. Even the concept of ‘two trees per house’ seems to be just one slogan among many, never implemented. We have recently seen many roads widen in KMC, but there are no plans to make them green and healthy. To resolve the continuously worsening problems of air, water and garbage in KMC, what we need right away is an integrated urban development approach with environmental protection as an inseparable constituent, with special focus on public parks. To clean our body and mind, we need one public park in each tole. The author is professor of Statistics at Tribhuvan University vrsatyal@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53244 First mathematics olympiad Our education system is often derided for its focus on rote-learning and for failing to promote hands-on learning or vital life skills. But by virtue of this same kind of learning, our education system also produces students with special expertise, in subjects that call for rigorous learning like mathematics, science, spelling and general knowledge. Maybe for that reason, Asian youngsters regularly top spelling and mathematics competitions organized abroad. Technical departments of many foreign universities are overflowing with Asian students, and eventually, Asian graduates in technical subjects like physics and IT are deemed very competent in the international market. But in Nepal, such kind of talent is rarely recognized, outside of regular academic report cards, and children gifted in a specific area may not even realize their talent until it is too late. But all that is set to change soon. In February, Bloom Nepal held the first ever Mathematics Olympiad for high school students, and awarded the winners recently on April 14. The competition tested students on advanced mathematical capabilities. Even though international competitions of this kind were sporadically hosted by select Nepali institutions in the past, this was the first competition that invited students from all over Nepal to compete. It was held in centers all over the country, in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Pokhara, Butwal, Surkhet, Bharatpur and Dang, instead of just in the capital. Seven hundred students registered for the event, which the organizers believe is quite encouraging, given the fact that it was the first such competition. Bloom Nepal also hopes to eventually send winners to international competitions. Such a competition bodes well for Nepali students, and will be helpful in honing their skills in specific subjects. Bloom Nepal has awarded the first three students with cash prizes of Rs. 50,000, 30,000, and 20,000 respectively. Research says that recognition, more than any other reward, motivates people to do better. Hence, recognizing their talents is bound to motivate students to pursue their desired area of expertise further. Besides, nurturing talent from young age will ultimately help students gain a high level of proficiency in their subject of interest, as well as giving a boost to their careers. Because such competitions were unheard of in Nepal until recently, Nepali students, due to lack of basic training, have rarely participated in international competitions of this sort. If such competitions can motivate Nepali students to work on their talents, eventually they can also help students gain international exposure and prove their talent on wider forums, and open up new doors of opportunities in international education institutions. In fact, Nepal needs to have more such competitions in different fields in order to showcase the best products of its education system. We need to recognize and promote students who excel in fields like spelling, general knowledge and the sciences, of which there are aplenty in Nepal, and competitions of this sort are the best way to go about it. We wish Bloom Nepal the best in helping students attain their potential, and hope this competition inspires students and entrepreneurs alike to foster an environment of creativity and excellence in Nepal. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53243 As we bid farewell to 2069 and welcome the New Nepali Year 2070, everyone is asking: which way is Nepali politics headed? Human development is a continuum of the past, present and future and its course is determined by present actions, again based on past experiences, to shape the future. So the course of Nepali politics in the coming days will also depend on how Nepal’s rulers, leaders and intellectuals comprehend and manage the three significant processes of change affecting Nepali politics, economy and society for the last several decades: namely, a viable restructuring of society and the state for better sharing of political power and economic benefits based both on equity and merit; completing the peace process; and institutionalizing popular aspirations for peace and democracy through the promulgation of a new democratic constitution. While the overall political course of the past has been mixed, there is one part of Nepal’s peace process which has been completed and deserves reflections. This two-part article is devoted to analyzing how this became possible. Managing ex-combatants Unlike the Constituent Assembly (CA), the Special Committee, the body with the political-constitutional mandate for the Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation (SIR) of the Maoist Army Combatants (MACs) was dissolved after completing its work at the end of 2069. Of the 19,602 MACs verified by the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), 1,400 (70 officers and other low-ranking personnel) selected for integration into the Nepal Army (NA) are now undergoing training. Those who chose voluntary exit with cash payments have returned to civilian lives. The seven main cantonments and 21 satellite camps along with the weapons in containers are now safely in possession of the State. As such, a vital part of Nepal’s peace process has been completed. Why did SIR succeed amidst the faltering politics in Nepal? REPUBLICA Political leadership Management, Integration and Rehabilitation (MIR) of rebel army combatants are vital to post-conflict peace building. The success of the whole peace process rests on this. Successful MIR depends on many things, but political leadership is the key. SIR of the MACs could not have succeeded without it. Coordinating role of the Prime Ministers, ability of the members of the Special Committee and their access to top party leadership was vital. Willingness of the leaders to listen to the professionals and go beyond narrow political dogmas and party positions were also important. Of course, cooperation of the new NA leadership, goodwill of the international community and supportive role of India contributed positively too. Why did these things come together in SIR while not elsewhere in Nepali politics? Intellectual ownership With many internal conflicts and growing interest and role of the international community in their resolution, a large body of research is available on MIR of rebel army combatants. Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) and Security Sector Reform (SSR) are the most frequently used tools. As these concepts were developed in one set of circumstances but as the nature of each internal conflict and terms of their resolution are different, successful SIR of the MACs called for skillful application of the toolkits available internationally or taking of national ownership through the application of new ideas. It was a miracle that nothing untoward happened when UNMIN left and Secretariat was supposed to start the monitoring. In Nepal, initially the Maoists did not want to hear of DDR while other parties rejected any SSR. So, the DDR-SSR debate delayed the Integration and Rehabilitation process. Had the SIR been completed quickly as envisaged in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) or at least prior to the CA election, Nepal’s politics would have moved forward or at least not encountered the problems it is facing today. This author has argued all along that the DDR-SSR debate would take us nowhere and identified numbers, norms, modalities and ranks as the core issues on which agreement was needed. (See Integration and rehabilitation, The Kathmandu Post May 19, 2010). Amidst such delays UNMIN’s mandate was terminated. Gradually discussions both inside the Special Committee and outside started moving beyond the DDR-SSR mantras with greater focus on core issues. The cantonments were handed over to the Special Committee. A separate NC directorate with four core functions was proposed to accommodate the MACs. The Technical Committee was transformed into the Secretariat and one of its members, a retired Lt. General of the NA with experience in UN peace keeping was appointed the Coordinator. The homework on rehabilitation and Cash-for-Peace (payments for MACs wishing to leave the camps voluntarily) packages started in earnest. A 24-7 Situation Centre was established at the Secretariat and teams composed of the NA, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and the MACs replaced the UNMIN monitors. A new code of conduct for the MACs was also finalized. A lot of work was done and even more significantly, the fear that the whole peace process would unravel after UNMIN left was disproved. But there was no real progress on the ground. As I have argued elsewhere (The New Spotlight, Sept 30, 2011), even at the end of 2011, the state was spending a lot of its vital resources while the MACs suffered the indignities of life in temporary camps, as well as an uncertain future. Handover of cantonments made headlines but there was no clarity on the chain of command and reporting. It was a miracle that nothing untoward happened after UNMIN left and Secretariat was supposed to have started the monitoring work. But the Secretariat had been unable to fulfill its core TOR, ascertain the actual number of MACs in the camps and prepare profiles for integration and rehabilitation. Discussion on weapons had not even started. Politicians expected input from experts to move the process forward while the secretariat leadership was happy to wait for instructions. No wonder the deadlock on core issues continued. The author was a member of the Secretariat of the Special Committee for the Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of the Maoist Army This is the first of a two-part article. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53242 BUDDHA’S BIRTHPLACE For those of us who grew up learning and believing with certitude that Lord Buddha was born in Nepal, News 24’s record-breaking television program “Lord Buddha was Born in Nepal” last week was but a retelling of a historical fact. It is globally accepted that Buddha was born in Nepal. UNESCO has recognized Lumbini as one of the world heritage sites and the birthplace of Lord Buddha. So was such publicity necessary? I believe given the proliferation of propaganda on Buddha’s India birth, such an effort to reinforce the truth was long overdue. The historical fact about Buddha’s birthplace has been distorted and falsified, by design or default, by writers, intellectuals, filmmakers and textbook publishers—especially those based in India. Here is an overview of this intellectual dishonesty. Some of the all-time bestselling books in the world support this falsity: Jawaharlal Nehru’s Glimpses of World History (1934), Charles Van Doren’s History of Knowledge (1991) and Fareed Zakaria’s Post-American World (2008) are perhaps the most-notable examples. All three claim that Buddha was born in India. It seems the Indian establishment is bent on proving it through every means possible. Peter J Karthak, an eminent writer and senior copy editor at Republica, shared with me what may sound like a strange anecdote. Karthak was working with the Bangkok-based newspaper The Nation sometime during the late 80s. He wrote a story about Lumbini stating that Buddha was born in Nepal. When the story was published then Indian ambassador to Thailand telephoned the editor to mildly reprimand him: “You should not have published that story.” The editor clarified that it was a historical fact. The envoy insisted “Still, you should not have published that story.” AFP Children in India are taught that Buddha was born in India. Some private schools in Nepal do the same. DAV School of Lalitpur was in news last month for using textbooks which mentioned that Lord Buddha was born in India and that Mt. Everest is located in India as well. Nikhil Advani’s Bollywood blockbuster Chandani Chowk to China reiterates the same claim (the movie caused quite a stir in Kathmandu in January 2009). As if all this were not enough, India has established a fake Lumbini and Tilaurakot in Aligadhawa, in Siddharthanagar district of Uttar Pradesh which abuts Kapilbastu. To add credence to this false premise, India has rechristened Piparhawa of that region as Kapilbastu. The fake Lumbini, say Indian news reports, receives a hoard of Buddhist pilgrims who go there to witness Buddha’s birth place. Such misrepresentation, misreporting and falsification of truth is a crime. In post-colonial literary discourse it is known as what Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak calls “epistemic violence”—that is violence on knowledge, truth and reality. So how should Nepal respond? There are many schools of thought. According to one, we need not fuss over Indian propaganda about Buddha’s birthplace, because 2558 years ago when Siddhartha Guatama was born, there did not exist the present-day Nepal. The present day Kapilbastu, Tilaurakot and Nepal as a whole, so goes the argument, was part of the Indian subcontinent. After all, Nepal of mythology and ancient history was Kathmandu Valley, Kapilbastu was not a part of it. Therefore to react to such a claim is to display intellectual immaturity. The second view holds that Buddha’s birth in Nepal is a historical accident, and as such nothing to take pride in. If there is one thing that still unites Nepalis even in these divisive times, it is our rich culture and civilization. Both these schools of thoughts are dangerous and need to be tackled head-on. The propaganda claims and books mentioned above came out long after Nepal’s present-day geographical boundaries had been settled following the 1816 Sugauli Treaty. So Lumbini has been a part of Nepal for at least the last 200 years. Granted that Nepal was part of the Indian subcontinent 2,558 years ago, but even then the subcontinent was known as Bharat Barsha, not India. Besides, the strongest evidence of Lumibini as Buddha’s birthplace is the Ashoka pillar. What can legitimately be claimed is that although Buddha was born in Lumbini, which was formerly a part of Bharat Barsha and falls in present-day Nepal, he achieved enlightenment in Gaya which is in present day India. But to claim that Buddha was born in India would be as big an intellectual dishonesty as claiming that Christ was born in Iraq, formerly a part of the great Mesopotamian Empire, not in Bethlehem. Imagine the stir it would cause if someone were to distort this historical fact. If India still wishes to stick to “born in India” claim, it will have to disown the great Mauryan emperor Ashoka who authenticated Lumbini as Buddha’s birthplace, and whose chakra (Ashoka chakra) is used as an emblem in the Indian national flag. It is not for these historic reasons alone that we need to reaffirm the truth about Buddha’s birthplace. We are living through one of the most troubled periods in the country’s history. Our politics is in disarray, economy in ruins, and foreign intervention at an all-time high. In this climate of flux, cases of border encroachment by India are on the rise. If there is anything that all Nepalis can still take pride in, it is our rich cultural and civilization legacy, which still has the potential to unite us even in these divisive times. Hence it is our responsibility to protect this glory by telling the world loud and clear that Buddha was born in Nepal. Silence could be suicidal. We need to talk and fight the propagandists by disseminating more information about Buddha’s Nepali origin. We can do so by getting responsible officials from the Indian establishment to acknowledge the historical fact. When Rajiv Gandhi visited Nepal in the capacity of India’s prime minister in the late 80s, he affirmed Nepal’s claim to being the Buddha’s birthplace (a fact revealed during the marathon talk show). Indian ambassador to Nepal, Jayant Prasad, himself admitted in the show that Buddha was born in Nepal. Our next attempt should be directed at making the writers and publishers of books with false claim on Buddha’s birthplace correct their mistakes. At a personal level, Rabi Lamichhane, the presenter of the talk show, may have won a Guinness World Records certificate for breaking the record for the longest TV talk show. But through his personal initiative he has also shown how propagandists can be deterred from further falsifying historical facts about the Light of Asia. mbpoudyal@yahoo.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53241 ADULTERATED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES The fruits and vegetables we purchase from our local markets and consume as unavoidable constituents of our everyday diet are actually feeding on us. What we are getting in return for a hard-hitting struggle to cope with the ever-escalating prices of staple food items is food that could actually be killing us. The seemingly perfect and alluring vegetables and fruits we see in the market owe their leafy, ripe and plump appearance to hazardous pesticides and chemicals that unnaturally expedite their growth, if not ripen them overnight. Adding to the damage done by hazardous chemicals used while the fruits and vegetables are growing, coloring agents and artificial sweeteners are then put to use. What is more, fruits like apples and pears are further glazed, with substances that have calamitous health consequences, in order to enhance appearance and lengthen preservation time. As we purchase and consume such low quality food, not only are we being blatantly stripped of our rights as consumers, but also having our health and lives seriously threatened. 4.BP.BLOGSPOT.COM It is what we eat that affects our heath the most. In the case of fruits and vegetables that sell in our markets, negatively so. What we take to be nutritional power houses that gratify our taste buds and fulfill our nutritional requirements are in fact deceitful. Along with causing short term effects like skin irritation and vomiting, consumption of food grown with pesticides and chemicals can have severe long term effects like immune suppression, hormone disruption and reproductive abnormalities. The carcinogenic effects of the consumption of such low-quality food can lead to stomach and liver diseases as well as various cancers. A long term exposure to such foods, even in low doses, can also have teratogenic effects that lead to physical deformities and mutagenic effects that affect genetic makeup in the long term. The many instances we have heard of farmers facing harsh health hazards caused by long term exposure to the harmful pesticides and chemicals they use in their produce further illustrates the severity of the issue. With agriculture being the only income generating source for over 60 percent of the population (Ministry of Agriculture, GON), the implied competitiveness has resulted in dire consequences. Whether it be because of lack of knowledge and awareness, or sheer heedlessness, the abuse of pesticides and growth expediting chemicals like Oxytocin by farmers is rampant. Rarely, if ever, do they read the labels on pesticide containers to check for expiry dates, usage directions and dosage limits and warnings. Most cannot distinguish between fungicides, herbicides, pesticides and rodenticides, and use them at random. During monsoons, when plant infestation is at its peak, such pesticides and growth expediting chemicals are used even more. Not only are some of these chemicals used by farmers extremely hazardous, but also globally banned. With the rapid increase in availability and transaction of pesticides, there is little hope that the scenario will get better. Pesticide revenue in Nepal in the previous year amounted to a staggering 490 million; more than twice the figure four years ago. The open border we share with India has also heightened the import of pesticides and hazardous chemicals to a great degree. Not only are we blatantly stripped of our rights as consumers, but also have our health and lives seriously threatened. Like with every other issue, feeble implementation has rendered futile the laws enacted to regulate the use of hazardous pesticides and chemicals and ensure food safety. The Pesticide Act (2048) and the Pesticide Rules (2050), include provisions that necessitate the registration of pesticides before their import, export, production, purchase, sale and use, as well as the obtaining of ‘pesticide retailer’ licenses, ‘pesticide spray entrepreneur’ licenses, and ‘pesticide synthesizer licenses’. As per the Act, people carrying out transactions of pesticides without appropriate licenses and those that deal with illegal, substandard and date-expired pesticides are subject to a fine of five thousand rupees at most. The Act also allows for ‘pesticide inspectors’ to monitor the use of pesticides and seize them as and when required. The ultimate investigating and decision making authority in cases brought up by the ‘pesticide inspector’, however, rests with the CDO who is least likely to prioritize the issue given his schedule and workload. Rarely, if ever, have offenders been penalized on the grounds of the Act. Furthermore, neither the Food Act (2052) nor the Consumer Protection Act (2054) extends to the ambit of artificially grown produce like fruits and vegetables. As for growth expediting chemicals like Oxytocin, no laws prohibit their use exclusively. The lack of exclusive laboratory facilities for testing food quality has also aided to the fostering of low quality fruits and vegetables in the market. It goes without saying that the need for proper training and awareness programs on the usage of pesticides and other chemicals is pressing. We need laws that not only limit the sale but also the purchase of such substances by farmers, and specify the maximum usage limits of pesticides for produce according to the time they take to mature. Also, an increment in the fine limit is necessary to control the soaring ‘business’ of illegal chemicals and pesticides. The need for routine monitoring and checks, both at vegetable and fruit markets for substandard products, as well as at Indo-Nepal borders for illegal trade of hazardous pesticides and chemicals, is also crucial. The author is a law student thapa.sudeshna@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53189 PKD’s third journey to China Pushpa Kamal Dahal must by now be aware of the great perils of alienating India. In 2009, it was under India’s pressure that he had to resign as the prime minister following his ham-fisted attempt to sack then Army Chief Rookmangud Katawal. New Delhi, spooked by the audacious move of the Maoist chief and till the time still the nominal head of the PLA, intervened to check Maoist inroads into the national army. It feared the greater ramification of the Maoist ‘coup’ on the Naxalite movement in India. Since then the Maoist chief has always had a difficult relationship with New Delhi. In recent times, Dahal has made a deliberate attempt to mend the frayed ties with India by his unequivocal backing of all bilateral measures proposed by the Bhattarai government. He has also been at pains to prove that he is a changed person, even accepting that the attempt at forced removal of Katawal was his biggest mistake as government head. Dahal once again has rumor mills churning with his third visit to the People’s Republic of China since the Maoists came onboard in 2006. It is worth recalling that breaking with the tradition of elected Nepali prime ministers visiting New Delhi in their inaugural foreign trip, Dahal decided to start his premiership by visiting Beijing. On the other hand, it is intriguing that during his 19 months as prime minister, Baburam Bhattarai never visited China, and over the years the JNU-educated Bhattarai has made no attempt to hide his proclivity towards India. Although Dahal is scheduled to visit New Delhi immediately upon his return from China, New Delhi’s concerns about his democratic credentials and his penchant for the Mao’s land is likely to persist, as the Maoist chief has once again picked Beijing over New Delhi. Symbolism is everything in diplomacy. China clearly sees Dahal as future leadership material, and is keen to press home its advantage of close ties with Nepali Maoists on Tibet. Beijing’s concerns have been heightened following the recent spate of self-immolations by Free Tibet activists in the region, including Nepal. On Nepal’s side, although the purported reason behind the China trip is establishment of greater economic ties between the two countries and garnering support for CA polls, Dahal will undoubtedly look to consolidate his image as the preeminent political leader of post-2008 Nepal who is once again destined for higher office. Also on the agenda would be enhancing the ties between the Communist Party of China and UCPN (Maoist), the biggest political outfits in respective countries. Dahal’s success is likely to be determined by how he handles his relation with New Delhi. By once again preferring Beijing over New Delhi, Dahal is perhaps looking to play up one of his major differences with his vice-chair. But political leaders playing favorites with our two big neighbors will do no one any good. Dahal is bang on when he says the support of both India and China will be crucial for successful CA polls and national development. But whether he likes it or not, Dahal’s success as a statesman is likely to be determined by how he handles his at times prickly relation with New Delhi. His China visit will be closely followed in the corridors of the South Block. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53188 I have never met Pranchanda, never shaken his hand, never looked him in the eye and told him what I think. On two occasions, I came close. Let me start with the second occasion first. November 2008. Prachanda was visiting Delhi as the head of Nepal’s delegation to the second summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). I had gone to the Oberoi to meet a visiting minister of Prachanda’s delegation. I called from the lobby and was asked to go to the floor where the minister was staying. “Hurry,” the security person, who answered the phone, said. Once off the elevator at the floor, the security screened me quickly, almost perfunctorily, and asked me to turn left into the hallway. “Quickly, quickly,” he said, far less politely than he had been on the phone earlier. As I turned into the hallway, I realized what the need for haste had been about. Prachanda was about to arrive. Security wanted the hallway clear. REPUBLICA Prachanda stepped off the elevator flanked by a posse of security and an aide carrying a large bouquet of flowers. For a man with an assumed title of ‘Fierce One,’ Prachanda had a surprisingly disarming visage, a charming smile and a radiance that was unmistakable even in the fluorescent lit hallway of the Oberoi. But I was distracted by the flowers. Many years later, when recounting the story to a friend over a beer, I would jokingly remark, “All Nepali leaders invariably go to Delhi with great aspirations for this or that agreement and all they return home with is a bouquet of flowers. At least the flowers are damn nice and probably smell good for days.” At the BIMSTEC summit in Delhi, Pranchanda’s address contained an invitation to invest in hydropower in Nepal. Two months earlier, during his first state visit to India, opportunities in Nepal’s hydro had also been his key message for Indian businesses. Within the next five years, Kathmandu would begin to post daily power cuts of 16 hours. September 2008. I first saw Prachanda in person in Delhi during his state visit to India. I was on my way to work when I learned that Prachanda would be addressing Indian businesses in Hotel TajMansingh. I turned around, drove to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and finagled an invitation to the event. The event started with speeches from several Indian and Nepali industry representatives. Nobody was listening. Everyone’s attention was on the man in the centre of the dais wearing a finely cut suit with a large double-knotted red silk tie, who sat there without distraction patiently waiting his turn at the podium. Will he speak in English or Nepali, I wondered. “Nepal is in a very delicate and sensitive transition period,” Prachanda began in English when it was his turn to speak. From there he launched briefly into an attack on the old regime and how they were continuing to be an obstacle to Nepal’s transition, before focusing the rest of his speech on business issues. The monarchy had been vanquished. Nepal had been declared a secular state. Prachanda was firmly in place as Prime Minister and head of the government. Who was this old regime that still kept tripping him up, I wondered. I looked around the room. Every member of the Nepali business delegation that had accompanied the Prime Minister on his visit had benefited to some extent from dispensation from previous regimes. Should they be held liable for the follies of the old regime? I looked at myself. I would be foolish to believe that I’ve not benefited somehow, directly or indirectly, from my relative position of privilege in the hierarchy of Nepal’s unequal society. Would I be held liable for the follies of the old regime? I would never have slung a rifle and followed Prachanda in his war. I would never have condoned the violence he unleashed. I would never have joined the YCL. But I, and possibly many others like me, welcomed the socio-economic-political changes that Prachanda ushered in. Centuries of deeply entrenched inequality and injustice needed to be challenged. Prachanda, from his humble beginnings as a school teacher, had done what was unimaginable in Nepali society. But as I listened to Prachanda highlight the challenges and factions that undermined his stewardship of the country, I saw a leader, who after having won a long and bitter struggle, hadn’t quite realized what he had accomplished. He was still looking back, not forward, caught up in the same grouses of the past that he had already overcome. Prachanda sounded like a revolutionary in search of an enemy. Perhaps, it hadn’t occurred to him that he was already the victor. That afternoon, while the world media reported about a Maoist Prime Minister seeking private sector investments for Nepal, I heard a man who disappointed many young Nepalis. Over the next few years, Prachanda would squander the opportunity to build on the achievements of his struggle. Instead of emerging as a statesman, he would allow himself to be ensnared in the web of Kathmandu’s intrigue. Today, he is almost indistinguishable from the rest of the bickering political class. Prachanda’s politics has changed. His party has formally discarded revolutionary methods and adopted “peace and constitution” (though many continue to doubt that intent). He has effectively lost his army. He’s more a champion of federalism based on ethnic identities, than a communist revolutionary. But his narrative has failed to catch up. Prachanda had a clear narrative for his war. It was based on one enemy that symbolized decades of accumulated injustice and inequality. The war is now over. The enemy has been vanquished. Everyone’s attention was on the man in the dais wearing a finely cut suit with a red silk tie, patiently waiting for his turn. Prachanda needs a different narrative, a healing narrative that is inclusive. He needs a narrative that builds on the equality he has promised, that guarantees peace and security for all, and offers a path to economic prosperity that meaningfully touches everyone. Last year, Prachanda opened the Guerrilla Trek, which passes through several areas that witnessed the most intense fighting in central and western Nepal. Maybe the boots of time will eventually heal the wounds that those places suffered. But for the present, he needs a narrative to unite a fractured nation. At the end of an outstandingly well scripted piece for Caravan in February 2013, Deepak Adhikari, the author, asks Prachanda how he would like to be remembered. “As a person who played a role in ushering in an epochal change in Nepal,” Prachanda responds. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in Nepal being bitter about the changes that Prachanda ushered in. Some 20,000 people died in the war. I would like to spend the rest of my life honoring and celebrating the sacrifices of all those who lost their lives to give us a better Nepal. I would like to spend the rest of my life celebrating Prachanda’s achievement for the better Nepal it gave us. Please give me a narrative that I can believe. The author is a consultant on energy and environment bishal_thapa@hotmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53187 DOMINATION OF WOMEN We know that primitive societies had a communal mode of production, which meant that there was no stratification in their society, it was classless. Men were physically stronger, so they hunted, while women, being biologically weaker, performed other tasks like looking after children and gathering produce to eat. In those days, there was no legitimate father of a child. Because people lived together in communes, even the mother had no idea of the real father of her baby. Babies used to belong to the entire commune. Women could accept or reject their mating partners by choice. With the emergence of agrarian society, people started cultivating animals in their field. Since then, men who were stronger began possessing woman as their private property. Such individualistic mode of production gave rise to a patriarchal society and institutionalized marriage, which became instrumental in women’s domination. In all ages, women are the center of attraction, and they are characterized by love and care. With the passage of time, they acquire different social roles like that of a daughter, sister, friend, wife, mother, and grandmother. Every man is related to a woman, Hindus believe that a woman is “Ardhangini,” half of a male body. Hindus define female as divine and creative, but they also have shameful stories like the Ramayana, where Sita was asked to walk into fire to prove her sexual purity. No man has ever been examined by a woman for his sexual purity and virginity. F0.BCBITS.COM Family is the center of women’s oppression. The rearing of children, including gender based parenting and socialization are based on male ideologies. In Nepal, practices like Chaupadi, Deuki/Jhuma, Badi, and living Goddess Kumari are the outcomes of a male chauvinist society which puts women’s lives in danger. If not, then why are menstruating females oppressed in Hinduism, when they are respected before menstruation and after menopause? Men are scared of women’s sexuality, hence the domination. A woman’s behavior during her energetic and creative age is strictly regulated. A simple look from a beautiful woman is enough to accelerate man’s desire. A man can be muscular, handsome and strong on the outside, but he knows that he is not as powerful as he appears. Research says that females prefer a longer sexual intercourse, but men cannot last up to women’s expectation. A woman can have multiple orgasms in one intercourse, but a man can have only one. It is well known that men have only one sexual organ, their genital, while each part of a woman’s body is alluring. Being unable to surpass women in these respects, men want to dominate women through different socio-cultural tools. Men always want to be on top, because they know their weakness, and dominating women is a ploy to hide their weakness. If a woman tries to be playful during sexual intercourse, men suspect her character. Women always have to fear men; since their desire to be playful during sex could ruin their family life. They have to suppress their natural desire in order to be accepted by a patriarchal society. This suppression is the major cause of the appalling state of their reproductive health. The fear of sex is behind the separation of men and women in monasteries and camps. Women are conditioned in such a way that they have to struggle hard to make space for themselves in a male chauvinist society. Manu has said that women are the gateway to hell. Manu must have wanted to be in heaven, but since he could not be, he spit out such an ugly epithet for women. In fact, a woman is the gateway to heaven. She is mother of all, a doorway to existence. I remember a word in English dictionary, “Human being” which, if twisted into a pun, means “the process of becoming a human.” Most of us are not yet human, apart from a few advanced individuals. The psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud has said that people have animal instincts. Social rules, norms and values are protecting us, and if they did not exist, men are ready to be animals at any moment. Abuse of women, and rape of children and old women could be a few examples to prove that men are still in the process of becoming human. Men are always lusting after women, and continue to fight each other for women, like dogs during mating. Many movies, dramas, and poems created by men, like the story of Trojan war and Ramayana are based on men fighting for women. There are few movies or dramas by women which are about fighting for men. It is hard to find a story or news of a woman raping a man. Why don’t women lust after men or resort to violence for men? There must be something wrong with men’s psychology. Family is the center of women’s oppression. Gender based socialization is based on narrow male ideologies. Most of our holy scriptures, which are written by men, contain examples of domination of women. In the story of Ramayana, Sita was used as commodity; a trophy for a bow competition, likewise Draupadi was used as a commodity for gambling in Mahabharata. Women are not treated as human beings, but as men’s property and means of their entertainment. And it is not only Hindus who dominate women, Muslim women are conditioned through religion to cover their whole bodies so that no one other than her husband can see her. Muslim women are not allowed to enter some parts of Mosques, just as Hindu women are not allowed to touch some gods. Christians believe that women are only helpers of men, and have no personal identity except as a motherly figure like Mary. According to the Bible, woman was created from the ribs of the first man, to be his “helpmeet”. There is no concept of Goddesses in Christianity or Islam. Sentences like Yatra Naryastu Pujyante, Ramyante Tatra Devata (where women are honored, there divinity blossoms) just pay lip service to womanhood. Women are given just two statuses in Hindu culture, one is a Goddess (Devi) and another is slave (dasi). In-between the real woman is missing. Inside, all men know that they are inferior, which is why they use man-made social tools to dominate women. The author is a sociologist girithejorba@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53186 BISKET JATRA As Nepal’s own answer to Spain’s La Tomatina, Bisket jatra observed in Bhaktapur and Madhyapur Thimi has its special place among various popular jatras. Distinguished by a pageant marriage between vermillion and Dhimay-the most popular among Newar drums, Bisket often compels local spectators to leave the comfort of their balcony and join the youthful jubilation sweeping down the streets. While Bisket is observed for nine days in Bhaktapur, it lasts only three days in Thimi where it is popularly known as Sindur Jatra or even Dyo Jatra. Whatever may be its length, the main day of Bisket coincides with the new year of Vikram Samvat. This overlapping of the end of a calendar year with Bisket jatra is unique among Newar festivals, since almost all other local festivals are observed according to Nepal’s original lunar calendar, Nepal Samvat. ‘In fact, medieval inscriptions verify that until the middle of Malla regime, Biska: jatra, as it was originally called, used to be celebrated based on Nepal Samvat. Nevertheless, the core feature of the celebration is the same—erecting of the pole’, says Subhash, 30. THETRAVELWORD.COM At Bode, north-west from Bhaktapur, another dimension is added to Bisket: ‘Jibro Chhedney Jatra’ where a brave man pierces his tongue in public. It is believed that good things will follow in his life that year. Today, Bisket is not only celebrated by fun-loving youth from Kathmandu and Patan, it is even organised in social media outlets as a Facebook event! For Bikesh, 25, jatras are more fun because other festivals are just about feasts. He says, ‘Boys have great fun dancing and rejoicing, while girls love watching it!’ ‘During late evenings, senior male members of each family join the procession with a chilakh (oil-filled lamp) which I really enjoy watching’, says Suren, 25. For local youth, it is often a matter of identity, as for them it is the biggest event of their place for the year. Naturally, they take pride in being a part of it, and also feel a kind of responsibility towards it. ‘Because it is broadcast in national television, (Bisket) Jatra is a good opportunity to make the rest of our country aware of Nagadesh, my locality’, says Vikram, 19. While Jeevan, 25, gets inspired by the teamwork of hundreds of people, required to carry the khatt (chariot), it is the enlightened sight of Siddhi Ganesh and a procession in which all age groups participate with vigour that excites Prabin, 25. ‘Khatt, chhatra (decorated tall umbrella), music, color and crowd, that’s what fascinates me’, says Bigyan, 19. It is quite interesting to appreciate how Nepali youngsters, despite their attraction to modern lifestyle, have clung to their roots when it comes to traditional events as fun-filled as Bisket jatra. Nisha, 25, confesses in her blog, ‘Even more participation of youth in continuation of these cultures makes me proud.’ Nevertheless, there is a dark side to the jatras, which is reducing with every passing year but still present—the violence during jatras! It would be wrong to attribute the violence to typical Nepaliness or even youth aggression. But thankfully, most educated youngsters of today believe that drinking alcohol during Bisket jatra leads to fights more often than it leads to fun. ‘Some people just drink too much to celebrate rather than enjoying the jatra’ says Subin, 30. Security is of paramount importance in public processions anywhere in the world. People drink and fight even in London’s Notting Hill Carnival, considered one of the best in the world. Comparatively, Bisket organisers get away with less bad luck even though they take the least security measures. This is partly because local people have a feeling of responsibility towards the jatra, unlike other carnivals around the world which are mainly attended by outsiders. For Shova, 24, the culture of Bisket is important as it is connected to her birthplace, and it is something she grew up with. Bikesh is of the opinion that for anyone brought up in Bhaktapur/ Thimi, it is impossible to ignore Bisket jatra. ‘I started getting involved in the jatra when I was 10 years old’, he recalls. ‘I have enjoyed it for more than a decade, and it is still not enough for me’. The experience of Bikesh and many other youth suggest that though our youth may not be happy with the country’s prevailing systems, they definitely like to see their heritage the way it used to be. To whatever depth they might have understood their culture, for most of them it is a matter of pride. One important part of this study was to explore role of youth in a cultural event like Bisket jatra. Results suggested that the youth are keen in not only taking part in such activities, but also planning and organising them. Owing to the fact that the culture of jatras has been an integral part of their growing up in and around the boundaries of Bhaktapur, the youth showed remarkable familiarity with the inherent problems of a mass cultural function, and also suggested a number of solutions. In Prabin’s opinion, youth should play a leading role in such festivals and control the overall goings-on. ‘We should promote our core cultural values and not remix the (in)sensitivities of different worlds’, he suggested. ‘Promoting personal business during the jatra is a loss of originality for our culture’, he added. ‘Bisket jatra is a festival of chariots which are very heavy and cannot be carried by old people. Youth can contribute the most in managing the crowd. Also, only the youth can promote it well’, says Bikesh. The youth have a remarkable familiarity with the inherent problems of a mass cultural function like Biske jatra. ‘Earlier, people from rest of the country used to associate Bisket jatra with just Bhaktapur. Today, due to media, they have been enlightened’, he analyzes the changing situation. ‘Now they know that Thimi and Bhaktapur observe their own Bisket jatras. This has been brought about by youth participation to promote the jatra in Thimi’, he recounts. ‘Youth must participate in cultural events like Bisket jatra not only to preserve them, but also to spread the message of unity, love, devotion and cultural practices. At the same time, we should not hamper another’s interest and dignity’, says Jeevan. ‘Moreover, youth can volunteer for social services like security, providing first aid and drinking water, running information centers, etc’, he adds. Unlike my assumptions, it turned out that Bisket was not just a matter of fun for the youth, it was also a matter of pride for those who were involved. Having met such responsible youth of our times, I cannot help but believe in a much better future for us. The author is a London-based computer programmer and artist involved in the preservation of Newah culture in the UK. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53147 The penchant for tardiness Reach any social gathering on time and chances are you will not only be the very first guest to arrive, but also leave the hosts, busy giving final touches to preparations, rather embarrassed. It is hard to pinpoint why most Nepalis are habitually late, but we can hazard some guesses. A traditionally agrarian society, people didn’t need to be on the dot while they went about their businesses out on the fields. They were answerable to no one and could work at their own pace. Proper time keeping was a product of industrialization, something which has not touched large parts of the country. Or perhaps the legendary Nepali tardiness can be attributed to the civil servants who set the precedent of arriving for work late, soon to be emulated by the rest of the population. Or perhaps it owes to our subconscious adherence to the Indian Standard Time, which is 15 minutes faster. Whatever the case, the tendency to take it easy is costing the society dear. After all, this is a country where nothing ever gets done on time, including the all-important task of writing a constitution. But as convenient as it would be to put all Nepalis in the same basket, it would be wrong to do so. This trait is more pronounced in civil services than in private businesses, many of which keep strict timesheets for their employees. And even among civil servants and public office holders, there are some notable exceptions like senior CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal. The former prime minister has a reputation for being the first to arrive. It does not matter whether the gathering is a Cabinet meeting or a casual tête-à-tête with journalists. In a society where keeping to time is often laughed at, Nepal suffers for his punctuality. When he reaches meeting venues, very few people will have arrived, and he has in the past had to wait long hours for the rest of the pack to show up. Even within his own party, Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and another senior leader KP Oli are famous for keeping people waiting. It appears Nepal has had enough. On Saturday, after the ‘chief guest’ was made to wait for second program running on the day, he decided to speak up against this malaise in utter frustration.[break] Nepal has a point when he emphasizes the dangers of this silent social menace. Employee tardiness has been found to cost companies billions in lost productivity. It also drags down company morale. If we equate the erstwhile Constituent Assembly to a company, it is easy to see why it failed to give the country a new constitution. Most CA members never attended important meetings of procedural and thematic committees. Even those who bothered to show up did so in their own sweet time. Many crucial CA sittings had to be adjourned after failing to meet quorum. These lawmakers had no sense of accountability towards the people, an irrefutable proof of their lack of commitment to a timely constitution. Over time, this sense of unaccountability tends to trickle down, to the lower rungs of the government and the society at large. It is the responsibility of government officials to put people’s hard-earned money to optimal use. They are committing a crime by squandering this precious resource. Unless the right precedent is set by bringing these tardy politicians, bureaucrats and civil servants to book, it will be hard to root out this social evil. Only when Messrs Khanal and Oli are made to realize the high personal cost of their tardiness will they think twice about wasting vital public resources. In that case, one suspects they would also stop keeping Mr Nepal waiting. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53146 Cybercrime policing Computer is the instrument of our age. Internet is deeply integrated into our lifestyle. With globalization defying geographical boundaries, the notion of interconnectedness is coming to the fore as a guiding thought in today’s technologically fast-changing societies, putting unprecedented pressure on law enforcements worldwide to keep pace and control the emerging threat of cybercrime. Statistics show there are more than two billion active users of internet worldwide. A latest Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) report puts the number of internet users in the country at over five million. And the number is rapidly growing each day. Technology is a boon. But it comes at a cost. With the swelling populace of internet users and aggressively expanding networks, a flurry of new threats in forms of cybercrimes are appearing in Nepal’s cyberspace, leaving Nepal Police, the country’s law enforcement agency, struggling to tackle the new situation. Nepal Police’s Cyber Cell at Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD), Hanumandhoka and Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) are two chief central level entities dealing with cybercrime. The MPCD Cyber Cell basically looks into individual cases, whereas the CIB probes major, organized crimes. The Computer Directorate at the police headquarters lends IT support for investigation. CYBERCRIMESUNIT.COM The typology of cybercrime is hard to determine. Generally, all web and computer-related offences, including fraud, forgery, phishing, hacking, spoofing, impersonation, email and SMS threats, indecency, breach of privacy, copyright violations etc come under cybercrime. According to the MPCD Cyber Cell, there is an increasing trend of cybercrime, with complaints received climbing from seven to 16 to 48 in the past three years. This however does not necessarily depict the full picture of cybercrime in Nepal since many more cases go unreported as taking legal recourse brings undesired hassles and exposure. Recent IT developments have brought sophisticated tools and techniques for investigation but also resulted in new crime methods. Characteristic of the virtual world, anonymity has remained a tricky proposition in investigation of cybercrime. The use of encryption technique that converts plain texts into an obscured format using an algorithm obscuring has further added to the difficulty in web policing. Investigation of cybercrime needs internet specific tools and instruments. One thing typical in cyberspace is that there is always a digital imprint whenever crime happens. But again, digital data are highly fragile and can easily be deleted, destroyed or modified. The collection of digital evidences calls for the use of computer forensics which is the key to analyzing the hardware and software used in the crime to obtain evidence, recover deleted files, decrypt files and identify traffic date. But Nepal Police lacks IT resources for this. Not having even a cyber forensics lab has immensely impacted its ability to carry out effective investigation of cybercrimes. The Electronic Transaction and Digital Signature Act 2006, lauded as landmark legislation for the development of Nepal’s IT industry, is known as the country’s cyber law. It provides a legal framework for electronic transactions and digital signature, with provisions of the Controller of Certification Authority and a separate judicial mechanism to look into cybercrime. The law defines a number of computer and internet-related offenses under cybercrime and stipulates punishments in the range of Rs 50,000 (minimum) to Rs 3, 00,000 (maximum) in fine and six months to three years imprisonment. However, the new law has been criticized as having certain inherent inadequacies and contradictions. Its wordings and vague terminologies on regulation of electronic media, particularly, have raised skepticism about the state’s commitment to freedom of expression, a recurrent theme that often comes in the way of enforcement of cyber laws. Another major challenge facing cyber law enforcement in Nepal is the lack of reliable information on the extent of problem as well as arrests and prosecutions. The Kathmandu District Court and Patan Appellate Court, also the IT Tribunal and the Appellate IT Tribunal respectively as envisioned in the 2006 cyber law, and Nepal Police lack the archiving of the data and information under the specific cybercrime category. There are two other laws separately operating, namely Copyrights Act 2002 and Telecommunication Act 1997, whose certain aspects technically fall under the purview of the cyber law, but whose criminal and judicial proceedings are handled by the regular police apparatus and court system. This has not only muddled action and approach to law enforcement, but also hindered quantifying the overall impacts of cybercrime on society and in formulating right strategies to deal with cybercrime in a more concerted, cohesive manner. Cybercrime is a transnational phenomenon. Criminals could be operating from any part of the globe. Hosting of malicious contents on the web with its server outside the country can make law enforcement increasingly difficult as there immediately comes into play the principle of national sovereignty and sometimes dual criminality under international law. Automation, especially in cases such as phishing and malware spread, can have major consequences, increasing the speed of the process and magnifies its scale and impact, attacking thousands of global computer systems in hours. Clearly, tackling these threats demands swift, coordinated actions, which are not possible without new mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs). In the absence of such instruments, police cannot effectively work with law enforcement agencies of foreign governments and international organizations such as Interpol. Harmonization of national laws with international practices is another area that is crucial to international legal cooperation. For example, when approached for certain information in course of cybercrime investigation, mega-operators such as Google, Yahoo! and Facebook refuse to respond to correspondence by Nepal Police, and instead ask for a court sanction before giving out requested information, whereas in Nepal no court issues any such dispatch unless the suspect is produced before competent legal authority. Nepal is still in the early phase of digitization. Besides IT infrastructure development, cyber security could have ramifications for the country’s national security and economic well being. Just preaching deterrent measures on the web, especially the social networking sites, is certainly not going to help in the long run as engaging ourselves less with cyber world will only further widen the digital divide. Given our limited military prowess, critical IT infrastructure and slim prospect of cyber terrorism, it might be easy for Nepal to rule out major cyber attacks. Still, infiltration into the country’s banking and finance sectors, telecommunications, aviation and electric power system can have very debilitating impacts. Without first changing people’s sense of precaution and duties towards a secured cyberspace and educating them about the new legislation, effective enforcement of cyber law is highly unlikely in Nepal. At the institutional level, capacity building of Nepal Police should be made a precondition, whereas at national level, cyber security should be a shared responsibility, with Nepal Police required to forge coordinated actions with law implementation agencies, other stakeholders including banks and financial institutions (BFIs), Internet Services Providers (ISPs) and other online operators, and existing initiatives such the Information Security Guidelines for security audit. With these, cooperation and coordination with various international actors and adoption of appropriate cyber legislation are vital to successful policing of cybercrime in the country in today’s interconnected world. The writer is online coordinator, Republica http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53170 School enrollment campaign Like in preceding years, we are heading for another massive school-enrolment crusade across the country—as the school academic year kicks off in the middle of April. The objective of such campaigns is obvious: to bring into school all children who are out of school. The government mobilizes all concerned stakeholders—school teachers, parents, civil society organizations, child clubs, etc in each school catchment neighborhood with a variety of activities and slogans for the welcome-to-school program. [break] This month-long program includes door to door visits, finding out which children are missing school enrollment, meeting parents, and convincing them to send their children to a school, ultimately contributing to the goal of “Education for All By 2015”. Nepal invests two million rupees each year, per school, on this school enrollment program. Indeed, the major chunk of development budget has gone to education for years. But the result has not been up to expectations. A government report points out that only around 5 percent children of school going age—5 to 15—remain out of school. However, community mobilizers, education right activists and experts believe the report is false, since many more children are out of school than the report states. It’s true that in many school catchment areas, almost all children of school-going age are seen attending school, but in many communities, more children are found out of school, heading towards a dark future. Children from dalit and disadvantaged communities, and children with disabilities are disproportionately left out of the school, in violation of their right to education. Children from highly disadvantaged communities like Chepang, Jirel, Jhangar, Koch, Santhal, Kisan, Raji, Maji and Bote are likely to be deprived of access to education and the advantages it brings. Studies point out that children of the Dalits in Terai, particularly Dom, Dusadh, Musahar, Chamar, Khatwe, Dhobi, and Tatma are far behind in this regard, and so are the children who live in extreme poverty and geographical remoteness. Children from dalit communities in hills and mountains also are deprived to a large extent. Girl children have historically been among the most excluded from education. Besides the low school enrollment rate, the dropout rate and grade repetition rates are other alarming problems in our education system—throughout the country, 10-15 percent children (if not more) are estimated to drop out before accomplishing basic primary education. Remote communities or districts are the most afflicted by this problem. Needles to say, better school enrollment, retention of children in school, and a lifelong interest in education is found in those areas or communities where there is significant presence of NGOs and cooperation between the government and NGOs. The major reasons for low school enrollment and high dropout rate are poverty and children being assigned chores at home like taking care of younger siblings, grazing cattle, and other farm tasks. Inability to see any use of education, language barrier, discrimination on the basis of caste, class, gender, disability, unequal teacher-student ratio, and lack of the infrastructures are other contributing factors. Higher dropout rate among girls seems to be due to gender discrimination, distance between school and home, work pressure at home, sexual violence and other discriminatory behavior. For example, most school buildings either do not have toilets, or available toilets do not accommodate girls with physical disabilities. As a result, most of them do not go to school. Just a few weeks ago, I asked a local disability organization to send 50 deaf children each from Kailali and Banke Actionaid so that they could attend a bridge course in order to enroll in school. Local organizations were able to find the children sooner than later, proving that there are several deaf children out of school in many pockets. Similarly, there must be children with other types of disabilities like visual impairment, physical disability or intellectual disability, who are also deprived of school. It is difficult to predict how many children with disabilities are in school, but approximately 60 percent of such children are deprived of education in Nepal. One of the vital reasons for disabled children missing from school is the lack of appropriate teaching and learning strategies. Though Nepal has a policy of teaching children with disabilities in mainstream schools, in practice such children are taught largely in a few segregated schools or resource centers attached to select mainstream schools. These classes catering to 10 children each, and children of different ages are taught together in a single class. Not many children gain access to these schools or centers, because of the limited number of seats, the cost and distance associated, and lack of awareness in parents. Evidence shows that inclusive education (teaching disabled children in mainstream schools with minimum adaptation) can be more effective, reaching a vast number of children. Inclusive schools are found to be more cost effective and academically and socially effective than special schools. Such contradictions between policies and practices impede the achievement of one of the millennium development goals: Education for all. Nepal declared free and compulsory primary education in all government schools many years ago. But schools are still charging pupils in one way or another, leading to high dropout rates in children living in extreme poverty. In several areas, scholarships and other encouraging facilities allotted to children from such families have not been awarded. Schools are given a certain amount to cover the cost for administrative activities and with other expenses incurred. As a result, headcount of students enrolled in the school has become a major playing field among concerned stakeholders. In other words, schools having more students are eligible to receive more money, a source of fund that is unfortunately misused in many schools. Teachers and school management committee members are enthusiastic about enrolling more students, and just as interested in increasing the retention rate. More often than not, they fake the record, use the fake records to demand resources, and use the funds elsewhere. Indeed, this practice is still widespread. Such schools are not accountable and transparent regarding their performance and financial expenses. Basic education is an inherent fundamental right that enables a person to exercise all other human rights and fundamental freedoms. Every child of school-going age must have this right, and denying it for whatever reason is a severe violation of human rights. The government must have a strong monitoring mechanism, collaborating with parents and concerned stakeholders to regulate schools and discourage any sort of corruption in schools. The recent moves to merge schools having students below the standard numbers, and exchange school supervisors for cross monitoring are welcome steps, but are not enough. Good governance, where the schools are transparent and accountable for their performance, should be ensured by parents and relevant stakeholders to pave the way not just for school sector reform but also to bring children from poor and excluded communities to school. Availing all children of quality primary education should be the focus of development agendas, including poverty reduction, rather than a token agenda like enrollment campaign. I hope the upcoming school enrollment campaign will be fruitful, but unless the parents from excluded communities internalize the importance of education, it is unlikely to bear fruits. A massive awareness on this subject is the need of the day. The author is associated with ActionAid meenraj.panthee@live.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53144 YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP Yes! They are back from the US, and I went to meet them. They are none other than my friends who were my companions during my A Levels in 2002. I cherished the moments spent with them, when I had enjoyed eating and drinking with them. However, my motive of writing this article is not to relive those moments, but to reflect on the darker side of the psychology of youths who have completed their studies abroad. I went out to drink a cup of coffee with them, and was inevitably drawn into a discussion popular among youths: “There is no opportunity here in Nepal.” A friend got more and more bogged down in this opinion after every glass of beer he drank. Not knowing how to explain, I just listened to what the US returnees had to say about the country’s current economic scenario. In fact they were right about many aspects like heavy load-shedding, poor roads, slow job market etc. People who have lived in a dazzling country like the US will definitely find it difficult to make a space for themselves in this utterly disorganized country. But my question is “Isn’t it our responsibility to create opportunities for ourselves and contribute to the job creation process?” As soon as I put forth this question, it was like getting hit with the bomb shells while fighting in Afghanistan. The logic forwarded by my friends flew through my ears and landed straight in my heart. It really hurt my sentiments because I live here, have done my MBA here, and believe that a lot can be done in this country.[break] I always believe that opportunity can be created where things are utterly disorganized. However, you ought to have a belief and passion for it. During my MBA, I got to know myself better and came to realize that I was never meant to be job holder. Despite working for a bank for three years and at a reputed educational institution for 6 months, I realized that I should start something on my own, otherwise it would be too late. Quitting a job that pays you well requires a lot of guts. Maybe that is why I have heard great entrepreneurs say that the path of entrepreneurship is really difficult, and it’s a 24X7 job. YOUNGENTREPRENEUR.COM During an interview, Steve Jobs had once said “You got to have a passion for what you do, otherwise one day you gonna quit, because to achieve success a lot of hard work needs to be injected.” Now here I am, working for my own organization as a researcher and business planner. My friend and I have even established an IT company lately, and we are planning to redefine the use of technology in this country. Our true motive is to make the life of people easy while earning enough for ourselves, and we see plenty of opportunities in this field as well. We started without knowing how our service business would shape up, but we already have a dozen of international and national clients, and the number is increasing. The company provides an income for us and those professionally associated with us. I think the true application of knowledge lies in mending the mess that is around, not in flourishing in an already clear environment. If we have a utopia, then how can opportunities sprout? The true value of an MBA or any graduate education lies in organizing what is disorganized and creating an opportunity thereof. I want to convey the message that there has been very less done in this country and a lot left to be done. You just need a handful of guts and passion to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is the only solution to the current economic chaos, and only with it can a lot of opportunities be created. The author is a general manager at Vista Consultants P Ltd shekhar.dahal2001@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53099 The all-important year This time last year, leaders of the three major parties were engaged in hectic negotiations on the federal models on the table, the Damocles’ sword of May 27 deadline menacingly hanging over their heads. Four years of endless bickering didn’t bode well, but Nepalis were not hopeless. Many times in the past the same lot of politicians had managed to save the constitutional process from the brink of failure. But this time things were a little different. The Supreme Court had declared that there could be no more extension of the CA; a new constitution was now or never. The feeling on the street was that there would be a tentative agreement, liable to debate and modification in the extended parliament or some other non-CA mechanism. It was felt that politicians would once again salvage the constitutional exercise, for their continued relevance in Nepali politics if nothing else. It wasn’t meant to be. The four-year-old constitutional exercise would end in a disaster as the CA sank sans a constitution, dashing people’s hopes and throwing the country into a new political and constitutional turmoil, unprecedented in the two and a half century long history of modern Nepal. A thick veil of gloom descended over the country as people started fearing all kinds of anti-democratic upshots of the historic failure of the Nepali political class. The hope that 2069 BS would be a breakthrough year in the annals of modern Nepal had been cruelly extinguished. The government tried to convey a sense of normalcy. Moments before CA’s dissolution, PM Baburam Bhattarai announced new polls for November 22, 2012, knowing full well that the unilateral decision would not go down well with NC and UML and other forces left out of the last-minute negotiations. It appeared like Bhattarai was ready to bulldoze ahead. When the new poll deadline passed and political polarization deepened, caretaker PM Bhattarai upped the ante by announcing yet another election for mid-April. It seemed the Maoist vice-chair was determined to hang on at the head of the government, come what may. Many feared the Maoist plan to capture state power was being played out right in front of their eyes. So when Bhattarai finally made way for Khil Raj Regmi, there was much relief among the opposition parties, mainly NC and UML, who by the time seemed ready to pay just about any price for Bhattarai’s ouster, even if it meant compromising on the hallowed democratic principle of separation of powers. But despite this high price, the road to new CA polls has not been cleared yet. The government, its political backers and the Election Commission seem to be working at cross purposes as the announcement of a new election date has been inordinately delayed. All those responsible for prolonging this state of indecision should understand that if the failure to promulgate a constitution in 2069 BS was a body blow for the country, the failure to embark on a new constitutional exercise by the end of 2070 BS could be potentially fatal, with now unimaginable consequences. But there is still time to make amends. For this the political parties and the government must come on the same page on election. That will help bring the disgruntled forces onboard through meaningful give and take, clearing the way for the announcement of a new election date. If the polls are not possible within June, as seems to be the case now, all the concerned stakeholders must work together to lay the ground for November-December. Nepali people have waited for over 60 years for a constitution through their own representatives since the CA was first mooted. Although despondent voices are being heard from different quarters, there is as yet hope for a constitution of a federal democratic republic of Nepal through the CA mechanism. What a wonderful opportunity 2070 BS offers to make a new beginning in the long and hard constitutional road. It is our sincere hope that the spadework on new polls starts in earnest without any further ado, starting with the announcement of a new poll date. The start of a new year would be the perfect time to do so. It is with this hope that we would like to wish all our valued readers a very happy and prosperous New Year. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53098 CA ELECTION The formation of a government under Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi has gained both accolades and criticism. Though some sections of society were relieved that the four political parties were able to agree on Regmi to preside over the polls, a large number of people are still unhappy with the four-party syndicate and its marionette government. While several political parties including CPN (Maoist), legal experts, and a section of the intelligentsia have vented their anger regarding the election government and the way it was formed, some political analysts, democratic groups, and the international community have expressed their approval of the country’s step towards election. The opposing parties allege that the current government is formed in breach of article 106 of the Interim Constitution and of the sanctity of principle of separation of powers. Rule of law has been violated time and again in Nepal since the Constituent Assembly election in 2008. But according to political analysts and legal experts, this time the four-party decision has damaged the very norms of democracy by entrusting both executive and judiciary power to the same person, which is contrary to the principle of separation of powers. More interestingly, in less than a month of the formation of the government, UCPN (Maoist) chairman Prachanda, who had proposed the present government earlier, expressed his dissatisfaction over its delay in announcing a date for election. He has given an ultimatum to the government: Either announce the election date, or face people’s wrath. REPUBLICA Some political leaders cite other countries, including Bangladesh, as examples of sitting chief justices heading election governments, without bothering to verify the facts. No sitting judge has ever headed an election government in Bangladesh. Fakhrauddin Ahmed, a retired governor, headed the election government as chief advisor and held the polls in December 2008. Other election governments prior to that were headed by retired judges. Now that a CJ-led government has already been established, wisdom lies in holding the elections as soon as possible. To respect legal provisions and democratic norms, Regmi must resign from the post of Chief Justice. While Regmi was reluctant to work as the head of government from the Chief Justice’s residence, why isn’t he just as reluctant to retain the post of Chief Justice after he became the head of government? Instead of attending festivals and inaugural programs, Regmi and his ministers need to focus on their given tasks. This government should not waste its time on party politics or policy matters, and instead concentrate on day-to-day administration. Having said that, the possibility of completing all the prerequisite tasks and holding an election in June seems bleak. Although, the chief election commissioner was earlier confident of being able to hold elections in June, he too now seems unsure. In the meantime, some leaders of the four political parties have expressed their inclination towards elections in November/December this year. In view of their preference, as well as the incomplete preparations for June elections, it would be wise to announce the elections date for November/December, and start seriously working to that end. To achieve this, the government and election commission’s first step would be to take the opposing political parties into confidence. In this context, the efforts made by the government to hold talks with 33 opposing political parties is welcome, and needs to be carried out subtly in order to convince all parties concerned. Though the disgruntled political parties have refused to participate in the talks, they need to be pursued further to come to the negotiating table. They need to be convinced that elections would be the only solution to proceed as per the principles of democracy. To do so, the government and other related agencies may have to concede some of their earlier stands if required. The other political parties should also come to some sort of a compromise for the sake of elections. Solutions can’t be achieved just through protests, which are pushing the country into constant turmoil. Regmi’s resignation from the post of Chief Justice would be a good way to quell mistrust and fulfill a major demand of the agitating parties. Equally important would be a reduction of HLPC’s leverage over the government. Recently, the CPN-Maoist leader Mohan Baidya stated that his party will not participate in a meeting called by the HLPC or by a government formed by the four parties. He has also declared that his party would turn the elections into a battle ground. CPN-Maoist has also avowed to disturb any election related activities. In this context, it is difficult even to imagine a smooth election. The Regmi government can set an example for future governments by implementing an austerity program. The election government must ensure that elections are held in a cost-effective manner with utmost austerity. The police alone have demanded Rs.5.5 billion. Besides, the Police chief has said in an interview with this daily that the Police Department needs more than 70,000 temporary police personnel for the election, and at least 1,500 vehicles besides several hundred rented bus and trucks. Nepal had conducted elections in 2008, and vehicles last longer than five years. Vehicles which were used then could probably be reused now, which would be more cost effective. Similar to the police, there are sure to be demands for budget from other agencies involved in the polls. The example of China could be useful here. The president of the second largest economy of the world, Xi Jingping, has emphasized the need to be frugal, because “frugal is glorious,” and has insisted on cutting down consumption and maintaining austerity. Nepal—one of the poorest countries in the world—cannot afford lavish expenditure. President Xi Jingping has said that graft and gluttony are the enemies of rulers, and warned that his administration would be hard on both “tigers and flies” in an anti-corruption drive to gain public trust. We need to take a cue from China. The Regmi government can set a good example for future governments by implementing an austerity program and providing a clean and corruption-free government. Pope Francis has chosen to live in a Vatican guest house instead of the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, and to take his meal in the common dining room. That is a good example for Regmi and his ministers as well as other ministers in the future. bhagirath_51@live.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53097 TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION Technology is one of the most discussed subjects today. Be it in medicine, military, education, economics politics, or even religion, new innovations are making remarkable strides. In the field of medicine, applications of advanced technologies have made remarkable improvements, and advanced military technologies have led to manufacturing drones that are replacing combat forces on the ground. This has given the military a whole new range of powers. Similarly, technology has made learning process easy, less time-consuming, and effective. Smartphones, Facebook, Twitter and the latest hot selling tablets have become tools for education. From a very young age, students are required to keep abreast of new technologies. Along with many virtues, these gadgets have vices as well—virtues if used to benefit learning, and vices if used for wrong ends. TELEGRAPH.CO.UK Teaching with the use of technological means has become quite important today. The ability to use different software like Windows, Mac OS, and Linux has become a minimum requirement for teachers even at school level. It would be advisable to offer such courses to the students in school itself, so that they can later cope with the requirements of the job market. The use of technology should be a compulsory course, and should be promoted in school. The use of multimedia such as pictures, videos, graphs and other applications will make teaching effective in core subjects like economics, science, music and arts at the college level. For example, the use of projection screens will make lessons more interesting and easier to understand. With visual teaching methods, students would be able to draw pictures in their memory, which they will be able to retrieve more easily than information from traditional teaching methods. The traditional methods of writing on boards and handing out notes are not sufficient for modern day teaching. I urge school teachers to update themselves with, at least, simple computing skills such as typing and operating office suites, and preparing spreadsheets to keep a database of students. In this age of technology, teachers’ roles should not be limited to reading a book in the classroom and giving notes. Students can read books themselves and learn more effectively through audio-visual means than by listening to their teachers in the classroom. Instead, teachers should play the role of facilitators to locate relevant resources from traditional sources like books and magazines in libraries as well as online, and help students understand the resources and apply them. Essentially, teachers should look beyond just course books. Because of the technological revolution, the use of paper is slowly becoming obsolete. Until recently, students had to carry a big load of books to school, but now they can carry all their books, notes and homework in a laptop, netbook, tablet, or e-book. This makes students’ lives easier and learning more fun. Many American and European Universities are already imparting online education to a vast numbers of students throughout the world. Such practices are being introduced at schools as well. The use of technology in teaching and learning becomes even more important and desirable in Nepal, where in many places students have to walk for hours to reach the nearest school, or where teachers are not available. Teachers can teach online, as well as assign homework and projects and grade them, all online. Students can watch lessons online and submit their projects via email or file transfer software like drop-box. This will enable children to learn even when they have no access to school. The only concern here would be the availability and speed of the internet. This is something the government and the internet service providers need to work on big time. Studies have shown that children familiar with such technologies excel in writing, reading and math skills. There is also a school of thought which believes children get spoiled if we allow them to use these technologies in their childhood. It is true to some extent: Technology can be misused. However, this should not prevent us from tapping the vast teaching-learning benefits it offers. Besides, now there are electronic locking systems available to prevent children from having access to objectionable materials. In this age of technology, teachers’ roles should not be limited to reading a book in the classroom and giving notes. In Western countries, learning is defined cognitively. Students go to educational institutions with a level of innate intelligence and curiosity, and teachers try to further stimulate their curiosity in specific subjects based on students’ inclinations. They also emphasize active learning such as going to field trips, building things and doing something creative. There is also a great emphasis on questioning authority, critical inquiry, and sharing ideas in classroom discussions. Western countries impart education to help students understand and master the external world. In our part of the world, we define learning morally. There is lesser emphasis on innate curiosity. We tend to see learning as an arduous process which one undertakes in order to cultivate virtues inside the self. We stress unimaginatively memorizing facts in order to score in tests. We should not imitate the West blindly, but we should not hesitate to learn from their education system. Our education should be a blend of East and West. We should place emphasis on sincerity, diligence, perseverance, concentration and respect for our elders and teachers, as well as on Western cognitive approaches. Our students should feel proud of their achievements, while still retaining a humility that enables self-examination. New technologies should be a tool for better learning, both morally and intellectually. The author holds a post-graduate degree in Business Administration from Delaware University, USA contactbibhav@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53096 It is difficult to separate some of my personal memories of Margaret Thatcher—mundane but revealing—from the sweeping judgments of history. I had worked for her as the Conservative Party’s research director, and as a minister for about 15 years, before going to Hong Kong as Britain’s last Governor there. Because she had negotiated Hong Kong’s handover to China, she was a frequent and welcome visitor during my tenure. Thatcher was always hugely supportive of the preservation of Hong Kong’s rule of law, civil liberties, and democratic aspirations. She sympathized with, and appeared to like, pro-democracy campaigners. I also remember that, while our official residence was full of excellent, hardworking staff (to whom she was always kind and courteous), she was the only visitor—and there were many—who made her own bed! The job was done with all the care and precision of a grand hotel: Boxed corners and neatly turned-down cover. Invariably, when she traveled on business to Beijing, she would insist on first shopping for a present for the former Chinese leader, Zhao Ziyang, with whom she had negotiated Hong Kong’s handover. Since the Tiananmen killings, which he had tried to avert through compromise, he had been under house arrest. By asking whichever senior officials she saw to pass on her gift and her best wishes to Zhao, the Chinese leadership would understand that the outside world was still thinking of him and wanted to ensure his survival. It was typically practical and kind. As a national leader, Thatcher’s principal achievements were to reverse Britain’s decline, which had gained momentum in the 1970s, before her first term as Prime Minister in 1979. Little of the extensive coverage of her death has focused on what Britain was like in those years. The economy was on its knees, and the abuse of trade-union power had made Britain almost ungovernable. Paradoxically, she made accountable and authoritative government possible again partly by curtailing the state’s role in the economy. Her reforms laid the foundations for a period during which Britain’s per capita wealth grew faster than most of its competitors’. Thatcher’s reforms reinvigorated the private sector, promoted home ownership, lowered taxes on enterprise, deregulated large parts of the economy, and reined in the unions’ power to use their industrial muscle. She set about this reform program with determination, but—at least until her last years—with subtle pragmatism as well. She moved step by step, invariably in the same direction. No one in government would be in any doubt about what she wanted to do. The reforms that she undertook struck a chord internationally. Her period in office coincided with the crumbling of Soviet communism in Europe, which culminated with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. She had been an outspoken critic of Soviet communism, like her transatlantic friend and partner, Ronald Reagan. Her espousal of free markets—indeed, her ringing declarations about the link between political and economic freedom—inspired the Soviet bloc’s peoples, who had suffered under the Soviet yoke for 40 years. While her antipathy to German reunification was ill-judged, her doubts about the ability to reconcile greater political integration in the European Union with democratic accountability in its member states has gained many more sympathizers over the years—and not only in her own country. She pushed for greater integration of the European single market, while questioning whether this really required ceding more political authority to the European Commission. Many consider the Falklands War in 1982 as the apogee of her patriotism. It was just as much a sign of her political bravado. The recovery of this far-flung British dependency, whose citizens were resolutely committed to remaining British subjects after the Argentine invasion, was a daring military act. It could have gone terribly wrong, bringing down her and her administration. Even the Reagan administration came close to balking at supporting Britain’s military campaign. But fortune favored the brave, and victory solidified her reputation for decisiveness and raw courage. As Britain’s taxi drivers liked to say, she was the best man in the government. Thatcher’s confidence in the strength of Britain’s relationship with the United States was underpinned by her friendship with Reagan. They were very different characters who shared a similar philosophy, albeit expressed with more charm by a president who much admired her directness and her simple, even blunt assertions of the old verities. “Isn’t she wonderful,” he is reported to have said to an aide, one hand over the telephone, as she scolded him from London for some US policy error. It was a sentiment shared by many Americans who went to hear her lecture after her retirement. I most admired Thatcher for her political style. She never required a focus group to tell her what she believed or how to express it. She regarded ideas as the very core of politics, and she battled for those that she held. She did not “triangulate” in an effort to find the middle point between opposing views; she deplored the idea that the middle ground of politics, where most voters dwell, was pre-determined by a wishy-washy elite consensus. An effective leader, she believed, could shift this political terrain by convincing people of the truth and relevance of his or her position. Thatcher was often more careful than her admirers have subsequently suggested in the way she set about doing this. But, ultimately, her passion for the ideas to which she was devoted splashed bright colors across a political world usually painted in shades of grey. Margaret Thatcher was not perfect. Like everyone else, she made mistakes and got some things wrong. But she was undoubtedly a giant of twentieth-century politics, a leader who changed her and our world—for the better. Patten, the last British Governor of Hong Kong, a former EU Commissioner for External Affairs, is Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Chairman of the BBC Trust http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53036 Preserving Bisket Jatra Every year, the festival of Bisket Jatra is celebrated in Bhaktapur around the Nepali New Year, commencing four days before the New Year and ending five days after. The nine-day festival is a cultural extravaganza, with the entire town of Bhaktapur joining in the rejoicing. However, for the past several years, something or the other has happened every year that put a dampener on the celebrations. In 2010, it was a routine harmless stone throwing that escalated into a brawl between two toles. In 2011, it was a wheel that dislocated and a lingo that broke, immediately giving rise to whispers of inauspicious omens. And in 2012, it finally culminated in the ultimate tragedy: the death of a festival watcher who was crushed by the wheels of the chariot. And in the ongoing Jatra of this year, with five more days to go before the festival ends, the chariot fell over sightseers in Taumadhi, causing three deaths and several injuries. Because Bisket Jatra involves a tug of war between the eastern and western sides of town, it has traditionally involved elements of chaos, but only after the serious incidents this year were investigations made into the organizing of the Jatra. It was found that the chariot pullers were inebriated even though alcohol trade was strictly banned in the area at the time, and that the wheels had not been properly placed. Furthermore, the number of people riding the chariot was higher than its capacity. This indicates an urgent need to monitor various aspects of the festival to ensure the safety of people. For the rest of the festival this year, and for the festivals in forthcoming years, it is up to the festival organizers to learn from mistakes and make sure that both the chariot and the chariot drivers are in perfect health before the festival begins. Also, steps must be taken to contain the crowd of festival watchers to the sides of the roads, so that those pulling the chariots have more chance of running to safety if an untoward incident happens. And for their own safety, the festival watchers, especially first timers, must take precautions and watch the festival from a safe distance. Bisket Jatra is one of the many festivals unique to the Newar community of Kathmandu Valley. The valley has been a hub of both Hinduism and Buddhism for several centuries now, which is reflected in its unique festivals. Bisket Jatra celebrates, with Tantric rituals, Indra—a god almost forgotten by most Hindus, and Bhairab and Bhadrakali—who are important deities to both Buddhists and Hindus. The deities and methods of worship are an example of the distinctive permutation of Hindu and Buddhist religious motifs in Kathmandu valley, which has interested many experts of culture, sociology and anthropology. Celebrated since the Lichhavi times, Bisket Jatra is a link to the ancient culture of the valley several centuries ago, and an event which makes all Nepali people proud of their rich heritage. It is a link that we must not lose, else we risk gradually losing our unique identity. Aggression has always been a part of Bisket Jatra, but precautions must be taken to contain it to manageable limits, and make the festival safe for both festival participants and watchers. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53035 NEPAL AND INT´L COMMUNITY The main reason the Constituent Assembly (CA) couldn’t write a constitution of the federal democratic republic of Nepal was because of the issue of ethnic federalism raised by then undivided UCPN (Maoist), the largest party in the last CA. The party and its sister organizations declared the formation of ethnic states from the street, bypassing the elected CA. It appears that the proposal for 14 federal states mainly based on ethnicity will receive a quiet burial by the some of the same hardliners who raised the issue. This is primarily because of the security concerns regarding Nepal’s northern neighbor, the People’s Republic of China. There were many inconsistencies in the Maoist proposal to declare a country with 80 percent Hindu population a secular state, while advocating six ethnic federal states along its northern border, in none of which the main ethnic group formed the majority of population. On the other hand, the party had proposed only two states based on linguistic identity along the southern border adjacent to India. The coalition partners of the Maoists, the Madheshi parties, had wanted only one state for Madheshis in the south, ignoring that large scale migration from the hills in the last four decades had completely changed the ethnic demography in Tarai and had left only areas west of Kosi and east of Parsa with majority of Madheshis. ENGINEERINGDAILY.NET The Chinese considered monarchy a dependable ally before Nepal became a republic. China used to refer to the Maoists not by their party’s name but as an “anti-government force” at the time. China had also been watching with interest the brokering of 12 Point Agreement between the Seven Political Parties and the Maoists by the government of India, which led to the success of Second Jana Andolan in 2006. This in turn led to the declaration of Nepal as a republic after elections in 2008 in which the Norwegians, Swiss and the Carter Center led by former American President Jimmy Carter played important roles. It is possible that the perceived threats to Indian security interests encouraged the Indians in this enterprise. The possibility that Europeans including the British, the Norwegians and the Swiss wanted to create trouble for China over the issue of Tibet and actively facilitated religious conversion from Hinduism and Buddhism to Christianity can’t be discarded. The Interim Constitution (IC) in secular Nepal permits conversion only by free will of individuals. Since the percentage of Christians in Nepal has increased threefold between 2001 and 2011, whether all who converted did it of their free will is a question that remains to be answered. Amidst growing perception of foreign hand in Nepali politics, there are indications that the Mohan Baidya Kiran-led breakaway faction of the Maoists CPN-Maoist has now become a dependable ally of the Chinese. The Government of India seems to have lost out again as yet another mass-based party has become an ally of the Chinese, signifying a failure of the Indian foreign policy in Nepal. Mohan Baidya and some of his party colleagues were invited to visit China and were told that ethnic federal states along Nepal’s northern border may encourage anti-Chinese activities and present a security threat to China in Tibet. If a recent news item in Rajdhani (27/2/13) is to be believed, there are signs that Baidya-led Maoists are reconsidering their stand on ethnic federalism. They have now formed bureaus named after five regions in the country (eastern, central, western, mid-western and far western), while they once had bureaus for proposed ethnic federal states such as Tamuwan, Magarat and Tamsaling. One influential Maoist leader is reported to have said “federalism intended to divide the people of Nepal should not be encouraged”. Mohan Baidya on his return from China had stated that the Chinese had suggested that ethnic federalism is not suitable for Nepal, although it was for the Nepali people to decide what kind of federalism they wanted. If these developments are to be believed, a new dimension to the future of federalism has been added before new CA election, which will probably take place within 2013. Nepal ratified the United Nations International Labor Organization’s Convention 169 dealing with indigenous people in September 2007, which was seven months before elections to CA. It’s interesting to note that only 22 countries have so far ratified the convention. Nepal is the only Asian country to have done so. In fact, it is one of the least ratified conventions of the United Nations. Glaringly, this convention has not been ratified by the US, Russia, India and China. There are often seminars and discussions in civil society before such conventions and treaties are signed in other countries. According to the records of Nepal’s Parliament, the convention was signed after only a few hours of discussion. Among the most vocal proponents of ILO-169 in Nepal are the countries which have not ratified the UN convention. According to Treaty Act of Nepal, international conventions in which Nepal is a signatory have precedence over national laws. It is interesting to note that the likes of Finland, Australia, Germany, Canada, Switzerland and Britain have not signed the convention, but the aid agencies of these countries such as DFID, Canadian International Development Agency, Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, GTZ and JICA have all cooperated to draft a national action plan for the implementation of the ILO 169 in Nepal. They want their aid projects in Nepal to be based on ILO 169. Nepal Council of World Affairs has organized a series of talk programs with foreign resident ambassadors in Kathmandu as guests. Among the ambassadors invited included those from Britain and Germany. When this scribe asked them why the two countries had not signed ILO-169 themselves while they planned to conduct their aid program in Nepal on the basis of the convention, both of them replied that their countries didn’t have indigenous people. Whether this reply sufficiently answers my question, I leave to the readers to decide. While British aid purports to support an inclusive society in Nepal, the policy of Gurkha recruitment in Nepal is far from inclusive and excludes the majority of Nepali ethnic groups such as Madheshis, Dalits, Newars and Brahmins. Much of the British aid is concentrated in areas where former Gurkha soldiers are living. Among other signatories on BOG (Basic Operating Guidelines) for aid in Nepal include such countries as Australia and Canada which have large indigenous populations, but have not signed ILO-169. Doesn’t this indicate double standards practiced by the aid agencies in Nepal? The author is a former official of the United Nations Secretariat and current secretary of Nepal chapter of International PEN paraj85@hotmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53034 DEFINING ‘ELDERLY’ What do you want to be when you grow up? This is such an interesting question. And the answer depends on who you are asking. My granddaughter will say, “I want to be like my mommy!!” A seventh grader will want to become either a doctor or engineer. If you ask me, I will say, “to grow old and independent”. Now the issue is, who is “old”? How do you define who is elderly? What criteria do you use to define them? When National Public Radio (NPR) in the USA referred to a 71-year old midwife in a headline as ‘elderly’, one of the comments was: “Really? ‘Elderly midwife’? She’s 71 and delivering babies! There’s nothing elderly about her, and these days, not even her age!” The other comment was “I was 70 in Feb and I certainly do not feel elderly. Elderly is at least over 80, and as someone else suggested, maybe 95.” Eventually the editors at NPR decided to change the headline. So there you go. Now the burning question is, ‘When exactly does someone become elderly?’ If you ask me, there is no right answer to this question. ‘Elderly’ is a word that is still in flux. It is gradually becoming politically and politely incorrect, even in Nepal. Even consulting the dictionary is no solution. Merriam-Webster does not help with its definition of ‘being past middle age’. According to Oxford English Dictionary, the term ‘elderly’ is an old adjective that goes back hundreds of years, and is derived from a still older noun ‘elder’ that is traced to the tenth century, with a meaning ‘in wider sense, a predecessor, one who lived in former days’. ALLBUTT.NET As a child, I understood ‘elder’ as someone who is older than me, and that worked fine for me, because everything then was in relation to my age. Back then, no one objected to being referred to as ‘elderly’, because it was taken as a title of honor, of being wise and experienced. We were taught to respect our elders, bow to them. We looked up to them as people knowledgeable in matters of everyday life. There still are people who do not mind being called elderly, but for some, that too has changed. For some now, ‘elderly’ carries a derogatory meaning, representing ‘feeble’ and ‘dependent’. A construction used in a way that sounds very similar to ‘the deaf’ or ‘the disabled’ is objectionable because no one likes to think of themselves as elderly, let alone very old, feeble or dependent. Use of ‘elderly’ was not always objectionable. During the 20th century, ‘elderly’ was socially preferable to the word ‘old’. In 1918, as advice columnist of Atlanta Constitution, Dr. William Brady observed, “When you are 16 you wonder how an old man of 30 manages to drag himself around. When you get to be 30 you feel that 60 is as old as Methuselah. When you get to be 60 you will think that the ‘aged’ are those in their 90s.” So you see, elderly is relative to our own age. At this point I remember my father’s narration of one particular tram trip from Park Street to Rashbehari Avenue in Kolkata during the 60’s. When he pulled the rope indicating a stop and started walking towards the door, the conductor said loudly, ‘ahista, ahista, budda admi hai’. My father looked around, but there was no one except him getting off the tram. Obviously the conductor was calling him an ‘old man’. He was 35 years old! This sounds funny, but then again, while in school, we called our teachers old, many of whom were barely thirty. What is wrong with being elderly? Some might ask. The problem is our difficulty to forgo our obsession with youth. As I look around, the majority of my friends are on the threshold of sixty, and none of them think they are ‘old’ or ‘elderly’. So what is wrong with being elderly? You might ask. The problem is our difficulty to forgo our obsession with youth. The tragedy is that in our effort to stay young, we miss out on the opportunity to grow old gracefully. Now that I am much older, I am still in the process of understanding the term ‘elderly’. I feel it’s much like a place where the earth meets the sky, which keeps changing depending on where you stand to look at the horizon. The only way out is learning to flow with the tide that age is, and embracing our gradual change, both mental and physical, that comes with age. That is when we will start to feel comfortable with the descriptions that come along with advancing age, like ‘mature’, ‘seasoned’, and ‘elderly’. As for me, I have decided to go with the tide and accept that it’s ok to be old or elderly. I know that I am as old as I feel. Some days I feel more elderly than others. I don’t flinch anymore when some one calls me ‘elderly’ or ‘old’; I flinch more at terms like ‘senior citizen’. Finally, for me ‘elderly’ is more a state of being, a feeling, than counting of years that I have already crossed to reach this age. The question for me is no longer if someone thinks I am old, but whether I think of myself as elderly. So for now, I have opted to adopt the tagline of an advertisement for the product ‘Oil of Olay’ that I had seen almost thirty years ago, which said: “Grow older gracefully”, and be happy about it. The author is an educationist and children’s writer usha@pokharel.net http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=53033 SOCIAL MEDIA A few days ago, when I was lecturing on how social networking sites have redefined the notion of personal privacy to my high school students, I had to employ a great deal of effort to explain what privacy actually meant before the rise of ‘share-all generation’. While I was explaining social etiquette during our days, my students were throwing ‘you old generation’ look at me. The notion of ‘personal privacy’ these days seems to have become a misnomer. Exhausted after five lectures on personal privacy, I turned to facebook for respite, just to find myself dragged into further distress. As usual, my over informative friends had occupied the timeline with all their details from ‘womb to tomb’. A friend’s husband had posted on her wall wishing her ‘Happy Anniversary!’ in the most elaborative and embellished language possible, followed by at least a hundred likes and fifty or more comments. Mister Gentleman! It would have made more sense if you had told her that in private rather than putting affection and love on public display! This is not the end of the story; the same day I unfollowed several people on Twitter, tired of their endless petty personal details popping up in my timeline. I am sorry, but who is interested in knowing whether you have finished your lunch or are drying up your wet laundry out in the sun or having a row with your husband? These days, there is a strange new urge to showcase every single detail of daily life, as if these sites were some television reality shows where the best and the most consistent display of privacy is going to win a jackpot. Talking about oneself has become something of a social norm, and seems more important than everything else. Psychologists term this ‘modern day narcissism’. Laura E. Buffardi and W. Keith Campbell in their 2008 study ‘Narcissism and Social Networking Website’ talk in length about how, with the help of ‘inflated self-presentation’, narcissism is manifested in social networking sites. Be it with the best snap or best quote, they say, the owners use page content to form impressions of her/his personality on the viewer. ‘Narcissism’ reminded me of a not-at-all funny sexist joke I found on my facebook page, in which a woman borrows a sari from a friend, just to post a picture of it on facebook. I don’t know if friends and followers are attentive enough to remember what you wore last time at a particular picture, but the desire to show off is evident. A couple of my friends even believe that repeating the same clothes doesn’t matter as long as you haven’t already posted a picture of the dress in facebook. Does this mean that I would have to have an overstuffed wardrobe so that I don’t commit a repetition blunder and get a couple of likes and some ‘wow! love your dresses!’ or ‘you look adorable!’ kind of comments, become bloated with my bloated self-image and reply ‘thanks’? I had to employ a great deal of effort to explain what privacy actually meant before the rise of ‘share-all generation’. While narcissism may be one explanation of the psychology of over-sharing, I found Roger Cohen’s idea of status anxiety and over sharing as ‘twinned phenomenon’ equally fascinating. In his December 7, 2012 New York Times article titled ‘Thanks for Not Sharing’, Cohen argues that people over-share to escape status anxiety, be it social status measured in terms of your post-like or twit-follower ratio, or your financial status (that you just discover through social sites has declined in comparison to a friend’s). Over sharing, he says, is ‘the only means to push that status up again’. His modern social networking era rendering of Rene Descartes’ ‘Cogito ergo sum’ (I think, therefore I am) as ‘I over share, therefore I am’ explains how over sharing has been vital to affirm one’s existence in our times. This actually makes perfect sense. After all, who in this publicity prone era cherishes an obscure existence? But that’s hasty generalization. My Canadian friend had no facebook or twitter account three years ago when we met. She doesn’t have one now. A simple answer she would give for not being a part of share-all generation was “I don’t want people to have control over me.” I didn’t understand it then; but now after two active ‘facebooking’ years, she has begun to make sense to me. When the secrets of all my friends’ lives flash perpetually in my facebook and twitter timeline, she is living in Canada with her closely guarded secrets. Nevertheless, I still hope someday she will face existential crisis like everyone else, and join the bandwagon and let go of the burden of privacy. I better go and check my Facebook and Twitter to see if she has joined in. The author is A-Level Teacher at Chelsea International Academy paudel.smita@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52922 The budget announcement On the back of ebbing investor confidence and slowing economic activities in the absence of clear economic policy and financial resources, the government on Tuesday announced a full budget worth Rs 404.82 billion for the current fiscal year through an appropriation ordinance. The technocratic government, which has the main mandate of holding the long-overdue Constituent Assembly (CA) polls, has made some effort to rejuvenate the confidence of the business and donor communities who have been expressing concern over poor spending of development budget. During the first seven months of the current fiscal year, the government had spent around 25 percent (or Rs 13.42 billion) of the total Rs 51 billion set aside for capital expenditure. This budget has tried to address some key demands of the business community, including industrial security and export incentives, although it has very little to offer to the common man. But this third ordinance budget in a year has made some effort, albeit a little late, to restore depleting business confidence. Though the budget has not altered revenue policies and tax rates, it has raised the hope that the slow pace of capital spending will pick up momentum in coming days with additional budget going into national pride projects. At a time of ballooning trade deficit, slow remittance growth, growing current account deficit, declining balance of payment, slowing industrial growth and declined farm outputs, the government’s efforts to address these challenges (as expressed in the new budget) are still insufficient. The three-month implementation period for the announced programs is definitely inadequate. In keeping with the trend, huge allocation has been made for current expenditure and the portion of capital expenditure is very low. The current full-size budget has allocated Rs. 279.01 billion (68.92 percent of the total budget) for recurrent expenditure, Rs 66.13 billion (16.34 percent) for capital expenditure and Rs 59.67 billion (14.74 percent) for financing provisions. Low capital expenditure means less economic activities, which eventually slow down economic growth. The government has projected economic growth of 3.6 percent for the current fiscal year, which is lower that the previously estimated 5.5 percent. Though this budget has continued with most of the programs brought out by the previous government, it has allocated an additional Rs 52.89 billion for the proposed election and high priority projects. Amidst the county’s dwindling supply capacity in international trade, the budget offers Rs 300 million for export promotion and Rs 20 million to initiate process of introduction of ‘One District, One Product’ program in 10 districts. Subsidy in insurance premium, insurance of fish, poultry and crops and operationalizing Special Economic Zone in Bhairawa within this fiscal year are also welcome steps. This budget’s focus on Priority One (P1) projects has not only raised people’s hopes on the implementation of such crucial projects, but could also increase investor and donor confidence. However, budgetary allocation and announcement of new programs won’t have the desired result without collective political will. Moreover, concrete strategies are needed to restore industrial growth, boost farm production, ensure smooth implementation of infrastructure projects and to rein in skyrocketing trade deficit. Although the CJ-led government’s prime responsibility remains holding free and fair election of Constituent Assembly (CA), it cannot afford to ignore the gathering storms around the economy. Nor can its political backers. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52921 ANALYZING TAX REVENUES Government reports show that the contribution of tax on total government revenue is increasing. In 2010/11 contribution of tax revenue on total government expenditure came to 67.1 percent (IRD, 2012). Tax revenue had 89 percent share in total domestic revenue in 2011/12. As a percentage of GDP, tax revenue reached 15.7 percent in F/Y 2011/12, from 11.1 percent in 2006/7. Also, the country’s domestic revenue mobilization capacity has increased. The government plans to mobilize of Rs 289 billion in domestic revenues for 2012/13 (MoF, 2013), about 80 percent of total estimated government expenditure (not adjusted with recent change). Above indices show our economy is becoming self-sustaining. Domestic sources of revenue are getting stronger while the country’s dependence on foreign aid is decreasing. As tax is contributing more to the national treasury, the economy is at far lesser risk of economic failure. Advocates of liberal economic policy interpret this as the achievement of a shift in economic policy after 1990s, i.e. the liberalization of the state-controlled economy. PHOTO: HANGTHEBANKERS.COM However, if we sit down to actually analyze domestic revenue, things are far from encouraging. VAT is the major contributor of tax revenue, of which about 64 percent is collected at custom points. Forty percent of excise duty is collected on imports. In Nepal, custom duty is equivalent to import tax as we hardly charge any custom on exports. Except for a few service companies like NTC, NCell and some commercial banks, the majority of income tax payers consist of firms and companies involved in import business. Increased domestic revenue is the result of increasing imports. Every rupee increase in import taxes reflects a multiplier effect of import increase. Increased import in turn is contributing to huge trade deficit as a huge amount of foreign currency is flowing out, with only a tiny fraction of it coming back to national treasury in the form of tax. If Nepali youths working in Gulf countries failed to send their hard-earned foreign currency, how bad would the country’s economy be? Chances are we would fall short of minimum foreign currency reserve to pay for imports, i.e. there would be very little imports and subsequently custom, excise and VAT collections at custom points would go down significantly. Such an eventuality is not a distant prospect as job security of people sending remittance depends on the economic condition of the host countries. If there were to be a mass layoff in major labor importing countries, we would be neck deep into the BOP deficit trap in no time at all. Thus increased tax revenue alone cannot be taken as a tool to measure economic health, it is more important to see how the tax revenue enters state treasury. It is unfortunate that a large part of government’s tax revenue originates from increasing imports that has caused huge trade and balance of payment deficit. It is interesting that the issue of public revenue is not in public discourse. Parliamentary committee or full house of parliament has seldom discussed revenue side of budget in Nepal. Parliamentarians raise issues only about allocation of budget to their constituencies or districts, but none shows any concern about the structure of government revenue. It seems that they are not even aware of the fact that increased revenue increases the chances of allocation of more resources to their constituencies. In this situation, it might not be appropriate to expect them to get involved in the debate on revenue structure. Issue of public revenue has been neglected not only by parliament but also by the civil society. Millions of rupees come to NGOs in Nepal every year. In some of the projects, it is probable that up to 80 percent of budget goes for payment of consultancy fees. NGOs are free from income tax liability but their consultants are not. They know that they have to face public scrutiny if they start the vital debate and discussion on government revenue. Unless they are not sure that tax laws have been fully complied with while paying their consultants, revenue debate, including on income tax, will not be easy. Thus the number of NGOs working for transparency and accountability are increasing, but there probably is no NGO working to mainstream the debate on public revenue. The case of seeking name list of tax evaders through the use of Right to Information in 2012 might probably be the sole example of NGO work strengthening government treasury. In comparison to other fronts of civil society, media is doing comparatively better by making issues of tax evasion public. But it also seems focused only on what and who aspects of revenue. Causes of tax evasion, structure of government revenue, opportunities for better mobilization of internal resources, shifting to more sustainable sources of revenue, and relation of economic activities to tax are some of the areas where the media could nudge the concerned agencies. Only the expenditure side of national budget attracts politicians and revenue is not on the political agenda. Government agencies are in a self-congratulatory mood about generating up to Rs 300 billion of revenue domestically. Only the expenditure side of national budget attracts politicians and revenue is not on the political agenda. Civil society seems to have no concern on exploring the chances of strengthening the national treasury. The media has also not been able to play the desired role to explore the relation of revenue structure to the the size and structure of national economy and other issues involving revenue aspect of national economy. These are some of the factors contributing to a growing shadow economy. The overall economy is not doing good, even as the consumption habits of people are changing alarmingly. According to data based on formal economy, almost 90 percent of national income is spent on consumption (Economic Survey 2011/12). But this data may not reflect the actual economic status of the country because it is the tax-free underground economy which primarily fuels heavy expense on consumer goods. We have to generate maximum possible domestic revenue. Dependence on indirect taxes via imports should be minimized and that on direct taxes and sustainable economic activities should be increased. This calls for constructive debate on domestic revenue. Such debates can help narrow down the size of the shadow economy, locate sources of revenue leakage, promote fair business practices and increase tax coverage. This should be the common agenda of concerned actors including politicians, civil society and media. The author is Program Manager at Freedom Forum anirudra.neupane@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52920 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT A report (published before the CA’s dissolution) by Inter-Parliamentary Union Women in National Parliaments put Nepal, with 33.2 percent women in National Parliament, in 23rd position, well above many developed countries like the UK, the US, and Australia. While Nepal’s 33 percent quota for women in government services is laudable, it still is not sufficient for grassroots empowerment of women. That is why with under 21 percent female representation in both houses, the US is far ahead of Nepal in terms of women empowerment. Defining and measuring women’s empowerment is tough, and numbers alone surely don’t suffice. But in an equal society, assessing comparable roles can be a good yardstick to measure equality and empowerment. PHOTO: CLACKAMAS.US Political participation, education, entrepreneurship, and bargaining power in the house are among the areas where the participation and authority of women is low in Nepal. There have been increasing efforts to change this status quo around the world. In 2000, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution urging member states to ensure increased women’s representation at all levels of decision-making. UN Women has also been supporting (and working with) the governments of UN member states to set global standards for achieving gender equality. And though this continuous struggle for empowerment and equality isn’t new, history hasn’t always been kind to women. Freed male slaves in the US gained voting rights immediately after the end of their servitude, while women had to wait more than half a century for the same. However, the scenario is changing, and innovative grassroots women involvement is capturing popular imagination. The focus has rightly shifted to enhancing financial stability, entrepreneurial skills and women’s authority in household matter, as much as in education, when it comes to strengthening women’s position. Educated and/or enterprising women enjoy more financial stability, greater authority in households, more freedom of movement, more engagement in decision making, and they suffer less gender discrimination. They are the ones who are changing the paradigm of women’s participation in the society. But in Nepal, higher education, entrepreneurship and socio-political enterprises are still by and large a male preserve. It’s not that we don’t have plans and policies to bring more women into education, industry and politics, but rigid social and religious norms and poverty hinder their progress. Moreover, the policies that don’t focus on building up the expertise and skills of women from grassroots, but rather on direct inclusion, like quota reservations, haven’t had the desired effect. If instead the energy and resources were diverted into enrolling more girls into schools, giving women more security against violence of all kinds, providing them life skills trainings, and in facilitating easy access to finance, the benefits would have been more tangible. Additionally, the forthcoming policies and programs must be dynamic, multi-faceted and well assimilated into the social norms and values to cut down on hindrances to their effective implementation. For instance: Free secondary education was not enough to retain female students in schools, because families held them back for income generation or household chores. Had the government also launched a parallel program to help the families generate income, it might have resulted in increased female attendance in school. So when policies are introduced, extra care must be given to address potential socio-economic hindrances. An exemplary program which successfully addressed these overlapping socio-politico-economic issues is that of Community Cooperatives. These cooperatives in essence operate under the concept of “of the people, by the people and for the people” within a community, and hence have been able to ensure more female participation. Also because these programs grow organically, they adapt to the society’s natural ecosystem, which is why there is high female participation in this program. The concept of Nepal’s Cooperatives is derived from the concept of microfinance, first introduced by Muhammad Yunus and adopted by Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Grameen Bank is based on the idea that it takes financial stability, entrepreneurship and participatory approach from grassroots up, more than just quota allocation, to empower women. About 97 percent of borrowers with Gameen Bank are women, and even while lending without collaterals or legal bindings, this bank has an almost 97 percent loan recovery rate. This I believe is partly possible because of the relatively high rate of return from investments made from the borrowed money. Studies have shown that female borrowers widely discuss investment opportunities before jumping into a venture. Many of them invest in social issues like women education and health. These community discussions somehow compensate for their lack of experience in making investment decisions, because they give the participants a platform to discuss their ideas and brood over the possibilities and outcomes of the investment. Reservations that focus only on inclusion and not on building up skills of women from grassroots haven’t had the desired results. Such microfinance lending and borrowing practices create a sound foundation to raise women’s status in society. In countries like Bangladesh and Nepal where decision making by women is also considered revolutionary, it isn’t easy to fight the stigma and prejudices which women’s socio-economic empowerment invite. Families aren’t always appreciative of the efforts women make to grow outside of their homes. Further, male dominance in our families not only inhibits balance of power in decision making, decision implementation, and family spending, but also limits women’s freedom of movement and engagement. Such microfinance lending has given women rich experiences in decision making, financial stability, exercise of power, and their movement and engagement beyond the household. In 1996 election, for the first time in Bangladesh’s history, more women voted than men—the credit for which can be given to the opportunities provided by microfinance institutions (by Grameen Bank in particular). In the face of changing gender roles across the globe, Nepal also needs to make the right effort to ensure that women are no more afraid to take up new roles. They must be competent to pursue their socio-economic and political freedoms, and to engage in issues of their interest. Quoting Jae Galvan Lewis, “You don’t have to be anti-man to be pro-woman”; women empowerment is a movement to create an equal, just and wholesome society, nothing more. The author is an Economics graduate with an interest in public policy barshaaa@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52919 MISTAKES Though mistakes have a positive side—they offer opportunities for improvement—the immediate effects are often costly and difficult to correct once mistakes are made. In business, each mistake is by and large paid in terms of financial loss, reduced profits, or damage to a company’s reputation. Take, for example, the headline-making grounding of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliners and the resulting loss of hundreds of millions of dollars for the company. All due to a seemingly simple mistake in the choice of the lithium-ion batteries used. Safety tests and the grounding of the entire flagship fleet along with a ban on flights over Europe, the U.S. and Asia resulted in a 26 percent drop in Boeing’s share price. Even greater damage was done to the company’s reputation, at a time when competition with Airbus could not have made the stakes higher. In the business sector, these “lose-lose” situations effect actors in the entire business chain; from stockholders and employees to suppliers and buyers. The same cannot be said to apply to the development sector. These agencies, like their business counterparts, spend much of their time and resources in planning. They invest the same energy in mitigating risk, in project planning and monitoring frameworks, and they include the entire range of expected results, impacts and mitigation plans. And never do we hear of mistakes made on the scale of Boeing’s. This begs the questions, do development agencies make mistakes? If they do, who are they accountable to? Certainly not vocal shareholders and a hungry business press. Considering the intensive and rigorous planning and monitoring practices these agencies follow, one might be tempted to think that they either do not make costly mistakes, or if they do, they quickly learn from them and improve practices. If their own internally generated presentations and reports are to be believed, their work either results in a list of positive impacts, such as lifting ‘poor and marginalized groups out of poverty’, or on the rare occasion that mistakes are made, they are handily labeled ‘lesson learned’. Away from press attention, these ‘lessons’ keep on happening, hardly producing negative consequences to anyone; creating a win-win situation. In business, each mistake is paid in terms of financial loss, reduced profits, or damage to a company’s reputation. We hear development agencies stating that they are accountable to their donor countries and to host governments and communities. In practice, this is not the case. Development agencies do not often scrutinize the mistakes of their own projects. Instead they are wrapped in an external evaluation report where some recommendations, posing no direct penalties to any party, are expected of the report writer. This allows development agencies to ignore the government and communities they serve with little, if any, blowback. After all, these hosts are naturally reluctant to look their gift horse in the mouth and demand accountability and its consequences. It would be better for development agencies if they were more accountable and accepted their mistakes, while bearing the consequences. The state, communities, civil society and media should keep a close watch on their activities. pokhrel2012@hotmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52870 Ball in the parties’ court Confirming widespread apprehension, Chairman of the Interim Election Council Khil Raj Regmi has now clearly indicated that CA polls are not possible by June. The government is not going to fix election date in haste, Regmi said on Monday, adding that there was no point in announcing a date without creating the ground for elections. He has a point. Regmi was responding to UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s self-serving accusation that the government was needlessly dillydallying in announcing a poll date. Dahal had gone so far as to accuse the government of conspiring to defer the polls until winter. On cue, Regmi reminded the country that the government is constitutionally bound to hold new elections by mid-December. When the four political forces decided to form an election government under the Chief Justice, they had clearly reached an understanding that elections could be held by mid-December, if it could not in June owing to unforeseeable circumstances. Not only the political leaders involved in the deal, but the general people also had little hope that election would be held in June, given the enormous challenges. Still, if all the stakeholders had acted with the needed urgency, it certainly was possible, and would have been in the country’s best interest. But it wasn’t meant to be. Distribution of citizenship certificates as demanded by Madheshi parties, updating voters’ registration with photo ID and other legal arrangements, they are all time consuming exercises. These are the technicalities the government and the Election Commission are working on to ensure fair and free polls. Announcing the date for the election without creating a proper environment in this regard would be counterproductive. History advises caution: The Baburam Bhattarai-led government announced the election date, twice, but failed to hold polls each time. The Big Four need to start talking to the parties outside the election fold that are threatening to boycott poll. We believe the ball is now firmly in the court of the Big Four in the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM). They need to earnestly start talking to the parties outside the election fold. CPN-Maoist led by Mohan Baidya, Upendra Yadav-led Madheshi People’s Rights Forum-Nepal and Federal Socialist Party led by Ashok Rai are some of the major political forces which have vowed not only to boycott polls, but also to disrupt them. This is an alarming prospect. A boycott would not have been a major cause of concern if it were regular parliamentary polls. But this is the election of the body which will draft a new constitution, and participation of most political forces is crucial. Therefore, instead of accusing the government and the EC of not doing enough, the leaders need to pull up their socks. Again, first and the foremost, the HLPM should try to convince the disgruntled parties to sit for talks and start negotiating with them in earnest. The role of the Interim Election Council and the Election Commission should be limited to ensuring free and fair election. It is up to the political parties to create an environment favorable for election. Without bringing the disgruntled parties on board, that would not be possible, whether in June or in December. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52869 It’s the afternoon of Saturday, March 30 in the village of Malepu, Sunkhani-3 of Dolakha. A group of six journalists are camped here for a 72-hour “news sourcing and reporting challenge” in an event called Rural Media Gufa, “an experiential newscave”. The objective is to engage journalists directly with the local community. Some 48 hours have gone by, and journalists are in the field, some knocking doors of residents, others meeting farmers in their fields. As part of the assignment, they must talk to sources in person; all forms of new media, cellphones or the internet, are banned. The weather is warm but gruff. The sounds of a strong wind rustles through the neighboring forest, and howls through the galvanized steel roof of the school building, and the bamboo fence panels of the makeshift “newscave” nearby. The sturdy winds have fully subdued the birds’ tweets, or the otherwise resounding melodies of the vigorous waters of Tamakoshi only a few hundred meters down the ridge. PHOTO: ARJUN DAHAL Barely 24 hours remain for the “cavedwellers” to report and write their 800-word story. A couple of them are writing drafts, the rest are back in the field to follow-up and for verification. The story demands at least five human sources, including a regular, a women, a member of the marginalized community, an underage (with parental consent), and a local expert. In addition, they must also cite a relevant local public document. They must exhibit a variation of attribution styles, including direct, phrasal quotes, and paraphrasing, as well as three statistics in the story. The story guideline is thorough, and it specifies the nature of headline, options on intro/lead, nut graph, main body, the ending, and is rigid on copy format, and the referencing of sources at the end. The form is rhythmic, alternating between elements that are a given in the journalistic craft: beginning—facts—quotes—facts—quotes—facts—quotes…—ending. ------ As the wind weakens, a group of villagers arrives in the cave. They are here to appeal to the gufa journalists to write on Dhamire-Simdobhan irrigation canal. The project, they report, started in 2067 BS with meager support from the VDC office. Voluntary contribution of labor by 2,000 locals for three months helped to dig 500 meters of the canal. However, further work on the planned 1,400-meter stretch appears impossible now as they face the barrier of a huge boulder (about 500 meters) on the way. Mahendra Bahadur Khadka, 65, treasurer of the canal construction committee, says actual cost to cut through the massive rock formation could be around Rs 2 million; but with villagers working themselves they need only about Rs 500,000. “We will donate in voluntary work, and doing so will help sustain our love for the canal.” Dambar Bahadur Shrestha, 46, observes that the biggest problem facing the villagers is lack of irrigation. At 700 meters above sea level and with a population of 500, Malepu, unlike other villages in the region, reflects diversity, comprising people of varied ethnic backgrounds, including janajatis such as Maji, Thami and Badi. The predominantly agricultural village has uninterrupted electricity, some telephonic connectivity, is linked by two dirt roads, but has no irrigation facilities. Never before in my career have I had a group of people come to me with such a unique journalistic request. As one of the organizers of the gufa and as a member of the research committee monitoring its proceedings, I find myself in a fix. Two days ago, villagers had gathered to brainstorm story ideas for the journalists. They had suggested around a dozen ideas, and the irrigation issue had been mentioned only peripherally. Of the ideas suggested by the community, six were selected for reporting by lot: Majhi children’s education (Rajneesh Bhandari, thinkbrigade.com), the Badi of the East (Keshav Koirala, The Himalayan Times), hydropower independence (Arun Rai, Republica), public opinion on local elections (Rubina Shreshtha, Kantipur FM), an exemplary farmer (Arjun Dahal, Radio Sailung, Dolakha), and local entrepreneurship (Bimala Thapa, Hamro Radio, Dolakha). ----- Gufa journalists walk to stories, but here was a story that walked to us. With barely a day remaining, there isn’t enough time for a fair coverage of the canal that the villagers believe could irrigate 240 ropanis of land. We don’t have big leaders who could fight for our cause, says one farmer. Our leaders are in deep slumber, adds another, and if you shout out our problems, they could be woken up. These leaders may slap us knowing that we took this issue to the media, jokes another. Not all have inflated expectations from the journalists. For example, Jagat Bahadur Khadka, 48, remarks: “Of course journalists cannot do much, other than to help disseminate our news. Others could learn how the people of Malepu are trying hard on their own.” As I listen to them, I begin to see the contours of a story out of all the assigned stories. What is your image of the people called journalists? I ask. Their responses are benign: Journalists offer advice to people who are exploited, they are eyes of the country for the people, they are the ones who do benevolent works and push for reforms for everyone’s future, they travel around the country and shout out the realities, they pour out the events that happen in villages, they clarify issues that the enemies keep hidden, etc. Have you ever met a journalist? I ask. None except one of the seven admits meeting a journalist before. “I am 80 and this is the first time I am meeting a journalist. I am telling you the truth,” says Chandra Bahadur Khadka. The visitors agree media in general covered other places fairly well, but not theirs. They feel the media could focus more on seeds, irrigation, modern equipment, pesticides, etc, and even though fertilizers are expensive, the media should be able to help in their timely distribution. Malepu is a microcosm of the country. There is political disillusionment, social disintegration caused by generational differences, but residents have collaborated to own up local development. ---- The rhythm of journalism today is increasingly characterized by ever more shrinking deadlines, arm-chair tele-reporting, with lip devotion to human conditions on the ground. One of the critical issues is the repetition of the already hackneyed sources—the same uninspiring politicians, the same banal experts. As the human touch diminishes, the potential of manipulation by sources increases, and so does the challenge to verification of information. The Rural Gufa offered a break from the routinized rhythm, from the taken-for-granted sourcing and reporting habits. There were real challenges in verification; inconsistencies in assertions by sources were recurrent especially in numbers, figures, and dates. The same person would be of so many ages! Opinions too had to be cross-verified, with some journalists asking if a particular source was serious or simply sarcastic, or joking about an issue. There was also the difficulty in finding proper documents. Invariably, it was the local school or the village cooperative that offered the only hope for such documents, unfortunately not relevant to every assigned story. Other obstacles included developing rapport with sources, and adapting to the local idiomatic culture, etc. Journalism today is characterized by ever shrinking deadlines, armchair tele-reporting, and lip devotion to human condition. The urban-based, tech-savvy journalists displayed stoicism in completely abstaining from mobile phones and social media; eating the same food the locals ate and walking distances. A participant had fever and cold, but would not rest. Some faced the most somber experience of their professional career. For example, Rajneesh Bhandari was shadowing the 13-year-old Rajan Majhi on Tamakoshi river laying his fishing net on the blue waters. Just before the sunset, the boy saw something approaching his net: It was his father’s dead body. The elder Majhi, a seasoned fisherman, had drowned. Himself a witness to the incident, Bhandari could neither ask the boy for a quote nor leave the scene abruptly. Another day, after several hours of walk, and sweats, he earned the one quote he desperately needed to end his story: “I am feeling sad,” the grieving teenager told him. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52868 DEATH PENALTY “When I was two years old, my father Hari Bahadur Ghale went to Malaysia to earn money. After some years, my mother married another man. I was left alone. I did not even know my father very well. When I heard the news of my father’s death sentence in Malaysia, it gave me an unbearable shock. I urge all of you to do something to save my father’s life.”- Jharana Ghale, 13, Nuwakot, Nepal. (Daughter of Hari Bahadur Ghale who was sentenced to death in Malaysia in 2012) Today, Amnesty International is releasing its annual report on death penalty statistics across the globe. Once again, we have seen the world move closer to becoming death penalty-free, slowly but surely. Only 21 countries were recorded as having carried out executions last year—this is the same number as in 2011, but down from 28 a decade earlier in 2003. A longer historical perspective makes the change even more striking—when we first started campaigning for abolition of death penalty some 35 years ago, the world’s 16 abolitionist countries were a clear minority. Now 97 countries have completely abolished death penalty in law, while 140 in total are de facto death penalty free. NOLIESRADIO.ORG In 2012, we saw progress in all regions of the world. The trend is clear: whether it is Latvia fully abolishing the death penalty; Benin and Mongolia taking clear legal steps in this direction; the governments of Ghana and Sierra Leone turning their backs on capital punishment; long-term executioners Viet Nam or Singapore not carrying out any executions; or Connecticut becoming the 17th abolitionist US state. With the exceptions of Belarus and the USA, Europe and the Americas and the Pacific sub-region remained execution-free. But it is not all good news. There were some extremely disappointing developments last year which highlighted how, unless it is fully abolished in law, the death penalty is still an ever-present risk. In Asia, we saw India, Japan and Pakistan all carrying out executions for the first time in years. In November 2012, Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was suddenly hanged—it was the first execution in India since 2004. In Pakistan the military authorities put a soldier to death in November—the first execution in more than four years. In Africa, Gambia carried out its first death sentences in almost three decades when eight men and one woman were shot by firing squad on the same day in August. President Yahya Jammeh first said that all death sentences would be “carried out to the letter”, but backtracked following an international outcry and announced a “conditional” moratorium on executions which would be “automatically lifted” if crime rates increased. Iraq carried out almost twice as many executions in 2012 as the year before, and has replaced Saudi Arabia as the third biggest executioner in the world, after China and Iran. Equally worrying is that the use of the death penalty in many countries across the world appears to be motivated more by politics than anything else. In several countries that executed in 2012 there is evidence that leaders use the death penalty to show they are tough on crime—a shocking way to play with people’s lives. In other countries the death penalty is too often used as just another tool of outright repression. In July 2012, Iran sentenced five men to death for “enmity against god”—a charge aimed against those threatening the central government with armed violence, but in practice often used against anybody associated with banned organizations. All five were activists from the long-suppressed Ahwazi Arab minority, and had been arrested in the run-up to planned demonstrations. Another example is Sudan, which together with Gambia is responsible for a rise in reported executions and death sentences in sub-Saharan Africa in 2012; death sentences in Sudan were imposed against real or perceived political opposition activists. Only 21 countries carried out executions last year. But it is not all good. India and Pakistan did so for the first time in years. Other governments cling to alleged public support for the death penalty as a way to justify executions. But not only are there indications that this popular support is wafer thin across much of the world, this argument also ignores the fact that the death penalty is a human rights violation; governments should be engaging the public on abolition, in order to promote and protect the right to life. The death penalty is the premeditated, judicially sanctioned killing, by the state, of a human being. It is, in fact, the ultimate denial of human rights. The use of such calculated violence in the name of justice stains any society. Our message to the minority of governments that still execute is simple – the death penalty is cruel and inhuman; it cannot be defended, and in retaining it you are out of step with the rest of the world. We hope that, one year from now, we’ll be able to look back on even more leaders coming around to this fact. The author is Director of Amnesty International Nepal http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52816 Hearing on ‘hooliganism’ The Supreme Court should never have been bothered with the case of ‘hooliganism’. Nepal Police and the Home Ministry should have had the commonsense not to start such an inane initiative in the first place. Thankfully, better sense has prevailed among the two Supreme Court judges who on Sunday directed the police to immediately halt its misguided drive to check ‘hooliganism’ that it has been carrying out over the past few months. The joint bench of Sushila Karki and Kalyan Shrestha has rightly observed that “the clothes an individual chooses to wear or the decision to keep the hair or beard long is clearly a personal choice,” and “…this personal freedom cannot be violated in the name of controlling crime or any other excuse.” In a brazen mockery of rule of law, more than 1,000 men with long hair and/or wearing earnings have been arrested so far, mostly under the Public Offence Act for “making noise or loitering”. This overzealous policing predictably came under a lot of heat. There is enormous public anger at the functioning of the country’s security organs, especially Nepal Police, which is easily among the most corrupt (and dysfunctional) government bodies. The police force is so toothless that even hardcore criminals convicted in a court of law are walking the streets in broad daylight. The campaign against long-haired men was perhaps aimed at driving the public attention away from its shortcomings. The apex court has halted this travesty of justice and set the right precedent by speaking out clearly in favor of personal freedom and basic rights, which cannot be curtailed under any circumstances in a functioning democracy. The police, hopefully, have learnt their lesson.[break] The lesson is that people cannot be stereotyped on the basis of their looks, which could lead the country down a slippery slope of rights violations. Time and again, authoritarian regimes in the past have tried to justify brutal crackdowns on personal freedom in the name of saving the society from ‘hooligans’. This sort of state-sanctioned moral policing easily seeps down to the grassroots. Last year, a married woman and a man were banished from Ayodhyapur VDC in Siraha by local panchayat for allegedly having illicit relations. The villagers had shorn off their hair, smeared soot on their faces and garlanded them with shoes before parading them before the village, while the police looked on from the sidelines. Many women who have been harassed in public for such ‘illicit relationships’ have taken their own lives in utter humiliation. It is important to realize that these incidents are a reflection of the society we live in. We all are a part of this same society. As such, each of us needs to be aware of our deep-seated prejudices and make a conscious effort to abandon our judgmental lens, much like the two apex court judges on Sunday. After its path-breaking decisions on the rights of women and LGBT community in the past few years, the Supreme Court has once again acted as a bulwark of social transformation. At least something is working in this beleaguered country. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52815 A comprehensive approach must recognize the speed of internal change, especially in the minds of ordinary North Korean people The world’s task in addressing North Korea’s saber rattling is made no easier by the fact that it confronts an impoverished and effectively defeated country. On the contrary, it is in such circumstances that calm foresight is most necessary. The genius of the Habsburg Empire’s Prince Klemens von Metternich in framing a new international order after the Napoleonic Wars was that he did not push a defeated France into a corner. Although Metternich sought to deter any possible French resurgence, he restored France’s prewar frontiers.[break] By contrast, as Henry Kissinger has argued, the victors in World War I could neither deter a defeated Germany nor provide it with incentives to accept the Versailles Treaty. Instead, they imposed harsh terms, hoping to weaken Germany permanently. We know how that plan ended. John F. Kennedy was in the Metternich mold. During the Cuban missile crisis, he did not try to humiliate or win a total victory over the Soviet Union. Rather, he put himself in Nikita Khrushchev’s shoes and agreed to dismantle, secretly, American missiles in Turkey and Italy in exchange for withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba. Kennedy’s pragmatism prevented World War III. Sadly, North Korea has not received such far-sighted statesmanship. Faced with the North’s dangerous nuclear game, we should ask what would have happened if, over the last 20 some years, the North Korea problem had been approached with the sagacity of Metternich and Kennedy. Of course, North Korea is not early-nineteenth century France or the USSR of 1962. In the eyes of Western (including Japanese) political leaders, it has never amounted to more than a small, fringe country whose economic failings made it appear to be poised perpetually on the edge of self-destruction. For the most part, world leaders preferred not to be bothered with North Korea, and so reacted in an ad hoc way whenever it created a security problem. But now, following the North’s recent nuclear tests, and given its improving ballistic-missile capabilities, that approach is no longer tenable. Perhaps the best chance to address the problem at an earlier stage was immediately after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991. Back then, Kim Il-sung—the North’s founder—faced economic collapse, diminution of his conventional military forces, and diplomatic isolation. In interviews with Asahi Shimbun and The Washington Times in March and April 1992, Kim clearly expressed a wish to establish diplomatic relations with the US. But US and South Korean leaders were not ready to accommodate Kim’s overture. Their received ideas about North Korea prevented them from recognizing a fast-changing political reality. Another opportunity was missed later in the decade. If North Korea had reciprocated in a timely manner following US envoy William Perry’s visit to Pyongyang in May 1999, President Bill Clinton’s policy of engagement with the North might have been upgraded to a push for normalization of diplomatic relations. Instead, the North procrastinated, sending Vice Marshall Jo Myong-rok to the US only in October 2000, near the end of Clinton’s presidency. A few months later, newly elected President George W. Bush reversed Clinton’s North Korea policy. I still recall the difficulty that I faced, as South Korea’s foreign minister, in convincing Bush administration policymakers to negotiate with North Korea instead of merely applying pressure and waiting for the North to capitulate. Back then, North Korea was restarting its Yongbyon nuclear facility and producing plutonium, thus strengthening its bargaining position vis-à-vis the US. Precious time was squandered before North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006. Though Bush shifted his policy toward bilateral negotiations with the North a few months later, the Kim regime had become much more obstinate. Indeed, North Korea’s behavior has since become even more volatile. Its sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010 were unprecedented, and raised inter-Korean tensions to their highest level in decades. Today, following the North’s third nuclear test, we seem to have entered the most precarious stage yet, with the regime declaring that it will never surrender its nuclear option. So, what should be done? The first option should be deterrence of further aggression through diplomacy. But achieving diplomatic deterrence will depend on China’s cooperation, and this requires that China’s vital national-security interests be recognized. China fears not only the social and economic consequences of a North Korean implosion, but also the strategic consequences of reunification—in particular, that the US military, through its alliance with South Korea, would gain access to territory on its border. A mere statement by the US that it has no intention to press this military advantage will not assuage China’s fears. Chinese leaders recall that the US promised Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev that German reunification and democratic transition in Eastern Europe would not mean eastward expansion of NATO. So a more concrete undertaking, one that preserves South Korea’s bedrock security concerns, is needed. Only after its security is assured will China free itself from complicity in North Korean brinkmanship and be better able to control the North’s behavior. But Chinese cooperation, though necessary, will not resolve the North Korea problem on its own. A comprehensive approach must recognize the speed of internal change, especially in the minds of ordinary North Koreans. Simply put, North Koreans are not as isolated as they once were, and have a growing appreciation of their impoverishment, owing primarily to greater trade and closer connections with booming China. This internal change needs to be encouraged, because it will prove more effective than external pressure in influencing the regime’s behavior. But such encouragement must be undertaken in ways that do not incite the North’s fears of being destroyed by indirect means. South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s recent proposal to provide humanitarian assistance despite the recent spike in tension, is a start in the right direction. The lives of ordinary North Koreans matter as much as the security of North Korea’s neighbors. A comprehensive approach is required—one that focuses as much on the human dimension as on the security dimension. It remains to be seen whether this approach requires more foresight and courage than today’s political leaders in South Korea, the West, and China can muster. The author is former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52814 CLIMATE CHANGE NEGOTIATIONS A number of western news wires and climate pundits seem to be euphoric over the ‘declaration’ of some of the poorest countries to cut emissions of Green House Gases to tackle runaway climate change. We will soon know whether the group of least developed countries (LDCs) actually made the commitment, and if it is worth such a wide coverage, but let us first examine whether such a move from the LDCs will have any significance. Scientific evidences suggest that the world is on the path to becoming 4 °C warmer within this century. It has already been verified that warming above 1.5 °C will cause serious threats to the development and even survival of communities in the most underprivileged parts of the world. A recent report by World Bank said, “A world in which warming reaches 4°C above preindustrial levels would be one of unprecedented heat waves, severe drought, and major floods in many regions, with serious impacts on human systems, ecosystems, and associated services.” But developed countries, which are primarily responsible for, and have the ability to avert, this catastrophe, remain nonchalant. [break] Twenty plus years have passed since negotiations started among the countries under United Nations to find ways to keep the temperatures rise under safe limits so as to stabilize the climate. In recent years, with countries like China, Brazil, South Africa and India catching up with the United States and European countries not only in economic development but also in Green House Gas emission, a debate over who should take the lead in reducing emissions has been started. The negotiating parties are at loggerheads, with developed countries unwilling to take actions without emerging economies agreeing to binding emission cuts, while emerging economies cite the historical responsibility of developed countries. Forced to remain in the sidelines, LDCs and small island developing states (SIDS) urged developing nations to take note of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC) acknowledged in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The 49 LDCs representing 12 percent of the world’s population are responsible for only four percent of global emissions, but are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. While it is obvious that the LDCs cannot adopt the same economic model of development followed by the rich countries in their course of development, it is a fundamental right of LDCs to strive for a decent and ecologically sustainable livelihood for their communities. LDCs by default are in a position to demand climate justice from developed countries for their survival and get support to pursue a low carbon development model. It would not make any difference even if the LDCs cut their emissions to zero, unless big emitters curb them to under 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 as demanded by LDCs. EARTHLYISSUES.COM The news of LDC group’s commitment to cut emission, which is going viral online with even UNFCCC chief Christina Figueres having joined the bandwagon by tweeting the news article, came a week after the conclusion of LDC strategy meeting held in Kathmandu from 22 to 23 March 2013. In the opening statement, Prakash Mathema, the new chair of the LDC group in UNFCCC and joint secretary of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment of Nepal, said, “We are the most vulnerable countries and we are tired of following others, tired of waiting for others to shape the agendas and decisions for us. From now on, our aim is to take the lead and invite others to follow us.” This was said with the aim of making LDCs the dealmakers for a new agreement to be decided at the 21st conference of parties to UNFCCC in 2015 in Paris, France. The ‘follow us’ mantra forwarded by Mathema has been perceived as LDC’s willingness to agree to legally binding emission cut, which is not the agreed position of LDCs. Our conversation with the core members of the LDC group revealed that there is no agreement to commit to emission cut. Then the question arises, why did such news come out in the international media? To understand the reason, we have to delve into the politics of climate change negotiation. While developed and fast developing countries are at loggerheads with each other as to who should cut the emissions first, LDCs have been pushing for the application of CBDR-RC principle or the principle of equity as the guiding element of emission cuts. As countries like the US are known to be unwilling to cut their emission unless China and other emerging countries come on board, the fast developing countries’ reluctance to agree to make binding emission cut is seen by many observers within the developing world as the stumbling block in the negotiations. In some instances the LDCs have found the European Union to be more concerned about their plights, and it was the understanding between the LDCs, SIDS and EU that helped broker an agreement in Durban, South Africa in 2011 to negotiate for the 2015 deal. Within UNFCCC, different groups frequently try to align with or use LDCs to amplify their voices. The recent development could be part of one such game plan to makes one’s agenda known from the mouth of others. Nonetheless, this can be a lesson for Nepal, the chair of the LDC group in UNFCCC for the year 2013-2014, which can now become a strategic player in the politics of climate change. The authors closely follow climate change negotiations http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52813 POLLS AND SMALL PARTIES Election to the Constituent Assembly is the only democratic way out of the current political impasse. At the least, it offers a semblance of hope for a democratic end of the protracted crisis. I am qualifying my optimism because the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly last year proved that the assembly can be impotent in the face of complex issues over which people are sharply divided. However, there is no alternative to new Constituent Assembly election at a time when the country is being run under an Interim Constitution, which has been modified with abandon under the influence of the so-called Big Four and therefore has served as a tool of these parties to serve their vested interest. All political parties are now theoretically in favor of new election to the CA, although some of them initially preferred the reinstatement of the dissolved CA. Even the CPN-Maoist led by Mohan Baidhya has been reiterating that they are not against the election. However, if theoretical acceptance is not followed by practical acceptance, it will be impossible to create conducive environment for election. That is to say, if all political parties which deserve equal treatment in a democratic system do not accept the election both theoretically and practically, the exercise is impossible. Almost all the political parties except the Big Four have announced that they will not participate in the election conducted by the Interim Election Council led by Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi. [break] The Interim Election Council has not announced a date for the CA election yet because the government and its political backers have not been able to create a congenial environment for election. There are signs that the political situation is likely to get worse. Among them are obstructions to voter list preparation by CPN-Maoist cadres, the ongoing agitation of the 33 small political parties including the CPN-Maoist against the March 13 agreement for a government under the sitting CJ, the seizure of the land of the chairman of the Interim Election Council, etc. These are the factors that lie outside the control of the Interim Election Council. Republica Now let me discuss a largely neglected factor. The chairman of the IEC does not seem to have advised the Election Commission to be careful about sensitive provisions to be included or updated in the electoral laws pertaining to the percentage threshold for the PR quota. The cut-off for the proportional seat proposed by the Election Commission was far greater than the one adopted in determining proportional seats in the last CA election. This proposal was met with sharp criticism from small parties. Though this proposal may seem to be unimportant at the moment, it is potentially very dangerous because the marginalized groups are likely to raise this issue very strongly in the days to come. This factor seems to lie within the ambit of the Interim Election Council, but it could be that the four political parties that played a key role in the formation of the election government have either collectively or individually influenced the Election Commission to increase percentage for PR seats. The agitating fringe parties call into question the very foundation of the current election government. Their unwillingness to discuss their demand with the current government, and the failure of the major parties to pacify them indicates holding CA election is not going to be easy. If these four parties have any common sense, they should realize that excluding fringe parties from crucial negotiations was not a good idea. If this culture of neglect continues, the current political crisis will only deepen. The author is Assistant Secretary General, Nepal Citizen Party http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52771 New polls prospects There has been enough drama since the appointment of Khil Raj Regmi as the head of the electoral government. Now is the time to pull the curtains down on this uninspiring farce. This means announcing a new poll date without any further delay. This means working earnestly to bring the disgruntled forces on board. This means clearing logistics and managerial hurdles towards new election on a war footing. The current merry-go-round is only adding to confusion. Here is the Maoist Chairman accusing the government—which Pushpa Kamal Dahal, perhaps more than any other political leader, helped put in place—of dilly-dallying and ‘conspiring’ to delay polls. Here is the Election Commission dithering to propose a poll date. Then there is the Regmi government, supposedly waiting for EC to give it a clear hint. The reason for this constant buck passing and failure to agree on a common poll date is obvious: no one wants election in June. There are big technical hurdles for June polls, no doubt. But above everything else, it is the time-buying tactics of the main political parties unsure of their poll prospects that is delaying the announcement of a new date. If the political parties in the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) wanted polls by late June, they could have put pressure on the government to press ahead. But the fact that Khil Raj Regmi came into office on the back of an agreement that provisions for November-December polls as a contingency measure suggests that irrespective of what the political leaders are saying in public, they are either unprepared or unwilling to take the poll plunge in the near future. Perhaps Khil Raj Regmi and election commissioners would also like to have a few more days in the sun. Even the parties opposed to the current Regmi-led dispensation, chiefly CPN-Maoist and Upendra Yadav-led MJF, would want some time to consolidate their constituencies before the eventual poll date. It would help everyone if the political parties, the Election Commission and the government spoke with one voice. Currently, it appears that they have colluded to give out a confusing message: one which does not completely rule out June polls, even if such a possibility is ‘unlikely’. If indeed there can be no polls in June, as appears to be the case, they must have the guts to tell the people the truth. There is nothing wrong in holding elections on November-December if there can be broad political consensus. What is most important is getting as many political forces as possible on board, whether the polls are to be held in June or November. A controversial election could be way worse than no election at all. The two sets of parties (those represented in HLPC and those outside it) must resist brinksmanship and look to work out a mutually agreeable poll date. More than that, rather than needlessly (and endlessly) debate controversial issues at the eleventh hour, it is about time they let the people have their say. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52770 Had sincere attempts been made to formulate a constitution that lived up to the promises of CPA, voters themselves would have foiled every attempt to sabotage the CA process BS 2069 should have been a year of elections and hope. Instead the period ends this week on a note of exasperation bordering on despair. Had the Constituent Assembly (CA) succeeded in framing the statute, Nepal would have had legitimately formed executive and legislature in place by now. Alternatively, if the CA had dissolved itself only after ensuring the procedure of forming its successor institution, a newly elected legislature would have been debating ways of consolidating gains of the most inclusive elected body in the history of the country. Alas, that was not to happen. After nearly a year of pointless haggling, honchos of national parties have committed political hara-kiri. An extra-constitutional government sans popular mandate has been formed, ostensibly to conduct free, fair and impartial elections within the stipulated date. Meanwhile, the treasury is saddled with the obligation of paying rents for the empty Chinese-built Birendra International Convention Center (BICC)—ambitiously renamed the Constituent Assembly Building (CAB)—in the hope that representatives of the people would once again begin to crowd its desolate premises.[break] Incidentally, it was at the very same building—still known as the BICC—that the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist Supremo Prachanda had signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in a poorly organized but anxiously watched ceremony on November 21, 2006. Apart from declaring an end of the armed conflict and pledging to hold CA elections, the CPA has a long list of commitment that includes everything from scientific land reforms to democratization of the Nepali Army. However, the laundry list actually begins with two pledges that encapsulate almost every provision of the historic document. Republica In clause 3.4 of the CPA, signatories undertake to “Promulgate the political system that fully comprehends with the concepts of universally adopted principles of fundamental human rights, multiparty competitive democratic system, sovereign rights inherent in the people and supremacy of the citizens, constitutional balance and control, rule of law, social justice and equality, independent judiciary, periodic elections, monitoring by the civil society, complete press freedom, right to information of the citizens, transparency and accountability of the activities of the political parties, people’s participation, fair, able and uncorrupted administrative mechanism.” If that inventory sounds exhaustive, the next provision promises some more. According to clause 3.5, parties to the CPA are committed to “End the existing centralized and unitary state system and restructure it into an inclusive, democratic progressive system to address various problems including that of women, Dalits, indigenous community, Madhesis, oppressed, ignored and minority communities, backward regions by ending prevailing class, ethnic, linguistic, gender, cultural, religious and regional discrimination.” Short of delivering mythical Ram Rajya—the heaven on earth—the CPA includes everything including an oblique reference to federalism by pledging to ““End the existing centralized and unitary state system...” Intention alone is not a guarantee of success. People in the street know that even more than their leaders do. Had sincere attempts been made to formulate a constitution that lived up to the promises of CPA, it was likely that the voters themselves would have foiled every attempt of the entrenched PEON interests to sabotage the CA process. Unfortunately, political leaders in general and Pushpa Kamal Dahal in particular failed spectacularly in inspiring and galvanizing the masses. Disillusioned Janjatis Underwhelmed by the indirect reference to federalism in the CPA and its deliberate omission from the Interim Commission, Madheshis hit the streets and made the state accommodate their aspirations, though in an insincere and hesitant manner. Women had already received assurances that made the dissolved CA one of the most inclusive legislatures in the world. The miniscule Dalit intelligentsia has not yet managed to articulate its concerns. It would take a while before voices of the most oppressed group of the Hindu society begin to be heard. However, the failure of Janjatis in influencing proceedings of the CA was perhaps most dispiriting. Janjatis have everything—an articulate intelligentsia, a pantheon of established leaders, a phalanx of promising organizers, and battalions of committed cadres—and yet they failed to take the agenda of federalism and inclusion to its logical conclusion. Either Maoist Supremo Dahal was not sincere about promises he had made to Janjati groups or he realized rather late that his interests would be better served by aligning with entrenched interests of Nepali society and polity. He is hardly the first and probably not the last to use the energy of Janjatis to advance his political agenda and then discard them once their utility was over. The main support base of Nepali Congress (NC) has always been the Madheshis. Up until the first elections after the restoration of multiparty system in the 1990, NC was derisively referred as the Dhoti Party in the purist circles of Mandale-Male-Mashale (Monarchists, Marxists and Maoists respectively) ‘nationalists’. Along with Madheshis, the NC counted upon Limbus and Gurungs to propagate its politics in the hinterland. The Marxist-Leninist, the Maoists of the 1970s that would later become the UML, too had its favorites. Primarily a party of Pahadi priestly caste, it had managed to lure considerable number of Rais and Newars into its fold. Despite Ganeshman Singh—the legendary leader of at least three generation of Nepalis—the Kathmandu valley remained a stronghold of UML politicos for a long time. Parties of former Panchas too had their favorite Janjati groups. Their mainstay was ordinary Tamangs and the upper crust of relatively Hinduised Limbus and Gurungs. Maoists picked up whatever was left and radicalized somewhat disinterested Magars and Tharus. Dahal has shown himself to be no different from other caste-Hindu politicos that habitually renegade on their promises made to Janjati groups. Janjatis are disappointed but not angry. That could be the reason aggregation of Janjati politics is yet to begin and leadership has not yet crystallized. That leaves the discredited Big Three leaders—all of them over fifty years of age, nursing one or the other disease, male, and Bahuns by birth—almost unchallenged at the helms of their parties. Unfortunately, their vocabulary is inadequate even to articulate common concerns of contemporary politics—identity, dignity, self-rule, shared rule, and an eagerness to break out of class-based ideologies—let alone accommodate aspirations of self-esteem. Delusional apparatchiks The problem with the Dash Maoists of Mohan Baidya and ‘nationalist’ Madheshi Janadhikar Forum of Upendra Yadav is that they have neither fresh political ideologies to offer nor new ways of doing old-style patronage politics. Their political acculturation has taken place through Marxism, Leninism and Maoism. These are ideologies that have little or no place for individualism—the marker of the cellphone society—and do not recognize communitarian impulses that have saved Janjatis from being completely assimilated into aggressive Brahmanic culture of the Gorkhali Empire. Mocking Hegel, Karl Marx said that history repeats itself first time as tragedy and second time as farce. Perhaps the third repetition occurs as an absurdity: The human tendency to search for meaning in life and the very humane inability to find any despite continual efforts. Dahal failed to comprehend the significance of CPA provisions because they run counter to everything that has been taught to him in the process of Maoist schooling. Mohan Baidya and CP Gajurel are no different. Janjati leaders with the prudence of NC, chutzpah of UML, audacity of Maoists and the tenacity of Madheshis can pull the country out of the present morass. In making that New Year wish, it would be appropriate to remember the retort of Bertolt Brecht’s Galileo: Pity the nation that needs heroes. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52768 INT´L PHARMACEUTICAL TRADE The recent landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India, rejecting patent protection for Glivec, a cancer drug from Novartis, and providing access to cheap generic drugs to protect public health and the rights of patients, is in line with the Doha Declaration. Glivec, a drug used for treating Leukemia, costs US $ 4,000 a month in its branded form, while the generic version is available in India for around US $ 73 (Republica, April 1). This ruling has set an important precedent that essential drugs are not just another consumer product but a human right, and that patients are harmed by patents. The case of Novartis can be taken as an example of structural violence as defined by Prof. Johan Galtung, where a certain social structure or institution harms people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs. Since structural violence affects people differently in various social structures, it is very closely linked to social injustice. Violence in our times is directed towards civilian populations, even in peaceful domains such as healthcare, where the objective of scientific research is not violence but human welfare. Scientific research which tries to establish its monopoly on knowledge leads to multiple violences such as violence against the subject of knowledge, the object of knowledge, the beneficiary of knowledge, and against knowledge itself.[break] There is no denying that this form of violence is perpetrated by forces outside the health sector, among which trade is one of the most important and insufficiently recognized. Behind the slogan of “free trade”, subsidized grain is dumped on the markets of poor countries, destroying the livelihoods of small farmers. Comparative advantage is generated by poverty wages, deadly working conditions, and environmental degradation. The links to health outcomes are obvious. But perhaps the most adverse consequences for health arise from provisions in trade agreements that are designed to restrict access to generic medicines. Lack of access to essential medicines due to high price denies patients’ human right to proper medical treatment. Access to essential medicines is an important aspect of development. It was part of the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978, and is one of the six targets of Millennium Development Goals 8. HENEWS.COM.PK   The effect of stringent intellectual property protection in the pharmaceutical market is contentious, focused in recent years on the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). In January 1995, the TRIPS agreement established global minimum standards for the protection of intellectual property, including a minimum 20 years patent protection on pharmaceuticals. Compliance was postponed until 2005 for developing countries and 2016 for least developed countries. TRIPS provides high standards of protection that ensure recognition of pharmaceutical patents for products and processes. The high cost of many medicines is largely due to the international patent system, which grants monopoly protection to the innovator of a product, who can then completely control the price of the medicine, where it will be sold, and in what quantities. However, there is no justification to further increase such protection in countries with weak scientific and technological infrastructures, or where a large part of the population is poor. Advocates of intellectual property argue that such protection is necessary to provide incentives for research. But Dr. Marcia Angell, the former editor-in-chief of The New England Journal of Medicine writes in her book The Truth About the Drug Companies that drug companies spend far more money on advertising and marketing than on research, far more on research for lifestyle drugs than on life-saving drugs, and almost no money on diseases afflicting poor countries, such as malaria. The reason is economics: companies direct their research where the money is, regardless of the value to society. Poor people cannot pay for drugs, so there is little research on their diseases, no matter what the costs to society. Such inequalities in power and influence between countries leave many vulnerable to the pressure of protecting broad trade and economic interests over health. Since most of the pharmaceutical industry is based in a few developed countries, developing countries are under considerable political pressure from the governments of developed countries representing the interests of pharmaceutical corporations. The developing countries are forced to not invoke the flexibilities on TRIPS agreement. Such pressures from global corporate houses push developing countries to adopt policies in line with the global financial system. Governments of rich nations use compulsory licensing, thereby placing trade interest above health of the poor people. For instance, if a manufacturer can change one molecule and get another 20 years of patent rights, and convince physicians to prescribe that instead of generic medicines, then why would an industry spend huge amounts of money to invent brand new drugs? A great majority of new drugs are not new at all, but variations of older drugs already in the market. Such gross inequity is a shocking feature of the global pharmaceutical industry. Millennium Development Goals 8 recognizes that pharmaceutical sector has an indispensable role to play in relation to the right to health and access to medicines. For example, one of the targets of Goal 8, is “in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries.” Enhancing access to medicines must be understood as a shared responsibility by the pharmaceutical sector. The fact that international trade affects the health of the global population with an unrivalled reach and depth undoubtedly makes it a key health issue that the global health community can no longer ignore. The author is a PhD student of preventive medicine and epidemiology at University of Oslo, Norway sherpalhamo@yahoo.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52767 NEPALI PEACEKEEPING TRADITION In the past, despite Nepal’s favorable environment and contribution to UN peacekeeping missions, the country was not able to cash in on the opportunity to establish a regional peacekeeping training center and conduct multilateral exercises. Although there were many reasons for why the center did not materialize, the political conditions of Nepal and diplomatic incompetence were the primary causes. Now, Nepal’s untiring efforts in the realm of peacekeeping have borne fruits. A mega event like Shanti Prayas 2 (Peace Endeavour) held in partnership with US Pacific Command (which concluded yesterday) has given a new height and dimension to Nepali Army and Nepal. This three-week long international peacekeeping exercise, in which around 875 soldiers from 23 countries from different regions and continents participated, has added to Birendra Peacekeeping Operation Training Centre (BPOTC)’s reputation as South Asia’s Regional Peacekeeping Centre.[break] Presently, BPOTC trains approximately 8,000 peacekeepers annually prior to their deployment in various peacekeeping operations around the world. It focuses on pre-deployment and specialized training. Participants learn and practice the latest in peacekeeping skills in a realistic environment, as well as learn from each nation’s participants. As they increase their peacekeeping skills and ability to operate together, participants will strengthen multinational cooperation while contributing to regional peacekeeping capacity ranging from operations, logistics and planning capabilities to UN civil-military coordination. A number of interrelated factors motivate the new, proactive approach to peacekeeping. First, the trend in peacekeeping contributions reflects Nepal’s overall effort, especially since the late 1990s, to become more responsive to international expectations while making positive and tangible contributions to global peace and security. Second, Nepal’s stepped-up peacekeeping activities also helps NA excel in missions of the 21st century, i.e. military operations other than war such as disaster response, conflict resolution, and humanitarian relief. MONTREALGAZETTE.COM Nepal has long been an enthusiastic peacekeeper, sending 95,000 troops to 39 UN Peacekeeping missions since 1958. Currently, almost 4,000 NA troops are deployed in 11 ongoing missions. Civil-military theorists argue that the more the military engages in peacekeeping duties, the better is the civil-military relationship. The first argument is that peacekeeping provides an external role for the armed forces, which in turn allows civilians to exercise control by keeping the forces away from domestic politics. The second argument claims that peacekeeping allows for increased levels of integration between civilian and military components, thus allowing for better harmonization between the military and civilians. Working under the UN bureaucracy, the military may be oriented to protect democracy and build democratic institutions. This orientation has a huge impact on the country. Significantly, peacekeeping has been instrumental in modernizing the Nepali Army. During the opening ceremony of Shanti Prayas 2 at Panchkhal, NA spokesperson said, “We have shifted from teaching solely military aspects to teaching how to align military and civilian goals in the changed context at BPOTC.” He added that peacekeeping has encouraged the democratization of the military mindset with an international outlook and new ideas about conflict prevention, civilian governance, and rule of law. The continued deployment and redeployment of Nepali units in a wide range of missions suggests a gradual accumulation of operational knowledge and a better understanding of the political and security dynamics and complexities on the ground. At the same time, Nepal’s increasing interaction with other militaries in UN peace operations has, to a certain degree, opened the window for a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of Nepal’s peacekeeping capabilities. Generally speaking, it is evident that Nepal is prepared to take on bigger responsibilities and play a more noteworthy role in supporting the UN peacekeeping system. This would be welcomed within the UN system as the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) continues to rely on contributions and support from developing countries like Nepal. The expansion of Nepali engagement in peacekeeping provides a vital and amplified window of opportunity for the international community to engage with Nepal more intimately on international security issues, to help enlarge Nepal’s obligation to global stability, and to contribute to more effective international peacekeeping operations. Moreover, Western countries with substantial interests in peacekeeping affairs should also seek to increase cooperation with Nepal in peacekeeping seminars, training courses and other capacity-building programs. They should explore ways in which Nepal could play a more active part in planning, coordination and leadership roles at the DPKO. Nepal’s participation in the UN peacekeeping operations has entered a new chapter. With the establishment of the peacekeeping center as a center for excellence, Nepal has the opportunity to develop a peacekeeping operations capacity that meets the requirements outlined in the Brahimi Report of the UN peacekeeping operations, to develop a rapid deployment capacity, and to fulfill the vision of deploying 4,000 peacekeepers. Peacekeeping operations will continue to be an essential instrument of Nepal’s foreign policy. Increasing presence in UN has significantly helped Nepal project its image on the international community and pursue its interests and exercise foreign policy with dignity and sovereignty. The more Nepal engages in peacekeeping efforts, the more influential Nepal would be in UN, and this in turn will ensure a stronger defense of our nation, considering the geo-political realities. The job of keeping peace is an unlimited one. Peacekeeping has been shown to be a proud Nepali tradition, but will its future contribution remain as strong? Nepal is likely to continue the tradition, not only because the nation’s foreign policy relies heavily on multilateralism, but also because of the popular demand for Nepali contributions to peace. One thing is certain: in our conflict-ridden world, there will be a great need, much scope, and many opportunities for Nepal to live up to its peacekeeping tradition. The writer is a major in Nepal Army chhetri_abhaya@yahoo.co http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52728 Combating the social ills The country is believed to have undergone a sea change in the aftermath of the successful 2006 April Revolution. But it appears that the more things change, the more they stay the same (or get worse). Take the case of violence against women. There seems to have been no marked improvement in violence against women since the historic Jana Andolan. If anything, the situation has gotten worse the longer the political transition has dragged on. Aided and abetted by lawlessness and impunity, the patriarchal practices seem entrenched as ever. The case of 65-year-old Raj Kumari Rana of Kailali is illustrative. On Friday, Rana, who was accused of practicing witchcraft was stripped in public, then mercilessly beaten, before being forced to consume human excreta. Or take the case of 35-year-old Samyukta Devi of Saptari who succumbed to her injuries on Friday after allegedly being set alight by her in-laws for not bringing adequate dowry. There have been many studies to determine the level of discrimination against Nepali women. A National Women Commission (NWC) study last year pointed out how dowry contributed to violence against women, and perpetuated discrimination against daughters, abortion of female fetus and lack of education and healthcare for girls. Although it is a crime in Nepal to give or receive dowry, the custom continues in the absence of stringent measures to bring those involved to book. Such an absence of the fear of the state’s writ also contributes to over 100 cases of witchcraft that come out in the media every year. The real number is believed to be much higher, as most women never report their cases fearing social repercussions. Witchcraft and dowry are just two of the many ways Nepali women continue to be victimized for no greater crime than being born into the ‘wrong sex’. The fact that so many of the grassroots-level campaigns for justice for women have fallen woefully short of their mark is indicative of the true extent of the problem. Changing the mindset of a population long accustomed to patriarchal practices will not be easy. Only persistent effort, both on the part of the government and other organizations working in the field, will bring meaningful changes. There has to be strong political will for such a change, which has been sorely absent so far. Women continue to bear the brunt of discriminatory practices because the supposed big changes have been limited to paper. Even measures like 33 percent representation of women at all state institutions, which was hailed around the world as a mark of a truly progressive society, risks being reversed. The women working in the field must share some of the blame. Often, it has appeared that different women’s bodies have wanted to push ahead alone, when a coordinated approach is clearly the need of the hour. These problems are too big for piecemeal solutions. Only persistent grassroots level activism and continuous collective pressure on the political class to respect the wishes of more than half of the country’s citizens is likely to make a meaningful difference in the long run. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52727 YOUTH EMPLOYMENT Youth unemployment is 20.5 percent in the UK and 17.1 percent in the US. In continental Europe, 21.6 percent youth are unemployed. In Australia, youth unemployment is around 25 percent. It is 20.4 percent in the G-20 countries—big advanced and developing nations, while the corresponding figures for Greece and Spain are 50.4 percent and 50.5 percent respectively. According the Nepal Labor Force Survey 2008, Nepal’s youth unemployment was 13 percent in urban and 2.1 percent in rural areas; and 46 percent youth were underutilized. These old figures misrepresent the reality in absence of a reliable and regular tracking system. If youth employment were so low, Nepal would have been an oasis of peace and prosperity. Based on the UN World Youth Report 2012, out of 1.2 billion youth in the world, close to 75 million are unemployed. Thus, youth unemployment is a serious global problem. Young people without jobs not only face destitution but also become a source of political instability and socio-economic disruption. The impact of high youth unemployment is particularly severe in developing countries where poverty is rampant and the social security system to support the unemployed is non-existent. Though pushed to unprecedented heights by the Great Recession of 2008 in the West, high youth unemployment is essentially a structural problem in that it is consistently higher than average unemployment. For example, average unemployment is under 8 percent in the US and UK. It is 12 percent in the Eurozone and 5.2 percent in Australia. Nepal’s official average unemployment is around 3 percent, which is ridiculously unconvincing. GOOD.IS In all societies, the youth are the most creative, vibrant, energetic and educated group. Still they are unemployed due mainly to two reasons: Disconnect between education and market and our obsession with higher education and experience. By fixing these twin problems, every country, including Nepal, can largely resolve the problem. Disconnect between education and market in Nepal is staggering in two spheres. First, our schools and colleges produce graduates in arts and social sciences with no practical skills, more than the market can absorb. However, they produce fewer engineers, doctors, plumbers, masons, electricians, overseers, mechanics, agricultural and veterinary technicians, etc. than the market needs. Second, there is a wide gulf between the skills imparted by educational and training institutes and the skills required by the workplace. Our teaching institutions largely neglect practical work due to lack of facility and emphasis. Theory is necessary to get a general understanding of how things work. But without practical work, graduates cannot be employable. Parents, children, government and educational institutes will have to recognize that education without employable skills is not the best pathway to employment, prosperity and empowerment for everyone and work together to change the existing situation. Parents should tell their children—considering their academic performance, interest, and above all, the job market situation—whether general, technical or vocational education would be the best option for them. Children should opt for the education and training that fits their proclivity, performance and job prospects. Schools, colleges and training institutes should adjust their curricula and instructions to market demand and encourage students to do internship before graduation to make them employable. Students should go for apprenticeship and on-the-job training after graduation so they will be readily acceptable to employers. One of the reasons why there are fewer graduates in technical and vocational fields is the lack of access to technical and vocational schools and training centers for students. Government and the private sector, therefore, should partner and collaborate to expand vocational education and technical training opportunities across the country. This partnership should span right from the beginning of program development to the point of providing opportunities to young jobseekers. The other problem that significantly contributes to high youth unemployment is obsession with higher education and experience. Of course, higher education is important for the individual and the country, but it is not for everyone. Only those who do well academically should go for higher education so they can be successful in their studies and in finding appropriate jobs. For others, it is a waste of time and resources that promises only unemployment and frustration. Similarly, experience is very important, because it increases expertise and enhances productivity if applied appropriately, and helps tackle recurrent problems. But it does not necessarily give you the vision, creativity, innovation, energy and talent which young people bring to the job to create and market new products and services. Many rich and famous people were neither highly educated nor experienced when they started. For instance, Bill Gates, the second richest person in the world now, was a young Harvard dropout when he started his computer business and built Microsoft. Mark Zuckerberg, born in 1984, is the founder of Facebook, the largest social media site. Marrisa Mayer, who was 22 when she joined Google in 1999, is now the CEO of Yahoo!, one of the Fortune 500 companies. Nick D’Aloisio, an A-level student, became an internet millionaire at 17 recently by selling a computer application for US $ 30 million. The majority of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are young. Hence, parents and children should shed their obsession for higher education and employers should abandon their obsession with experience. They should rather follow a talent-based approach. More so in the fast-changing creative sectors and entrepreneurial domains, such as information technology and fashion. Computers have revolutionized every sector—from music and drafting to repetitive tasks in assembly plants and mathematical programs. Computer programs change very quickly. Those programs that were new and hip two years ago have now become obsolete. Fashion that was in vogue a year ago has disappeared. Besides, old scientific theories are no more thought to be scientific. New management theories and structures have been fast replacing the old ones. Even economic theories become outdated. Therefore, employers should hire young people based on what they can bring to the job, not on their age and prior work experience. Experience without productivity gains does not have any value. In many instances, recent graduates tend to be better versed and prepared for the task at hand than experienced ones. For instance, while we struggle, our children tell us what needs to be done and how while using computer programs, without which life would now be unmanageable. A young musician or draftsman can use modern gadgets to bring out refined products, while an old one would not know how to use those gadgets, which did not even exist when he was training for the job. However, paid employment alone will not be enough to absorb the burgeoning youth force in an age of increasing automation in production and services and global competition. Countries, including Nepal, need robust programs to promote youth self-employment in the changing economy. Jobseekers will have to create their own jobs more than ever before. For this, government must formulate a youth self-employment scheme in public-private partnership that focuses on, apart from skills training, providing enterprise training and venture capital to prospective entrepreneurs. Though successive governments have announced such schemes on and off in Nepal, none of them has been implemented on a sustained basis. Young men and women who are bursting with energy and creativity have nowhere to turn for help. As long as our youth do not have employment and self-employment opportunities that empower them to enjoy improved standards of living and contribute to economic and social progress, they will be susceptible to irresponsible political parties and outright criminal gangs that want to cause political instability, increase crimes, and create obstacles to economic and social progress. Making the youth more employable and capable of self-employment has been a neglected priority for too long in Nepal and across the world. Sharma is former foreign secretary and Khadka currently manages an Indigenous Medical Specialist Project at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Melbourne http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52726 CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION Despite having been identified as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world, Nepal was not among the first group of countries to write a National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA)—a prerequisite for accessing international support for climate intervention. It stands 44th among the 47 LDCs that prepared a NAPA and submitted it to UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in 2010 with financial support from several international organizations. Nepal’s NAPA is commended as “among the best” for its inclusive process and comprehensive programs designed for local communities. The document identifies six thematic heads which are further divided into nine combined profiles with expressed objectives. They are sufficient to address “urgent and immediate climate adaptation needs” of the country—the very purpose of NAPA. The overall estimated cost of the conceived projects is US $ 350 million; and most of the projects are slated to begin by 2013. This article will indicate some major shortfalls in launching NAPA programs. Too short, too chaotic To date, the country is in a position to access merely US $ 37 million, i.e., just over 10 percent of the costs estimated by NAPA. This includes a project worth 14.6 million Euro which aims to implement what has been called Local Adaptation Program of Action (LAPA) in a few VDCs of fourteen districts in the Mid and Far West of the country. How this project will perform is yet to be seen. A glacial lake outburst and disaster reduction related project worth US $ 7 million has been conceived for mitigating impending Imja Glacial Lake Outburst (GLOF). But the scale of these projects is too small given enormity of the problems , since as many as 20 glacial lakes are quickly headed for outburst, and floods and landslides have already claimed the lives and livelihoods of millions. AATTP.ORG A rangeland rehabilitation project in the highlands worth US $ 5.2 million is also being conceived with detailed programs and approaches yet to be worked out. An ecosystem based adaptation related project worth US $ 4 million is just being implemented in Panchase, but it is obviously not enough to address the widespread ecosystem degradation that looms large in the country. There are some additional planned investments, but they largely ignore the spirit of NAPA which they are supposed to comply with. A US $ 85 million mega project designed by World Bank/ADB is alleged to be problematic in a number of respects, including breaching the internationally endorsed ‘polluter pays’ principle. The reason for its problematic approach may be that the major components of its program are conceived through loan money maneuvered from donors. Likewise, WWF/CARE architectured Hariyo Ban Program (US $ 30 million) has also been facing similar issues as the World Bank/ADB project. Coordination mirage The reasons for such problems are apparent in the flaws in the process. The sectoral ministries do not assume leadership in a way that NAPA expects them to. Ministry of Science Technology and Environment (MoSTE), the focal ministry, puts more efforts in the global policy process than in coordinating and facilitating the ministries in the frontline of intervention. Consequently, the sectoral ministries are far from internalizing NAPA. MoSTE lacks the structure, process and willpower to coordinate diverse technical ministries and departments, who often do not want to leave their comfort zone of working in isolation. Climate Change Council (CCC), the apex body under the prime minister, does not find time to address the lacunas. Indifference syndrome MoSTE till date has failed to carry out a comprehensive review of NAPA implementation. In the midst of such indifference, Climate Change Network Nepal (CCNN) did a commendable job of organizing a round table discussion in Kathmandu, which was able to bring some problems to the fore. In the meeting, government agencies were outnumbered by people outside them. One participating farmer from Dhading district wanted to know on what basis NAPA had identified his district as one of the most vulnerable districts, as he did not find much difference between his district and the rest in the country . A farmer representing Banke district had curiosity of the opposite order. He essentially wondered why NAPA failed to identify his district as a vulnerable one despite the fact that his district has already been suffering severely from climate change. Some NAPA experts who were panel members did try to answer their queries, but made no effort to check whether they were satisfied by the answers. Many participants were complaining about government agencies’ lack of seriousness regarding NAPA implementation, and pointed out that even in the discussion forum, their participation was very poor. In fact, many people were frustrated by the absence of personnel from the National Planning Commission and ministries of Agriculture, Local Development and Energy, who theoretically have a high stake in the execution of NAPA. Likewise, the participants grumbled that MoSTE should have given more quality time and better representation to the meeting. Similar complaints were heard regarding the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation which shied away from meaningful representation and panel discussion. Imperatives Clearly, Nepal is yet to become serious about climate intervention, despite its desperate urgency. No doubt, finance is important to our adaptation and intervention efforts, but the industrial world has continued to turn a deaf ear to our requests for finance, an obstacle normally pointed out by many. However, a big leap in finance may not replace the commitment-void in Nepal. Commitment is definitely more important to our efforts than finance. If commitments for change are forthcoming, finance may logically follow, but the vice versa is unlikely. Committed people can always fight for better international finance, but uncommitted people can neither fight their case, nor carry out genuine implementation. Hence, our challenge is generating a sense of commitment among all the stakeholders identified by NAPA than merely trying to inject more money into the country. This is because, first of all, an uncommitted mass of people are unlikely to convince the world to finance their efforts, and secondly and probably most importantly, they may not address the situation in a fitting way. This leads us to suggest that MoSTE needs to emphasize on motivating the concerned ministries in taking a lead in the process than trying to go single handedly. The task is daunting. However, once it is done, future tasks will become simplified. The group of ministries will not only genuinely team up with MoSTE in procuring international fund, but also for its wise use. But a question still remains: how can a ministry with a younger history and weaker workforce empower other ministries with much older histories and stronger profiles? Maybe the country needs a supra-ministerial authority to handle climate change. Possibly Climate Change Council, the apex body for climate change, needs to pay immediate attention to this matter. The author is former joint Secretary, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation baraljc@yahoo.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52725 GOVERNMENT’S UTILIZATION OF TAX Our country lacks infrastructures such as public toilets, well paved roads, dustbins, free health services, unemployment benefits, housing benefits, etc. The strange thing is, we have been paying taxes since times perennial. We have been scratching the government’s back for a long time, but when will the government start scratching ours? Think for a moment of anything you buy, and you will realize that everything you buy is taxed. From our drinking water to our drainage, every little thing that is of essence is taxed. Yet, the public has to suffer because of inadequate funds segregated for public services. The money collected from the public goes into the pockets of so called public servants, and yet it is the ordinary man, who works till he sweats, who suffers. It is about time the government started repaying us and stopped shattering our hopes of a better nation. In a country where 200 percent tax is charged on vehicles that enter the country, it is a matter of shame that when the budget is announced, we are told that there are not enough funds to build private hospitals. The existing hospitals are also in a messy state. I recently visited TU Teaching Hospital as my little cousin had an accident playing at school. When I got there, his mother told me that he wanted to go to the toilet, and asked me to accompany him. I agreed. But when I reached the door of the toilet, I felt sick as the smell was disgusting. I held my nerves for a while and then walked him in, where I saw that the toilet had not been cleaned. The flush on the toilet didn’t even work. Couldn’t the government put some effort into making the health of public safer? GRANITEGROK.COM The country is in a rut because only the middlemen profit from anything. People who work in Tax Ministry, Airport, and other import/export points always seem to be better off than other government employees and normal citizens. It raises doubts about on whether the tax we pay ultimately goes to the right place. Clearly, if the money did fall into the right hands, the government wouldn’t be turning a blind eye to the pathetic state of the country. If the system was working as it should, why do we always have to beg other countries to help us with our development? This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed by the government. A developing country like Nepal faces many obstacles from time to time. Raising taxes should be a good way for the governments of developing countries to raise the living standards of the public. The government has a duty towards its public, and money collected from taxes should enable the government to fulfill its duties. But in the context of our nation, the situation is rather paradoxical. People are paying taxes regularly and never see the returns. Tax goes into the pockets of so called public servants, and it is the ordinary man who suffers. A good way for the government would be to roll out incentives to people that pay their taxes regularly. Wealthy businessmen who pay more taxes should be encouraged to work together with the government in building the nation. A corruption free public body needs to be created by the government, which should be held responsible for maintaining tax books. Another good way of ensuring that the taxes collected are used properly could be the introduction of online reports. The government could provide a live system which shows the public how much tax has been collected and how it is being used. If common people like us who go to work every day are forced into paying taxes, it is only a matter of time before the public come out into the streets. The government should start rewarding the efforts of its public with developmental works. Hydroelectricity should be a top priority for the government, as electricity is highly demanded by the public. Instead of letting a few live lavish lives with money collected from the public, the government should look to fulfill the overall demand. Transportation system is another area that needs top priority. A government owned bus service has to become operational as in other countries. Public schools and colleges have to be refurbished and quality teachers have to be reintroduced. Public toilets, welfare systems and other such issues have to be addressed immediately. To reiterate, it is the time to transform everything in this nation. To change the nation, everything has to be changed radically. As Grant Cardone, NY Times best seller, puts it, “Revenue is God”, it is time the government started utilizing revenue collected from taxes to build this nation from scratch. angel.sharma@expertsalestraining.co.uk http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52673 100 days of Occupy The 100 days of Occupy Baluwatar, the youth-led grassroots movement for social justice, is a time for reflection. Reflection on what the movement has managed to achieve so far, on where it goes from here, and most importantly, the state’s response to its demands. The campaign started with a rousing call for an end to gender-based violence, but soon morphed into a larger movement for an end to impunity and justice for human rights victims, including the victims of gender-based violence. The state has been unable to offer definitive answers on any of the signature Occupy cases like Sita Rai (who was robbed and later raped by TIA and police officials), Chhori Maiya Maharjan (who has been missing for a year) and Saraswati Subedi (who was found hanging at her workplace under mysterious circumstances), among many others. Other demands like punishment for former Maoist lawmaker Bal Krishna Dhungel for his involvement in the murder of Ujjain Kumar Shrestha and a summon to Nepal Army official Niranjan Basnet in relation to Maina Sunuwar’s murder case continue to be sidelined as conflict-era cases to be dealt by proper transitional justice mechanisms. Some believe Occupy Baluwatar should have stuck to the issue of violence against women. By wading into the larger and more intractable issues of impunity and human rights, the campaign, they claim, has lost its initial appeal. They note how a similar protest in India triggered by the rape of a medical student in New Delhi eventually resulted in the rewriting of Indian laws. But whether or not Occupy Baluwatar was the right place to raise the issue, it is hard to see violence against women in isolation. In the current climate of impunity, there is no deterrent to hold perpetrators of gender-based violence to account. The comparison with India is also out of place because India is a functional democracy, with an elected legislature where the Delhi rape case could be vigorously debated. Without a legislature to raise the issue of gender violence, the protestors here were forced to adapt as and when they saw fit. They could be in for a long haul. The Khil Raj Regmi government formed ‘with the sole mandate of holding free and fair polls’ is unlikely to take up ‘extraneous’ issues. But waiting for an elected government is not an option either. What if there are no elections in the foreseeable future? Even if elections are held, won’t the politicians start repeating the same-old trope of ‘transitional politics’ to delay vital action? Any interruption now could break the momentum the movement has build up over the last three months. This is the reason the protestors seem to be in a mood to give continuity to their movement, giving out a strong message of their tenacity. But there are dangers ahead. One is of the nonviolent ‘satyagraha’ adopting a more confrontationist approach if the protestors’ voices continue to be ignored. The other big risk is of it being co-opted by certain political interests (or to be seen to have done so), which would again be a deathblow to its credibility. But whatever happens from now on, so far Occupy Baluwatar has been able to distinguish itself as a unique platform for the victims of rights abuse and set a strong precedent for future social movements. That is no small achievement. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52672 FOREIGN AID Encyclopedia Britannica defines foreign aid as “the international transfer of capital, goods, or services from a country or international organization for the benefit of the recipient country or its population.” From a layman’s perspective, foreign aid is perfectly altruistic, and is thought of as beneficial only to the recipients. But foreign aid regime is not as simple and straightforward. Aid is seldom given with the motive of pure altruism. There is a well known British saying: “There is no such thing as free lunch.” Aid helps not only its recipients, but also donors. But why is the discourse—to borrow Foucault’s term—created in such a way that recipient countries appear to be ‘junior partners’, and are projected to be in dire need of foreign aid ? Is foreign aid for a particular developing country a necessity, or is the ‘truth’ of necessity created to promote donors’ interests? Why are the interests of donors missing in the documentation of aid? Foreign aid is channelized in various ways depending on its source, liability, degree of concessionality, flexibility, implementation modality, and so on. If it flows directly from a donor country, or through its own aid agency, it is termed bilateral aid. At the same time, aid also flows from many countries through multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations etc. This type of aid is known as multilateral aid. DAMIENDARBY.WORDPRES.COM Many critics point out that in bilateral aid, donors may have ulterior motives like supporting an ally in international politics, influencing the political process in receiving countries, supporting the donors’ private companies, and so on. But the documentation only reflects the interests and needs of recipients. The interests of donors, which sometimes may even outweigh the interests of recipients, are absent in the documentation. Sometimes, reading between the lines can give a clearer picture than reading the text itself. In this regard, Pierre Macherey, a French literary critic, urges readers to see the gaps, fissures and silences of a particular text. What is left out is sometimes more important than what is in print, never more so than in foreign aid regime. To put these observations in a historical context, critics point out that when there was conflict between capitalism and communism between the two camps led by the US and Russia respectively, aid flow to recipients was maintained accordingly. These superpowers tried to use aid to influence internal politics of other nations and support allies. Marshall Plan, which is considered a milestone in international aid, is widely criticized as the American attempt to attract European nations towards capitalism and away from communism. Though multilateral aid has not received as much criticism as bilateral aid, it is not completely free from criticism either. Aid from powerful multilateral institutions like World Bank, ADB and IMF have been criticized as being the tools for opening up new areas for global capitalists, and only secondarily concerned with the wellbeing of people in recipient countries. Everything is subject to criticism if the expected and promised results are not achieved. A blame game is no solution to effective aid policy. Nothing can be viewed in isolation. Foreign aid is not as ‘evil’ as its critics would have it. Demand-driven, recipient-owned, recipient-led and result-oriented aid is a ‘necessity’ for developing countries. The truth of ‘necessity’ is created in aid documentation when recipient countries are able to channelize their interest well in aid negotiation. As such, criticizing foreign aid only as a tool to fulfill donors’ interest is illogical. The major issue for most developing countries including Nepal is how effectively negotiation has been carried out to use foreign aid in national interest. Only a party with effective bargaining skills can engage in beneficial negotiations. On the backdrop of voluble criticism of overall aid effectiveness, a simple but meaningful question arises: why do recipients continue to receive aid if it is not beneficial to them? The answer is the assumption that foreign aid is a ‘win-win’ situation. In the context of Nepal, foreign aid entered the country in 1951 with America’s ‘Point Four Program’. Immediately after that, in 1952, India started providing support to Nepal. Till 1956, India and the US were the only donors that provided aid to Nepal. After this period, the number of donors and volume of aid to Nepal steadily increased. There could be different reasons and ‘interests’ for this increase, like Nepal’s role in non-alignment movement, its strategic location between China and India, its membership in UN, and so on. For more than 60 years now, Nepal has been continuously receiving aid for the improvement of its socio-economic status, but results so far have not been satisfactory. When Nepal initiated its first five year plan in 1956, the entire development expenditure was financed from foreign aid. Despite its prominence, foreign aid has not ushered in visible or significant changes in Nepal’s development. Criticizing foreign aid as only a tool to fulfill donors’ interest is illogical when recipient countries are given ample say in aid negotiation. As far as the implementation of foreign aid-related issues is concerned, Nepal Portfolio Performance Review (NPPR) has been held annually since 2000. It reviews the status of ongoing projects, troubleshoots problems and finds ways to overcome such hurdles. Still, the overall picture of aid effectiveness is not encouraging. As a result, there is doubt about whether foreign aid is actually needed in Nepal. Before we decide, we need to understand the structure of Nepali economy. The Nepali economy is characterized by structural bottlenecks, large fiscal and external deficits, and significant imbalances between savings and investment. In such a scenario, foreign aid could act as important support if it is vigorously negotiated by prioritizing the interests of the country. In addition, we need to review the aid cycle and find out where we have gone wrong. This is the age of globalization, and the whole world has become a global village. The country could greatly benefit from the transfer of knowledge and technology. Rather than viewing aid in isolation, it has to be viewed in a spirit of mutual co-existence. Through fruitful negotiation we can reach a win-win solution for both parties. The view that negotiation alone plays a vital role in aid effectiveness is mistaken. After fruitful aid negotiation, implementation related issues become prominent. It is said that a job well begun is half done, and the same is true of overall aid cycle. Recipient countries should cautiously identify the pros and cons of intended aid. Above all, we need to be sure that the intended aid is demand-driven, rather than supply-led. If we act from this perspective, aid could bolster our efforts to reduce poverty. The author is a section Officer at the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division at the Ministry of Finance. Views expressed are his own. sharmahari2009@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52671 OCCUPY BALUWATAR Today, the Occupy Baluwatar movement celebrates its 100 days. It began with the twin agendas of ending gender-based discrimination and all forms of gender-based violence. Although some news media had reported that the movement would end on January 14, government inaction meant that the movement continued, and will celebrate a milestone on April 6. There are two schools of thought on Occupy Baluwatar’s demand of justice for women. The first comes from organizers of the movement who feel that justice for women has been very slow to come by. Their movement is hinged on the demand that punishments be meted out quickly and swiftly to perpetrators of gender violence and discrimination. The second comes from outside observers, especially bureaucrats and politicians, who believe that laws are already in place to punish the offenders. They believe that everyone should just calm down, register cases and—in due course of time—the judicial system will punish the perpetrators. REPUBLICA These two arguments are similar to those that classical and Keynesian economists routinely engage in. Classical economists argue that in the long run a market takes care of itself. Therefore, government intervention is unnecessary and undesirable for proper functioning of markets. Keynesian economists, to the contrary, argue that markets take a long time to correct themselves if left to their own devices. Sometimes, the public has to suffer eternally for the market to correct itself. Therefore, to minimize public suffering, government has to intervene and hasten the market correction process. The second school of thought on Occupy Baluwatar movement, like the Classical economists, is not wrong in itself—that the state judiciary will sooner or later provide justice. But justice in Nepal for gender violence victims has been noted for its absence. What Occupy Baluwatar people are demanding is the Keynesian equivalent of involvement of government in expediting the course of recourse. However, if the tepid response from state level mechanisms and government are any gauge, the Occupy movement’s demands are falling on deaf ears. Delay in justice is not even the main problem for gender violence victims. If cases were registered duly, and were proceeding smoothly, duration of justice would not be a problem in itself. The main problem we have in Nepal is that there has been no concentrated effort from our government to address gender violence, to support victims, help in registering cases, provide protection and other benefits to victims necessary to fight cases against perpetrators, and ensure that wheel of justice keeps moving. Violence against Nepali women will continue because of state-sponsored impunity. If our government truly feels guilty for the frequency with which Nepali women are being raped or assaulted, announcing an immediate monetary compensation is not the way to show that remorse. Even the party and leadership that encouraged women to carry guns and fight alongside men in the name of equal rights and responsibilities—to organize a revolution for a “New Nepal”—has abandoned them. Majority male Maoist leadership considered women its equal as long as it needed to show a force in numbers in its army. Women were equal to men as long as it served their purpose. Now that the revolution has ended, women’s issues and concerns are no longer their priority because having women in numbers, rank and file no longer serve their purpose. The Maoist Party today looks like a typical male-dominated mainstream party. Unless our system is sincere about enforcing laws that protect Nepali women, Occupy Baluwatar will have to continue. The Maoist party’s failure to keep promises that it made to minority groups during the decade-long insurgency has resulted in many minorities coming together to form the Janajati Party. Some female leaders have mentioned that only a Woman Party will be able to serve women’s interests. However, these “Woman Party” campaigners have been missing from the frontlines of Occupy Baluwatar movement. They’re not even visible in the periphery of the movement. To assume that simply opening a Woman Party ensures votes from women is an assault on the intelligence of Nepali women. They aren’t stupid to not see through the charade. Trust and loyalty are two important things that are completely missing in today’s political discourse. The one consistent political regurgitation in Nepal is “we will make sure policies and laws are put in place”. Our leadership, present and past, has always been proactive in signing any new international treaty, law and agreement. We already have national laws that combat gender violence and promote equal rights. However, implementation of those laws is lacking. Our police officers send rape cases for mediation in the community. There is a clear gap between law on paper and its implementation on the ground. Unless our political and bureaucratic system is sincere about enforcing existing laws and rights that protect Nepali women in private and public space, the Occupy Baluwatar movement will have to continue. However, the aim of the movement should not be to draft more laws but to force our government to put in practice the laws in existence. Practice of what is on paper will then create fear of punishment in the mindsets of would-be offenders. Friedrich Nietzsche once said that fear is the mother of all morality. Until and unless our society starts fearing the consequence of its discriminatory and criminal actions against women, it will remain amoral. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52719 1,000 DAYS OF MDGS A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but starting this week we can march a thousand days forward into a new future. On April 5, the world reached a vital moment in history’s largest and most successful anti-poverty push—the 1,000-day mark before the target date to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. These eight concrete goals were set in the year 2000, when more leaders than ever before gathered at the United Nations and agreed to cut global poverty and hunger by half, fight climate change and disease, tackle unsafe water and sanitation, expand education and open doors of opportunity for girls and women. It was not the first time leaders had made lofty promises. Cynics expected the MDGs to be abandoned as too ambitious. Instead, the Goals have helped set global and national priorities, mobilize action, and achieve remarkable results. In the last dozen years, 600 million people have risen from extreme poverty—a 50 percent reduction. A record number of children are in primary school—with an equal number of girls and boys for the first time. Maternal and child mortality have dropped. Targeted investments in fighting malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis have saved millions of lives. Africa has cut AIDS-related deaths by one-third in just the past six years. There are also Goals and targets where we need far more progress. Too many women still die in childbirth, when we have the means to save them. Too many communities still lack basic sanitation, making unsafe water a deadly threat. In many parts of the world, rich and poor alike, inequalities are growing. Too many are still being left behind. To accelerate action, the international community should take four steps now. First, scale up success through strategic and targeted investments that have a multiplier effect, boosting results in all other areas: one million community health workers in Africa to serve hard-to-reach areas and keep mothers and children from dying of easily preventable or treatable conditions; scaled-up investments in sanitation; universal access to primary health services, including emergency obstetrical care; and adequate supplies to address HIV and malaria. Ensuring equal access by women and girls to education, health care, nutrition and economic opportunities is one of the most powerful drivers of progress across all the Goals. Second, let us focus on the poorest and most vulnerable countries, home to some 1.5 billion people. Often dogged by famine, conflict, poor governance and large-scale organized criminal violence, these countries are finding it difficult to make progress despite their best efforts. Many have not yet achieved a single MDG. By investing in regions such as the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and Central Asia, we can promote a virtuous circle of economic development, human security, and peace building. Third, we must keep financial promises. Budgets cannot be balanced on the backs of the poorest and most vulnerable. It is ethically unacceptable and it will help neither donor nor recipient. Despite austere times, many countries have been exemplary in honoring pledges. New donors among the emerging economies are also stepping forward. We should applaud these efforts and encourage more. Fourth, the 1,000-day mark should be a call to action to a global movement from governments to the grassroots who have been so critical to success. We should also harness the full power of technology and social media—opportunities that were not available when the Goals were formulated at the turn of the century. Ensuring equal access by women to opportunities, education, health care, nutrition is a powerful driver of progress. The MDGs have proven that focused global development objectives can make a profound difference. They can mobilize, unite and inspire. They can spark innovation and change the world. Success in the next 1,000 days will not only improve the lives of millions, it will add momentum as we plan for beyond 2015 and the challenges of sustainable development. There will be much unfinished business. But, as we look to the next generation of sustainable development goals, we can find deep inspiration knowing that the MDGs have shown that, with political will, ending extreme poverty is achievable and within our grasp. Let us make the most of the next 1,000 days and make good on our Millennium promise. The author is the Secretary-General of the United Nations http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52585 Nepal in ACC T20 Cup Afghanistan’s thumping 7 wicket win over Hong Kong, a team Nepal lost to during the group stage, had already sent alarm bells ringing in the Nepali camp ahead of the ACC T20 final on Wednesday. The Afghans, who enjoy ODI status and were a part of the ICC T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka last year, were always going to be a tough nut to crack, as proved to be the case in Wednesday’s final against Nepal. Thankfully, even before the final loss, Nepal had already booked its place in the World T20 Qualifiers to be held in the UAE in November, the final hurdle to the ICC World T20 in Bangladesh in 2014. But Nepal has a long-long way to go if it wants to fulfill its dream of making it to the biggest stage in international cricket and lock horns with the best in business. Cricket gives Nepal its only realistic hope of shining in top-tier international team sports. Though football is arguably still the most famous sport in the country, the huge outpouring of support for Nepal during the recent T20 tournament suggests cricket is not far behind, especially when the team is doing well. The huge (and still growing) support base for Nepali cricket team and increasing international exposure of Nepali players bodes well for the country’s cricketing prospect. But Nepali cricket needs more support, from the government as well as the private sector. Some might argue against pouring resources into sports when so many other vital areas of the economy are underfunded. Yet as the unanimous support for the Nepali cricket team in the ACC T20 has proven, sports straddles caste, cast and other socio-economic divides. The unity and success of Nepali cricket team represented a microcosm of what New Nepal could be. Such symbolisms are important in a bitterly divided country undergoing a wrenching transition.[break] But before the country starts dreaming big, it will have to get the basics right. The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), the regulatory body for cricket, is among the most unprofessional sporting bodies in the county. Unless the whole organizational set-up is rejigged, and competent professionals (instead of political cronies) recruited to run it, things are unlikely to improve much. One good news is the establishment of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), which is expected to be a milestone in the development of young players. One of the big problems with Nepali cricket is that even top players get very little on-field time in any calendar year, not nearly enough to succeed at the international level. NCA could help rectify this situation by availing regular training and counseling facilities to players. Completing the long-delayed works on the international standard cricket grounds at Mulpani and Pokhara should also be among the top priorities. But the immediate focus has to be on building a strong squad for the next round of T20 and ODI World Cup qualifiers. It will be a historic achievement for the Nepali cricket team to finally make it to the big stage. During the last T20 qualifiers, Nepal missed the final qualifying spot for the World T20 by a whisker. Let us hope it can overcome that final hurdle this time around. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52560 CITIZENS’ RIGHTS VERSUS RESPONSIBILITIES Not long ago, a picture struck me. The picture was of JP Gupta—his neck covered in garlands and his forehead daubed with vermilion. Supporters were welcoming the former minister who had spent slightly more than a year in Dillibazar prison for graft. When I saw that picture, I could not stop from pitying our society, because to me that picture elucidated every reason we are in a chaos—economically and politically. There are a couple things that are unfortunate about that picture: An incumbent minister was jailed for corruption. He served just one year of prison for amassing millions from state coffers. When he stepped out of jail, he did not feel morally obliged to step down from politics. And most unfortunate of all, he still has a cohort of believers around him who would accept him as their leader. [break] That scene, however, has further implications. It portrays the bitterest truth of all— that we, citizens, are responsible for our slide as much as politicians are. We always grumble– “nothing is working in this country”— and we don’t mind pointing our fingers at Singhadarbar and Baluwatar. But we forget to reflect on ourselves and scrutinize whether we are acting responsibly, and whether we are greasing the wheels of transgression ourselves. REPUBLICA Corruption tops everyone’s charts as the reason behind our economic downturn. If we know that corruption is the root of failing politics, why do we still support leaders that we know are corrupt? Why do they get warm welcomes when they pay a visit to our addresses? We are to be blamed more than Mr. Gupta or any other corrupt politician, because we are the one who still accept them as our saviors. Politicians aside, why do we pay bribes at government offices? “They will delay our work if we don’t.” Very true, but do we have the guts to say “I’ll much rather suffer for an hour than pay the bribe for a fast way out?” If we don’t, then as citizens, we are failing in our responsibility of freeing this nation from the mesh of corruption. Strike is another irresponsible and reprehensible phenomenon in recent years. The rationale behind strikes goes like this—“It is not a matter of choice. The government does not pay attention to our demands unless we call a banda.” But I find this rationale troubling, because when we block the street, people running the government don’t pay the price. It is stranded travelers who have nothing to do with the issue that bear the brunt of it. Government officers travel on escorted vehicles, so they face little problem most of the time. But sometimes, if top government officials are found in vulnerable positions, we vandalize their vehicles or burn them down to ashes, but we forget that the vehicle are bought with taxpayers’ money. We burn down millions of our own money. Isn’t it our responsibility to think of other people’s rights when we are fighting for our own? The officials who ride to work have paid their taxes; they have every right to ride their vehicles on it. We are not to dictate when they get to ride it. And what about the taxi driver who has no other way to buy that day’s meal for his family? We are not to dictate when his kids get to eat dinner. We complain about our unemployment. Sure, our government needs to do a lot to solve unemployment. But aren’t we contributing to our unemployment by calling strikes to shut down businesses? By doing so we are scaring new investors, and even existing businesses are having problems with their balance sheets. If we do not harness new investments, and prevent existing businesses from making profit, how can we expect our unemployment rate to go down? At this point, some of us might be tempted to blame ‘tauke’ politicians for all politically sponsored bandas that paralyze our everyday life. But they don’t carry sticks around with them, they don’t stone vehicles, and they don’t pull down the shutters. It is citizens like you and I, who are doing all this. We might belong to different political ideologies, but we are all being used by politicians. Sure, it is wrong of them to use us in their dirty ploys, but isn’t it also our fault that we allow ourselves to be used? We always have the choice to reject the things that we think would harm the country. We always have the choice to refuse to execute their ploys. We always have the choice to unite to foil their endeavors. Let’s not fool ourselves; we are the ones making bad choices. The bad choices we make go beyond politics. Now it is encrypted in our social fabric. Even when we act imprudently and irresponsibly, we somehow manage to lie to ourselves and point fingers at politicians and the government. A simple example is the pollution in the capital city. How many of us have looked for a garbage can nearby to throw a candy wrap in? In the two and half years of living in the capital, I never did, and I barely came across anyone who did. I deeply regret that, and I believe I am responsible as much as anybody else for polluting the city. It is neither the government nor politicians who are throwing garbage at riversides. It is us, citizens, who throw the garbage and then complain about deteriorating Bagmati and Bishnumati every morning at coffee shops. Isn’t it our responsibility to seek alternative garbage management techniques (minimizing waste, reusing, composting) on our own when the metropolitan city does not collect garbage for several days? If it is rule of law that we want, are we following the laws ourselves? We might say in our defense that since everyone is breaking the law, one person obeying the law would not make a difference. Or we might say something like “if I don’t pay taxes, my couple thousands will not be missed among billions.” This is where we fail. Unless every single one of us fulfills our responsibility, this nation will not walk the path to prosperity. If we want our nation to move forward, we must help it move forward. The picture of JP Gupta was just an example of how we citizens are responsible for buttressing inequity. We cherish the release of a corrupt top-tier politician, when we should condemn corruption at every level in unequivocal terms. We block the streets when we should be building them. We shut down businesses when we should open them. We look for excuses to evade taxes when we should be encouraging others to pay it. To me that picture was depressing, and equally depressing, if not more, was the realization that our society is yet to understand that ‘right comes with responsibility’. In our case, even that would not suffice, our mantra must be ‘right follows responsibility’ if we are to pave our way to good fortune at all levels. The author has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Brigham Young University ganes.bhattarai@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52558 RENEWABLE ENERGY We need to change the story of Nepal as the country with the lowest energy use and the highest potential. We cannot afford to wait any longer. Denmark and Nepal share a vision of sustainable energy for all, and as longtime partners, we have delivered concrete results. In the last twelve years, more than 1 million households have benefitted from our common engagement to accelerate access to renewable energy technologies in rural Nepal. This has helped many women, children and families to better health, it has created green jobs, and it has mobilized billions of rupees of local investment in the renewable energy sector. At the same time, the Alternative Energy Promotion Center has become a driver of change in developing the renewable energy sector in Nepal. We are now moving into a new phase of our joint engagement with the new National Rural and Renewable Energy Program. The Nepali Government is taking lead, and all development partners have joined. The needs are huge and our ambitions high. We have a goal of reaching another 1 million households with renewable energy technologies, solar, micro and mini hydro and biogas in the next five years. The Government’s launch of “Clean Cooking Solutions for All in 2017” is a very important initiative, showing the commitment to our common agenda.[break] The National Rural and Renewable Energy is innovative as it seeks to realize the great scope of credit financing of renewable energy. The private sector and public-private partnerships are keys to the success of the program. The public sources and development assistance is simply not enough, if we want to ensure universal access to sustainable energy. At the same time, there should be a sound profit to earn for private sector, if they engage in new models for financing investments in renewable energy. The Government of Nepal and development partners have therefore agreed to establish a new Central Renewable Energy Fund (CREF) mechanism–the CREF to be handled by a bank–with an estimated budget of US $ 115 million for the next five years. We are not creating a new institution, but buying into existing commercial and development banks, which is more efficient and sustainable. Through subsidies and credits, the CREF will facilitate bankable renewable energy solutions to rural Nepal on an even larger scale. Once established and proven as an effective financing mechanism for the sector, it is expected that further funds will be committed to CREF, from public, development and private sources. COSTECH.OR.TZ Increased energy access cannot stand alone however, if the objective is to reduce poverty and create green growth in rural Nepal. In the National Rural Renewable Energy Program, productive end use is a new intervention, to transform access to energy into growth, with an aim of creating 19,000 jobs. At the same time, Denmark and Nepal have agreed to initiate a new big program on inclusive growth, focusing on value chains in agriculture and local infrastructure. Interventions strategically will help open markets for small-scale farmers and accelerate commercialisation of agriculture in rural Nepal. Energy, infrastructure, markets and production go hand in hand. At the same time, it is not enough to address “bottlenecks” or “barriers” for energy access and green growth. For the private sector to play a transformative role in Nepal’s development, a conducive environment needs to be nurtured and new opportunities need to be proactively identified and supported. The formation of the Investment Board and the Nepal Business Forum confirm the Government of Nepal’s overall focus on private sector development. And the establishment of the Central Renewable Energy Fund and the Renewable Energy Week and the Investment Forum on renewable energy technologies last month shows continued concrete action. Bach is Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Pokharel is Executive Director of Alternative Energy Promotion Cente http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52507 Regulating cooperatives Nepal celebrated the 56th Cooperative Day on Tuesday with big rallies and customary programs across the country. These events have gotten bigger as the influence of cooperatives in national economy increases, with robust growth in deposit mobilization and lending. Even the institutional structure of cooperatives, especially Saving and Credit Cooperatives (SCCs), has been enhanced as their member base and financial capacity have grown steadily over the last five decades. Currently, Nepal’s around 12,000 SCCs have succeeded in mobilizing around Rs 170 billion, which is nearly half the country’s annual national budget. However, in recent times, questionable modus operandi of SCCs, especially the big fish in the field, have alarmed regulators. Cases of anomalies and acute liquidity crises created by imprudent lending are starting to surface with troubling frequency. The massive deposit collected from general depositors has become increasingly insecure given the anomalies in lending and loan disbursement practiced by SCCs. Liquidity crisis has worsened as SCCs flouts rules in disbursing loans. SCCs cannot mobilize deposits in excess of 10 times the amount of paid-up capital. But mobilization of deposits by some SCCs is alarmingly high compared to their paid-up capital. Another matter of concern for the regulators is that cooperatives have failed to maintain minimum capital requirement for deposit collection. Joint inspections conducted by the regulators—Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank, and the Department of Cooperatives (DoC)—a couple years ago unearthed evidence of overexposure of loan of some cooperatives to real estates, as well as their haphazard lending and weak account-keeping standards, among others. Regulatory capacity of DoC, which regulates SCCs, is extremely weak, given the number of such cooperatives in existence. It is impossible to close eyes to this growing crisis, given that the nominal staffs at SCCs are not even qualified to analyze balance sheets. The NRB, which has highly qualified manpower and huge resources, has not been able to properly regulate around 300 Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs). So we cannot expect DoC, in its current form, to regulate thousands of SCCs. Perhaps stringent punishment for those flouting existing rules can serve as a deterrent. Despite these problems, it is also hard to argue the case for controlling the development and expansion of SCCs which are playing a significant role in bringing together scattered savings. So the government needs to strengthen the monitoring capacity of DoC by equipping it with necessary human and financial resources. Though the government has encouraged the SCCs to self-regulate, that has proven insufficient to check frequent cases of irregularities at SCCs, which have greatly eroded public trust. It is high time the government came up with a more stringent Cooperative Act, which gives more teeth to the DoC. Only such a measure will tighten the noose around unscrupulous SCCs and discourage malpractice, and bring back wary customers. The celebration of Cooperative Day will only be meaningful if it is taken as a time to review past mistakes and press ahead with the much-needed reforms to shipshape the sector. Sitting on this growing menace is simply not an option. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52506 Three very important appointments, two in Asia and one in Europe, were made on March 14, 2013. Two of them will have significant impact on their countries and the world, and the third only on Nepal. All three leaders appointed on the day have significant challenges before them. On that day, 2,987 deputies in the National People’s Congress elected Xi Jinping as president of China, a once-in-a-decade decision. Xi’s immediate challenge is to strike a balance between ideologies and loyalties of Politburo members and consolidate his position. This is necessary to focus on other pressing challenges: Arresting growth in population; ensuring that people have food, water, and clean air; controlling corruption; reining in inflation; bridging the gap between rich and poor; and promoting national interest in the region and beyond without intimidating others. How China tackles its domestic problems and conducts its relations with other countries will have a decisive impact on the world and Nepal. In the Vatican, 115 cardinals elected a new leader, Pope Francis, of Argentina, the first from outside Europe in 1,300 years. He too has daunting challenges: Addressing the cases of sexual abuse, including of children, by pedophile priests dating back decades, which has tarnished the image of Catholicism badly; evolving the Vatican’s views on issues of materialism, secularism, and general disillusionment among Catholics; and reforming the Vatican bureaucracy and finances. As leader of over a billion Catholics around the world, Francis will have significant impact on how Catholics work with other faiths across the globe and how Nepali Catholics avoid the impending Shivasena-like backlash to aggressive proselytization in Nepal. PHOTO: REPUBLICA In Nepal, four houses of oligarchs—UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and the Madheshi Morcha—selected Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi as chairman of election government on the same day. While China and the Vatican followed due process to appoint their chief executives, Nepal’s political oligarchs thoroughly flouted the constitution and due process and Regmi accepted a position expressly prohibited by the constitution. As in the Middle Ages, Regmi will work as chief executive while remaining chief justice. Even for this woefully faulty decision, the oligarchs took 10 long months, thanks to their constant bickering and mutual rejection. It is a glaring failure of the political class. Nepal has made a mockery of the interim constitution, separation of power, rule of law and due process. Regmi, supposedly the symbol of justice, failed to demonstrate decency by resigning from his court post before heading the government. The only fortunate thing about this whole saga was this: The outgoing Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai did people a favor by dropping at the last minute his plan to address the nation to extol himself for non-performance and for holding the country hostage for 10 months. Civil society, the majority of political parties, and a large section of the intelligentsia have condemned the regressive decision of the oligarchs and criticized Regmi. The Nepal Bar Association labeled March 14 a Black Day in the history of Nepali judiciary, strongly condemned Regmi for compromising the court’s independence and urged him to resign from his court post. Immediately after Regmi’s swearing-in, 26 political parties blocked roads throughout the country demanding his resignation. Never in the history of Nepal has any government been asked to resign on the very day of its inauguration. These issues apart, Regmi’s challenges are no less daunting than that of Xi and Francis. He will have to clean the mess left by politicians, manage the country and conduct the polls as a marionette while the oligarchs will maneuver the strings through the High Level Political Committee (HLPC). They will tell Regmi what to do and place all the blame for failure at his doors. If Regmi was going to flout the constitution anyway, he should have done so after securing some level of independence from the oligarchs rather than becoming their puppet. The oligarchs see Regmi as their toy, though he can still refuse to be so. The outgoing Prime Minister Bhattarai made that clear at a press conference by saying that no one—read: Regmi—should undermine the political parties, for the real power lies in their hands and that there hasn’t been any transfer of power. Where there is no rule of law and respect for due process, the one who wields the baton rules. Amshuvarma ruled even though he was not king. Rana prime ministers exercised all the power on behalf of the ruling monarchs. The interim parliament suspended the monarchy when it had the power. So, Regmi can use his power almost as he pleases. There is no shortage of those who doubt the elections will be held. Chitra Bahadur KC, the chairman of the National Front, speaking to Nagarik News recently has said there will be no election; and if the election is held at all, the Constituent Assembly will not be able to write the constitution due to differences over the issue of federalism. Regmi can prove KC and other doubters wrong by doing three things. The government head should resign from his court post and negotiate with 33 protesting parties vowing to boycott the election. First, he should resign from his court post and negotiate with the 33 protesting parties, some of which have vowed to boycott the vote under him. Like fish out of water, the oligarchs are in a hurry to hold election even if it means riding roughshod over the protesting parties, but that will be a blunder. No one should forget the fiasco of the polls held by former King Gyanendra in the face of Maoist threat to disrupt them. Construction is difficult but destruction is easy. Second, Regmi must take the absolutely necessary time for legal, technical and logistical preparations for the vote to avoid the Shakespearean dictum that people marry in haste and repent in leisure. There is not enough time for this for June polls. Regmi should zero in on October. Even for October-November, the government needs to start preparations on a war footing right away. Third, Regmi must convince smaller parties and people in general that he will hold free and fair elections. Since he is not a candidate for the vote, nor does he represent a party, he should hold at bay the deep and pervasive criminal-political nexus developed, nurtured and used by the oligarchs in elections and governance. The oligarchs, acutely aware of the voters’ disdain for them due to corruption and failure to deliver, will certainly try to manipulate the polls to their advantage, which must be prevented. We believe the oligarchs, too, should show some humility and convince the protesting parties to join the elections. Besides, they should find common ground on federalism through the HLPC so the constitution can be written and political uncertainty ended. One way to resolve this matter would be to form a constitution drafting committee of experts and put the draft up for an up and down vote in the new Constituent Assembly. If the oligarchs are not prepared to lift that burden, they should at least not queer Regmi’s pitch. Though his government is unconstitutional, Regmi can make it more palatable by resigning from his court post, convincing the protesting parties to join the ballot, and making the election free and fair. The result will be a beautiful lotus which grows in mud. Thus, the outcome of all three appointments made on March 14, we hope, will turn out to be good for the respective countries and be appreciated by the world. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52505 UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS It was interesting to read a news report a few weeks ago about the outgoing Attorney General Mukti Pradhan addressing a seminar organized by the Nepal Police “to promote rule of law and human rights”, and even more interesting to note what he said about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration). In his opinion, the Universal Declaration is “outdated” and “Nepal should formulate its own human rights doctrine.” This is an appalling statement coming from an Attorney General on one of the world’s pioneering international human rights instruments. The Universal Declaration was adopted by the United Nations (UN) on December 10, 1948 “as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations”, setting out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. This is the very first comprehensive codification of human rights by the UN in the aftermath of the scourge of World War II that resulted in horrendous human casualties and material destruction. The Universal Declaration recognizes the “inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family” as the “foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”. Eleanor Roosevelt with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (PHOTO: UN-NGLS.ORG) The Universal Declaration serves as the mother document for all succeeding human rights instruments. The Universal Declaration, together with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), is commonly known as the International Bill of Rights. Nepal ratified both the ICCPR and ICESCR on May 14, 1991. The Universal Declaration contains 30 articles that define core human rights. Article 1 states that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and that they “are endowed with reason and conscience”. Article 2 sets out the principle of non-discrimination, and article 3 states that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” The rest of the articles set out the right not be held in slavery; right to freedom from torture or ill-treatment; right to recognition as a person everywhere before the law; right to equal protection of law; right to effective remedy for violation of fundamental rights; right against arbitrary arrest, detention or exile; right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty; right to privacy; right to freedom of movement and residence; right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution; right to a nationality; right to own property; right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; right to freedom of opinion and expression; right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association; right to work; right to rest and leisure; right to education; and so on. As the very first global document affirming the universality of the most fundamental of human rights, the Universal Declaration undoubtedly stands as a document that guides all states in achieving a minimum common standard of human rights. The point that I am making here is to counter the argument put forth by some people (mostly affiliated to the Maoist school of thought in our country) who hold that the very genesis of the Universal Declaration and the rights it outlines are the manifestations of Western expansionist, capitalistic and hegemonic concept of human rights formulated to maintain their colonial agenda. The argument that the Universal Declaration carries the vestiges of colonialism iresults from an illiberal mindset. This is gross generalization and over-simplification of the general spirit of the very words–just the words—that are in the Universal Declaration. Even if the drafting of Universal Declaration was led in the beginning by the US, the leader of the Allies that claimed victory in World War II, in subsequent phases the document, by virtue of its acceptance and adoption by the rest of the countries, has attained a universal characteristic that places it above any individual state. The rights as set out in the Universal Declaration are equally relevant and should exist in the same manner in every state, no matter what form of system of governance it has—capitalist, socialist, communist, Marxist or Maoist. The right to life, liberty and security of person cannot be any different in a Marxist or Communist society than in a capitalist society. Likewise, the right against torture, the right to freedom, right against arbitrary arrest and detention, right to equal protection of law, and right to effective remedy cannot in any way differ from society to society or state to state. The argument that the Universal Declaration carries in it the vestige of western colonialism is the by-product of an illiberal and orthodox mindset that refuses to acknowledge the principle of equality, freedom and democracy. In the modern times, only a dictatorial regime that is averse to respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of its citizens can refuse to own the Universal Declaration and abide by its provisions. The author is a human rights lawyer nirajannt@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52504 CARTER CENTER’S RESPONSIBILITIES Former US President Jimmy Carter visited Nepal in the last week of March, and met with leaders of political parties, civil society, and other stakeholders. Many foreign actors, including INGOs and Indian, Swiss, and Norwegian governments have taken a great deal of interest in Nepal’s peace process and the issue of inclusion. Carter Center, founded by Jimmy Carter, was one such western organization which observed and monitored the 2008 polls for Constituent Assembly in which the Maoists emerged as the largest political party, and helped provide legitimacy for the party in the international arena. Carter’ article in The Kathmandu Post (January 8, 2013) entitled ‘Nepal’s Peace Process needs elections’, where he states that elections are needed for the completion of the peace process, is proof of his continuing interest in the issue. Carter shares many of the worries that foreign donor agencies interested in Nepal have realized after Nepal’s first ever elected CA failed to promulgate a constitution, even though it was ‘the most inclusive and representative governing legislature in Nepal’s history’. Actually Carter seems obsessed with ‘inclusiveness’, a term he used three times in his article. Inclusiveness is one of the major pre-requisites to the success of any democracy, and he is right in pointing out its importance. On the other hand, some questions about inclusiveness in Carter’s home state, Georgia, and his country, the US, remain unanswered. Were Blacks, who made up a fifth of the American population, counted as ‘people’ when the American constitution was promulgated? King Prithvi Narayan Shah had declared Nepal to be ‘a garden of four varnas and 36 jaats’ years before the American constitution was promulgated. Many in the New Nepal now denigrate this great king who played a role similar to George Washington in the US or Otto von Bismarck in Germany. It was only after the emancipation proclamation in 1863 that the US constitution was amended to abolish the slavery of Blacks, and it was only in 1965 that they were allowed to vote. Carter’s home state of Georgia was part of the former confederacy which fought against the United States. Blacks were denied the right to vote even a century after the civil war in Georgia, so it was not inclusive at all. Women had no right to vote till 1920’s in the US and Britain, and the American constitution had to be amended to give them the right. Even to this day, the US Congress is much less inclusive than Nepal’s parliament, with only 15 percent of members of House of Representatives and 20 percent of senators being women. In contrast, there are 33 percent women in Nepal’s parliament (the high percentage was achieved through proportional representation). In 2012, 89 members of the American Congress were either Black, Hispanic, or Asian. They amounted to only 15 percent of the Congress, compared to 30 percent of the American population being comprised of Blacks, Hispanics and Asians. PHOTO: REPUBLICA It took America more than two centuries after the promulgation of the constitution to elect a Black President. In spite of affirmative action in many sectors, it took the US a long time to be as inclusive as it is now. It took the civil war amendments and Voting Rights Act in 1865 to ensure equality for all citizens. The Tenth amendment to the American constitution, which gave different states the right to differ from federal laws and create their own laws, helped create an unequal and non-inclusive society in the US, especially in states like Georgia. Carter was right in observing that the CA elected in 2008 was the most inclusive and representative legislature in Nepal’s history. Unfortunately, it failed to produce a constitution in two years, and its deadline had to be extended by two more years. The major reason behind this failure was the question of whether federal states should be based on single or multiple identities. There were 14 federal states proposed by one committee, which was never put to vote in the CA. Six of the 14 states proposed were named after one ethnicity each, none of which made up a majority in the proposed state. The Maoists proposed priority rights for each of these ethnic groups in the proposed states and declared their formation from the streets, not from the CA. Carter Center should have raised its voice against the culture of impunity and lack of TRC and local elections. The three mainstream parties, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and the Maoists did not form the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as required by the Interim Constitution. They never bothered to hold local elections in the eight years after signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Don’t Carter Center and other donor countries share some of the blame for creating such a state of affairs in Nepal? Carter Center has published a lengthy report on issues like identity based political activity and mobilization in Nepal on March 13, 2013. According to the report, “Carter Center does not have a view on the controversial terms used in this debate or raised in the report, nor does it take a position on which community fits into complex categories of identity and indigeneity. Their applicability to Nepal is for Nepalis alone to decide.” It reiterates that “Carter Center is an international observation mission with a mandate from Nepal’s political parties to observe the peace process and constitution drafting process (of which identity issues are a direct part).” The Center should have raised its voice against the non-formation of Truth and Reconciliation Commission, lack of local elections and culture of impunity that prevailed in Nepal post-2008, which led to the dissolution of constituent assembly in May 2012. It had a special duty to do so, since it had recognized the legitimacy of Maoists and their election victory in 2008. The author is a former official of the United Nations Secretariat and current secretary of Nepal chapter of International PEN paraj85@hotmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52455 Opening up oil sector The government’s decision to open up petroleum sector to private players brings big opportunities as well as challenges. On the plus side, it could considerably ease the supply of petroleum products, ending the current stop-again-start-again import arrangement under Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), until now the sole importer and distributor of petro products in Nepal. Competition would undoubtedly help one of the most bloated and opaque bureaucracies in Nepal get into a better shape. Also, the end of NOC monopoly would diminish the unseemly political fighting to control its reins. In fact, at first blush, it is hard to find anything wrong at all with the liberalization of the oil sector. But although we wholeheartedly support the long-awaited change, we are wary of the enormous challenges to make the new arrangement work. The first concerns pricing. NOC incurs a loss of Rs 5.43 per liter of diesel and Rs 513.14 per cylinder of LPG in subsidies, but turns a profit of Rs 6.63 and Rs 9.16 on a liter of petrol and kerosene respectively. Likewise, the per liter profit on aviation fuel ranges from Rs 20.24 to Rs 24.97. In this skewed market situation, the private sector will look to import and distribute the profit-making petrol, kerosene and aviation fuel, while saddling NOC with the burden to keep selling heavily subsidized diesel and LPG. With profits on petrol and aviation diverted to private coffers, and losses on diesel and LPG continuing to mount, NOC would go down before long. Thus if the private sector wants to wade into oil, they must be ready to shoulder some of the burden, at least at the initial stage. One way to minimize losses would be to cut down on LPG subsides. Diesel subsidies are justifiable to an extent: people from the lowest rungs of the economic ladder rely on diesel-based transportation to get around. On the other hand, subsidizing LPG, 80 percent of which is consumed by big industries and hotels, are harder to stomach. But who will bell the cat? As things stand, any attempt to remove LPG subsidies would be political suicide. International oil business is notorious for cost overruns. Are Nepali private firms bidding for licenses ready for such burden? The Petroleum and Gas Transaction Regulatory Order, which opens up the oil sector to private players, has been a long time in coming. But with big challenges every step of the way, it could be some time before it comes into force. One of these is the questionable ability of private players to muster up-front costs. According to the regulatory order, anyone with paid-up capital of US $120 million can establish a petrol, diesel and kerosene import and refining company, while the capital requirement for import and refinement of LPG is US $60 million. Actual costs could be many times higher: The international oil business is notorious for its cost overruns. Are the Nepali private firms bidding for licenses (with zero expertise in oil trade) ready to shoulder such unforeseeable burdens? And how will the government handle the stiff resistance to change from all those directly or indirectly benefitting from the perennial mess at NOC? Finally, even if these initial hurdles are cleared, there is the tricky business of setting up a private-public mechanism to set the price of petrol products in line with international markets. All in all, there will have to be plenty of homework before the decision to allow private sector into petro market sees the light of the day. http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52454 BEYOND INDIA AND CHINA Sandwiched between India and China, Nepal stands to gain significantly by tapping into the two fastest growing economies of the world. Thus begins almost every treatise on contemporary economic affairs on Nepal. There is a great deal of sadness about how Nepal has been unable to leverage its strategic geo-position between India and China. Every conference is peppered with long soliloquies that rue how Nepal is failing to take advantage of this great opportunity. Save the misery, please. On the contrary, the long shadow of India and China remains Nepal’s biggest misfortune. There is a world beyond India and China that Nepal must discover. Start with most obvious misconception—the notion that Nepal borders two of the most dynamic economies of the world. Technically, yes, but look closer. Nepal borders the worst performing states and provinces of India and China. The states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which share the majority of the southern border and have long exerted great influence on Nepal, are Indian laggards. Along the northern border, the province of Tibet displays little of the economic sparkle of China. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are the two worst performing states in India in terms of the human development indicator, a widely accepted measure for the level of socio-economic development. Tibet has the lowest human development index of any region or province in China. These days though, Bihar is often regarded as a turnaround story. It’s Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, has pursued an impressive development agenda that combines good governance and economic reforms. Growth in the state now routinely exceeds the Indian average. But Bihar is also operating from a low base of economic activity. The state still has a long road ahead. Last month Nitish Kumar held a rally in Ramlila Maidan (ground) in New Delhi to demand special status for his state so that he could command more resources from the central government. At least for Nitish Kumar there was the Ramlila Maidan, where he could flex his political muslces. He converged there with thousands of supporters, shut down half of Delhi for a day and threatened that he would take special status for Bihar through the next general election if it were not granted sooner. Unfortunately for Nepal, there is no Ramlila Maidan in Delhi or Beijing. It would be one thing to be bordering prosperous areas, say a Gujarat or Shanghai. But being sandwiched between Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tibet doesn’t make Nepal’s geo-position any more economically strategic than being sandwiched in the smelly armpit of a very strong (or beautiful) person. If India and China appear content to push on with growth models that allow some regions within their countries to prosper while others like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tibet continue to languish, surely it is unreasonable to expect that Nepal will be offered any special dispensation. Part of the problem is that we, Nepal, live with a false sense of self-importance, perhaps fuelled by the benefits that Nepal extracted from the Indo-China trade many centuries ago. Those moments of history have passed. We mistake the attention that India and China shower on us as a sign of our strategic importance when it might be nothing more than their concerns for security. We mistake their deep seated political and economic indulgence, both covert and overt, as a sign that they are truly responsive to Nepal’s aspirations when it might be nothing more than their need to assert regional superiority. If India and China allow some regions to prosper while others languish, Nepal can’t hope for any special dispensation. Shortly after taking office last month, China’s new President Xi Jinping, unfolded a five point strategy for China’s relationship with India. He spoke of maintaining high-level contacts, expanding economic complementarities, boosting cultural-social ties and multilateral cooperation, and for both countries to “properly handle” their differences. Although Jinping didn’t mention it, Nepal is clearly an important component to the Indo-China puzzle. But that importance doesn’t guarantee our economic wellbeing, doesn’t provide us political stability or ensure that we are placed firmly on a path of prosperity. The belief that we can extract mileage by leveraging the Indo-China relationship merely because we are geographically located between the two countries has done little for us, except perhaps reduce us to a playing field. We must find a way to emerge out of the shadow of India and China. Our current trade patterns partly reflect the unitary focus on India and China that must be challenged. India alone accounts for approximately 70 percent of our exports. Our next largest export destination, the US, merely accounts for 7 percent of our export volume. There is a similar concentration on imports as well. India and China, the two largest exporters to Nepal, account for two-thirds of our total imports. Within that India alone accounts for about 65 percent of imports, though Chinese imports have grown steadily over the last two decades. At the same time, the bedrock of the Nepali economy already comes from beyond these two countries. Remittances, which currently account for about 20 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP) and are five times higher than export earnings, come primarily from countries other than India and China. It is these remittances that finance our imports, support our consumption and currently provides the basis for growth. The issue is not to challenge the supremacy of India and China as Nepal’s trading partners. The whole world seems to be keen on doing business with India and China. There’s no reason we shouldn’t. But it is our stunted outlook that appears to stretch only as far as Delhi and Beijing that needs to be challenged. Multilateralism beyond India and China has been only a small part of Nepal’s trade initiative. We hold trade agreements with about 16 different countries, other than India and China. We participate as part of the South Asia Free Trade Area and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). But both of these are highly dependent on Indian leadership. Although Nepal is a signatory to the World Trade Organization (WTO), it has extracted little from this pact in terms of expanding trade beyond India and China. Although trade with India, and now increasingly China, continues to dominate, the most successful Nepali industries have originated from technical collaboration outside of these two countries. On average, the Nepali diaspora are far more successful outside of India and China. Several academic studies continue to point out significant competitive opportunities for export outside of India and China. Our trade policy outside India and China cannot be limited to having an office that is content with providing proper paperwork for migrant labour. Our supporting foreign policy framework must believe that there is a world beyond Delhi and Beijing. Nepal, like many other countries, is beginning to establish meaningful non-governmental channels to develop and strengthen economic, political and cultural relationships abroad. This style of non-official diplomacy, broadly referred to as Track II, could be a mechanism in which we explore the world outside of India and China. The windows in Singha Durbar only look out to far as Delhi and Beijing. Associations representing Nepali civil society should learn to look beyond. The author is a consultant on energy and environment bishal_thapa@hotmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52453 CHALLENGES TO MELAMCHI Whether in rainy season or dry, people of Kathmandu valley suffer from the shortage of drinking water. Due to the old and unscientific water distribution network, valley dwellers get unequal water supply. People living in lower altitudes luckily get regular water, and those residing in higher areas hardly get water once a week. With the growth of the population, a big gap has appeared between the demand and supply of water in Kathmandu. The demand is 367 million liters per day (MLD) while Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) can provide only 132 MLD in wet season and 94 MLD in dry season. Water sources are limited in the valley; and underground water is drying up due to cemented yards, drains, and black-topped roads. Personal wells are drying up, the water level for tube wells is getting deeper, and the practice of rainwater harvesting is not common. The long queues of children and women around public taps and beside KUKL’s water delivery van signal acute crisis of water supply. REPUBLICA Concerning the crisis, since 1973 the government has been trying to find the best solution to meet the demands of the valley’s rapidly growing population. In the process, Melamchi Water Supply Development Board (MWSDB) had appeared as the best long term solution. The plan to harness Melamchi began in 2001 in coordination between the government of Nepal and Asian Development Bank. Six years after project commencement, ADB and Government of Nepal changed the scope of the project implementation arrangement by splitting MWSP into two distinct sub projects, Melamchi River water Diversion and Kathmandu Valley Water Supply and Sanitation. The responsibility of implementing sub-project 2 had been transferred from MWSDB to a water utility operator named Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL). roject Implementation Directorate (PID) handles the implementation of sub project 2. The aim of PID is to develop necessary infrastructure, replace old spaghetti style water distribution system with a new network, and expand equitable and sustainable water supply in Kathmandu. About 700 kilometers of pipe will be laid in Kathmandu Valley. Sundarijal, Mahankal Chaur, Chapagaon, Pharping, Jhormahankal, Chahare, Bode, Mahadevkhola, Manamaiju are among the existing water sources used by KUKL. Expansion and rehabilitation work have been successfully implemented in a few of them but not in others due to local disputes over the rights to local sources based on ILO 169. Successful implementation of projects is not possible without a positive attitude and cooperation from the local people. Most consumers do not know of the obstacles faced by the concerned authority in diverting water from the source. It’s easy to blame the authorities, but reality is more complicated. Haphazardly designed underground sewage, drainage, telephone lines, electric poles, construction of houses, land acquisition, traffic jam during construction, and community disputes often create hurdles in the construction. In some areas, local water user groups do not cooperate with the authorities in dismantling their old water distribution systems and replacing them with new ones. Community members and local clubs often obstruct construction work with unjustifiable demands like cash donation, road maintenance and school construction, though they know that they are not the PID’s responsibility. PID aims to provide individual water connections to citizens, especially to poor households and households headed by women. The existing water supply system does not meet the water demand of the people. The installed pipes are old and rusty, not hygienic, and 37 to 50 percent of water leaks before arriving at its destination. After in-depth study, network water supply system is designed, and examples of it were demonstrated in New Baneshwar, Kusunti and Ratopul. Sabal Bahal, Teku of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward no. 24 could be an area where PID’s Immediate Improvement Package can be applied. This area is mostly occupied by so-called lower caste people. There are 125 households in the area, many of which have water pipelines in their houses. But since the last 10 years, they have not got water through these pipelines. KUKL distributed water to this community through its tankers, but only after efforts from PID/KUKL and the local community. Presently, they receive water in their household taps. Underground sewage, electric poles, houses, traffic, and local disputes create hurdles in the construction of water pipe lines. PID has selected a special team for technical work and social work for the successful implementation of the project. Community Awareness and Participation Plan (CAPP) and Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Action Plan are being implemented in its project areas. It is also preparing a community profile for each area through socio-economic surveys. PID has increased the participation and mobilization of people through ward citizen groups, Tole organizations, local NGOs, user’s group, women’s groups, civil society organizations, schools, and general public residing in the project area. CAPC will be providing training for rain water harvesting at the community level, and trainings for good waste management, water conservation and individual house connections at household levels. The Melamchi Water Supply Project is becoming a challenging project for sustainable water supply in Kathmandu. Infrastructure construction is progressing in different parts of the valley for diversion and distribution of Melamchi water. Without infrastructure development, it is not possible to provide proper and equitable water supply system to valley dwellers. Presently, three Chinese and one Italian company are competing for the new contract to build the Melamchi tunnel. The project has kicked off, but due to China Railway 15 Bureau Group’s inefficiency, construction of a tunnel has halted. Till date, 6.2 out of 26.5 kilometers of the tunnel have been completed. The government of Nepal has rescheduled the completion date to March 2016. The expected contract period will be 36 months. As soon as the contractor selection process ends, a final memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed with the new contractor. Nothing is impossible, positive thinking and support from all stakeholders can make things better in the future. The author is a sociologist girithejorba@gmail.com http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=52452 STEPS AFTER SLC This year’s School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exams finished last week. As students await their examination results and plan for their future, I want to share some important lessons that helped me beyond my academic pursuits, particularly during the early days of my professional career. Academic success is important. However, your career success depends on many factors besides academic credentials. Getting an opportunity to study is definitely a privilege in our country. Achieving success in school requires certain skill sets, and achieving success in the professional setting requires different skill sets. I would like to share some thoughts on the skill sets necessary for the latter. Ujwal Thapa has written a convincing post on why SLCs should be discontinued from our academic curriculum on his blog, Why Nepal? In his post titled Scrap SLC! It is a waste of our money and time. He states that scrapping SLC will save tons of money, end discrimination of both good and bad students, and not stunt the strength of Nepali diversity. I concur with his views and furth