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The Nepal Digest Tuesday 28 Feb 95: Falgun 16 2051 BkSm Volume 36 Issue 18
Today's Topics:
Apologies for no headers due to time constraints.
******************************************************************************
* TND Board of Staff *
* ------------------ *
* Editor/Co-ordinator: Rajpal J. Singh a10rjs1@mp.cs.niu.edu *
* SCN Liaison: Rajesh B. Shrestha rshresth@black.clarku.edu *
* Consultant Editor: Padam P. Sharma sharma@plains.nodak.edu *
* TND Archives: Sohan Panta k945184@atlas.kingston.ac.uk *
* Book Reviews Columns: Pratyoush R. Onta ponta@sas.upenn.edu *
* News Correspondent Rajendra P Shrestha rajendra@dartmouth.edu *
* *
* +++++ Food For Thought +++++ *
* *
* "If you don't stand up for something, you will fall for anything" -Dr. MLK *
* "Democracy perishes among the silent crowd" - Sirdar Khalifa *
* *
******************************************************************************
**********************************************************************
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 10:00:37 -0500
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Girl from Nepal ready to smile
From: sshakya@lynx.dac.neu.edu (Sunil Shakya)
Courtesy: Springfield Union-News, Feb 16, 1995
Springfield (MA)- Six-year-old Sushmita Sakya came to Springfield from
Kathamdu in Nepal four months ago without a nose and eyelids. With the
help of Baystate Medical Center, which has provided her with free
medical care, she will leave for her home later this week with a smile.
Sushmita lost most of her face while playing in her back yard garden in
December 1993. While the child was poking around in a shed, a bottle of
sulfuric acid fell on her head, burning away most of her face and
blinding her in her right eye. Her father, Sanu Sakya, said it took
about 10 minutes for the family to realize there was a problem. "I asked
her why she was crying, and she said because she could not see me,"
Sanu said, explaining that he immediately washed her face and rushed her
to a hospital. Within two hours' time, the acid had turned her entire
face black.
Used in dyes
The family believes the acid was left in the shed by one of the
employees in their rug-weaving factory. The chemical is used to dye the
wools woven into Oriental carpets. The child's plight caught the
attention of Dr. Kristin Stueber, Baystate's director of plastic
surgery. Stueber has taken hiking trips to Nepal's Himalayan Mountains
since 1986. She returns every other year to the tiny mountain country
with Interplast, a Palo Alto, California-based group through which
plastic surgeons donate their services.
Stueber said the 20 million people in Nepal have only one plastic
surgeon. While there last April, her group screened 150 potential
patients and ended up operating on 45, the maximum they could do during
their two-week stay. "It was very obvious she was beyond what we could
do on a two-week trip," Stueber said.
3 Operations
Sushmita's first operation lasted 10 hours and involved Stueber and
fellow plastic surgeon Dr. Glen Brooks transplanted skin and tiny blood
vessels from the inside of one of her hands to her face. Each of the
second and third surgeries took about 2 1/2 hour. Dr. John Shore of
Baystate Eye Care worked with Stueber on those operations. Like Stueber,
Brooks and Shore donated their work. Sanu, who stayed at the Hampden
home of Dr. Philip Stoddard, a plastic surgeion, and his wife, Carol,
said he is very appreciative of everyone's help and generosity. To show
his thanks, Sanu left the doctors with hand-painted mandalas. Mandalas
are richly colored depictions of the universe used by Buddhists for
meditation. After the hospital staff threw her a bon voyage party
yesterday, the child will return home with toys like Dr. Barbie and
Barney Dinosaur and lots of good will.
*************************************************
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 09:08:00 EST
To: a10rjs1@cs.niu.edu
From: DGURUNG@CLEMSON.EDU
Subject: Dalai Lama's Message on the Peace Walk
WTN News 95/2/24 GMT 10:25 Complied by Tseten Samdup
1) Message to the participants of the Peace March
by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
THE DALAI LAMA
MESSAGE TO THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE PEACE MARCH
Since the beginning of Tibet's tragedy, I have never wavered from
my conviction in the ultimate triumph of our cause. This
conviction is rooted in the justness of our cause and in the
indomitable spirit of the Tibetan people. Once again, hundreds of
Tibetans have come forth to undertake a Peace March from Delhi to
Lhasa risking possible arrest, beating and even one's life.
The Peace March has inspired many Tibetan supporters throughout
the world. The initiative has infused Tibetans and friends with
renewed vigour and determination.
I believe in and support non-violence and civil-disobedience as a
means to peacefully voice one's grievances. Tibetans in Tibet and
in exile have a right to engage in non-violent activities to
highlight the human suffering in occupied Tibet and to draw the
attention of the world community to the threat to the survival of
the Tibetan people with its unique cultural heritage.
The people of Tibet place tremendous trust in me and I am always
conscious of the heavy responsibility I bear for the fate of our
people and country. In fulfilling this responsibility, I have
always sought to be guided in my approach by realism,
practicality, patience and vision.
Many Tibetans feel a deep sense of impatience and frustration
because of the lack of any real progress in finding a peaceful
resolution to our problem. I have full understanding for this and
I share with them the sense of urgency in our freedom struggle.
But I cannot with a clear conscience let you embark on the Peace
March, before sharing my concerns with you. I particularly feel
that the undertaking is politically untimely. When the right
moment arrives I will myself participate in such a movement.
Our freedom struggle has reached a critical juncture. Great
changes are taking place in China and in many other parts of the
world. Our activities need to take these changes into
consideration. The effects and ramifications of our actions must
ensure a positive impact - not just in terms of publicity but in
creating a political environment conducive to achieving the
aspirations of our people in the long run.
The spirit of the Peach March will surely inspire our people
inside Tibet. There is little doubt that Tibetans in occupied
Tibet will come forth in solidarity and support of the Peace
March. This in turn will lead to another wave of "merciless
repression". In recent times the repression and political
persecution in Tibet have reached a new peak since martial law was
lifted in May 1990. I feel that the Chinese authorities will have
no hesitation to ruthlessly exploit this opportunity to destroy
the Tibetan freedom movement inside Tibet.
Moreover, at this point of time any political unrest and
instability in Tibet will have significant impact on events in
China. Presently, China is in a state of transition and any such
event in Tibet will be exploited by the hard-liners within the
Chinese leadership to strengthen their position. This would be
counter-productive to our endeavour to encourage a political
environment conducive to a peaceful resolution of the Tibetan
issue. I, therefore, feel this is not the right time for the
Peace March.
Furthermore, despite the non-violent nature of the Peace March,
possible confrontations with Indian and Nepalese authorities
cannot be ruled out. The peoples and the governments of India and
Nepal are sympathetic to the Tibetans over the last 35 years. I
strongly believe that these governments will come out in support
of our cause when the right opportunity arises. It has always
been my endeavour not to cause any unnecessary inconvenience and
embarrassment to any third party, particularly to those that have
been kind, generous and supportive of the Tibetan people.
I am happy that the organisers of the Peace March have considered
positively my concerns and that they have now decide to postpone
the Peace March to Lhasa and instead undertake a march from
Dharamsala to Delhi for peace in Tibet and the world.
**********************************************************************
From: Mr A K Karki <MCGMD11@fs1.ci.umist.ac.uk>
To: Nepal@cs.niu.edu
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 16:58:39 GMT
Subject: DPM in London
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER IN LONDON
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence and foreign
Affairs hon'ble Madhav K. Nepal, Rajendra Shrestha, MP and member of
Foreign Department of CPN (UML ) and Dr. Dilli Khanal, member NPC
arrived London on February 21, 1995 for three day friendship visit
from Paris.
1. Deputy prime minister and minister for defence and foreign
affairs Hon'ble Madhav Nepal met with the Secretary of state for
Foreign Affarirs Mr. Douglas Hurd at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office afternoon February, 22, 1995. During the meeting the British
secretary assured the Nepalese DPM of continuity of existing cordial
ties and economic assistance. The Royal Nepalese Ambassador Mr. Surya
Prasad Shrestha was also present on the occasion.
Later in the afternoon the DPM had a meeting with the members of the
Anglo - Nepal Parliamentary Group of the British house of Commons at
the Westminister. They had a discussion on nepal's efforts to
stabilize the democratic institution as well as the mid - term polls
held in November held in November last year.
DPM Hon'ble Madhav Nepal visited the Amnesty International
Headquarters in London. During his visit, he met the Deputy Secretary
General of Amnesty International Mr. Herve berger at his office in
London. Hon'ble Nepal underlined the Government commitment to human
rights and explained about various measures underway for
streanthening the mechanism for safeguarding them. Deputy Secretary
General mr. berger appreciated the moves of the present government in
this direction and expressed his gratitude to the DPM for visiting
the Headquarters of the Amnesty International.
2. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Mr. Tony Baldry hosted a loncheon in honor of the visiting DPM Madhav
K. Nepal at the Lancaster House on February 22, 1995. Speaking on the
occasion Mr. Baldry expressed Britain's appreciation for the
democratic exercises carried out in Nepal in recent years leading to
a peaceful transfer of power. Mr. Baldry said that Nepal was one of
the oldest friends of Britain from the stand point of deplomatic
relations and assured the DPM that it would continue to extent her
help and assistance in whatever way possible for the development
activities in Nepal. The loncheon was attended by members of the
House of commons, Lord Hunt, high ranking official of the Foreign and
Commonwealth office, head of the south Asia Department of ODA,
executives of BBC world service and members of Nepalese Association
in Britain YETI.
During the visit of Nepalese DPM, he has attended and address the
gatherings of the Nepalese community of Britain and at the same time
he has also attended the receptions organised by YETI, Nepalese
Ambassador Mr. Surya Prasad Shrestha and Nepalese Doctor's
Association in Britain. DPM and all the members of the team left
London on 23 rd February afternoon.
**********************************************************************
From: dk@accunix.wjc.edu (Diwas Khati - student)
Subject: directory
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 15:23:35 -0500 (EST)
Dear readers (reposted)
If you want to have yourself included in a "directory" you can do so by
sending me your name, add and e-mail at <dk@accunix.wjc.edu>. Any
person/s sending me their information for inclusion in the directory will
be assumed to have consented to the circulation of such information in
the network.
This project can be terminated at any time in the future without prior
notice, so please do not express your disappointment through the TND (TND
might not be the appropriate place for that purpose) if you are not
pleased for any reason. And be brief when writing to me....no time for
"beli-bistar" right now.
To address some questions regarding the directory compilation project
(by the way, thanks for the support), your name and address will be listed
in the directory in the way shown below. For different reasons, only your
name and E-Mail address will be listed in a standard way. In some
instances some information, like College name, office, dept. etc will be
also added. If requests come from countries other than the US, the country
will be also mentioned.
For example, the standard way of listing will look like this for Mr Bir
Bdr's entry:
Nepali, Bir Bdr. <e-mail address>
if necessary, the listing will be modified to:
Nepali, Dr Bir Bdr. (TheBigUnivColo) <e-mail address>
foreign addresses will be listed as:
Nepali, Bir Bdr. (Nepal) <non US e-mail address>
hope this answers some of your questions.
sawid
********************************************************
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 15:50 EST
From: ATULADHAR@vax.clarku.edu
Subject: Re: The Nepal Digest - Feb. 24, 1995 (Falgun 12 2051 BkSm)
To: rshresth@black.clarku.edu
Ganeshman's "Antarghat": Please elaborate Mr Mohan Amatya:
=========================================================
I was very intrigued by two serious allegations Mr Mohan Amatya made about
Ganeshman's "antarghat": one with the Ranas and the other with the Panches
recently.
This promises to be extremely interesting material which will decide Ganesh
man's so-called place in the history of Nepal. I urge Mohan to share his
knowledge with us. Failing this, such allegations will sound like more whining
in the wind.
Thanks
Amulya
******************************************************
Date: 24 Feb 1995 15:22:05 U
From: "Hridaya Bajracharya" <hridaya_bajracharya@sec.educ.ualberta.ca>
Subject: Dino-Ethnographer
To: "Nepal Digest" <nepal@cs.niu.edu>
Subject: Time:14:44
OFFICE MEMO Dino-Ethnographer Date:2/24/95
To the editor
TND,
Though living in an invisible coccun for compiling my thesis, I was touched
by the need for Pratyush to explain his review of "Tribals of Nepal." I
would first of all like to thank Pratyush for his work putting up the review
in the net and secondly for his personal conviction, which I hope many people
would share like I do, for a need to understand our people in a bigger
horizon of social realities. Of course, one can write what one believes, but
in this world of icons books still play an important role beyond personal
convictions, specially when it is written about societies. Where would be
the morality and ethics, if one were to write about a society
comprehenssively in few pages and label a society "sojo" or "bango" or
whatever, as if the society is composed of homogenous clones? I would also
like to mention here that the romantic ethnography has already become extinct
like dinosaurus in the societies where ethics and morality count. The
remoteness of Nepal being at the Himalays do not mean that such dinos should
still survive freely roaming, stomping, or chomping the sentiments of the
people who have to live there.
Hridaya
***********************************************************
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 1995 08:26:49 -0500
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
From: wstinson@gcn.scri.fsu.edu (W. I. (Bill) Stinson)
Subject: stamps
Hi Smita Gyawali,
Actually the postal systems of many smaller countries make lots of money
selling stamps to people who never use them as postage: collectors. This is
the reason for so many issues...it's a money _maker_.
Bill Stinson
wstinson@gcn.scri.fsu.edu
voice: 904/875-4803
*********************************************************************
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 1995 14:29 EST
From: ATULADHAR@vax.clarku.edu
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu, sconlon@world.std.com, nbhatt@worldbank.org,
Latest on Nepalese Forests: Increase or Decrease??
Regarding the forest-peasant interface, I came across
two very interesting studies. The first one is a recent
study of landscape change in some 9 villages in Kavre
Palanchowk and Sindhupalchowk commissioned by the
Nepal-Australian Forestry Project. This study is a
remote sensing assessment using aerial photos for
1978/79 (the base for the Land Resources Mapping
Project series of land use studies, the last
comprehensive one for the country) and those 1992 (done
by Finns and the Topographical Survey in preparation
for the country-wide topomaps to replace the 1954
survey of India maps still the main base for our
country).
This study had the interesting finding of both forests
and agricultural land use increasing. What decreased
you might ask? It is shrublands and grasslands. The
shrublands due to "degraded" forests being
rehabilitated to more mature forests (this "mature
forest" is somewhat of a misnomer because crown cover
over 10% is considered to be forests whereas in
strictly ecological terms crown cover of 70% or over
are considered full, mature canopy forests!) and most
of the pasture lands have been appropriated by govt
afforestation rhetoric for plantation with pines and
other conservation trees.
The increase is high as 500% over 18 years for villages
in Kavre which are nearer roads systems and have
undergone more fragmentation in earlier periods of
deforestation but this fantastic increase in rates is
not the same thing as quantity of new forests. Still,
in more remote areas of Sindhupalchowk the increase is
more modest in percentage terms (somewhere in 60% for
18 years) but significant in terms of actual areas.
I think this finding is potentially significant in
political ecology and our theorization of interface
between political economy and ecology in peasant
subsistence. Even after making some allowance for
uncertainties due to methodologies, the forest increase
trend over a range of market integration of peasant
economies of the hills seem to imply, and this is a
hypothesis, that the integration into market economy
has surpassed the point where the peasant economies are
no longer autarkic, closed systems.
The greater political economy on one hand exerts a
demand for wage labour for the peasants and the decline
of peasant labor to provide landesque capital for
maintaining the productivity of marginal lands under
the relentless and resilient creep of the tropical
vegetation of our country mean more forests will come
back. Second the availability of market inputs in the
form of high yield crops, extension, irrigation and
technology, and credit (though it is never enough to
quite meet the demands) means that the earlier natural
(i.e. forest) subsidies of nutrients (green fodder,
bedding material, and burned ash) and energy (fuelwood
and forest fruits) are being supplanted to facilitate
both an increase in agriculture and forests with the
expansion and extension of markets into peasant
economies of Nepal. Doubtless this line of argument
must be further corroborated with more field studies
but I am quite sure I am on the right track.
The second study is a study of the "shirking work
behaviour of Nepali women as a protest and resistance".
This is an anthropological study presented by Andrea
Nightingale of U of Minnesota based on her MA Fulbright
work in Mugu where the high caste Hamals and Malla
Thakuri live. she presented at the Madison conference
this year.
What is interesting about this paper for peasant-forest
interface is that this shirking behaviour is described
in relation to the task of going into the forests to
collect fuelwood for the household. Earlier studies of
this type, and I am afraid there are too many of them,
(denevan had 67 of them with estimates of per capital
fuelwood use ranging in difference by an order of 67
times, yet this research still continues) seem to be
concerned of all the time village women "waste" in the
forests and how the time to go forests are represented
as not only the measure of receding forests but also
time away from labor for agricultural productivity.
This study challenges both of these assumptions.
One, if the time spent on forests are representations
of social protest (against mother-in-laws, usually)
then increase in the time spent in forests may be
indications of greater social disharmony in the peasant
families (something Andrea connects to more
development!) and not due to receding forests. Of
course, I am phrasing this in polemical terms but we
have to bring this critique to bear upon any claim of
more time spent on [going to an from] forests as
evidences of receding forests for deforestation.
Second, if the time spent in the forests are protest
times [that also includes relaxation from physical work
burden and socialization with other support network]
then it implies that bringing forests closer to peasant
agriculture will not necessarily increase agricultural
production because the women would still need some
socially inscribed time to protest than to do
agricultural work. Interesting, to say the least.
Amulya R Tuladhar
Clark university
Massachusetts, USA
*********************************************************
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 1995 16:55:38 -0500 (EST)
From: Tara N Niraula <tnn3@columbia.edu>
To: The Editor <nepal-request@cs.niu.edu>
Subject: Press Release
Dear Mr Editor,
I, on behalf of the conference organizing team, like to request
you to post the following "Press Release" on Bhutanes Refugees: An
Unresolved Crisit, a day long conference held at Columbia University, New
York. Thanking you in advance for you support.
PRESS RELEASE
The seminar on "Bhutanese Refugees: An Unresolved Crises"
organized at Columbia University, New York City on Saturday, February 18,
1995 was attended by about 140 Human Rights activists, South Asian
scholars and students, media representatives, and officials from the US
State Department and United Nations agencies and several government
missions to the United nations. The participants concluded that the
citizenship verification and subsequent repatriation of the Bhutanese
refurees is an urgent matter that should not be sacrificed to the altar
of expediency in negotiation between Bhutan and Nepal.
The seminar highlighted the complexities of the Bhutanese refugee
issue. Topics included: conditions at the refugee camps, analysis of the
negotiations of the Joint Ministerial Committee of Bhutan and Nepal, "the
India factor", the role of international community, and the challenges of
fair verification and the repatriation of the Bhutanese refugees.
The main conclusion of the seminar was to urge an expeditious
resolution of the Bhutanese Refugee crisis which would not sacrifice fair
process and the terms of reference that would take into consideration
international norms and practices of identifying citizenship and
protecting human rights.
The newly appointed permanent representative of Nepal to the
United Nations, Mr. Narendra Bikram Shah, previously a member of the
Joint Ministerial Committee of Bhutan and Nepal said:
"Some major difficulty lies in the insistence that the work [of
the Joint Ministerial Committee] proceeds in accordance with the national
citizenship and immigration laws of the two countries. Without passing
judgement on the merit or otherwise of the Bhutanese Marriage and
Citizenship Acts, I will be straightforward in saying that the laws of
Nepal and Bhutan on these matters do not form a seamless web and the
discrepancy leaves room for the creation of statelessness on a massive
scale".
To summarize the recommendations made at the seminar, Dr. Paul
Martin, Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Human Rights,
Columbia University first underscored the critical role of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in ensuring a fair and acceptable
resolution to the refugee crisis. He said that NGOs could play an
important role by monitoring the observance of human rights and by making
sure that the interests of the refurees were protected in the
negotiations. Secondly, he pointed to the need for the protection of
ethnic groups in Bhutan in order to eliminate one of the causes of the
refugee exodus.
Report of the seminar will be sent to the Joint Ministerial
Committee between Nepal and Bhutan before their next meeting in Kathmandu
on February 27, 1995.
The seminar was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Human
Rights and the Southern Asian Institute, Columbia University and the
Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights in Nepal. The participants
included high level officials from the US State Department;
representatives from the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of
Japan, Austria, Nepal, Kenya, and Pakistan; prominent Bhutanese refugee
leaders, representatives from the UN Secretariate, UNHCR, UNICEF, World
Food Program, Amnesty International, Freedom House, Asia Human Rights
Watch, US Committee for Refugees, Refugee International, Refugee Policy
Group, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, International Center for Law
and Development, journalists, scholars and students from major US
universities such as Columbia, Harvard, Boston, Georgetown, Penn State
University, University of Chicago, University of Californis, Berkley.
However, the government of Bhutan and India declined the invitation to
participate in the seminar.
For more information, please contact: Dr. Paul Martin, 1108
International Affairs Building, Center for the Study of Human Rights,
Columbia University, 420 Wets 118th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA
Phone: (212) 854-2479, Fax: (212) 316-4578.
**************************************************************
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 1995 23:37:10 -0500
From: rshresth@black.clarku.edu (RaJesh B. Shrestha)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: RONAST: Royal Boondoggle
RONAST: Royal Boondoggle
========================
The "Royal" Nepal... like many institutions that bear the prefix are just
booddoggles to keep the royals and their little atomies busy, looking good,
fashionable in the modern world conservation, science and technology,
development etch while perpetuating what is decidedly the most anti-modern
institution of all royalty and their hangers one the legions of chamcha-giris
who just happened to have some slick Western education to babble in modern
speak to obsfuscate their complicity in the consolidation of poverty and
suffereing of Nepali people.
For those how are over thirty, Ronast is clearly remembered as a boondoggle to
have a "kancha-rajas" ratna SHUMSHER JUNG BAHADUR rana something to do after
his stint at the Planning commission, after all he was a Ph.d and Ashu does
think these guys are too revered anyway in Nepali society anyway (I agreee).
This was "Hu-Pra" creation or created bya the decree of the King"
Hukum-Pramangi" Sure there was some perfunctory definition of some role for
the Science and Technology Ministry but none of the key ministries would allow
it :Education, Forestry, Agriculture and neither TU nor Planning Commission
was ready to allow Ratna Shumsher to claim bureucratic fiefdom. I still
remember Ratns Shumsher doing the rounds in Hetauda Campus in 1981 and
pleading with the faculty there to tell hime what he should do cause the
institution was coming anyway.
Well, RONAST did get created and operated in the limboland of ministerial
twilight without any particular ministerial oversight or laws to guide theri
activity but with the supposed power of the Royal source of Rana-saheb all the
other bureucrats cringed and let it happen. "Suspended animation is no
production" so said Bernard Shaw so he got, hijacked is a better word, TU
faculty seconded to RONASt where they neither did research nor taught but
lined up in the hallway every morning to grovel in "Dhanush-Tankararum
namaskarrum" to pay homage to the great one Rana saheb in the ageold
institution of the cakari so poignantly vilified by Dor Bahadur Bista. Those
who caught his favour got to get "Videshi education" those that did not either
got chucked off or languished in the "Temporary position" because the RONAST
employees were neither TU Service Commission nor HMG Public SErvice defined.
So when Rana saheb finally left the scene, the organizatin became a "murkatta"
the headless ghoul that terrorises little children, in this case the
post-democracy govt. Here was a bunch of employees who could not be sacked, a
taboo in Nepali society close to murder, something beyond the moral economy of
the Nepali middle class brought up to expect the entitlement of a lifetime
civil service "permanent job". The quarrels in the organization has been arund
this central issue: permanency and Smart Rishi could not solve it and why
should Dipak Gyawali solve it, he is an academic "scholar", not an
administrator. Yes as in Ashu's world of superhuman heroes all hailing from
top social econmic caste/class layers of society, the victims of Rana's
foibles the employees are to be blamed for the incompetancy, corruption,
lethargy and the lack of dynamism.
But were all RONASt all dull, stupid, corrupt that heroes such as Rishi Shah,
Dipak Gyawali or Kedar Mathema are needed? This reminds of a poem by S.
Cooleridge:
"Full many a flower blush unseen and
Waste their perfume in the desert air..."
There were some real flowers and gems that did not get the same light as
Ashu's heroes but they labored perhaps more heroically under greater stress,
less resources both material and political and ideological. For instance
Dinesh Bhuju, a fiery political leader in Campus and potential political
representative of Bhaktapur, a Newari playright in his own right and a MS in
Botany joined RONAST and successfully carried 3-4 years of exemplary Science
Education Program. Dr. Kayo, a microbiologists, wrote and won grants from US
INnovative Science Program and Swedist Science Foundation but no, the
scholarly laurels are for jet-set East-West scholars such as Gyawali. I know
of Dr. Yuddha who also won another US science grant to maintaing sceince
equipment in Neplai universities. But no they are all incompetant, dull,
corrupt employees that need to be overhauled "from the bottoms-up" approach.
Yes there are a lot of such Royal dinosaurian institutions. Annapurna
Conservation Camp of King Mahendra Trust is another that has won lot of
acclaim and Dr. Chandra Gurung and Dr. Hemant Misra are partly to be credited
for this marketing. "Partly" because it had a royal backing of Prince
Gyanendra when the King Mahendra Trust had to be created so he had some sexy
conservation: people's participation to show off in his chandeliered ball room
royal socializing with Prince Philip. "Partly" the idea of ACAP was originally
mooted by karna Sakya and the idea was "stolen" when he was forced to quit the
Forestry Department {His dedication to the nature conservation has won him
national acclaim in apex national conservation bodies in post-democracy
Nepal}.
Yes there is much more than meets the eye in Nepali politics, institutions,
and it is heartening that young Nepalese are asking questions.
Amulya Tuladhar
Clark University
****************************************************************
The following has been reposted because in its original posting by Mary
Des Chene some parts were "eaten" by the machine.
I am posting the following for Hugh Wood, director and founder of the
American Nepal Education Foundation. Some readers may know Mr. Wood and his
foundation, which has provided small amounts of scholarship money for many
years for Nepalis to study in U.S. universities. Another thing that he has
been doing for about thirty years is to send books to Tribhuvan University.
Last year I was able to acquire two collections totalling about 2500 books
which he sent in his shipment (about 20,000 volumes altogether, the largest
yet). Most donations are of a few books at a time, but any collection that
can be acquired, or arrangements made with university libraries when they
are culling duplicates, could be especially useful. I offered to post the
following information in the hope that some readers might have worthwhile
contributions to make to this effort.
In light of recent discussions of T.U., BKS, and the state of education in
general, I suggest that this is one small but useful intervention that can
be made from here. Books are sent not just to Kirtipur campus, but
distributed among all T.U. campuses. Mr. Wood consults with campus
librarians on their needs, so please note the request to contact him to
check on suitability of any books you have before sending them. Also note
that he covers shipping costs from Oregon to Kathmandu, but is not able to
pay for postage to Oregon.
Sincerely,
Mary Des Chene
>From Hugh B. Wood
The American Nepal Education Foundation
2790 Cape Meares Loop NW
Tillamook, OR 97141
One of the programs that the American Nepal Education Foundation has
carried on nearly every year since its inception in 1955 is the collection
and shipping of good books and journals to Nepal's college and university
libraries. The basic criterion for the selection of material is: Is the
material suitable for a college student?
Nearly all of these materials have come from Oregon in the past, but it has
been suggested that other patrons of Nepal might wish to donate materials
to the program. (Last year we had a 1000 book collection of Asian Art, and
a collection of books about Nepal donated from the East Coast).
ANEF barely has enough money to pay for these shipments to Calcutta and
then Kathmandu. If you wish to make a contribution of materials, we would
have to ask you to pay the shipping costs to us here in Oregon.
If you have any materials (in the English or Nepali languages only), please
FIRST OF ALL send me a list (or information) of the materials, or call me
at (503) 842-4924. We collect materials the year round, but ship only once
a year, usually in June.
************************************************************
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 18:45:27 -0500 (EST)
From: Nirmal Ghimirez <NGH42799Q236@DAFFY.MILLERSV.EDU>
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: T.U. a neglected corner
Few days ago there was a discussion going on V.C. and T.U.
T.U. has been a neglected corner for quite a long time.That was easily
seen by the past history. I lived around that area. Even the road which leads
to
T.U. was in a horrible situation, and only when king had to visit Dakshinkali
it was repaired. Secondly the bus system to T.U. still remains horrible.It used
to be a constant struggle to get in the bus from Ratnapark. And the bus system
was not regular,so many could not stay in the library to study.That was some of
the external view.
Another very big factor is politics being misused in T.U. It is not surprising
that the attack is always in T.U. When I had joined T.U. for few months
before I came here I experienced a lot about this place. Classes were regular
for some time. Then a big issue came out "Bhat(rice) is greater or education"
Mathema wanted to make some change so he thought of increasig the price of the
food in cafteria.That was the cause and then politics came in.
We wanted to go to the class. Then many tried to stop us.But finally we did.
I then walked out and to my surprise saw that I was surrounded by 50-60
students ready to attack me. Then they started to make this issue of bhat and
accused me. This was the punishment for trying to make classes regular.
Later on I found that most of those students had no problem with their food
but it was only due to politics.I was just trying to give an small incident.
So, maybe it is very essential that politics be kept only to some extent
in T.U. and maybe a certain days to actively participate on that.
Otherwise maybe we will have to learn a lot about demonstration and listen too
much of political conversation and less of the knowledge of our field
of study.Comments are appreciated.Thanks.Nirmal
**************************************************************
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 19:58:43 -0500
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: The Selection Process of the Vice Chancellorship
From: bohara@unm.edu (Alok Bohara ECONOMICS)
The Vice Chancellor of Tribhuvan University: Some
Further Thoughts
Alok K. Bohara
I would like thank Mr. Amulya Tuladhar for his thoughts on
our VCs, both previous (Mr. Mathema) and current (Mr. Kamal
Joshi). I agree with his opinion about Mr. Mathema and his
reading on Mr. Kamal Prakash Malla: Mr. Mathema had a lot of
charisma and did not hesitate listening to different views, and
Mr. Kamal P. Malla is too quiet of an intellectual to run our
University.
Yes, it is important to tame a huge TU bureaucracy to make
sure that they carry out examinations on time. But the role of
the Vice Chancellor is more than that. Mr. Joshi may turn out to
be an excellent VC; only time will tell. But, I am just
pondering about the whole selection process however.
Did we have an honest intellectual debate within the
University community? After all, it is the future of
the University at stake here.
How did the candidates view the role of the University?
Yes, the University should have the responsibility
toward the taxpayers by producing high quality manpower
to satisfy the ever changing demands of the
marketplace. At the same time, it should be a place
that generates new ideas and promotes intellectual
excitement. Both are, however, two sides of the same coin.
I would have liked to know their views on how to strike a
balance between the two.
Most importantly, I would have liked to know whether
or not they had strong backbones to make tough
decisions, and say no to the political leadership and
perhaps fight for the academic independence of the
University?
Again, I am a firm believer that the University should be
allowed to chart its own destiny by allowing them to choose their
leadership based on the character of an individual's academic
strength, leadership quality, and vision rather than his/her own
political affiliation and popularity contest.
*******************************************************************
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 19:59:25 -0500
From: rshresth@black.clarku.edu (RaJesh B. Shrestha)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Nepali Restaurants
Cross posted from SCN:
---------------------
In article <3h9iguINNdev@bigbird.cc.williams.edu>, 96ljs@williams.edu ( laree) writes:
>
>
> In article <3h5eiu$hh@hydra.unm.edu> bohara@unm.edu (Alok Bohara ECONOMICS)
> writes:
>>There are two restaurants in Boulder, Colorado, and there is one
>
> I'd be interested in knowing the names and owners of those. I
> recently met a man in Sikles who said his son's wife had a restaurant
> in Boulder. If I ever get out there, it might be nice to drop by.
>
> Thanks a lot,
> Laura
> I know two Nepali restaurents in Colorado State, one is in Boulder
and another one is in Denver. Here are the addresses and name of the
owners of both of these restaurents:
1. Narayan's Nepal Restaurent
Owner:Narayan Shrestha
958 Pearl Street, Boulder Co 80302
(303)-447-2816
2. Narayan's Nepal Restaurent(Denver Inc.)
Owners: Shyam and Shanti Shrestha
9955 East Hampden Ave, Unit 1
Denver, Colorado 80231
(303)- 337-3232
Some of the popular items in their menu are Meat Momo, Vegetable
Sampler and Lamb Curry.
Bimal Adhikari
**************************************************************
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 20:00:24 -0500
From: rshresth@black.clarku.edu (RaJesh B. Shrestha)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Converting PAL/SECAM to NTSC
Cross-posted from SCN:
---------------------
Rabi (Iam@home) wrote:
: Can anyone suggest how and where I can get a videotape from Nepal converted to
: NTSC? And also how much it would cost.
You could get it converted in any Indian or Pakistani or to be specific
any South Asian grocery stores which provide Indian movies and Pakistani
serials. They have the facility as they get movies (in PAL) and convert
them to NTSC to be used locally.
As far as the cost is concerned, last time I got 3 of my PAL cassettes for
$10.00 each (here in Miami). Any how, my uncle living in Boston said that
it cost him $25 a cassette for the conversion. A Bangaldeshi friend of
mine said it costs $15 in NY. I hope you get the idea.
************************************************************
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 20:02:32 -0500
From: rshresth@black.clarku.edu (RaJesh B. Shrestha)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Information about hotels
Cross-posted from SCN:
---------------------
In article <9502161825285@tigerteam.org>,
Oliver Seeler <oliver.seeler@tigerteam.org> wrote:
>A recent query:
>
>BBB> How hard is it for a handicap person to go around in
>BBB> Kathmandu, Tiger Tops places like that? Is it possible to rent a
>BBB> car or a jeep for a week or one has to rent in daily basis.
>BBB> Thanks in advance.
>BBB> Bhed Bahadur Bista BBB> e-mail: bbb@shiratori.riec.tohoku.ac.jp
>
I did not personally encounter any handicapped people, but this may help.
The more expensive hotels have elevators. I stayed a couple of nights at
the Hotel Manang, which had an elevator and was very nice, but was rather
expensive: $30 a night with a discount, and they sometimes are full. There
were a few stairs leading to the front door, but I am sure the doorman
could help. If not, there are other nice hotels which would have elevators.
When I was in Kathmandu, there were scheduled power outages twice a week,
so you would still need help then. Hotels are officially rated according to
a star system. I suspect it takes at least 3 stars to find an elevator, but
I don't really know.
I stayed at the Mountain Villa Hotel in Pokhara, which had some rooms on the
first floor, where no stairs would be needed. That is another possibility.
You could look for first floor rooms. I don't know how common they are.
Tiger Tops was way beyond my budget, so I know nothing about it. However,
practically all of the hotels in Sauhara are single floor structures, where
access is no problem.
Generally, if you want to rent a car, you hire a driver as well. You would
not want to try driving in Nepal anyway. Being a passenger or pedestrian
is scary enough. Cabs are very reasonable and the drivers will bargain.
I always used cabs, bicycles (but not in Kathmandu), or walked.
Jeep rides tend to be expensive in Chitwan National Park due to entrance fees.
Also, many rivers there are too high to be passable except in winter, so you
may not get very far. If you can afford to stay at Tiger Tops, I wouldn't
worry about it too much.
As an earlier post said, people in Nepal generally make great efforts to
be accomodating, so I don't think a handicap should necessarily be a big
obstacle, even though Nepal does not make any special efforts to accomodate
the handicapped.
********************************************************************
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 95 07:34:55 CST
From: Ram Acharya <Ram.Acharya@ag.auburn.edu>
To: NEPAL@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Re: The Nepal Digest - Feb 25, 1995 (13 Falgun 2051 BkSm)
Respected Mom and Dad,
I just received your mail. I will write you after class.
Rambabu.
*******************************************************************************
From: eta957093@rccvax.ait.ac.th
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: KHOJKHABAR
i AM SEARCHING MR. RAMESH LAL SHESTHA AT KERNIGE MELLON UNIVERSITY,PITTUSBARG,IFYOU ARE RECEIVE MY MESSAGE PLEASE CALL ME
Ramsh
If you hear me please call me at AIT ETA957093@rccvax.ait.ac.th
SHOBHAKAR DHAKAL
************************************************
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 1995 20:42:14 EST
To: "Looking for...correspondent" <nepal-request@cs.niu.edu>
From: Pradeep Bista <C31CC@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Subject: Looking for Pragya Ram Mathema
It would be a great help if anybody reading Nepal Digest in the UK area could
pass on the e-mail address (if any) of a friend of mine who I believe is now
in the United Kingdom. Snail mail address is also fine. You can also pass on
my e-mail address (from the header) to him.
Thanks in advance,
--Pradeep
**********************************************************************
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 15:51:08 -0500 (EST)
Subject: RE:tnd mailing list (fwd)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
From: SHARMA, MANOHAR <M.SHARMA@CGNET.COM>
Making TND's mailing list is a good idea * if* we make sure that privacy is
maintained for those that don't want to disclose their email addresses to
other TND readers. If this is accomplished, a lot of readers would gain
from the new info *and* no one would lose.
The trick, therefore, is to
1. announce that TND's mailing list is going public *but* that subscribers,
by a simple request to the editor, may choose to have their addresses not
included in this list.
2. give readers a reasonable time to respond (not everyone reads TND
immediately as it is received, I guess).
3. strike out the names of those who want to remain private and publish the
list in TND.
So I propose the following:
a. we make 2-3 announcement on TND of the above plan adding a deadline for
any privacy request (maybe March 31 or April 15 or whatever). A good idea
would be to send out a special issue of TND w/ just this info. Do this 3
times ( probably one every week for three weeks). We would, of course,
emphasize that no response would mena "no problem".
b. do #3 above. There is no need for me, or for that matter, anyone except
the editor to know who requested privacy. But if the editor doesn't have
time (or whatever) to assemble a list, I am willing to do it w/ a promise to
respect confidentiality of all kinds of requests.
Sincerely,
Manohar Sharma
******************************************************************************
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