Return-Path: <nepal-request@cs.niu.edu> Received: from mp.cs.niu.edu by library.wustl.edu (5.0/SMI-SVR4) id AA01122; Thu, 4 Nov 93 16:04:57 CST Received: by mp.cs.niu.edu id AA23237 (5.67a/IDA-1.5 for nepal-dist); Thu, 4 Nov 1993 14:49:54 -0600 Received: by mp.cs.niu.edu id AA28898 (5.67a/IDA-1.5 for nepal-list); Thu, 4 Nov 1993 14:49:50 -0600 Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1993 14:49:50 -0600 Message-Id: <199311042049.AA28898@mp.cs.niu.edu> Reply-To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@mp.cs.niu.edu> From: The Editor <nepal-request@cs.niu.edu> Sender: Rajpal J. Singh <A10RJS1@mp.cs.niu.edu> Subject: The Nepal Digest - November 1, 1993 To: <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu> Content-Type: text Content-Length: 10544 Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 8
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% N N EEEEEE PPPPPP AA L %
% NN N E P P A A L %
% N N N EEEE P P A A L %
% N N N E PPPPPP AAAAAA L %
% N NN E P A A L %
% N N EEEEEE P A A LLLLLL %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
The Nepal Digest Thursday, 4 November 93 Volume 21: Issue 3
Today's Topics:
6. Taja_Khabar: News from Nepal III
7. Kura_Kani: Nature-Tourism
8. Bhool_Sudhar: Wrong singer
*****************************************************************************
* Editor/Co-ordinator: Rajpal J. Singh a10rjs1@cs.niu.edu *
* SCN Correspondent: Rajesh B. Shrestha rshresth@black.clarku.edu *
* Editing Editor: Padam P. Sharma sharma@plains.nodak.edu *
* Discussion Moderator: Ashutosh Tiwari tiwari@husc9.harvard.edu *
* News Correspondent: Vivek SJB Rana rana@ccit.arizona.edu *
* *
* Subscription/Deletion requests : NEPAL-REQUEST@CS.NIU.EDU *
* Provide one line message : sub nepal <user@host> full-name *
* [OPTIONAL] Provide few lines about your occupation, address, phone for *
* TND database to: <A10RJS1@CS.NIU.EDU> *
* *
* Digest Contributions(letters,poems,articles,misc., etc): NEPAL@CS.NIU.EDU *
* Kura_Kani Contribution: SHARMA@PLAINS.NODAK.EDU *
* Discussion Topics ideas: TIWARI@HUSC9.HARVARD.EDU *
* News clips for Taja_Khabar: RANA@CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU *
* Contributors need to supply Header for the article, email, and full name *
* *
* The Nepal Digest(TND) is a publication of the Nepal Interest Group for *
* news and discussions about issues concerning Nepal. All members of *
* nepal@cs.niu.edu will get a copy of TND. Membership is open to all. *
* THE EDITOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT ARTICLES FOR CLARITY. *
* *
* **** COPYRIGHT NOTE **** *
* The news/article posters are responsible for any copyright violations. *
* TND, a non-profit electronic journal, will publish articles that has *
* been published in other electronic or papaer journal with proper credit *
* to the original media. *
* *
* +++++ Food For Thought +++++ *
* "If you don't stand up for something, you will fall for anything" - Anon. *
* "Democracy perishes among the silent crowd" - Sirdar_RJS_Khalifa *
* *
*****************************************************************************
EDITOR'S NOTE: Folks! Its doing it again! I think I know what the problem
is, I believe I need to stay with one emulation instead
of converting between VT-# and 3270 (sorry for the computer
jargon here). Hopefully it won't happen again.
To all TND members, on behalf of TND Editorial Board,
Happy Tihar!!!!
-Rajpal J. Singh a10rjs1@cs.niu.edu
*********************************************************************
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1993 03:37 EST
From: Sanjay Sthapit@vax.clarku.edu
Subject: Re: nature tourism
Normally, I am the quintessential lurker. But this post irked me enough to
get me off my behind. So...
In the last issue of TND, ATULADHAR@vax.clarku.edu writes: (edited)
>
>Title: Nature Tourism in Nepal: "Kuhire ko bandar"
>
>...apologists for development who moan how we are the last in the GNP rank
>and how we are the "Bandars".
>Kasko bandar ko?
"Apologists" for development? I am against "development" at ALL
costs certainly, but I am just as surely in favor of progress. You talk of
"our Nepalese grandmothers...steeped in traditional superstition and
racism." Are we to understand here that we leave them that way? While
"civilization" is a subjective word, even the staunchest Nepali cannot but
admit that in terms of economic and technological development, Nepalis are
certainly more than a little lagging with respect to most other countries.
To own up to this fact is neither weakness nor servility - it is merely an
acceptance of reality.
All this however does not a monkey make. Kohi kasaiko bandar hoina. We
are all human beings. I think we are all quite sure of that.
>Here are some facts from a recent article on the topic:
>Source: Michael P. Wells, 1993, "Neglect of biological riches: the economics
>of nature tourism in Nepal" in biodersity and conservation, /Vol 2: 445-464.
>1. Cost of managing nature tourism in parks per year: $ 5 million
>2. Revenues raised by nature tourism in parks per yar: $ 1 million
>3. Percentage of parks budget for military supervision: 80%
>"Wah, wah, yi sab asabhya nepali bandar harulai banduk na dekhai, hami
>kahan pragati gari, sundar shanta nepal banaune"
These are indeed very surprising facts - at least to me. They must
certainly be rectified. I am not, however, aware of the aims of these
parks. Revenue or conservation?
As for security, we are protecting against all poachers - be they from
Nepal, Iceland or Mars. I cannot think of any park in the world that does
not have some form of security. If we take the issue of "supervision" a
little further, would you argue that police forces are an affront to the
integrity of all people?
>4. International development agencies finance 40% of the country's public
>sector programmes. Oh how wonderfully "indepedent" we are as a country never
>conquered, taliya taliya.
I don't see how this relates specifically to nature tourism. This is an
old and very general problem.
>5. There were 6000 tourists in 1962, 260,000 in 1988 and a projected 1
>million in 2010.
How is this a problem in itself? I always thought that better business
was a good thing. If we get as many tourists as we can handle without
ecological costs, so much the better.
>6. Tourism earned $ 76 million in 1987/88 and employed 11,000 according
>Nepal rastra bank...
>Why in the world the rest of Nepal subsidize these tourism catering super
>rich, super priveleged? Ko bandar ko chatake, kehi thaha bhayen...?
First, I am suspicious of the 11,000 figure. Even to a layman like me, it
seems that if we include the bhariyas, the bus drivers, guides, "lodge"
owners, etc. etc, we have got to come up with a figure higher than 11,000.
Second, this is again a general problem of equitable distribution of
wealth, not an inherent defect of nature tourism.
>7. Two thirds of the foreign exchange spend by toourist in Nepal flows
>abroad to procure luxury items to sustain these leviathan consumers.
Is the solution making these goods in Nepal and thus generating more jobs
or doing away for the demand for these goods altogether?
>8. The total number of tourist s to all national parks in 1990/91
>is 105353. Just how many are Nepalis? "Muglan ma pani bahadur darban, afnai
>desh ko jungle ma pani, bahadur ra darban bhai tiger Tops ma kuhure ko chak
>sunghnu parcha>?
It is sad that most Nepalis do not have the economic means to enjoy the
splendors of their own country. But once again, how is that the fault of
tourism which actually generates at least some money for us?
And since we are talking about Nepal, who do we expect our "darbans" to
be? Venezuelans? They do have doormen in the US too, you know. Are we to
presume that they do what you say the Nepali darbans do?
>...I hope this is not sanitized to something dull that does not
>represent the emotions of the uneducated nepalis.
To sum up, no one can deny that we have a problem in distributing the
benefits of tourism fairly. But that is no reason to do away with tourism -
which IS, after all is said and done, our main source of foreign income. If
we were not to do anything that is not done perfectly, we wouldn't be
doing much in Nepal would we? Look at any other field. Would we rather that
all go hungry in pursuit of a misplaced sense of equality or at least feed
a few and work on feeding the rest?
I happen to think that nature tourism is a good thing. Badly executed at
the moment perhaps, but essentially a good thing. We have a gloriously
beautiful country. There cannot be anything wrong with the idea of
preserving and sharing that beauty AND having it provide us a livelihood!
As a last aside, I know well and respect very much Mr.Tuladhar. Amulyaji,
you cannot be pursuing graduate studies in the US and pretend to be
"uneducated"!! 8-) And the last time we talked, I thought you said that you
would stop calling us "nepalese." ;-)
Enough "monkeying" around (pun intended).
Delurking terminated. Lurking mode back on. (phew!!)
Chints.
(Sanjay Sthapit, Clark University)
*****************************************************************************
From: Ashutosh Tiwari (tiwari@husc.harvard.edu
Subject: Bhool Sudhar
Date: November 3, '93
At least two readers, Kanhaiya Vaidya and Shailendra Shukla, have caught
my mistake regarding the singer who sang "Jyan.lai parnu pir par.yo/ Bijay
pur. khola ta.ray.ra./ Sani.lai bolaun.da bol.dina".
The singer is NOT Lila Bahadur Khati, as I thought, but Saroj Gopal,
would you believe it, Kanhaiya's childhood friend! Thank you for the correct
info.
namaste
ashu
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%% %%
%% END OF "THE NEPAL DIGEST". %%
%% Brought to you from Science Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 11 2000 - 11:15:28 CST