The Nepal Digest - April 24, 1999 (15 Bhaishakh 2056 BkSm)

From: The Editor (NEPAL-REQUEST@cs.niu.edu)
Date: Sat Apr 24 1999 - 08:23:30 CDT

Next message: The Editor: "The Nepal Digest - May 1, 1999 (18 Bhaishakh 2056 BkSm)"
Previous message: The Editor: "The Nepal Digest - April 13, 1999 (1 Bhaishakh 2056 BkSm)"
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]

Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 08:23:30 -0500 (CDT)
Message-Id: <199904241323.IAA06084@mp.cs.niu.edu>
Reply-to: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu>
From: The Editor <NEPAL-REQUEST@cs.niu.edu>
Sender: "Rajpal J.P. Singh" <A10RJS1@cs.niu.edu>
Subject:      The Nepal Digest - April 24, 1999 (15 Bhaishakh 2056  BkSm)
To: <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu>
Content-Type: text
Status: O

        %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
        % 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 Sat Apr 24, 1999: Baishakh 15 2056BS: Year8 Volume85 Issue2

H A P P Y N E W Y E A R 2 0 5 6 !!!!!!!!

Today's Topics (partial list):

******************************************************************************
* TND (The Nepal Digest) Editorial Board *
* -------------------------------------- *
* *
* The Nepal Digest: General Information tnd@nepal.org *
* Chief Editor: Rajpal JP Singh a10rjs1@mp.cs.niu.edu *
* Editorial Columnist: Pramod K. Mishra pkm@acpub.duke.edu *
* Sports Correspondent: Avinaya Rana avinayar@touro.edu *
* Co-ordinating Director - Australia Chapter (TND Foundation) *
* Dr. Krishna B. Hamal HamalK@dist.gov.au *
* Co-ordinating Director - Canada Chapter (TND Foundation) *
* Anil Shrestha SHRESTHA@CROP.UOGUELPH.CA *
* *
* TND Archives: http://library.wustl.edu/~listmgr/tnd/ *
* TND Foundation: http://www.nepal.org tnd@nepal.org *
* WebSlingers: Open Position tnd@nepal.org *
* *
* +++++ Food For Thought +++++ *
* *
* "Heros are the ones who give a bit of themselves to the community" *
* "Democracy perishes among the silent crowd" -Sirdar_Khalifa *
* *
******************************************************************************
****************************************************************** Date: April 22, 1998 To: The Nepal Digest <nepal@cs.niu.edu> Subject: Nepali News

Source: Awake Nepal

223 rape cases in 1998

According to a report of the Women’s Watch of the Social Watch Group Nepal, 296 women and children were victims of rape in 223 cases in 1998. In one incident, a Sadhu (hermit) raped a woman and also indulged in gang rape. Similarly, there came to light 13 incidents of rape by army and police, but according to the report, no action was initiated against the culprits. In the one year period, the number of rape victims was 264. There were five incidents of homosexual rape and two incidents where sex was had with animals. One of the most horrifying incident was when four sadhus (hermits) raped a young child. Similarly sad incidents of 29 Tharu women and 12 Maoists women were also gang raped. There was also an incident where nine people raped one woman. There is also one criminal activity where a boy telling his girlfriend that they will go for a walk in Pokhara, later forced her to have sex with five of his friends.

The report also mentions some incidents where one woman in Lalitpur was raped for three days, another incident in Birgunj where three men kidnapped a woman and raped her for two months and a tragic tale of how five men continuously raped a girl child for ten hours. Among the incidents, three foreigners, including a Bhutane refugee aged 50 years were also raped, mentions the report. Among the foreign rapists, there were seven incidents in all of which Indians were involved. The report also says that the government has to make separate law for homosexual rape as there is no provision for initiating action against such a crime in the present regulation. The report blames vulgar fashion for the increase in sexual crimes. It suggests that control should be there in such type of behaviour and also publicity of the same. It also suggests that vulgar magazines and movies should also be banned.

Source: (Aajako Samacharpatra, Monday, March 30)

-------------
How much gold is imported?

The amount of gold being imported into the country is simply mind boggling. The amount of gold imported in Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), when the fiscal year starts, was 492 kg. gold, in Bhadra (mid August-mid Sept.), it was 421 kg, in Asoj (mid Sept-mid Oct) 426 kg , in Kartik
(mid Oct-mid Nov) 352 kg, in Mangsir (mid Nov-mid Dec) 283 kg, in Poush
(mid Dec-mid-Jan) 1,270 kg, in Magh (mid Jan-mid Feb) 3,417 kg, and in Falgun (mid Feb-mid March) it was 2,221 kg. gold. This is only an official record of the gold imported in the last 8 months. However unofficially this amount of gold imported may be as much as 30,000 kg.

Source: (Asan Bazar, Saturday, April 3)

****************************************************************** From: "Paramendra Bhagat" <paramendra@hotmail.com> To: nepal@cs.niu.edu Subject: News Clippings Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 06:22:51 PST

NC list change fuels anger, resignations
<http://www.nepalnews.com/contents/Ktmpost/1999/Mar/Mar23/index.htm#2> The leader duo can not change the names: Poudel
<http://www.nepalnews.com/contents/awake/1-71/f-pagers.htm#7> NC to change ticket decision
<http://www.nepalnews.com/contents/awake/1-71/f-pagers.htm#2> NC likely to have hard time from rebels
<http://www.nepalnews.com/contents/Ktmpost/1999/Mar/Mar24/index.htm#1> The protesting NC activists will support the candidate of Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) in constituency-1.............................

Who is a Janjati? Anatomy of a controversy
<http://www.info-nepal.com/p-review/1999/03/110399/who.html>

`Divide and end BJP rule' game begins
<http://www.timesofindia.com/230399/23home1.htm> US lawmakers, Clinton divided on sanctions on India, Pak
<http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/mar23/clint.htm> U.S. wants security ties with India, Pak.
<http://www.hinduonline.com/today/stories/03230001.htm> Pakistan Displays Nuclear-Capable Missile
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/wl/story.html?s=v/nm/19990323/wl
/pakistan_2.html>

Paramendra Bhagat

************************************************************************** Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 21:36:16 +0500 To: drsdhital@wlink.com.np From: "F.A.H. ('Hutch') Dalrymple" <hutch@healthnet.org.np> Subject: good things about Kathmandu/Nepal

Saroj---

Just to show you I don't always 'complain,' I wrote the following:

'SEE' CHANGE! (for Saroz, and all Nepali people everywhere)

THE MANY GOOD THINGS IN KATHMANDU/NEPAL:

The people on the street, The tourists who bring money, The illogical working of the vehicular traffic, The peaceful co-existence of many religions, The weather... mild, The history and culture, The most interesting city I've ever lived in!
("The wildest dreams in the land of Kew, Are merely facts in Kathmandu!" - Rudyard Kipling), The beggars that give us a chance to give, The Gurkha tradition, of bravery and courage, The food! The food in Nepal is better than It is in the U.S., The rising consciousness, The children... they play, they laugh, they survive! The Sherpa tradition of high-elevation stamina and bravery! The people who died, so you might live free (with opportunity), Some of the most physically attractive (men and women), I think I've ever seen (in the world), The capitol and gateway to both the highest mountain peak in the world, and Tibet, the 'roof of!' The Himal... The greatest mountain range in the world! Note: Once the ancient Tethys sea!

'Sea' Change!

I don't want to be an alarmist... But, I've been inquiring about Kathmandu's preparedness vis a vis earthquakes, since I arrived here, one year ago.

About eight, nine months ago we had a 'little one,' in Kathmandu (something like 4.0 on the Richter Scale), centered in eastern Nepal.

But, I'm sensing 'the big one,' via the barking dogs...

The dogs, all over Kathmandu, have been barking incessantly, particularly at night in Boudha (now) for the entire time I've been here (one year).

It's common knowledge, at least in the U.S., that such barking is associated with an impending earthquake... And my attitude is, 'Better safe, than sorry!' But, I can't get anyone's attention in Kathmandu! I also hope I'm wrong!

But, something else too... I was talking with someone and they mentioned some kind of 'sixty-year cycle' for large earthquakes in Nepal.

The last 'big one,' was in 1935! Thus, we're four years overdue, this
'hypothetical cycle.' Thus, I sense people are a little up tight, about this...

Ke Garni? What to do?

I wonder if Kathmandu is prepared for a major event... And I'm not talking about the coming elections...?

I guess it's the 'U.S. Boy Scout' in me!

Namaste! Frederick Alexander H. Dalrymple (hutch@)

*********************************************************************** Date: Sat, 03 Apr 1999 19:57:42 +0300 From: "Basil I. Ramzy" <alive@thewayout.net> To: nepal@cs.niu.edu Subject: Alive Magazine

Hello,

I'm an editor at Alive Magazine, a new international publication based in Egypt. I would like to get in touch with professional writers from Nepal who could write a spiritual essay on Mount Everest. If you could provide me with links or tell me who I could contact for this kind of information, I'd very much appreciate it.

Thank you for your time, May Shehab Editor

********************************************************************* From: "Paramendra Bhagat" <paramendra@hotmail.com> To: nepal@cs.niu.edu Subject: Initiating Discussions on the National Economy on this Forum Date: Sat, 03 Apr 1999 11:52:01 PST

Initiating Discussions on the National Economy on The Nepal Digest forum------------------------------------------------------------- by Paramendra Bhagat http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9511

I invite the 1200 subscribers of this newsletter to participate in an informed discussion on the Nepalese Economy. This request goes especially to those attending college and graduate school and also to those professionals who are pursuing careers in the west. The Digest is accessed in Kathmandu as it is in the US, UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and India. It does have a native audience, especially among the intelligentsia in Kathmandu, the local intellectuals and the leading journalists as well some political leaders, some directly, many indirectly (if only because internet access is so much more expensive back home). My special request goes to the alumni of my alma mater, Budhanilkantha School, who so pride in being the products of the
"National School." Whatever your expertise, your experience, your interests, your plans of pursuing your careers in the west, this could be an opportunity to make a real impact back home. The internet makes that possible. This could be your venue to wash away the guilt from
"brain drain," a phenomenon nicknamed "body drain" in reference to one particular individual during one of those Gaurishankar after-dinner chats on the lawn!

Besides, this should be a relief to those readers who have been "sick" of my discussions on the Terai question. I have put considerable amounts of time to compile several lists of websites that can serve as a quick reference to those wanting to inform themselves on the various specific issues: about a dozen sites of relevance to the National Economy but most to the larger questions of the Global South. I don't know how you all access TND, but once it pops up in my e-mail inbox I delete it and go straight to its archives' website and read it there. I have a link to the Digest from my homepage which can be accessed by searching for
"paramendra" on AltaVista. The links I have compiled are all "alive" on the Digest website.

I have been at Berea College for two and a half years now. In the academic forays I have made I have become growingly convinced that the fundamental struggles Nepal is going through is something shared by most countries of the Global South, and that there is a dearth of political voice on behalf of the Global South at the global level. So I would not be surprised if some of us will lead the discussions also at that level.

I hope this call will incite a greater barrange of responses than all my postings on the Terai question put together. Because we are talking about the Number One issue for the country, its National Economy.

Thank you all.

**************************************************************** Date: Wed, 7 Apr 1999 20:33:28 EDT Subject: Dept. of Music at Kathmandu University To: nepal@cs.niu.edu

     Could you kindly post the following query to the next issue of the Nepal Digest?:
      I am looking for a contact address for the Department of Music at Kathmandu University (since this department is in Bhaktapur, away from the main campus at Dhulikhel, it may have a separate mailing address). Also, I would be particularly interested to know if there is an e-mail address for Professor Wegner, the head of the department (or, if not, whether there is a fax number for him).
     Thanks very much for any information,
     Brent Bianchi

********************************************************* Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 17:48:45 -0700 From: Ngawang Karsang Sherpa <ksherpa@erols.com> To: tnd <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu> Subject: Fifteen-year-old Arbin against Everest?

For seasoned and best mountaineers from around the world, the ratio of success to death on Everest is a scary four to one. In other words, for every four mountaineers who reach the summit, one does not make it back alive. Pitted against this huge odd even on seasoned climbers, is a fifteen-year-old Nepali boy with no prior experience on mountains. If insane is not the word here, what is it?

Not long ago, a seven-year-old girl called Jessica attempted to be the youngest person to fly across the US. Evidently, her zeal was pretty much imposed on and fuelled by her parents and the media. Young Arbin's case could not be more parallel. However, while climbing Everest, Arbin would not have the luxury to sit behind the cockpit with a professional pilot by his side. Let us all pray that his fate does not run any more parallel to that of Jessica, and that he comes back alive.

As Mr. Rawat points out, Everest is always going to be there if he wants to go back with more strength, endurance and experience.

Ngawang Karsang Sherpa BTW Ashu, could also post Pratyush Dai's Article? Thanks.

Subject: This, from The Kathmandu Post Date: 9 Apr 1999 22:28:01 GMT From: tiwari@login6.fas.harvard.edu (Ashutosh Tiwari)

>From April 9 ko The Kathmandu Post. Letter to editor

Is Arvin's quest justifiable ?

In his response against Pratyoush Ontas "Climbing amok for records"
(April 2), Santosh Khatri (April
5) questions: "If a talented young Nepali attempts to climb the highest mountain in the world, why
label his efforts and the societys reaction as symptoms of "vacuous nationalism"? This is an
excellent question. But the operative word here is "talented". Talents, after all, are not asserted; they
are proven again and again. Fourteen-year-old gymnasts who win Olympic medals do so after many
years of strenuous practice and proving themselves in many smaller competitions.

The 15-year-old Arvins zeal, fuelled by his parents, to climb the Everest with no prior mountaineering
experience is startling indeed. Arvins motives may certainly be sincere. But as Khatri himself points
out, "mountain climbing is an extremely dangerous activity and many precious lives have been lost
(on the mountains)."

That is why, before setting out to accomplish what seems to be a difficult task, it would have made
more sense if Arvin had proven his mountaineering talents by climbing atop a few smaller hills and
mountains - gaining experiences, building strength and accumulating smaller, more feasible victories.
To be sure, such smaller victories might lack the glamour of setting out to climb the Everest, but they
would surely give Arvin a sense of practice, self-discipline, maturity and seriousness that he would
need in abundance for the Everest.

When our society and media do not pause to consider these secondary issues that Onta has raised
in his essay, and choose instead to fan Arvins zeal in the name of some vague Nepali glory, then
what else could it be if not "vacuous nationalism"? If Arvin succeeds, the probability of which is hard
to tell, then great. If not, what then shall we make of him? A baal-saheed with his own postage stamp
and an annual memorial festival? Lets not squander public and corporate money on some untested
kids private quest. The Everest will still be there when he grows up.

-Bhupendra Rawat,
Oxford, Mississippi, Via Internet

*********************************************************** Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 15:58:41 -0500 (EST) From: Bipulendu Singh <singhb@WABASH.EDU> Subject: Article from Hinduism today To: NEPAL@cs.niu.edu

India's Holocaust

Belgium scholar analyzes the "the bloodiest story in history"
The great genocides of history are rarely taught in school. Only the Jews have succeeded in publicizing what happened to their people--Amazon.com lists 2,856 books devoted to the Holocaust of World War II. But just inthis century Tutsis, Tibetans, Cambodians, Bangladeshis, Gypsies, Ukrainians and Armenians have allsuffered more than a million deaths in deliberate actions. Before them died possibly a hundred million nativesin North and South America, tens of millions in the slave trade--and unknown millions of Hindus in India as aresult of the invasions beginning in the 7th century. In this thought-provoking article, Belgium scholarKoenraad Elst attempts to shed light on the horrific and historically neglected Hindu experience.

By Koenraad Elst, Belgium

Genocide is the intentional attempt to destroy an ethnic community, or by extension any community constituted by bonds of kinship, of common religion or ideology, of common socio-economic position or of common race. The pure form is the complete extermination of every man, woman and child of the group. Examples include thenative Tasmanians and many Amerindian nations, from Patagonia to Canada, by European settlers in the16th-19th century. The most notorious attempt was the Nazi "final solution of the Jewish question" in 1941 to 45.In April 1994, Hutu militias in Rwanda went about slaughtering the Tutsi minority, killing ca 800,000, inanticipation of the conquest of their country by an Uganda-based Tutsi army.

Hindus suffered such attempted extermination in East Bengal in 1971, when the Pakistani Army killed one to three million people, with Hindus as their most common target. It is significant that no serious count or religion-wise breakdown of the death toll has been attempted. The Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi ruling classes all agree that this would feed Hindu grievances against Muslims. While India-watchers get indignated about communal riots in India killing up to 20,000 people since 1948, allegedly in a proportion of three Muslimsto one Hindu, the best-kept secret of the post- Independence Hindu-Muslim conflict is that in the subcontinent as a whole, the overwhelming majority of the victims have been Hindus. Even apart from the 1971 genocide, "ordinary" pogroms in East Pakistan in 1950 alone killed more Hindus than the total number of riot victims inIndia since 1948.

"Selective genocide" may be defined as killing a sufficient number who form the backbone of the group'scollective identity, and assimilating the leaderless masses into the dominant community. This has been theChinese policy in Tibet, killing over a million Tibetans. It was also Stalin's policy in eastern Poland and the Balticstates after they fell into his hands under the 1939 Hitler- Stalin Pact, exemplified by the massacre of thousands ofPolish army officers in Katyn. During the Islamic conquests in India, there was a policy to murder the brahminpriests after the Hindu warrior class had been dispatched on the battlefield. The Portuguese in Malabar and Goaalso followed this policy in the 16th century. In antiquity, such partial genocide typically targeted the men forslaughter and the women and children for slavery or concubinage. That is how the Athenians depopulated the isleof Melos in 416 bce to punish the Melians for their reluctance to join the war against Sparta. Likewise, in 626 ce, Islamic forces destroyed the Jewish tribe of the Banu Quraiza by having its 700 men beheaded and its women and children sold into slavery. Hindus too experienced this treatment at the hands of Islamic conquerors, e.g., when Mohammed bin Qasim conquered the lower Indus basin in 712 ce. The Chach-Nama reports how in Multan "six thousand warriors were put to death, and all their relations and dependents were taken as slaves."This is why Rajput women committed mass suicide, to save their honor in the face of the imminent entry of victorious Muslim armies, e.g., 8,000 women immolated themselves during Akbar's capture of Chittorgarh in1568 (where this most enlightened ruler also killed 30,000 non-combatants).

A third type of genocide is when mass killing takes place unintentionally, as collateral damage of other forms of oppression. The death of millions of natives in Central America after the first Spanish conquests was mostly the unintended side effect of the hardships of forced labor and the contact with new diseases brought by the Europeans. In contrast with Nazi and Soviet work camps, where forced labor had the dual purpose of economic profit and a slow but sure death of the inmates, there is no evidence that the Spanish wanted their Native laborers to die--eventually replacing them with African slaves required a large extra investment. These invader's religious missionaries wished to convert the unbelievers, and preferred not to kill them.

The mass killing of Hindus by Muslims typically took place in the fervor immediately following military victories, e.g., a general massacre and arson followed the fall of the South Indian metropolis of Vijayanagar in 1565. Genocide in peacetime, perhaps the most perverse kind, is extremely rare; one example was Stalin's organizedfamine in Ukraine in 1931-33, which killed some ten million people.

In India, once Muslim power was established, Muslim rulers sought to exploit and humiliate rather than kill the Hindus, and discouraged rebellion either by military action or by making some sort of compromise. One constraint was the endemic intra-Muslim warfare and intrigue, another the prevalence of the Hanifite school of Islamic law in India. This is the only school which allows Pagans to subsist as zimmis, disempowered third- classcitizens paying a special tax for the favor of being tolerated; the other three legal schools ruled that Pagans, asopposed to Christians and Jews, had to convert. Sometimes, though, Muslim rulers resorted to forms ofoppression comparable to Stalin's famine. A policy of deliberate impoverishment by rulers like Alauddin Khilji andJahangir were described as follows by Fernand Braudel in A History of Civilizations (1963): "The levies [the Hindus] had to pay were so crushing that one catastrophic harvest was enough to unleash famines and epidemics capable of killing a million people at a time. Appalling poverty was the constant counterpart of the conquerors 'opulence."

Apart from actual killing, millions of Hindus disappeared by way of enslavement. After every conquest by a Muslim invader, slave markets in Baghdad and Samarkand were flooded with Hindus. Timur Lenk, who conquered Delhi from another Muslim ruler in 1398, recorded in his journal that he made sure his pillaging soldiers spared the Muslim quarter, while in the Hindu areas, they took "twenty slaves each." Hindu slaves were converted to Islam, and when their descendants gained their freedom, they swelled the numbers of the Muslim community. It is a cruel twist of history that the Muslims who forced Partition on India were partly the progeny of those Hindus.

For its sheer magnitude in scope and death toll, coupled with its occasional intention to exterminate entire Hindu communities, the Islamic campaign against Hinduism, which was never fully called off since the first navalinvasion in 636 ce, was famously evaluated by Will Durant as follows: "The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precious good, whose delicate complex of order and freedom, culture and peace, can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within."

A first glance at important testimonies by Muslim chroniclers indicates that, over 13 centuries and a territory as vast as the subcontinent, Muslim warriors easily killed more Hindus than the six million of the Jewish Holocaust. Ferishtha lists several occasions when the Bahmani sultans in central India
(1347-1528) killed a hundred thousand Hindus, which they had set as a minimum goal for "punishing" the Hindus; and they were only a third- rankprovincial dynasty. The biggest slaughters took place during the raids of Mahmud Ghaznavi (ca. 1000 ce); during the actual conquest of North India by Mohammed Ghori and his lieutenants (1192 ff.); and under the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526). The Moghuls (1526- 1857), even Babar and Aurangzeb, were fairly restrained tyrants by comparison. Prof. K.S. Lal once estimated that the Indian population declined by 50 million under the Sultanate, but that would be hard to substantiate; research into the magnitude of the damage Islam did to India is yet to startin earnest.

In Indian schoolbooks and the media, an idyllic picture of Hindu-Muslim harmony in the pre-British period ispropagated in outright contradiction with the testimony of the primary sources. Like Holocaust denial, thispropaganda can be called "negationism." The really daring negationists don't just deny the crimes against Hindus, they invert the picture and blame the Hindus themselves. Thus, it is alleged that Hindus persecuted and destroyedBuddhism; in reality, Buddhist monasteries and universities flourished under Hindu rule, but their thousands of monks were killed by Ghori and his lieutenants.

Hindu philosophy holds that God pervades everything and everyone in the universe and that nothing and no one is intrinsically evil. How then to understand these great slaughters? Did the Ukrainians starve ten million people to death at some point in their past? Did the American Indians annihilate a race? Who did we Hindus conquer and oppress? History doesn't record such events, and they certainly could not have been on the scale of the modern events, for there simply were not that many people in the world in prehistory.

But perhaps these catastrophic events are matters of national or racial karma, necessary occurrences related to the overall evolution of the people. In this down-to-earth sense, suffering genocide is the karmic reward of weakness. Even Hindu scriptures on government advise a king to invade and conquer his weaker neighbor, least another king do the same first and then threaten him.

The Jews concluded their genocide was a result of weakness, and since World War II have sought to create a strong nation-state out of a fragmented and stateless community. Even more importantly, they helped foster an awareness of the history of their persecution among their former persecutors, the Christians, which makes it unlikely that Christians will target them again. At the Global Forum in Moscow in 1993, the Jewish representatives said their oppressors have not repented and reconciled for their actions, and therefore, the representative said, "Given the chance, they will do it again." In this respect, the Hindus have so far failed completely. With numerous Holocaust memorials already functioning, one more memorial is being built in Berlin by the heirs of the perpetrators of the Holocaust; but there is not even one memorial to the Hindu genocide, because even the victims don't seem to care.

**************************************************************** Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 21:52:38 -0400 From: "Paramendra Bhagat"<paramendra_bhagat@smtpgtwy.berea.edu> Subject: Updates on the War Requested

Dear Ingo,

I have been helping spread the word. I received one mail from you and another from the Italian Student Union. I sent them out to a bunch of student activists, the United States Student Association and put it on the electronic Roundtable Discussions Bulletin Board on my campus. On Wednesday the Political Science Department on this campus will be hosting a campus-wide symposium on the issue. We have a Serb student and an Albanian student who will be leading discussions. A Georgian student, a Tibetan student and a prominent Arab- American professor of International Relations will be the other prominent panelists.

Raw e-mails received from Belgrade (and elsewhere) are (will be) particularly helpful. The rest we can get on our own off the Internet. It would help the cause of peace if the students in Belgrade also expressed some sympathy for the now one million displaced Kosovar Albanians, not that I am trying to trivialize what the Serbs are going through right now. Is the Yugoslav Student Union seeing and seeking opportunities to advance the cause of democracy in Serbia in this conflict? Or is ethnic fervor the strongest and the only sentiment?

Send more.

Plus you might want to check out these two sites forwarded to me by Terry Weddington, my former roommate and a SGA Presidential candidate in our recently held on-campus elections:

www.iacenter.org www.zmag.org

Thanks, Paramendra Bhagat

PS. A copy of this message is simultaneously being posted on the Berea College electronic Roundtable Discussions Bulletin Board.

Ingo Jaeger Secretary for European, North American and other industrialist Countries Executive Secretariat of the International Union of Students

************************************************************************ Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 22:09:27 -0700 From: Ngawang Karsang Sherpa <ksherpa@erols.com> To: tnd <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu> Subject: Is Arvin's Quest justifiable?

Rajesh Babu Shrestha wrote:

(snipped)
>
> 2. I disagree with the opinion that youngsters like Arvin, because
> they do not have the right to vote, should also be disallowed to climb
> mountains and the like, as a policy. How many teenagers have attempted
> to climb Everest? What would be the basis of such a policy? People
> under 18 in Nepal (there are a lot of them!) cannot be considered kind
> of sub-citizens of Nepal.

Climbing Everest is a far cry from a walk to the polling booth. There is a very good reason why none of the young Sherpas who have literally grown up around Everest have not attempted this feat, and I doubt they will in the near future either. In fact, most of the Sherpas, even the grown ups, do not consider mountaineering as a career. Why would they, when the risk involved is so high? Personally speaking, climbing has never been a career option in my family. How could it be after all my three uncles died in the mountains, and my dad was the lone surviver among eight Sherpas on Everest in the early seventies. Trust me, going to Everest, or to any one of the high mountains in Nepal, is not like going to the polling booth, or the Olympics. As the Sherpa saying goes,
"you go to the mountains by selling your corpse".
>
> 3.This alone deserves special credit in a country where
> high talk runs supreme and real action is rare. Besides, Arvin's
> ambition stands at a stark contrast to the only value (which is so
> very "safe" I might add) many urban parents in Kathmandu repetitively
> attempt impart to thier children -- studies (to become a "thulo
> manche"!).

I personally have a lot more admiration for urban parents in KTM or the rural parents in the villages who toil all their life to make something big out of their children. This takes a lot of hard work and almost life-long dedication. Encouraging a fifteen-year-old son to walk a thin line between life and death for a vague national glory is not as praise-worthy.

> 4. To many of us that barely even touched snow in Nepal, Arvin's quest
> does come across as "startling" and even "insane". Climbing Everest is
> in itself "fundamentally irrational", as Jon Krakeur put it, whether
> it be for a 15-year or a 50-year old. People climb Everest not for
> public service, but for glory, no matter how vainglorious it might be!
> Arvin's glory is to become the youngest person in the world to be atop
> the peak (the current record is a 17-year old)! From whatever little
> I've read, he has been training and taking mountaineering lessons in
> Darjeeling; he has "researched" about the peak and he is acclimatising
> for more than 3 weeks in the Everest area before proceeding. What if
> he still fails? Well, he can always say "I tried". (Seemingly) Arvin
> is risking his life to go after his heart and his passion -- it calls
> for an awe, and makes us look beyond our own limits that we've placed
> for ourselves.

You got me wrong here. Arvin's quest seems more insane and irrational to those who know the mountains best. Couple of months of training does not prepare even the Sherpas in Khumbu for Everest. The current record holder, who is a Frenchmen, was an experienced climber himself. Furthermore, he was accompanied by his father who is regarded as one of the best French Mountaineers. When my friends back home in Khumbu first heard about Arvin's quest, they dismissed it as a practical joke. All they are saying now is, "hope that kid has strong Sherpas".

If he does fail, the question is how is he going to fail? That is the gist of the whole argument. If the likelihood of him failing to climb and then coming back and saying, "I tried" ,was high, we wouldn't be having this debate at all. Failure on Everest usually means failure to survive. That is why only the best mountaineers in the world attempt Everest on their own. Even the "novices" (by Everest Standard) on commercial expeditions climb most of the peaks in America, Europe and Africa before attempting Everest.

> The mountain may always be there for Arvin to try later, but Arvin
> will be 15 only once in his lifetime!

If this is really the national glory that Nepal is seeking, we can wait for a fifteen year old who has had atleast couple of years of experience on mountains, small ones of course, before attempting Everest. However, personally, I rather not wait to see any young lives wasted on Everest.

> You are welcome to disagree! :)
>
> Rajesh
>
> P.S. I am no relative of Arvin.

I understand that. If you WERE a relative of Arvin, surely you wouldn't encourage him to go would you?

Now that Arvin is already in Khumbu, let us all hope he can make it, or atleast safely come back.

Ngawang Karsang Sherpa Philadelphia

****************************************************************** From: SMishra@nspr.com To: nepal@cs.niu.edu Subject: A POEM - WAR Date: 13 Apr 1999 13:50:40 -0400

"War"

*Dedicated to all the Victims of Senseless Violence
Here we are at the moment; left between the two worlds- so apart. Time and space do not exist here. Sun's warmth does not reach us and moon's glow does not romance us anymore. Days and nights are as dark or as bright indistinguishable. Pain and ecstasy have become one. Victory and defeat mock us the same. Laughter and cries sound the same. Tears do not puncture the cheek here. Skin is too numb to feel the human touch. Reality and fantasy both illusion here- we do not know where we exist.

-Satish Mishra

********************************************************************* From: Padmendra Bhagat

(1) Today Nepal uses only 0.3 per cent of its hydropotential. Some day that
    figure has got to move from 0.3 to 100. It might take a thousand years, or a
    hundred, but that figure has got to move from 0.3 to 100 ...or it might be
    done in 25 years. Although without all the capital needed to erect all the
    dams or the market where to sell the tens of thousands of MW of electricity
    it is not possible to make the figure go 100, it might help to think first
    in terms of the technology of the era of hydrodollars. What will Nepal look
    like when the figure is finally 100..yes, that map. The overall map should
    be divided into so many specific projects awaiting to be sold to prospective
    investors. Detailing out the side-effects will also be important. How can
    the genetic diversity of the biosphere still be maintained? How best to
    translocate the local inhabitants without seriously disrupting their
    lifestyles? What can be done in the short run to fulfill the domestic demand
    for electricity? The first phase might be one of the small and medium-scale
    projects as long as Delhi continues with its stubbornness.

(2) The non-technology aspect of the era of hydrodollars. The capital, the
    market, the politics. How best to tap the global financial market to make
    the figure go from 0.3 to 100 as soon as possible? How best to convince the
    rest of South Asia that it is best for everybody that they buy all the
    electricity Nepal has to produce and sell? What has been hindering the
    process so far? What has been the history of the Indo-Nepal hydro-
    cooperation? Countless people have broken the news a big chunk of Nepal's
    future is locked in its hydropotential. How best to handle the hindrances
    faced in the past? How to pull the strings in the larger arena of South
    Asian politics to Nepal's advantage? The market for hydroelectricity. The
    market for irrigation water.

(3) How to convert tourism into ultimately perhaps the largest sector of the
economy affecting every town and village for all the 12 months of a year? Is
this a "proper" goal?

(4) The legal framework warranted for a full-fledged free market economy. One
    that has no trace of legally-sanctioned sex discrimination. One that
    fulfills the needs of a free market economy. One that identifies, exposes
    and punishes corruption at all levels of the state apparatus independent of
    the political process.

(5) How to tap the global financial market for Nepal's domestic economy? A Stock
Exchange in Kathmandu ultimately to be on par with those in the major
financial centers in the region.

(6) How to expand the domestic capital and money market so as to encompass not
only the towns but also all the villages? How to extend credit to the
resourceless? Lessons to be learnt from the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh.

(7) The transportation infrastructure - roadways, railways, ropeways, waterways,
airways. How is every village to be brought under an all-weather nationwide
transport network?

(8) The communications infrastructure that will have the information
    superhighway as its backbone. How to computerize the state apparatus at all
    levels? How to become part of the global information revolution currently
    underway?

(9) How to shape the national grid of power supply so as to achieve complete
rural electrification?

(10) The sector of energy. How to bring to an end the dependency on the
traditional sources of energy?

(11) How to put into action the fundamental philosophy of life-long formal
    education for everybody? A commitment to globalization warrants this more
    than anything else. How to cultivate higher education as an export industry?
    Education ought to be the number one priority. An educated population will
    better pursue its self-interests, will better fit into the global economy.

(12) Universal Health Care. The politics, economics and the geography of health
care in the country. Training an "army" of primary health care providers.

(13) The technical description of the cottage industries presently existing in
the various parts of the country. What new ones can be introduced? How to
engineer rural industrialization?

(14) An environmentally friendly industrial revolution.

(15) The rest of the service sector besides tourism.

(16) Commerce and trade.

(17) Forestry.

(18) Agriculture. How to give due attention to a sector that still involves 90%
of the population? How to gradually reduce that figure to more like 20
without causing serious social havoc?

(19) Kathmandu. How to phase out pollution? How to provide round the clock
drinking water to every household? The challenges of urbanization in the
country at large.

(20) Tax reform.

(21) Challenging the international economic scene. How should Nepal and the
other poor countries push towards global trade liberalization in all sectors
of the global economy?

(22) How to find a waterway link to the Bay of Bengal?

(23) Detailed studies of all the cultures in the country with an emphasis on all
the festivals.

(24) A study of the Indian and the rest of the South Asian economy and the way
    they affect Nepal. How best to move towards a South Asian economic union?
    What should be the process? What the steps? What can be learnt from similar
    processes in the other parts of the world? Europe, for example. Things can
    get complicated along the way. And how to answer those demagogues who might
    like to tell the people a South Asian economic union is Nepal being sold off
    to India, a very popular theme!

(25) A comprehensive economic history of Nepal.

I am hoping there will be five responses to each of the 25 topics listed above in the next 3-5 issues of The Nepal Digest. I am hoping the 20-30 regular contributors will express their opinions on the topics of their choice and more of the passive subscribers to the Digest will jump into the fray. I am hoping especially those with academic trainings in the various specialized topics will jot down their immediate thoughts. And I am seriously hoping the National Economy will draw a more intense response from the Digest readers and for a much more longer time than the Sadbhavana party has done over the past year or so. Ready - get set - GO!

****************************************************************** From: "Risal, Ananta Gopal (Ananta)** CTR **" <arisal@lucent.com> To: "'nepal@cs.niu.edu'" <nepal@cs.niu.edu> Subject: FW: Wish you a great and happy NEW YEAR ! Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 10:50:50 -0400

To the EDITOR; (Rajpalj)i

I think you need to edit this and publish this statement on none of the Column for HVP. Thanks.

Talk to you after I come back from Rochester.

Thanks. Once again Happy new year 2056 for the TND family.

Ananta

From: hvpn@hvpn.wlink.com.np <mailto:hvpn@hvpn.wlink.com.np>
[SMTP:hvpn@hvpn.wlink.com.np] <mailto:[SMTP:hvpn@hvpn.wlink.com.np]> Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 1999 4:15 PM To: arisal@lucent.com <mailto:arisal@lucent.com> Subject: Wish you a great and happy NEW YEAR !

Dear Ananta Ji Namaste! First of all I, on behalf of the entire HVP family, wish you a very great and peaceful New Year. We have entered into New Year,2056 B.S. with a hope that people would develop positive thoughts and attitude to make Nepal a prosperous country. May the new year encourage our brothers and sisters to work more sincerely and wholeheartedly for the sake of the Nation with the feeling of oneness. We are very much aware of the fact that we have lots of problems ahead , which can be overcomed only with the might of unity. Ananta Ji, as you obviously know that people have been divided into different politicial, ethinical and religious groups in order to fulfil their selfish ambitions, which will lead the nation to the path of destruction. This happened soon after the restoration of democracy. Unfortunately, democracy has now been a proper means of cheating and looting both the people and the country for so-called political leaders. So,we all leaving inside and outside the country should devotedly contribute something concrete to save our glorious and historical country. Nothing is greater the the Nation. The false slogans will not protect both the country and the democracy, rather the prime necessity is that we should all start behaving democratically to stablish an ideal democratic country. May the new year be very successful in bringing about the democratic attitude in the behaviour of each and every individual. HVP and MSS are working to materialize this noble cause. No matter whatever problems are there ahead of us, let's keep working for the benefit of the nation without any selfish motive. The Geeta says,"Don't expect any result. You have to detach yourself from the result to be ever blissful and cheerful." I am afraid whether or not our last e-mail got to you. Thank you so much for your last e-mail,in winch you have mentioned that you are in charge of carrying out the sponsorship programme for the HVP schools. We wish that you could succed to make this programme a most success and effective. You have asked us to choose about ten students who deserve to be sponsored. Ananta Ji, what will happen if we start this scheme from the next academic year as the current acacemic session is coming to an end soon ? The next academic year will begin from June/July,1999. For this academic year, we have a girl and a boy student, studing in classes one and nursery,who very much deserve to be deserved. Both of them are the children of the helpers of the school.The rest 8 students will be selected soon after the new session begins. We would like to select 5 students from the Central HVP ane 5 from the Dang HVP if it seems practical. As Dang is one of the places in Nepal where there are a lot of poor people who cannot afford their children to go to the private schools. So, if we can expand this programme upto Dang, it will prove to be more beneficial. We would be very happy if you could find some sponsors for the boarders as the students can have an appropriate opportunity to develop their right vision and to unfold their inner unlimitted potential in the congenial atmosphere of the HVP hostel.So, the preference will be given to the boarder students. We will start preparing individual reports of the selected students in detail as soon as the next acacemic year will take up. But, we are happy to send out some information of the two students mentioned above if you need them now.
        STATEMENT OF PAYMENTS IS AS FOLLOWS:
                Admission Fee: Rs.4925/-( for Nursery to V;for boarders) Rs.5120/-( For VI to X; for boarders) Rs.750/-(for NSY to V;for day students) Rs.900/-(for VI to X; for the students)
        Monthly Fee: NSY to II : Rs.3300
(For the day students) III to V :Rs.3450
        VI to VIII :Rs.3740
        IX / X :Rs.3800
         Monthly Fee:(For the day students)
        NSY to II :Rs.325
        III to V :Rs.375
        VI to VIII:Rs.515
        IX and X :Rs.540
          Besides these the students need additional money for books,uniforms,exams,tours,etc.That's why,the sponsor had better provide the additional money to the students so that they will not have any problems in between the session.Please write to us explaining in detail regarding this programme. During your last visit to Nepal we had discussed on how to spread out the ideals and philosophy of the HVP movement at the Glogal Level through the The Nepal Digest. Have you already started something towards this movement? We have decided to request Raj Pal Singh Ji to provide HVP with a permanent column in the TND.Please pass on our best wishes of the new year to Raj Pal Ji and tell him that we very much remember the lovely time and philosophycal talks that we had with him during his visit to HVP. Ananta Ji, did you get the 4th issue of the HVP Herald ? We have decided to manage a permanent column in the Herald for the letters from the foreign land residing friends with a view to letting the people know how they are trying to associate themselves with the main stream of nation building. Would you please tell US residing friends to write letters to us explaining how they want to contribute to Nepal and how they are working for the promotion ot Nepali culture and heritage in the foreign land,etc. The letter has been too long. So, I had better stop writing. I must save something for the next e-mail. It's a good idea,isn't it? Please pass on our best wishes to Kalpana Bahini and lots of love to your lovely son,Astik. We wish them a very joyful and happy New Year! Nava Barsha,2056 Ko Mangal Maya Subhakamana! Sincerely yours C.M.Yogi

******************************************************************** From: "Paramendra Bhagat" <paramendra@hotmail.com> To: nepal@cs.niu.edu Subject: News Clippings Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 11:49:02 PDT

Paramendra Bhagat

********************************************************** From: "Anil Shrestha" <shrestha@plant.uoguelph.ca> To: nepal@cs.niu.edu Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 16:06:38 EST Subject: Some forthcoming Canadian projects in Nepal.

Here are the details of 2 new Canadian projects planned for Nepal. Information obtained from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

Planned Projects Women in Nepal (WIN) Anticipated Duration: 1999 - 2003

Description: This project will support Nepalese institutions and organizations in their efforts to strengthen the development and role of Nepalese NGOs promoting Women in Development (WID). Activities will focus primarily on the provision of advisory and training services to the recently announced Ministry for Women and Social Welfare. A second focus will provide the Ministry of Social Services (which has overall responsibility for NGOs in Nepal) with advisory services to develop systems and procedures for effective interaction with the thousands of new WID NGOS in the country. A third focus will provide the WID NGO community with assistance in capacity development.

Collaborative Environmental Management and Assessment (CEMAP) Anticipated Duration: 1999-2003

Description: The Government of Nepal has recently passed laws and issued guidelines which promote environmental considerations in all aspects of Nepal's development. Environmental management is to be conducted in a decentralized manner and in collaboration with the private sector and non-governmental organizations. The project will assist the newly created Ministry of Population and Environment (MOPE) in implementing this policy thrust. Activities will focus on environmental management and assessment, district environmental planning, and local initiatives promoting collaborative linkages between all stakeholders. The project will capitalize on previous work done with MOPE through CIDA's Small Project Environment Fund (SPEF).

************************************************************ Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 14:59:33 +0500 From: "F.A.H. ('Hutch') Dalrymple" <hutch@healthnet.org.np> Subject: 'Shakespeare in Love! (Always have the word, 'love' in the
title!)

'Just Don't Call it Art!'

Americans (particularly 'Hollywood') obviously responded to 'Shakespeare in Love.' I wasn't surprised it 'came from behind,' to win the most Academy Awards! It even shut out big time Steven Spielberg/Dreamworks SKG, De, and Eeeeooo! This 'shicksa' (sic) competitor!

But, from a screenplay writer's perspective it had a 'soft ending.'

They can't seem 'The End' movies in 'Hollywood,' anymore...? Why?

Because, by in large, this is a 'commercial process,' not an 'artistic,' one (although the delude themselves).

Committees try to serve all psychological needs of those paying customers, in order to maximize the profit!

Thus, we can do this, but we can't to that... We can show that, but we can't show that! We can say this, but we can't say that...

And more importantly, how we going to put some positive 'spin' on basically a less-than-happy ending? But, if it's explainable (psychologically), the
'tragic love affair,' always goes 'Boffo at the boxoffice!' "Gone with the Wind," comes to mind! The recent, "Titanic!" (Note: It wasn't just the FX that won over so many adherents, it was the story/with the FX that made it so much dinero!)

It's the female in the audience America is concerned with pleasing, and rightly so!

In the case of 'Shakespearpe in Love!' Will was married, and he must return to his good wife at home... We can't have him leaving his wife! Married women will not like this? We'll have her 'spirit' end up in the New World, this independent-thinking, 'new age,' woman (American women will understand and like this). At the same time, we 'punish,' her for 'leaving the hearth! (being too adverturous)' (Her perishing in the ship accident.)

Thus, we've covered the major psychological 'bases.' 'They're going to love this!' And they did.

They're pretty smart in Hollywood (there's too much money at stake - the
'average' 'Hollywood' motion picture now cost an obcene $30 million U.S. to produce). Then with the BEP at roughly 3X that (prints and advertising), the movie has to gross $90 million U.S. to 'go into profit' they say! So, much for gross points!

So, I'm not surprised that screenplays are written by computers these days!
But, please, don't call it 'art!'

The 'art' of the screenplay (the 'blueprint'), is in telling a story in pictures.

Thus, good stories, well told, are going to make money (all though I don't think they have to spend $100 million in production).

But, is this right or wrong...? I make no judgements--I'm writing my own
(for money), and I 'never bite the hand that feeds me!' We live in a capitalistic system! The idea is to make money! This may be wrong, this may be right, but it's a fact of life!

Just don't call it 'art.' I don't think it qualifies!

What 'Hollywood, manufacturers are 'manipulated dreams,' fantasies, and
'feel-good greeting cards!'

They can't take a chance on a 'Titanic' hitting an iceberg (forgive the pun). They have to be more careful! They can't take a chance that you'll be able to resist the total hype and not buy that $8U.S. ticket!

I used to see good (John Ford) Hollywood movies for .25 cents.

Now, for $8U.S. I see movies created by committee and computer, with manipulated 'commercial' elements! Tis the age!

Our lives are manipulated, why not our movies?

Screenwriters are finding out that you never go wrong if you 'redeem the audience' in some way!

Mine is called, 'What a Love!' by the way, a 'spiritual love affair!' Soon to be at your local theatre!

Namaste from Nepal! Frederick Alexander Hutchison Dalrymple
'Save Kathmandu!'

************************************************************* From: "Aiko Joshi" <aikoj@hotmail.com> To: nepal@cs.niu.edu Subject: Depo-Provera issue and Dr. chand's response--much delayed! Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 08:42:27 PDT

To all: Much apologies for this quite delayed response to Dr. Chand's thoughtful comments on the info I had posted on TND re the contraceptive Depo-Provera back in the January issue!!! Grad school, conference and paper presentation committments have prevented me til now to really read the TND issues w/ care, resulting in a backlog which I am trying to catch up -- with pleasure!!!

Anyway, one of the research papers I will be submitting to a journal will include a section on so-called "Third world" women and health issues, and I will take Dr. Chand's advice to look more into the effects -- good and bad -- of D-P and other contraceptives.

My own personal objection to the use of such measures on women from the "Third world"(a dreadful and problematic term, I think, but for lack of a better description, I'll use it - though "postcolonial" could also apply but not in every case.)is that these women are not given proper information as to side effects, what needs to be done w/ regard to continuing the shots, etc. I do not advocate the way some well-meaning privileged folks think contraceptives should be distributed: go into a village or town and simply distribute the materials without much explanation, and with no cultural-social consideration.

Perhaps the most tragic case is that of Quinicrine(sp), a chemical banned by the US govt. in WWII(it was used for combatting malaria back then)and now used as a way of sterilising women in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It's main supporter of the use of this dreadful drug, Dr. Stephen Mumford of North Carolina, unabashedly gave vent to his racist views via local and nat'l. newspapers, with regard to its use. He saw nothing atrocious in sterilizing "Third world" women -- in fact, according to him, it was desirable to sterilize these women so that they would not "infest"(his word)the "First world". He did not want "Third world" people coming to the US, or if they did, did not want them procreating. As for those who remain in their respective countries, Dr. Mumford stated that those women were "ignorant" about contraceptives and he was doing those countries "a favor" by advocating this Q. as a means of population control. For those who may have heard of this controversy, some may recall The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal as well as other newspapers and magazines reporting on this, and the shocking side effects suffered by the women who underwent sterilization by having Q. injected into them. The descriptions of what a woman goes through once she is given this chemical were truly gut-wrenching. I am happy to report that India has banned its use and I believe there was talk of banning it in Nepal, Thailand and several Latin American countries.

If Dr. Chand or other doctors within the TND membership could give more information about this, as well as the Norplant controversy(it's been banned, from what I understand), it would be greatly appreciated.

Aiko Joshi kaguyahime8@yahoo.com

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 23:07:57 +0530 From: sushma@mos.com.np To: bol@mos.com.np Subject: Bol!: Indian women's groups question contraceptive vaccine research

BMJ News 1998;317:1340 ( 14 November ) http://www.bmj.com/current.shtml

Indian women's groups question contraceptive vaccine research Ganapati Mudur, New Delhi

Women's health groups in India have called on scientists to abandon research into contraceptive vaccines.

Activists staged a protest outside the opening of the 10th international congress of immunology in New Delhi last week, describing immunological routes to contraception as "scientifically unsound and inherently unsafe." On the eve of the congress, the non-governmental Saheli Women's Resource Centre released a report that accused scientists of pursuing trials of contraceptive vaccines on humans without conclusively establishing their safety.

The report says that the efficacy levels shown for contraceptive vaccines are unacceptable. Six contraceptive vaccines, all aimed at eliciting antibodies against reproductive hormones, have reached phase I clinical trials in different countries. Only one vaccine--developed at India's National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi--which is directed against the human chorionic gonadotrophin hormone has passed through phase II clinical trials, which were carried out in the late 1980s. Only 80% of the women who received the vaccine raised antibody titres above the threshold of 50 ng/ml which is required to prevent pregnancy.

"We've established the scientific feasibility of preventing pregnancy by immunisation," asserted Gursaran Talwar, who developed the Indian vaccine. However, he conceded that the uncertainty of achieving an adequate immune response in every recipient was an inherent problem. The Indian government has not approved phase III clinical trials of the vaccine but continues to fund research on contraceptive vaccines.

The Saheli report also claimed that Indian researchers followed up children born to women during or after the trials for only four years. Dr Talwar, however, reported that long term studies of the progeny of primates tested with the vaccine have shown that it is "completely safe."

Delegates at the congress suggested that opposition to basic research was "premature and unscientific." "The goal is to widen the contraceptive options available for women," said Satish Gupta, from India's National Institute of Immunology.

Orit Halpern, MPH. Project Manager Global Reproductive Health Forum Harvard School of Public Health http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/Organizations/healthnet/ Tel: (617)432-2936 Fax: (617)566-0365

******************************************************** Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 20:01:39 -0400 From: "Paramendra Bhagat"<paramendra_bhagat@smtpgtwy.berea.edu> To: <nepal@cs.niu.edu> Subject: Clippings

Stambha award to Udit Narayan
<http://www.nepalnews.com/contents/Ktmpost/1999/Apr/Apr21/local.htm#2> Election extraordinaire !
<http://www.nepalnews.com/contents/Ktmpost/1999/Apr/Apr21/editorial.htm#3>

IMF Web Site Search: Nepal - various documents, in .html and .pdf.
<http://www.imf.org/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?ResultTemplate=imfrslp.hts& collection=econiss&collection=insext&collection=external&collection=fandd& ScoreThreshold=14&sortorder=Desc&QueryText=nepal> Statement by the Hon. RABINDRA NATH SHARMA, Governor of the Bank for NEPAL, September 24, 1997
<http://www.imf.org/external/am/speeches/pdf/PR20NPE.pdf> After Brazil The turmoil continues in Latin America's biggest economy. What are the lessons?
<http://www.economist.com/editorial/freeforall/6-2-99/ld5310.html> SURVEY BRAZIL The devaluing of a presidency
<http://www.economist.com/editorial/freeforall/27-3-99/b1.html> Social Consequences of Globalization - 1996 Cardoso speech at the Indian International Centre, New Delhi, 1996.
<http://www.brasil.emb.nw.dc.us/fpst06gl.htm>

Euro and the European Monetary Union
<http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/World/EMU/>

China - US Relations
<http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/World/China_U_S_/>
<http://www.state.gov/www/current/debate/china.html> Business pressure prompts Clinton to restart US-China trade talks
<http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/apr1999/chin-a17.shtml> TRADE A Magical Lobbying Tour China's reformist prime minister one-ups Clinton and saves a WTO deal. But will Congress OK it?
<http://www.newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/bz/bz0317_1.htm> China economy surges 8% Infrastructure spending boosts GDP in Q1, 7% target for 1999 on track
<http://cnnfn.com/worldbiz/emerging_markets/wires/9904/20/china_wg/>

Asian Economy
<http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/Business/Asian_Economy/> Asia's Economic Crisis - analysis of why it happened, including a country-by- country breakdown. Includes RealAudio. From Out There News.
<http://www.megastories.com/seasia/> Policy.com: IMF Funding - links to articles and resources.
<http://www.policy.com/issuewk/98/0202/020298d.html> What Caused Asia's Economic and Currency Crisis and Its Global Contagion? - extensive articles and resources by Nouriel Roubini.
<http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~nroubini/asia/AsiaHomepage.html#intro> Charting The Way Ahead - Asiaweek sorts through World Bank data on 3,710 Asian companies, and considers what's needed for recovery. April 16, 1999.
<http://www.pathfinder.com/asiaweek/99/0416/cs1.html> IMF 'added to panic in Asian crisis' - The Straits Times (04/19/99)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com/biz/wrldb1_0419.html>

International Trade
<http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/Business/Trade/>
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/trade/trade.htm>
<http://brief.tradecompass.com/>
<http://cnnfn.com/worldbiz/>
<http://cnnfn.com/worldbiz/asia/>
<http://cnnfn.com/worldbiz/emerging_markets/>

India To File Appeal Against Wto Ruling On Import Barriers - AFP(04/21/99)
<http://asia.yahoo.com/headlines/210499/financial/924695820-3490447372.html>

WTO Approves Sanctions in Banana War
<http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/Business/Banana_Trade_War/> IMF: Global Economy Will Rebound
<http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/Business/Global_Economy/> Electronic Commerce
<http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/Tech/Electronic_Commerce/>

Foreign Affairs Leading journal of opinion on American foreign policy offers highlights from the current issue and an archive of past contents.
<http://www.foreignaffairs.org/> A Self-Help Guide for Emerging Markets
<http://www.foreignaffairs.org/issues/9903/feldstei.html>

******************************************************* From: "CEO" <ceo@arthurint.com> To: <nepal@cs.niu.edu> Subject: request Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 17:06:59 -0600

Dear Sirs I am looking for some help in translation english to nepali, we pay fairly good, if you know of anybody, please email me right away.

Thank You

Ken Hall Arthur International Inc 801-491-1024 CEO@arthurint.com

******************************************************************************
* *
* The Nepal Digest(TND) is a publication of TND Foundation, a global *
* not-for-profit information and resource center committed to promoting *
* issues concerning Nepal. All members of tnd@nepal.org will get a copy of *
* The Nepal Digest (TND). Membership is free of charge and open to all. *
* *
* TND Foundation Home Page: http://www.nepal.org *
* http://www.himalaya.org *
* http://www.gurkhas.org *
* For Information: tnd@nepal.org *
* webmaster: tnd@nepal.org *
* *
* TND Foundation contributions (TAX-DEDUCTIBLE) can be mailed payable to: *
* TND Foundation *
* P.O. Box 8206 *
* White Plains, NY 10601 *
* USA *
* *
* Subscription/Deletion requests : mailto:TND@NEPAL.ORG *
* Provide one line message: sub nepal "lastname, firstname, mi" <user@host> *
* [OPTIONAL] Provide few lines about your occupation, address, phone for *
* TND database to: <TND@NEPAL.ORG> *
* *
* Postal-Mail Correspondences to: TND Foundation *
* P.O. Box 8206 *
* White Plains, NY 10602 *
* USA *
* *
* Digest Contributions: mailto:NEPAL@MP.CS.NIU.EDU *
* THE EDITOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT ARTICLES FOR CLARITY. *
* Contributors need to supply Header for the article, email, and full name. *
* *
* Postings are divided into following categories that are listed in the *
* order below. Please provide category-type in the header of your e-mail. *
* *
* 1. Message from TND Editorial Staff *
* TND Foundation News/Message *
* 2. Letter to the Editor *
* Letter to TND Foundation *
* 3. TAJA_KHABAR: Current News *
* 4. KATHA_KABITA: Literature *
* 5. KURA_KANI: Economics *
* Agriculture/Forestry *
* Health *
* Education *
* Technology *
* Social/Cultural Issues *
* Environment/Population *
* Women/Children *
* Tourism *
* Foreign Policy *
* History *
* Military/Police *
* Politics *
* 6. CHOOT_KILA (Humor, Recipies, Movie Reviews, Sattaires etc.) *
* 7. JAN_KARI: Classifides (Matrimonials, Jobs etc) *
* 8. KHOJ_KHABAR (Inquiring about Nepal, Nepalis etc. ) *
* 9. TITAR_BITAR: Miscellaneous (Immigration and Taxex etc. ) *
* *
* COPYRIGHT NOTE *
* -------------- *
* The content contributors are responsible for any copyright violations. *
* TND, a non-profit electronic journal, will publish articles that have *
* been published in other electronic or paper journal with proper credit *
* to the original media. *
* *
******************************************************************************

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%% %
%% END OF "THE NEPAL DIGEST". %
%% %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Next message: The Editor: "The Nepal Digest - May 1, 1999 (18 Bhaishakh 2056 BkSm)"
Previous message: The Editor: "The Nepal Digest - April 13, 1999 (1 Bhaishakh 2056 BkSm)"
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]

This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 11 2000 - 11:16:07 CST