#508 25 June - 1 July 2010 16 pages Rs 30

5 June

KIRAN PANDAY

Whoneeds

politics?

BEATS TREKKING: Nepal�’slongest suspension bridge(344m) swings 135m above theModi Khola in Parbat District.

What we really mean is there�’s more to life than politics,despite the lack of movement in the �‘higher�’ reaches ofthe Nepali state. In this issue, we�’ve made an effort todrag our weary eyes away from the parliamentaryshenanigans to where people are actually doingsomething productive. You might be surprised.pleasantly, too.

25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #508

Publisher: Kunda Dixit | Editor: Rabi Thapa Design: Kiran Maharjan | Marketing: Sambhu Guragain, Subhash Kumar, Arjun Karki advertising@himalmedia.com | Subscription: Santosh Aryal santosha@himalmedia.com

Hattiban, Godavari Road, Lalitpur | GPO Box 7251 Kathmandu | Tel: 01-5250333/845 Fax: +977-1-5251013editors@nepalitimes.com | www.nepalitimes.com

Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd | www.himalmedia.com | Printed at Jagadamba Press 01-5250017-19

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Q. Did you enjoy Manisha Koirala’s wedding?

Weekly Internet Poll # 508

Q. Where is the grass greener for you?

Total votes: 1,900

Weekly Internet Poll # 509. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com

ON THE WEBwww.nepalitimes.com

PUBLISHER�’S NOTE

On the blogsa little light music

POWDER KEGWhen a government becomes a club ofsome privileged men, then the youngmen, women and children have tomaintain the government at the expenseof their wellbeing (�‘Vacancy, Nepal�’,#507)). When those suffering are poorand ignorant, it is not as serious aswhen they are educated andunemployed. A nation with a majority ofsuch educated, unemployed youth is apowder keg.

Nirmal

SEXISMGender discrimination is one of thedisturbing flaws of human civilisation(�‘Who owns a woman�’s body�’, #507).Growing up in a rather uneducatedcommunity in Nepal, I always thoughtgender discrimination was confined tothe eastern hemisphere where the

majority of people are uneducated. Afterliving in the US, I am quite disappointedto learn that gender discrimination isactually a global problem. I still believewith proper education we can mitigate thisproblem. I am optimistic that a day willcome when people will overcome that fearand renounce the traditions that havebeen keeping us back.

Satish Shrestha

OLD IDEASThe Maoists�’ state restructuring conceptis based on State and Revolution byLenin (�‘Hollow state�’, #507). It is basedon the premise that a revolution has toforce (not through social transformationbut violently) the restructuring of theexisting state. It was mainly based on thestrategy to overthrow the autocratic, andvery repressively feudal, system of theCzars. Nepal is not at the same

developmental stage as Russia then, nor isthe world. The international politicalparadigm has changed a lot since. To hangon to that concept and base restructuringon the same premises is just madness andreveals the dogmatism and blindness ofBaburam Bhattarai�’s intellectual capacity.

Kamal Kishor

DOUBLE STANDARDSNot just the democratic parties of Nepal butall freedom loving citizens who aspire forliberty, equality and fraternity should makedemilitarisation of the PLA and disbandingof the paramilitary YCL the bottom line fordealing with the Maoist Party (�‘PLAProgram�’, #507). How Britain dealt with theIRA should be a lesson for us. But why dothey, and other European countries, notadhere to the same principle, and advise usotherwise?

Mohan Rai

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT�‘Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his comrades in the bushwant the present constitution scrapped. Presumably,they want to have a dictatorship of the proletariatdeclared in its place. The Unified Marxist-Leninists, onthe other hand, saw the Maoists stealing their thunderso they half-heartedly put forward their own brightideas for constitutional amendments. Then there arethe people on the hard right who are furious that theirmasters lost power, and now want a new constitutionthat will set right the �“wrongs�” of the Jana Andolan.

So, there you have it: the entire political spectrumexcept for the centrist NC organising to remould theconstitution. We have to ask ourselves: What are theyafter? Why now? And who benefits?

Our view is: it ain�’t broke, so don�’t fix it. Thesnowball effect of public cynicism about the state ofthe country has little to do with flaws in theconstitution. It has to do with short-sighted, narrow-minded and self-serving politicians who don�’t deserveto rule. Blame the driver, not the car. Blame thecarpenter, not his tools.

The most curious call for change in the constitutioncomes from the ultra-left. As with all their revolutionaryforebears, the end justifies the means in the single-minded pursuit of power by the shortest routeavailable. Care a hang for the consequences. Thenthere are erstwhile partyless parliamentarians likeRajeshwar Devkota, who really has nothing left to lose

Nepali Kukur croons along toPakistani pop. Follow the racket to

nepalitimes.com/blogs

ast week, I went to a big five-star hotel to attend thepresentation of the research

findings of a Kathmandu-basedNGO. In a few hours, tendifferent people were given theopportunity to express theirfindings and viewpoints. Therewas a lot of talking, but nothingwas being said.

It turned out to be a sessionorganised merely for the NGOand its international donors tocompliment each other and feedeach other�’s egos with kind andpleasing words. The researchfindings were predictable butvague, there were no facts, andthere was no valid evidence.There were shortsightedshortcuts to generalisedconclusions, one of which is

always the same: �“It wasdifficult! Circumstances did notallow us to complete our work ashoped, but we were successfuland more action is needed. So weneed more funding for newprograms.�”

Some people in the meetingcalled the research�‘groundbreaking�’ and �‘a bigsuccess�’. But when more fundingis happily given, we continueagreeably, exchange some moregratifying words in meetings inthe biggest hotels of Kathmandu,keep scratching each other�’s backsand all feel good about the greatwork we are doing! But nothingchanges, except the bank accountsof the people working in theNGOs, the big internationaldonors and the government.

The development world inNepal is guilty of egoisticaltruism. Organisations, nationaland international, use the notionof doing good for disadvantagedpeople for self-gratifying reasons.And they all support each otherin keeping up this shamelessfarce, because this is the veryparadox of development work.The goal of any developmentintervention should be to ensureits sustainability to the extentthat external actors are eventuallynot needed anymore. But if anorganisation solves the problemsof its beneficiaries, then it is outof a job. So if I really do my jobwell, I am out of a job. Somepeople work for the job, otherswork for getting the job done. InNepal, the vast majority of

people do not work to get thejob done; they merely work tokeep their job. And that leads toegoistic altruism: a dreadfuldisease that this country needsto cure itself of to reallydevelop and flourish.

True development isdecreased egoism and increasedaltruism. This developmentshould first of all start with thegovernment and the nationaland international developmentagencies. Only if we develop inthat sense can the true growthof this beautiful countryhappen. The Buddha said:�“True charity has no notion ofgiver, gift and receiver.�” InNepal, the birthplace of theBuddha, charity anddevelopment is sadly about the

Egoistic altruismgiver in the first place, the giftin the second place. There is notrue place for the receiver,except in the empty wordsuttered by the majority of thedevelopment clique.

I fear, however, that thisclique will keep talking, willkeep saying nothing and is justconcerned with feeding itscollective ego. It�’s a waste oftime to keep pointing fingers.Let�’s become true agents ofchange by working on what wecan control and influence. Workwith a win-win attitude, beauthentic and work withgenuine compassion andaltruism. Then truedevelopment, growth and magicwill happen in Nepal.

Etienne Duijf

L

by calling for major rectifications in the constitution.As the UML�’s General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal

says elsewhere in this issue, we need a nationalgovernment to ensure that the next elections are clean.Pretty clever move by the comrade from Balkhu in takingthe wind out of the sails of Messrs Pushpa Kamal Dahal tohis left and Rajeswar Devkota to his right.

Nepalis, being generally gradualists, have indicated bytheir ballots in the past ten years that they like things toevolve in less unsettlingways than total revolution.Nepalis aren�’t prepared togive up the essence of theConstitution - that of creatinga pluralistic society with aparliamentary form ofgovernment, and independentinstitutions to monitor itsfunctioning.

Changes in theconstitution are perfectlynatural, and even desirable.However, change for the sakeof change may be goodpolitics, but it is baddemocratic practice. Havingsaid that, Madhav Nepal mustbe thanked for bringing thediscussion back to where itrightfully belongs - tostrengthening democracy, not

discarding it altogether. Which seems to be what the twolean and hungry Bahuns from Gorkha, ComradeBaburam and Pancha Rajeshwar, want.�’

Those who say nothing has changed in Nepal in thepast one year are wrong. Nothing has changed in 10years.

It is to prove this point that we are reprinting nearlyverbatim the editorial from this paper from issue #18 of

24 November, 2000 titled�‘Left, right. Left right�’. It is atragedy that a country�’spolitics, its main politicaldiscourse, has made so littleprogress in 10 years.

The paralysing infightingand factionalism are thesame, the shocking lack ofcommitment to nationaldevelopment and economicprogress is identical. Eventhe dramatis personae arethe same, as seen in the frontpage picture of the issue fromwhich the above editorial isreprinted.

25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #508 OP-ED|3

PLAIN SPEAKINGPrashant Jha

T ravelling through Delhi,Mumbai, Bangalore,Shimla and Goa over the

past three weeks gave me aglimpse into the astonishingchanges taking place across urbanIndia. Wealth and mobility aretransforming the country inways unimaginable until a fewyears ago.

The �‘India Shining�’ narrative,based largely on high growthfigures and the corporate boom,was more than half a decade oldwhen the BJP picked it up as acampaign slogan in 2004.Congress promoted a more rootedcampaign revolving around aamaadmi, the common man. Voterswent with the latter, indicatingthat GDP figures did not reallytouch them. What mattered morewas the simple promise of jobs,controlled prices, dignity,communal harmony, and accessto opportunities.

This message was reinforcedin the 2009 elections. Congressdid not win because of thenuclear deal with the US, orbecause the economy was rescuedfrom the global meltdown.Analysts believe it was theimplementation of the NationalRural Employment Guarantee Actthat won Congress the elections.

In states across India, votersare sending out similar signals.They are rejecting politics and aneconomy based solely onindustrial growth, which ofteninvolves displacing the poorestIndian citizens from their land.Mamata Banerjee�’s success inchallenging the Left in WestBengal is due to herappropriation of the latter�’s �‘pro-poor�’ stance to the extent of being�‘anti-industry�’. This resonates

India changingwith the poor, and unreported bythe national media, scores ofprotests by slum-dwellers againstthe systematic demolition oftheir homes have taken placeacross urban centres. The Naxalitechallenge in central and easternIndia may be rooted in a complexset of factors, but the tendency of�‘democratic�’ parties to readilybecome agents for extractivemining industries and the lack ofjustice are central causes.

India faces multiplechallenges, from growinginequality to political discontentand armed rebellions. But weshould not forget that the Indian

state has never been as equippedto deal with them as it is today.This strength is based on theeconomic trajectory of the pasttwo decades, which the state isnow reaping the dividends of.

The relentless infrastructuralexpansion of Delhi is striking.The metro now extends to almostthe entire city. Airports have beenmodernised and passenger traffichas increased exponentially.More than IRs 200 billion isbeing invested in theCommonwealth Games, all in thename of �‘national pride�’. Thenational highway project and the

inter-related state highwayprojects promise to connect thecountry in an unprecedentedway.

In Mumbai and Bangalore,young people who graduated fiveyears ago have �‘packages�’ ofbetween IRs 1.5 to 5 million ayear. Many are from lowermiddle class families. Theirfamilies, localities, schools andcolleges now believe it ispossible to improve their livingstandards beyond what previousgenerations imagined.Thousands of Indian tourists inGoa and Shimla are testament tothe steady increase in disposableincomes. There is renewedcultural confidence, visible inthe proliferation in the arts,literature and both Hindi andregional films.

The sense that India�’s timehas arrived is unmistakable inpower corridors. The bureaucracyis both younger and morearrogant, and has little patiencefor any real or perceived obstaclein India�’s quest for a position athigh table. If that means beingruthless, flouting laws,trampling on the freedom ofcitizens, and constrictingdemocratic freedoms, so be it.

Nepali politicians visit Delhioften, but they spend all theirtime with operatives and beggingfor appointments withpoliticians. It would be far moreuseful for them to get out andunderstand the scale andsignificance of the changestaking place in India; themultiple ways in which the stateis dealing with its challenges;and the extent to whichpoliticians and bureaucrats arewilling to work in the �‘nationalinterest�’. Unless they do so,Nepali actors will neitherunderstand India�’s recentaggressive approach in Nepal norbe able to break out of the oldparadigms of thinking aboutIndo-Nepal ties.

India haschanged,and so hasits self-perception.If onlyNepalipoliticianscould see it.

25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #5084|NATION

f you think plans mean nothingin Nepal, think again. There isa place in Nepal where plans

translate into reality, goals areachieved on time and governmentoffices do not reek of incompetenceand corruption. Welcome toPragatinagar VDC in Nawalparasi,a model village in every sense.

Pragatinagar was once aninhospitable highway settlement 25kilometres west of Bharatpur. Manynow know it as the first VDC in Nepal

Progress, incorporated

Toilets in all 2690 households

100% school enrollment (5 to 8 years old)

100% iodine coverage

100% birth registration

86% adult literacy

2.5% malnutrition

7 cooperatives

3 development banks

18 educational institutions

20 child clubs

to declare itself a No OpenDefecation Zone. But this was justthe beginning. On May 26 this year,this VDC of 2960 households addedfeathers to its cap by declaring itselfthe first VDC with 100 per centschool enrollment, iodine coverageand birth registration. Pragatinagaralso has the lowest level ofmalnutrition (2.5%) and one of thehighest levels of adult literacy (86%)in Nepal.

What do these statistics mean?Every child above five, irrespectiveof socioeconomic status, hasaccess to education, everyhousehold with children consumes

iodised salt (reducing malnutrition)and every child born is registeredwithin 35 days of birth, ensuring itsfundamental right to identity. Theadvances made in physicalinfrastructure are no less inspiring.The road networks are wellmanaged, the water is safe to drink,and there are irrigation facilities aswell as health and educationservices available.

VDC secretary RajendraPrasad Devkota is full ofexcitement when describing theseachievements. �“There are manyVDCs that receive more assistancefrom the government. But everychange that has taken place inPragatinagar is because ofthe untiring efforts of the childclubs, women�’s groups andcommunity mobilisers,�” he says.Pragatinagar�’s amazing network ofcommunity stakeholders was set upwith UNICEF�’s DACAW programover a decade ago.

Its child club network,comprising 20 clubs (includingNepal�’s first, Jagriti Child Club), isone of the driving forces ofPragatinagar�’s development. Thenetwork spearheaded the No OpenDefecation campaign, conductingdoor-to-door visits, raisingawareness, helping in toiletconstruction in all households, and

mother ever has to die for lack ofproper health care.�”

It�’s not out to place to wonder atthe selflessness of people such asKamala Ghimire. But instead ofproviding monetary incentives, VDCsecretary Devkota leads byexample. His office is plastered withdetailed descriptions of the VDC�’sexpenses and sources of income,and this is updated every month forthe benefit of the public. There�’seven a fortnightly schedule detailingDevkota�’s activities. He does itto instill a sense of ownershipamong the community and tomake them feel that the VDC isaccountable to them. �“There is noplace for irregularities and red tapein my office. If we want to involvethe community, we have to earn theirtrust.�”

Devkota speaks of thechallenges ahead, the limitedresources and the infrastructure thatis still needed to meet the targetsPragatinagar has set for itself. Butgoing by its record, it is impossiblenot to be hopeful. Pragatinagarproves that all it takes to develop aplace is not money or resources, butleadership and determination. R U B E E N A M A H A T O

in NAWALPARASI

Pragatinagar�’s progress

GIRI RAJ ADHIKARI

monitoring the campaign to ensureits success. A School SanitationProgram launched 10 years ago hasalso been successful.

President of the child clubnetwork, Sanju Khanal, and actingsecretary of Jagriti Child Club,Sagar Neupane, describe theirwatchdog role. �“We work as a bridgebetween the community and thelocal authorities. We collaboratewith the VDC in its every endeavourto ensure that the communitybenefits.�”

The community mobilisers,mostly women, are also key toPragatinagar�’s achievements.There are one to three communitymobilisers in each neighbourhoodwho go from door to door weighingnewborns, distributing vitamin Acapsules, sending pregnant womenfor at least four compulsory medicalcheck-ups, and handing out birthregistration forms. These unpaidworkers have no interest other thanto serve the community. Maintainingthe VDC�’s achievements, they say,is a lot harder than reaching targetsin the first place.

Kamala Ghimire, 28, had herhands full with her two children,husband and in-laws. But now shelooks after all the households inward no. 5 as its communitymobiliser. In the last decade she haswheeled her bicycle to every homein Pragatinagar. She has trulywitnessed the transformation of hervillage and her only motivation, shesays, is to see that �“no child or

HEAVY DUTY: A communitymobiliser and her husband weightheir child to monitor growth

Pragatinagar lives up to its name

I

25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #508 NATION|5

THIS WEEK

BIRGANJ �– The Shankracharya Dwar nearRaxaul is something of a gateway to thecountry of Hindus. With miniature replicasof Krishna Mandir and Pashupatinathprecariously balanced on a concretearchway, the kitschy ceremonial entranceserves as a mark of Nepalipan. A bustlingbusiness centre on the border, Birganj takesits Hindu and Nepali identity seriously.

The tone of the local media is in linewith the buildings along the main street:predominantly conservative, with a tinge ofHindu assertiveness. Along with Image,almost all the FM broadcasters in Bara,Parsa and Makwanpur can be clearlyreceived in Birganj. With the exception ofBhojpuria FM, the primary language ofbroadcast of all the stations is Nepali.

Reportedly, 12 daily newspapers arepublished from Bara-Parsa. An exhaustivesearch of all the newsstands between theclocktower and Sri Ram Cinema �– thecommercial thoroughfare �– resulted in acollection of only five dailies, all in Nepali.

The obsession of the Birganj media with�‘national�’ issues �– who said what aftermeeting whom in Kathmandu �– is baffling.It�’s not just the language; the content ofnewspapers and FM broadcasts appears tobe even more nationalist than that ofnational newspapers and broadcasters.Unless it�’s Hindu militants breaking plates

at Maoist camps or erstwhile prince Parasmouthing platitudes, local issues andevents are glossed over to report on eventssuch as the marriage plans of ManishaKoirala.

The sugar factory at Garuda isoperational for just three months a year.Mill owners were tardy in paying sugarcane

farmers, so the latter switched crops. Nowthere is no sugarcane to process. Thisshould have been a more important issue forthe local media than the periodic hiccups ofthe NEPSE. The press prefers to report onthe spiralling price of gold instead.

For Nepalis coming home, IndianCustoms has always been troublesome.

These days, the guards rummage throughbaggage even more carefully, looking for daland sugar. The explanation is terse andmocking: �“You can take as much explosivesas you want. That�’s your government�’sheadache. But no dal, no sugar and nochemical fertilisers. These products aresubsidised for Indian consumers.�” For thelocal media in Birganj, these are trivialissues.

Journalists here set their priorities bywhat they see, hear and read in the nationalmedia. Most of them double-up as stringersfor television, radio and newspapers basedin Kathmandu. One such journalistcomplained bitterly, �“Unless ourdispatches deal with Gyanendra, Hindumilitancy, armed groups or Karina Begum,they never make it to the newsdesk.�”Unsurprisingly, the leftovers of suchstories are used for their own papers.

As long as nationalistic aspirations arestrong, local coverage is neglected. The lureof pan-Nepal identity is so overpoweringthat even the daily Prateek, one of the mostrespected publications in the Tarai,positions itself as �‘national�’ and tries hardto imitate the content of Kathmandubroadsheets. Terai Television, perhapswanting to be close to the action, actuallymoved to Kathmandu. The best talents inBhojpuri are mostly in the capital city. Theowners of factories in the Birganj-PathlaiyaIndustrial Corridor and the importers ofAdarsha Nagar have their advertising-dispensing headquarters in Kathmandu.It�’s no wonder Terai Television went wherethe producers were rather than stay withtheir purported audience.

Everyone in the media wants to benational, because fame and fortune doesnot lie in speaking to or for the peripheryin its languages.

The press in the periphery is moreinterested in national than local events

The lure of the nationalFOURTH ESTATEC K Lal

No paper fit to printKantipur daily and The Kathmandu Post said they may have to haltpublication soon if Indian customs refuse to release 1,000 metrictons of newsprint held for investigation in the port city of Kolkata. Ina report published on Wednesday, The Kathmandu Post said, �“Noinvestigation, however has been carried out despite repeatedrequests. Nor has Kantipur Publications been given a clear explanationfor the continued delay, which has meant heavy demurrage andpossibility of the newsprint getting damaged.�” The Indian Embassysays the investigation is a part of a routine process. �“Customsexamination of transit consignments is a routine administrativemeasure and the imputation of motives in such a matter by twonewspapers, who seek to lay claim to responsible journalism, ishighly regrettable,�” it said in a statement.

Budget bluesThe Maoist Party has said it will prevent the government frompresenting the budget in parliament until the prime minister fulfills theterms of the 3-point agreement and steps down to make way for apower-sharing government. Parliament was scheduled to begindiscussing the budget proposals this month.

KIRAN PANDAY

25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #5086|BUSINESS

rivate sector professionalsin Nepal view thedevelopment sector with

suspicion. They accept the easymedia-fed diet of internationalnon-governmental organisationsas being �‘dollar farmers�’. Theirself-image is that they in theprivate sector are doing �‘real work�’as opposed to doing mere�‘development�’, which they have ahard time seeing as work.

As someone who�’s worked inand with both the private and thedevelopment sectors, I think it�’stime the Nepali private sector, theway it is currently structured,looks at the development sectorwith an open mind to betterunderstand the latter�’sapproaches to governance,accountability and providingcareer paths to employees.

Governance: It�’s an opensecret that most Nepalicompanies, including banks andfinance companies, have lousysystems for deciding how they aredirected and controlled forresults. Most are family

It’s easy to bash INGOs,but how is your owncompany being run?

Who�’s bad?STRICTLY BUSINESSAshutosh Tiwari

businesses, and some have onlyrecently started hiringprofessional managers �– that too,with mixed success. Most boardsare stuffed with the in-laws andfriends of the chairmen, and theythink of the company as a troughfrom which to feed. Except forsome that are accountable toshareholders abroad, it�’s safe tosay that most Nepali companiesdo not see the value of havinga robust governance system

in place.In contrast, organisational

governance is taken much moreseriously in the INGO world. Theglobal revenue figures of some ofthese INGOs dwarf that of manytop-line Nepali companies. Sincemost Nepal-based INGOs haveheadquarters abroad, they aremore likely to have fairly well-developed and globally validatedpolicies, procedures andprocesses for how staff members

Social Welfare Council.Career path: Reading the

Nepali press, one gets theimpression that the local retailbank CEOs who earn the most arenecessarily among the bestmanagers. What the Nepali pressforgets to mention is that, in thelast 10 years in the INGO world,many home-grown Nepaliprofessionals have risen muchhigher regionally and globally,and therefore command a muchgreater influence among theirglobal peers. This has beenpossible because INGOs, unlikemost Nepali companies, offer abetter career path for theirtalented employees. And aNepali who has run a global non-profit with offices in 65countries has a range of mentalmodels that few high-flying localCEOs can match.

Next time you hear a privatesector professional launchinginto yet another attack againstINGOs, why not turn the tables?�“True, INGOs are far from perfect.But how does your company dogovernance; how are youaccountable to customers; andwhat career path do you offer toyour �‘best assets�’, youremployees?�” A stimulatingconversation is likely to ensue.

deliver work. That strength ingovernance also affects theirfield-based NGOs andcommunity groups, which areheld to a much higher standardof accountability than theywould be locally.

Sure, instances of governancefailure happen in the INGOworld too. But when they do, thesystem tends to correct thosefailures much faster than theywould in equivalent situationsin the Nepali private sector,where much is dependent on thewhims of the chairman or theCEO.

Accountability: MostINGOs raise funds frominstitutional and individualdonors who are usually basedabroad. These donors routinelydemand rigorous accountabilitywith regards to how much,where, why, and how funds havebeen spent for results that havebeen promised. Reportingrequirements are stringent.

Most Nepali journalists whoreport that �“INGOs are nottransparent�” are not serving theirreaders well when they do noteven bother to read the annualreports of INGOs, who have tosatisfy the demands of variouscountries�’ equivalents of Nepal�’s

P

Pepsi ManiaAswin Shrestha and Anish Shrestha won 32�”Samsung LCD TVs in the fourth lucky draw ofthe Pepsi Football Mania campaign atRadisson Hotel on 20 June. The grand prizewinner will win a Hero Honda Karizma ZMR. There are twoSamsung 32�” LCD TVs as well as Nokia mobile phones,Timex wristwatches and T-shirts, keyrings and posters to be wonevery week until July 11.

BOK piggy banksAs part of its Save for theFuture social awarenesscampaign, Bank of Kathmanduopened �‘Nava Kopila Bachat

Khata�’ accounts with Rs 1000 deposits for 50 kids from Friends ofNeedy Children. The Bank also deposited an additional Rs 100 ineach account and will deposit Rs 133.33 on the kids�’ birthdays.The bank also gave the children BOK piggy banks and educationalmaterials at a function organised on Saturday. CEO Ajay Shresthareiterated his bank�’s commitment to the causes of health,environment and education under its CSR initiatives.

VocaBoomHopscotch Edutainment islaunching VocaBoom, the firstvocabulary enrichment centre inNepal. VocaBoom, a game-basedclassroom program, employs apractical approach to increasechildren�’s vocabulary through verbal essays, debates, quizzes,role plays, spelling rounds and original story narration. The 36-hour program is spread over 9 months. Registration will open on 25June and classes will begin from the second week of July atHopscotch Edutainment at City Centre. Call 9841336758.

LIC’s Jeevan AsthaLife Insurance Corporation Nepal haslaunched Jeevan Astha, a guaranteedaddition investment cum insurance plan.Jeevan Astha is available for three and fiveyear terms only and provides Rs 80 per

thousand SA and Rs 85 per thousand SA respectively per annumas returns. The product is available for purchase from all agentsand branches of LIC from 25 June.

LIFE TIMES 725 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #508

If wines tell stories, then Hinwa definitelyembodies that of Nepal. The fusion of wildberries with an improvised Nepali distillationprocess, and the collaboration of localcommunities with one savvy entrepreneur,make this a unique Nepali creation.

Fifteen years ago, Aish NarayanShrestha started making wines, using the wildberries that grow above 8,000 feet in theeastern hilly region of Nepal. He organisedvillagers in Sankhuwasabha to collect aiseluand chutro in the forests, then sell it to hisfactory. Here the berries were mixed withsugar and left to ferment in plastic drums fora month. �“Hinwa is entirely dependent on anatural process,�” says Sujan Shrestha, theson of the founder. �“We have not yet adoptedmodern distillery technology.�”

Shrestha�’s Hinwa winery produces whiteand red wines, although the red is closer torosé. About 12,000 bottles of Hinwa are soldevery year. Some of it is also exported abroad.�“We targeted the European market but couldnot meet its demands because of a lack ofproduction,�” explains Sujan.

Production was severely hit when theMaoists destroyed their factory in 2001 forproducing alcohol. But Hinwa pulled itselftogether and has quietly gained popularityamong wine drinkers in Nepal. With productionlimited to a certain season a year, don�’t besurprised if your local store runs out fairlyquickly. But don�’t worry; there will always beanother year.Shankar Dahal

ining and dining has longbeen more than just animported cliché in theurban centres of Nepal. It�’snot just the inexplicable

volume of restaurants and bars popping upin every corner that testifies to the newfoundNepali desire to venture out of their dalbhatregimentation. But weddings, bratabandasand even pasnes are now cause forostentatious celebration beyond thehomestead, and every one of these occasionsis witness to the clink of wine glasses tocomplement the ever ready beer and whisky.

Gone are the days when the ladies titteredas they sipped a glass or two of fermentedgrape juice, sometimes adulterated withwater. Men are as likely to join in and what�’smore, venture an opinion on the calibre ofwhat�’s on offer. The wine market hasboomed, and there�’s no supermarket worththe name without an excellent selection fromaround the world. So much so that Nepaliwinemakers have now ventured out into thelight. So far they�’ve had limited success, butit�’s worth bearing in mind that Nepal hasonly had a decade at its disposal to masterthe 8,000-year-old tradition of wine-making.

Makalu Wine Industries�’ Hinwa is at theforefront with a red and a white, whilePokhara�’s Dandaghare boasts four differentcombos. None of these are true wines in thesense of being derived from grapes, and optto test an intriguing mix of mountain berries,herbs and honey. On your behalf, NepaliTimes took the plunge.

Dandaghare white (Rs 525 / Rs 370)A strong bouquet one wouldn�’t associatewith grape wine, and a slightly murky colour.A relatively gentle taste to follow up, withsome hints of dryness and sweetness. Notbad.The cheaper of the two samples had a strongbouquet that one of our staffers described asthe smell of �‘jaad�’. A hint of honey, perhaps,as indicated on the label. But the taste isthin, sour and rough on the tongue, and gotus hot under the collar. Not in a good way.

Dandaghare red (Rs 400)We didn�’t actually sample Dandagharered, but were informed by usually reliablesources that it had more than a hint ofliquorice to it. Hm.

Hinwa white (Rs 330)Sweetish, reminiscent of dessert wine,though we weren�’t sure if this was theintention. Drinkably smooth, but you�’d haveto have a sweet tooth to persevere with this.

Hinwa red (Rs 330)Also slightly sweet, with a light fruitybouquet, and more like a rosé than a red. Asurprisingly sharp flavour and deceptivelystrong. Smell of aiselu and taste of chutro?Perhaps we�’d had a few too many by then.

Have a tipple?

W

Making of aNepali wine

8|LIFE TIMES

EVENTS

Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival, in its fourth year, thefestival will screen over 30 films from Nepal, India, Bhutan, Mexico,Sweden, Norway, and Cambodia. Friday 25 June �– Sunday 27 June,City Hall and Nepal Tourism Board

Heritage Walk, Better World Family Nepal offers a chance to learnthe history of your city, and the numerous temples you pass on yourway to work. Anil Chitrakar will also provide some commentary.Saturday 26 June, 6.30am, meet at United World Trade Centre,Tripureshwor

Geometrics, an exhibition of paintings about the intuitive responsesof elements, geometry and colours in Thangkas by American artistPiero Passacantando. Till Sunday 27 June, 11am- 6pm, SiddharthaArt Gallery, Babar Mahal Revisited, 4218048

Mind Body Library, a lecture on the life and teachings of Saint Kabir.Friday June 25, 3pm, Babarmahal, 4102025

Recite your own writing, not for those with stage fright or a weakheart. Share your writing and receive constructive criticism.Saturday 3 July, 3.15pm, British Council, Lainchaur

Film Screening - Masculin Feminin, by modern cine legend, Jean LucGodard, a film vividly reflecting Paris in the �‘60s, with references toeveryone from Charles de Gaulle to James Bond and Bob Dylan.Friday 25 June, 3.30pm, Docskool, Gaurighat, 4471104

A good martini, it seems, makes animpression. Even better if a curl of citrus issuspended in the clear waters, tantalisinglycalling to you. To resist is merely to desist,and what could be the point of that in the smallerscheme of things?

Casa de Cass is a fine spot for lunch, asUN House has discovered, but an even betterplot for evening dining, perhaps because ofthe absence of said UN stiffs. You may wellhave the place to yourself, unless the ownerdrops in for a chat, and the attentive waiterwill make sure you don�’t regret your privacyas you float on the elongated notes of ChetBaker. A big bottle of red, then, and a neattriplet of bacon wrapped chicken in whitesauce; a slab of king fish for my oppositenumber. We ate well, and drank even more.The martini was superfluous, but isn�’t that thepoint? Nepali Kukur

Casa de Cass,Pulchowk

This one�’s a real tuckaway, and perhaps one that deserves toremain so, if only for the continued patronage of those who�’vediscovered it through dint of cultured curiosity. Hint: it�’s abovethe Fuji Bakery and you�’d be forgiven (though hungry) forretreating after opening the door to the sight of fine textiles onracks. Which they also sell, along with a fine selection of pan-Asian and continental dishes.

Try the Greek Taramo for starters, if you like (and youshould like) smoked salmon and salmon pate on bread. If youfeel a little bolder, lively up the Newar in you and order a fewslices of rare buff to boot, as much of a riposte to carpaccio askachila is to steak tartare. For the mains, to the strains ofopera-lite, you have a choice of cutlets and steaks and whatbetter to wash it all down than good old Star Beer, of tasty 7.5%vintage? My companion figured the plum soda was better, andshe preferred the salad to her fatty pork, but we both rolled outfeeling beery, and porky, and well done.Nepali Kukur

Marronnier, Chakupat

THE HUNGRY EYE

25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #508|9

MUSIC DINING GETAWAYS

The Great Escape, retreat from the hustle and bustle ofthe city to The Dwarikas�’ Himalayan Shangri-LaVillage Resort in Dhulikhel. Just 45 minutes fromKathmandu. The Dwarikas�’ Himalayan Shangri-LaVillage Resort, Dhulikhel, 447 9488,

Simsime Pani, beat the summer heat with a coolsummer package from Fulbari Resort in Pokhara.Refreshing discounts and unparalleled services awaityou at your destination. Fulbari Resort, Casino, Golfand Spa, Pokhara. Contact 4462248 for prices andreservations

Relax Package, stay at the Hyatt for Rs 6200 plustaxes for one night�’s accommodation for two includingbreakfast at the Cafe. Hyatt Regency, Boudha, contact4491234 for prices and reservations

Sam Smala in Kathmandu, they are like a family ofmusicians who play their own songs with five performersinspired by jazz, gypsy jazz and world music. See thisFrench group perform live in Kathmandu. Sunday 27 June,6pm, Rastriya Nachghar, Jamal, Call 4241163 forinvitations

Paleti - Laxmi Prasad Devkota, the popular music serieswill use poet Laxmi Prasad Devkota�’s poems as lyricsperformed by various artistes. Friday 25 June, 5.30pm,Nepa~laya, Kalikasthan, 4437893

Chevrolet Concert Series, after a brief hiatus, the series isback with performances by Kathmandu Jazz Conservatoryhouse bands and special appearance by Stairs of Cirith and7th Gravity. Saturday 26 June, 6pm, Moksh auditorium,Jhamsikhel, 5013554

Good football, good music, another Friday with football andmusic. Subhaprabhat will be playing in between the games.Chef Birju will be serving beef tenderloin in honey mustardsauce, calamari, kimchi pasta and pork chops. Friday 25June, 7pm, House of Music, Thamel

Rox Bar, watch the matches on the big screen at thebar and drink special cocktails prepared just for theoccasion. For the sophisticates among you. HyattRegency, Boudha, 4491234

Cinnamon Lounge, spacious lounge with a menufeaturing grilled meat of various kinds. For the hungryman in you. Jhamel, 5521339

Le Trio, Boasts a 52�” LCD screen, plenty ofcomfortable couches and a good selection of boozefor all your football viewing needs. Jhamsikhel,9803160266

The Factory, a bit pricey but lots of fun games,quizzes and buckets of beer. Thamel, 4701185

Caferina,Outdoor projectorscreening meansyou have to waitfor the darknessto be able torecogniseRonaldo fromRonaldino. Orrealise thatneither of themare playing.

Chow down the good momos while you are waiting.Sherpa Mall, Darbar Marg

Boudha Stupa Restaurant & Café, enjoy wood-firedpizza and free wi-fi with a beautiful view of theBoudha stupa. Everyday, 9 am to 9pm, Boudha,2130681

25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #50810|HAPPENINGS

RSS

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

WEEKEND WEATHERby NGAMINDRA DAHAL

K A T H M A N D U

FRI SAT S U N

30-20 29-21 29-20

The first cycle of the monsoon stopped in easternNepal, failing to advance into central and westernNepal last week due to a lack of moisture. Thesecond cycle brought heavy rains in most of theSiwalik and plains. As a result, the scorchingtemperatures have dropped by 3 degrees onaverage. Satellite pictures show the monsoonwave moving up to the hills where showery rainswill continue to feature over the weekend. TheValley will catch up with its quota of rains thisweekend. Enjoy the rainy nights.

NOT FORGOTTEN: A family from Kathmandu feeds the elderly denizensof Pashupati's Briddha Ashram, Monday.

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

CROSSING CULTURES: Police General Subha Bahadur Sunam jamswith Rebecca at the Police Club on International Music Day, Monday.

MEET THE NEIGHBOURS: Prime Minister Madhav Nepal poses withSouth Asian ministers during talks on ending violence against childrenat the Soaltee, Wednesday.

SAMIK KHAREL

NO STAGE TOO SMALL: Local youths make the most of the WorldCup in Kel Tole, Kathmandu, Tuesday.

The failed people25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #508 NATION|11

POLITICALLYCRACKEDIndu Nepal

he day the Fund for Peaceannounced that Nepalranked 26th on its annual

Failed States Index, the mostpowerful members of theexecutive were having a heart-to-heart session. The ministers, ledby Prime Minister Madhav KumarNepal, chided the bureaucrats forinefficiency, failure to followdirectives, and therefore thenation�’s economic backwardness.

Madhav Nepal was particularlydispleased about the lack ofprogress in the maintenance ofshoddy roads in the capital, ahighway connecting hisconstituency in Rautahat to hisother constituency in Kathmandu,and the establishment of arepublic monument, or the gianthorse that could fly. �“You don�’teven obey the orders of the primeminister,�” he droned on.

The bureaucrats said they werehelpless. There was too muchpressure from the politicians to dothings they didn�’t want to do,they said. Repeating what theyhad told the Public Accounts

If we complain about ‘the way things are’,then we cannot rule out a solution becauseof ‘the way things are’Committee last week when askedwhy funds were being diverted toprojects in powerful politicians�’districts, they said in unison:�“We are forced to.�”

In the wake of a string of newcorruption allegations againstvarious members of the cabinet,the meeting was, to say the least,illuminating. If those who set theagenda and those who executethem are helpless pawns in eachother�’s schemes then no wonderwe rank so high on the FailedStates Index. No wonder we arechronically behind ondevelopment.

Only last week, it wasreported that illegal tree felling in25 locations in the Tarai had leftlong stretches of land almostbare. All this was happeningunder the patronage ofcommunity forest users groupsand District Forest Offices, andeven the Minister for Forests andSoil Conservation Deepak Boharawas found to be involved withthe timber racket. This is thesame ministry that orchestrated a

Climate Summit at Everest BaseCamp and has accepted a £40million grant from DFID to tackledeforestation.

After initially denying thatany of the trees had been felledillegally, the ministry has finallystarted disciplining thoseinvolved. So far, one officer has

been suspended. Not fired.Suspended. �“But we can�’t takeaction against everyone becausethe papers said they are guilty,�”said the secretary of the ministry.Fair enough. But how about forfailing to do their job, which wasto protect the forests that now nolonger exist?

Accountability is meaninglessif you have immunity. Just 0.01per cent of civil servants weredismissed out of a total of 77,000last year. When bureaucrats saythey are helpless, are they afraidof losing their jobs or beingtransferred to a less lucrativedepartment? Haven�’t theministries of finance or homealways been coveted places towork, as opposed to the Ministryof Parliamentary Affairs?

Politicians are madeaccountable by elections. Throughtheir actions, or lack thereof, theyhave maintained a sense in thevoters�’ minds that the electorateis incapable of bringing aboutchange. Frank Herbert put itnicely in the Dune series: �“if youthink of yourselves as helplessand ineffectual, it is certain thatyou will create a despoticgovernment to be your master.�”Our government may not seemdespotic, but isn�’t despotism asystem where people are treatedas subordinates?

On Monday, both bureaucratsand politicians said they werehelpless, even though theycontinue to collaborate efficientlywhen it comes to embezzlementand corruption. They meeklyannounced that new solutionswere needed. The solution issimple: they should work for thepeople and the country; if theycan�’t they need to be dismissed.If we are complaining about �‘theway things are�’, then we cannotrule out a solution because of �‘theway things are.�’

ROBIN SAYAMI/NAGARIK

T

Minister: Don't spend timedoing nothing.

Secretary: Don't spend timecutting ribbons.

25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #50812|EDUCATION

n the terrible heat of Nepalganj, sweat-soaked studentsstudy under tin roofs in narrow rooms. The fanlessrooms are so hot and crowded that students faint on

occasion. As soon as the teacher leaves the room thestudents go and take shelter under trees or cluster around

istorically, there hasbeen no way forvisually impaired

Nepalis to broaden theirhorizons. There was simplyno reading material availablein Braille. There was little hope forthem to keep abreast ofcontemporary literature, letalone aspire to emulate suchluminaries as John Milton,author of �‘On his blindness�’and Helen Keller, who penned�‘The story of my life�’. Now,there may be some amongstthe 30,000 visually impairedpeople in Nepal who candream of following in theirfootsteps.

A Braille library has beenset up in Thapathali by theNepal Association for theWelfare of the Blind, RotaryClub Patan and Rose

Visually impaired Nepalis limited to school curriculacan now swim in an ocean of world literature

Feeling wordsS U R E S H R A J N E U P A N E amongst the additions to the

Thapathali library. Brailleencyclopaedias, too, will helpvisitors advance their learning.

Govinda Prasad Acharya,lecturer at Ratna Rajya LaxmiCampus, points out that theThapathali library will go along way towards addressingthe needs of visually impairedNepalis. But he stresses theneed for government to takethe lead, given the costsinvolved in translating booksinto Braille, as well as thethick paper that is used toimprint Braille on.

Meanwhile, Rajan Raut ofthe Nepal Association for theWelfare of the Blind andRotary Kasthamandappromises that Braille bookswill be taken on a tour tomajor cities such as Pokharaand Dharan. The light oflearning may soon be seen bythose who cannot see the lightof day.

International. Sunita Thapa,coordinator of Nepal FM�’s Bela koboli, says this has filled a void. Asimilar venture in Lalitpur�’sThaiba failed, though the audiolibrary opened in Baluwatar withthe assistance of the Nepal Blind

Support Assocation is still inoperation.

But it�’s not just worldliterature that will be available tothe visually impaired, in the formof over one thousand donatedbooks soon to arrive from the US

Library of Congress, anddonations from US-basedSeedlings Braille Books forChildren. Nepali classics such asNaso, Munamadan, Basai,Rajeshwori, Junga, Khai-khai,Gauri and Sirish ko phool are

H

taps to cool off. Indeed, many schools simply teach undertrees. Sarita Budathoki, teacher at Gyanodaya UpperSecondary School, explains: "Since the students refuse tostay in the rooms, we�’ve had to conduct classes in theshade of trees." (see pic)

Last year, temperatures soared to nearly 43 Celsius, andthis year has been no different. But the tin roofs ofclassrooms are not just unsuited to the hot days. They offer

little insulation against the chilly winters, and it�’s wellnigh impossible to hear teachers when it rains. Even so,three fourths of Banke District�’s 300 schools have tin roofs.

Ekdev Panthi, chairman of Nepal National Teacher�’sAssociation, explains this is a direct result of theEducation Department�’s bad planning. Incredibly, thedepartment has decreed that all school buildings in theTarai should be roofed with tin. This is not simply forhomogeneity but, as Madhu Bali of the District EducationOffice says, �“It�’s because of budgetary and technicalshortfalls, and also to mitigate the risk from earthquakes.�”

It�’s not as if the Education Department is unaware ofthe problem. But it continues to build schools with thesame design: this year 22 four-room and 27 two-roombuildings are under construction, all with tin roofs. Thegovernment contributes 60 per cent of the costs, while40 per cent is raised from local sources. Says ChiefEngineer of Banke�’s Building Construction Division Office,Suroj Paudel, �“Thirty per cent more funding would allowthe building of proper schools with proper roofs.�”

There are alternatives. The group, BASE in cooperationwith the Danish charity MS, has built dozens of schools inBanke and Bardiya using insulating mud architecture thatkeeps the classrooms warm in winter and cool in summer.See: 'Better climate for schools', #425.

K R I S H N A A D H I K A R I in NEPALGANJ

Houses of suffering, not learningStudents in the Tarai areprey to the simplest ofdesign blunders:classrooms with tin roofs

I

MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

KRISHNA ADHIKARI

25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #508 NATION |13

Nepali Times: People are surprisedthat SN Power is investing in a bignew project in Nepal at a time whenmost others are pulling out becauseof political instability.Sandip Shah: SN Power�’s majorityshareholder Statkraft was in Nepal from theearly 1990s as the majority shareholder ofHimal Power Ltd (HPL), the company thatdeveloped and is operating the Khimtiplant. We have been here through the peakof the insurgency and other periods ofinstability. We have braved the toughtimes. At SN Power, we have a long-termview of our investments in Nepal. Sincethe situation has improved, greateropportunities have opened up, so we haveembarked on two projects, one of which isfairly large in Nepal�’s context.

What kind of contingencies did youhave to take into account with a bigproject like Tamakoshi-3?Nepal, like other emerging markets whereSN Power operates, has various risks.Geological and hydrological risks, risks ofglacial floods and earthquakes, politicalrisk...but we have good systems in place forplanning, risk assessment and riskmanagement. We feel we are strategicallywell-positioned and well prepared inNepal to develop large projects.

But Tamakoshi is an export project.Doesn�’t the delay at West Seti makeyou nervous?

Tamakoshi bonanza

ith three major hydropower projects coming upwith a cumulative capacity of nearly 1,500MW,

the Tamakoshi basin in Dolakha is emerging as a majorpowerhouse for the domestic energy grid, export to Indiaand local development.

While the Nepal Electricity Authority is movingahead with Upper Tamakoshi (309MW), the Norwegiancompany SN Power is expanding to build Tamakoshi-3(880MW) and Kirne (67MW) in addition to its existingKhimti power plant (60MW).

What makes the Norwegians unique is that theyhave not just stayed in Nepal through the war years, butare now expanding into a major new venture that isdesigned to export peak power to the Indian grid througha dedicated transmission line. Tamakoshi-3 could bethe first project that will realise the long-term goal ofreversing Nepal�’s balance of trade deficit with India,through energy export following completion in 2016.

long-term relationship with our hostcommunity in the Tamakoshi Valley. Thishas created an atmosphere of support forour projects. Security in Nepal is still achallenge of course, and safety for ourpeople will always be our top priority.

What is the response to the socialdevelopment programs in Dolakha?Since SN Power aims to make long-termprofits in its operations, it is veryimportant to support sustainable socio-economic activities in the vicinity of itsarea of operation to improve the standardof living of the local communities. Wehave a dedicated team that works solelywith these issues right from the projectdevelopment phase, and we see this as anintegrated part of our business.SN Power has gainedrecognition as a �‘goodneighbour�’ and a �‘partner�’rather than an �‘adversary�’ indevelopment.

Mutually beneficialLike other private power operators in Nepal, SN

Power�’s Khimti went through the disruptions anddelays of the war years when its mini-hydropower plant, needed for theconstruction phase, was blown up bythe Maoists.

But the company perseveredand is now ploughing profits fromits existing Khimti plant into thelarger Tamakoshi-3 and Kirneprojects. SN Power�’s countrydirector, Sandip Shah, says the key to his company�’sstaying power has been its deep involvement in the socio-economic development of over 25 VDCs in Dolakha. Thecompany has spent $12 million on rural electrification ofvillages along the Tamakoshi basin, and building watersupply systems and roads.

SN Power handed over a mini-hydropower plant and

rural electrification network in theKhimti Valley to a community-

managed cooperative it helpedestablish. While there was 16-hourloadshedding in the rest of thecountry, Dolakha had 24-hour power.

Shah�’s advice to other projectsfacing local opposition is to work withthe local comunity right from theimplementation stage, not as an

afterthought. He adds: �“You have to build up local supportand acceptance for the mutual benefit of the project, thehost community and the national economy.�”

See also:Interview with SN Power�’s CEO, Nadia Sood, #444�‘Electric transformation�’, # 464�‘The power of a good example�’, # 464

W

What is your message to otherinvestors wishing to get intohydropower in Nepal? My message is that they need to be patientand have a long-term view of theirinvestments. Nepal offers greatopportunities and the country's naturalwater resources are immense. We believethat Nepal�’s hydropower resources can beharnessed in an optimum manner for thebenefit of the people of Nepal. Investing inhydropower development in a country likeNepal is still very high risk, and it requiresproper support from the political andbureaucratic levels and from the people ofthe project areas. We have an opencommunication system, but sponsors like

us and financial institutions requirethat the right message, with properresearch and analysis, is delivered for

public consumption.

The Indian market is a key driver for off-take of the energy from mega-sizedhydroelectric projects. Of course werecognise the need for power supply inNepal, and are discussing power sales toNepal with the authorities while finalisingour commercial strategy.

To develop such large projects, banksand financial institutions look for a robustcommercial strategy that involves morethan one creditworthy buyer. The bestscenario for Nepal is a combination of largeand small scale hydropower developmentdriven by a mix of export and domesticsales.

By the time your Tamakoshi projectcomes on line we in Nepal will beneeding that power.Tamakoshi-3 is scheduled to come on linein 2016/17, after commissioning of theUpper Tamakoshi Project, which will go along way to meeting domestic demand.However, we are in dialogue with theGovernment of Nepal for the best sharing ofbenefits between the developer and thehost country for Tamakoshi-3.

A lot of private power projects haveground to a halt because of localthreats and extortion. How have youdealt with this problem?Local expectations are rising due to thepolitical and security situation in thecountry. We have a robust corporate socialresponsibility program and a good and

Having taken over theNorwegian utilityStatkraft’s shares inHimal Power Ltd in2006, SN Power isundertaking twohydropower projects inthe Tamakoshi Basin:Kirne (67 MW) andTamakoshi-3 (880MW). SN Power’s Vice-President and CountryDirector Sandip Shahspoke to Nepali Timesabout the challengesand rewards forinvestors in Nepal.

KIRAN PANDAY

25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #50814|FROM THE NEPALI PRESS

Kishor Budhathoki in Annapurna Post, 20 June

Khandbari: The deforestation of rhododendron forests inTinjure, Milke and Jaljale is continuing unabated, threateningthe existence of the rhododendron capital.

Rhododendron forests sprawl over Sankhuwasabha,Taplejung and Tehrathum districts, and are a major attractionfor tourists. These forests host 27 species of rhododendron.

Today, one can see the nude hills of Dunda and Ratnyulethat fall within the remit of Chaite Community Forest inBasantpur VDC. They were covered with dense forest 15 yearsago, but deforestation began when a road reached the VDC.

Tamaphok 9, Tutedeurali, has developed into a small town.There are more households in Panchapokhari now. Those wholeft the villages during the insurgency have returned since theCA elections. There are houses all along the road from Basantapurto Gupha Pokhari, and the forest has been cleared as far as 200metres from the settlement.

Krishna Devkota, acting chief of the District Forest Office,Sankhuwasabha, says deforestation has continued as peopledo not have an alternative to firewood for heating and cookingpurposes. The only forests in the area are rhododendron, andlocals estimate about 50 per cent of rhododendron forests havebeen destroyed so far.

Shyam Bahadur Poudel of Tamaphok VDC sees theimminent extinction of rhododendron forests in the area.Deforestation has also increased the frequency of landslides.

The Land Conservation Office has developed a nursery forrhododendrons in Sankhuwasabha. �“The rhododendron forestswill have already been cleared before the seedlings are ready tobe transplanted from the nursery,�” says Heema Khanal, principalof Gupha Pokhari Primary School.

Krishna Gyawali in Kantipur, 23 June

Lalitpur: You had better be worried if you are enjoying a carefreeWorld Cup night while forcing a child to work in your house.Like the players, you may well get a red card for your behaviour.

Logshari Kunwar in Rajdhani,22 June

The superstition that marriedwomen should not wear whiteclothes or plough the fields isstill live and kicking in Nepalisociety. Recently, a woman inKailali District was publiclyhumiliated and then forced toleave her village for floutingtradition.

Locals of Chaumala VDC,Rajipur, took offence at BasudeviSunar�’s white clothing and thefact that she ploughed her fieldsto plant paddy. Having mistreatedher, they ostracised her. Sunarhad little choice but to leave with

Ostracisedher two daughters. �“I don�’t knowwhere to go and what I amsupposed to do,�” she was quotedas saying.

On Monday, Sunar went tothe fields with her daughtersSaraswati and Sunita to preparethe land for paddy seedlings. Asthe soil was too hard to dig upwith a spade, she resorted to theplough. A crowd was waiting forher when she got home. Theypainted her face black and forcedher to wear a garland of shoes,then paraded her around thevillage�’s main thoroughfares from9am to 2pm. Egged on by thecrowd, Bir Bahadur Sunar shavedher head on four sides.

The crowd also tore her

daughters�’ clothes and kickedthem, and manhandled her75-year-old mother. According toBasudevi Sunar, Kumari BK,Bhawati Pandey, Dilli Panday,Mahadev Dhungana and TejDamali were among the 150people who mistreated her.

Sunar said that she wascompelled to plough the fields asher husband does not stay athome or take care of his family.�“We have no source of incomeother than farming. My husbanddoes not work, so I have to workto run the household. And now Iam punished for this.�”

Sunar claims that the policesimply stood and watchedthroughout the whole episode.

Where have allthe flowers gone?

Hom Karki in Kantipur, 22 June

The family of Ramesh Giri, who died in amotorcycle accident in Saudi Arabia,received his body 22 months after hisdeath. His bereaved mother pleaded withpolitical leaders, trade union leaders andthe prime minister, all in vain. She

passed away before her son�’s body wasbrought back home. Similarly, Krishna LalSharma of Syangjha died in Saudi Arabia,but his body only arrived back in Nepal after18 months. The bodies of Nepali migrantworkers Shambhu Lal Shrestha, HarkaBahadur Magar, Dut Bahadur Budha, HarkaBahadur BK and Ganga Thapa are still in themorgues of various hospitals in Saudi Arabia.

They have not been brought back to Nepalbecause their employers have refused to takeresponsibility, and their families cannotcover the expenses of repatriation.

As per Saudi regulations, the bodies ofdeceased workers should be sent back to theirrespective countries within two months, orthey have to be buried. But many of thesecorpses remain unattended because of theillegal entry of the workers, theineffectiveness of the Nepali embassy, thepoverty of workers�’ families and theirresponsibility of manpower agencies. �“Wewon the case of Ramesh Giri,�” says KhadgaPrasad Dahal, first secretary at the Nepaliembassy in Saudi Arabia. �“We traced thesponsor (the Saudi agency that recruitsworkers). There are thousands of workerswhose sponsors are not known.�”

As Giri�’s relatives were receiving his bodyat the airport, Krishna Bahadur Shrestha of

Dolakha, leaving for Saudi Arabia to workas a driver, was saying, �“The manpowercompany has asked us to tear up our labourpermits as soon as we board the plane. Weare supposed to call the number ourmanpower company has given when weget off the plane, and we will be receivedat the airport.�”

The deceased Giri had gone to Saudithrough Sky Overseas, owned by BalBahadur Tamang. Giri left the companythat had hired him and joined another ashe did not get the salary and incentives hewas promised. Shrestha will probably dothe same, but if he runs into troublewithout insurance or a company willingto take responsibility for him, he risks thesame fate as Giri. �“There are about 70,000migrant workers who have fled their firstcompany and are highly vulnerable todanger,�” says Dahal.

Migrant plight

Red cards for child employersLalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City is starting a �‘red card

awareness�’ campaign to socially ostracise those homeownerswho employ children. Gyani Bahadur Khadka, CommunityDevelopment Chief, said that they thought of the idea to attractthe attention of people.

The city has already distributed 60,000 pamphlets andcards requesting households to desist from hiring children.�“World Cup fever has caught everyone. We thought this wouldbe the best way to raise awareness in the community,�” SaritaMaharjan of the Metropolitan Office said. According toMaharjan, families employing children will be identified andgiven red cards if they are found to be guilty of abuse. �“Thenames of the abusers will be made public and they will be

socially ostracised,�” she said.The sub-metropolitan office has collaborated with Child

Workers in Nepal (CWIN) to run this campaign. Communitystudy centres have been opened in Kusunti, Tikhedewal andKupondole, and about 30 former child workers are studyinghere. There are plans to send these children to school afterone year of study in the centres.

The sub-metropolitan office will also set up child protectioncommittees in all wards for monitoring purposes, and abouthalf a dozen are already operational. Volunteers from thecommittees, the sub-metropolitan office�’s staff and CWIN willcarry out monitoring, hand out red cards and rescue childrenif they are being abused.

KIRAN PANDAY

KIRAN PANDAY

MIRKO MANCINELLI

25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #508 FROM THE NEPALI PRESS|15

Shivahari Bhattarai in Nepal Samacharpatra, 24 June

Rajbiraj: Musahars, who have been living in thatched huts builton the land of others, will now be able to live in brick houses oftheir own.

The 22 Musahar households in Jamuwa tole of GhoghanpurVDC, Saptari are thrilled at the prospect of living in tin-roofedhomes. Seventy-five-year old Ramji Sada Musahar is happy thathe will live to see his own tin-roofed house.

Since the government declared the implementation of JanataAwas (People�’s Home) Program in Kapilbastu, Siraha and Saptariin the last budget, Rs 130 million has been dispatched to Saptarito construct houses for 1000 Dalits, the Urban Development andBuilding Construction Office in Rajbiraj says.

Construction work has already started in six VDCs for Dalitand Muslim households. The area has one of the largestconcentrations of Dalits in the country.

Division Engineer of the Urban Development Office, ShyamKishor Singh, says that the houses will each cost Rs 159,280 andwill be 22 by 15 feet wide, with a verandah and a small kitchen.

The local Dalit community has also been volunteering to helpin construction. The houses will be ready at the end of thismonth, Site Engineer Rabindra Kumar Dev said.

Bishnu Pokharel in Nagarik, 23 June

Kathmandu: Sub-standard and adulteratedbeverages are being sold in the capital andin other cities, government studies haverevealed.

Tests carried out by the FoodTechnology and Quality ControlDepartment found adulteration in water,milk, clarified butter and cooking oil.Senior Food Officer Pramod Koirala saidthat harmful micro-organisms were foundin most food items. �“The problem is evenworse in water,�” he said.

The department tested samples fromacross the country in the last few months.

Letter to the editor, Nagarik,15 June

A rise in crimes in thebirthplace of Gautam Buddhahas locals as well as followersof Buddhism worried.

A donation box was stolen

Lumbini vicetwo weeks ago. Disciples hadoffered this box to Lord Buddhaand it had been placed next to thefootmark of Buddha in stone,guarded within the premises ofthe Lumbini Development Trust.Group 4 security personnel standguard at the gate and the RegionalPolice Post is about 400 metres

from the gate. Yet there was asecurity lapse that seems tohave encouraged others. On 7June, a planning officer wasattacked by khukuri-wieldingmercenaries following aquarrel over a contract bid.

A donation box was stolentwo years ago as well,construction materials havebeen stolen, and Nilgai havebeen poached. Some years ago,the Japanese monk Nawatamewas murdered in front of ashrine. These incidentsindicate a gang of criminals areinvolved in these activities.

Lumbini, as the birthplaceof Gautam Buddha, symbolisespeace and non-violence to theworld. The criminal activitieshere have become a matter ofshame for Nepal and the localpolice administration shouldact before irreversible damageis done to Lumbini�’s image.Mohan Chapagain

Musahar homes

The results revealed a higher degree ofadulteration in liquid as compared to solidfood. Koirala said that some branded milkand bottled water even contained micro-organisms found in stool.

Of the 302 samples of liquid and solidfood collected in four months, 60 sampleswere found to be sub-standard. Most werebottled water samples.

Even bottled water manufacturersadmit that there is adulteration in mostbrands. The secretary of the Nepal BottledWater Industries Association said, �“Thereare problems in many products. We arecommitted to improving them.�” He alsosaid that the problem arises from themanufacturers�’ ignorance of government

standards. �“Most don�’t even know theyhave to get permission to manufacture.�”

Bottled water manufacturers arerequired to obtain a quality validationletter from the Food Technology andQuality Control Department, but most havenot done so.

The department has claimed that it willbe taking action against manufacturers thatdo not meet government standards.According to the Food Act, industriesfailing to meet standards can be fined uptoRs 5000 and slapped with a jail term of twoyears. Punishment can increase dependingon the harm to public health. But to date,no one has been punished for violatingstandards.

Food adulteration

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ISSN

181

4-26

13

CDO Regd No 194/056/57 Lalitpur, Central Region Postal Regd. No 09/066/67

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25 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010 #50816|BACK SIDE

T he donkey�’s buddiesdecided to watch Portugal-North Korea at one of

several Korean restaurants inKathmandu that are run bydiplomatic license (caninebulgogi was off the menu, butthanks for asking). It is probablythe only North Koreanestablishment in the world thatis sponsored by an Americanmultinational, and at the end ofthe evening a waitress with aDPRK flag pinned to her hanbokdelivered the bill, which addedanother touch of authenticitybecause it was all in Korean andwe had no idea what we�’d justeaten. The Revenue Dept will beglad to know, however, that13%VAT was charged. No servicecharge, but this isn�’t the kind ofestablishment where krantikariwaiters are going to go on strikeanytime soon.

Despite the rented crowd ofChinese fans complete with acheerleader in the stands toorchestrate vuvuzela blowing, thedemocratic socialist Koreans areout of the World Cup. Wonder ifhuman rights organisations aretracking the fate of the NorthKorean World Cup team to seewhat happens to them on theirreturn home after playing Cote

already notched up quite a fewachievements. Foreign Policymagazine has ranked Nepal 26thfrom the bottom in its FailedStates Rankings, pipping SriLanka (22nd), Pakistan (12th)and Afghanistan (10th). Also,we are now 127th in thedevelopment lineup and haveonly five hours of power cuts aday. The number of rhinospoached has been slashed from12 last year to 11 this year, andgovt-sponsored logging of Taraiforest has added 0.5% to ourGDP growth. So it�’s official: GON isthe bestamong themostawfulcountries onEarth.

ass(at)nepalitimes.com

Best of the worst

d�’Ivoire on Friday. Before thegames the North Korean captaintold the media their sole aim wasto �“make the Dear Leader proud�”.Well, they�’ve probably madeDear Leader an AngryLeader. Even if the NorthKorean national team have theirsentence commuted to lifeimprisonment, it is certain thatthe striking strikers of Les Bleuswill be executed on the tarmacwhen they fly back to Pari.

Moving right along to somethingcompletely different. Awesome

with royalists and republicansand even managed to smile at ajoke or two about how the realSamrat Dahal got the girl whilethe wannabe-Samrat not onlydidn�’t become emperor, he didn�’teven get the prime ministership.Interesting, though, that whileJackie Shroff donned the daurasuruwal with topi, the Ex-SriPunch and Ex-PM both came inwestern suits.

Who says the MakunaySarkar is lameduck? It has

decided to skipan importantPolitburo meetingbecause he wantedto attend Manisha�’swedding bash at theSoaltee. So BRB, ComYummy, JanataJanardan and GeneralPasang decided to takethe afternoon off to go tothe movies. Once atKumari, who do they see inthe lobby but Com KajiNaran, who was also in themood for a flick. Mr Fotocopylooked a tad envious that hisrival for No.2 in the party hadhis wife and two PLAcommanders in tow while hejust had a bodyguard, butdecided to join the groupanyway. The movie was Rajneeti,where Realpolitik andReelpolitik collide head-on.Kaji Kamred was seen squirmingas Ajay Devgan, Ranbir Kapoorand Katrina Kaif engaged inpretty realistic back-stabbing,double-crossing and intra-party conspiracies. Must havereminded him of the ongoingskullduggery within his ownparty.

Anyway, back at the Manishawedding, PKD hobnobbed