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Thursday, April 21, 2011
Victoria Cross winner Pun is no more
KATHMANDU, APR 21 -Tul Bahadur Pun, 89, who won a Victoria Cross (the highest military decoration in the UK’s armed forces) for his heroism while fighting the Japanese, breathed his last on Wednesday night.
Pun's last ritual will be performed in the banks of Kali Gandaki River on Friday following the arrival of his sons and daughters from Britain.
Pun breathed his last at his hometown in Belkhola VDC-9, Tiplyang.
Pun was born on born March 23, 1923 in Myagdi district.
According to his son Bikash Pun, Tul Bahadur returned to his hometown in February as per his wish to live his remaining life in Nepal.
Pun is survived by his wife, three sons and eight daughters.Pun has been awarded 10 other medals, including the Burma Star.
Posted in: Peoples and politics
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
No toilet at home? Then, forget citizenship!
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DANG, APR 19 -No toilets? Beware! You may be deprived of government services. Saudiyar VDC of Dang prevents people sans toilets from getting recommendations for citizenship, land certificates and other services.
The move aims at encouraging locals to build toilets—for the sake of cleanliness. Those having toilets get the VDC’s identity cards, which are useful in schools, health institutions and government offices.
A ‘Sanitation Commando Squad’ has been formed in the VDC to make the VDC an open defecation-free zone. The commando squad visits local houses and educates them about the necessity of toilets. It has also launched a programme where well-off neighbours gift poor people toilet pans.
“Those who cannot afford to build toilets get our help. But those who are reluctant to do so despite their capacity will be deprived of VDC facilities,” said commando squad coordinator Gopal Bhusal. The squad has organised a programme to distribute pans to poor people.
On Saturday, six poor households of Jajaragaun got toilet pans. “I am happy I will not be detached from Jajaragaun, my village and that I will have an identity card,” said Deshu Chaudhary, a local who got pans on Saturday. “I will build a toilet with it,” she said. With the programme in place, more people are aware of the importance of toilets.
Coordinator of the sanitation committee and VDC secretary Surya Prakash Belbase said households having toilets have increased by 95 percent from 35 percent in five months. (source : ekantipur)
Monday, April 18, 2011
An earthquake could hit Kathmandu ...
KATHMANDU, APR 18 -There is no denying it, natural disasters are on the increase. The past 18 months has seen devastating earthquakes in Haiti, New Zealand and Japan, floods in Pakistan, and numerous less reported events. Last year, 110 million more people were affected by disasters than in 2004 - the year of the Boxing Day tsunami.
We need to be prepared for these future shocks. It is difficult to know precisely where the next disaster will strike, but there are countries and cities that must be on a higher state of alert. One of these is Nepal, and in particular its capital, Kathmandu.
My first overseas visit as minister for international development was to Nepal, the poorest country in Asia. There is good reason to believe the country is on the brink of a major disaster—one with potentially cataclysmic results.
First, the country is a highly seismic region, lying between the collision of Indian and Eurasian plates. It has a major earthquake roughly every 70 years - it’s been nearly 80 years since the last one. Second, its lack of development and its deep-rooted poverty leave it underprepared and extremely vulnerable.
Kathmandu has experienced massive, poorly controlled urbanisation in the last few years and now has a population of around 5 million. Its building standards are nonexistent, so millions of people could be buried in a city-wide pile of rubble. Access routes would be blocked. The airport could be disabled. The international community would face a massive humanitarian crisis, and there would be no way to get help through.
A survey by the Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Risk Management Project suggests around 40,000 would die, with 100,000 injured, plus tens of thousands left homeless. This could be a conservative estimate. Confronted with the growing base of evidence, we should be asking ourselves what we can do to reduce this risk.
Disaster preparedness in Kathmandu is poor. The Nepalese government’s capacity and investment in disaster management remains low, hamstrung by bureaucracy and political stasis. There is a serious lack of investment in critical infrastructure like schools and hospitals. Nepal’s disaster strategy sits in the constituent assembly awaiting approval, along with a logjam of hundreds of other acts and bills.
What Nepal needs is a detailed, co-ordinated action plan that is ready to work now. Heavy equipment must be prepositioned at the airport to repair any damage to the runway. Command and control mechanisms must be put in place so that good communications can remain intact to direct the urgent rescue work that would be needed. And each international partner must know exactly what action to take when disaster strikes.
Action is being taken. The UN recently set up a Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium, which presents a major opportunity to spur the government and the international community into action. The UK is a member of the consortium, and we will be putting substantial technical and financial resources—£20m ($30m) over the next four years—behind this initiative. But this will not be enough by itself.
Shortly after taking office, the coalition government asked Lord Ashdown to carry out a review of the UK’s humanitarian and emergency response practices to look at how we can ensure we remain world leaders in this area. The report, published last month, contains many recommendations that will inform our thinking on the future of UK disaster response work. Ashdown’s Humanitarian Emergency Response Review offers a number of suggestions for what we could be doing now to prepare more effectively for a major disaster in Nepal, through the consortium.
First, anticipation and a stronger focus on preparing for disasters. Nepal’s government, with support from the international community, needs to focus on the earthquake threat and plan for it. We must bring Nepal’s powerful neighbours, India and China, in to play an active role in response planning.
It is basic good sense that countries such as Nepal, with a high vulnerability to disasters, learn how to improve their ability to deal with crises. This is about building houses, schools and hospitals that can withstand earthquakes, floods and landslides. But it’s also about investing in the government’s ability to respond; creating disaster management plans; and educating people about disaster risks. The consortium will only work with leadership from Kathmandu.
There is growing evidence that building community resilience to shocks is more cost effective than humanitarian response. Evidence shows that for every $1 spent on prevention, $4 less needs to be spent on the response. We will push other donors to invest in Nepal’s earthquake risk reduction.
Finally, Ashdown’s review makes clear that we must work with existing partners but also develop partnerships with charities, NGOs, the private sector and faith groups.
But this is not just an issue for Britain. Recent disasters have seen dozens of countries step in to help others in their hour of need. We need to act with the same unity in preparing for these shocks in advance to make sure we do all we can to avert and minimise the damage a natural disaster can cause.
I am currently in Washington at a forum on disaster risk reduction in Asia, and there is real consensus on the need to learn from recent disasters. The real challenge will lie in maintaining the momentum once the spotlight has moved off of the issue. But I am absolutely clear that this is a risk we cannot ignore and so we must not let it fall into the shadows.
Duncan is UK’s Minister of State for International Development
(The article was published in Guardian online on April 15)
Posted in: About Nepal
Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival 2011 arrives
KATHMANDU, April 17: The fifth edition of Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival (NIIFF) 2011, being held in Kathmandu from April 22 to 25 will screen 42 films from 20 countries.
The festival is being organized by the Indigenous Film Archive (IFA), Anamnagar.
This year, the theme ‘Indomitable spirit of the indigenous woman’ has been chosen to promote and celebrate the strong role indigenous women play in community building.
Nabin Subba, chairperson of IFA, says, “The festival will begin with a conference entitled, ‘The evolving indigenous woman’ and come up with a Kathmandu Manifesto.
Filmmakers Alanis Obomsawim and Jennifer Machiorlatti, Suvi West, festival director of Skabmagovat and Denise Zmekhol will speak at the conference.”
Discussing this year’s theme, Subba says, “We are trying to explore the roles indigenous women play in their communities and discuss the contribution of women in different arenas of the society.
” He further puts, “This year we have very few Nepali filmmakers participating which shows our films have yet to adopt the concept of women empowerment.”
The festival’s jury includes Suvi West, Jason Ryle, executive director of Imaginative film festival, and Nepali film maker Tsering Rithar Sherpa.
NIIFF will be held simultaneously at Nepal Tourism Board and City Hall.
All the screened films will be archived at IFA. The best three films in the festival will receive golden, silver and bronze drums respectively. ( source : rebublica )
The festival is being organized by the Indigenous Film Archive (IFA), Anamnagar.
This year, the theme ‘Indomitable spirit of the indigenous woman’ has been chosen to promote and celebrate the strong role indigenous women play in community building.
Nabin Subba, chairperson of IFA, says, “The festival will begin with a conference entitled, ‘The evolving indigenous woman’ and come up with a Kathmandu Manifesto.
Filmmakers Alanis Obomsawim and Jennifer Machiorlatti, Suvi West, festival director of Skabmagovat and Denise Zmekhol will speak at the conference.”
Discussing this year’s theme, Subba says, “We are trying to explore the roles indigenous women play in their communities and discuss the contribution of women in different arenas of the society.
” He further puts, “This year we have very few Nepali filmmakers participating which shows our films have yet to adopt the concept of women empowerment.”
The festival’s jury includes Suvi West, Jason Ryle, executive director of Imaginative film festival, and Nepali film maker Tsering Rithar Sherpa.
NIIFF will be held simultaneously at Nepal Tourism Board and City Hall.
All the screened films will be archived at IFA. The best three films in the festival will receive golden, silver and bronze drums respectively. ( source : rebublica )
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Nationwide photography contest
KATHMANDU, APR 17 -
Photo Journalists’ Club on Saturday launched the “Mega bank Photo Competition 067”.
The competition sponsored by Mega Bank is open to all Nepali
photographers—professional and amateur.
Interested participants can submit their photos online at www.pjclub.com.np. Club President Bikash Karki said that individuals can also submit pictures to ‘photo labs’ across the country. The Club has selected 52 colour labs for collecting participating pictures.
In a statement, the Club said shortlisted pictures will be exhibited at Siddhartha Art Gallery, Babarmahal, from May 12 to 14. The exhibition will also be held in three other major cities—Nepalgunj, Biratnagar and Pokhara.
“This is not merely a competition,” said Karki. “We aim to encourage amateurs to join mainstream photography. Besides, this is expected to help widen the prospect of photojournalism in Nepal.”
The competition will be held in five genres—tourism, nature and wildlife, daily life, news and photo story. Three winners of each genre will receive Rs 30,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000. (source : ekantipur)
The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) plans to set up 13 slaughterhouses
KATHMANDU, APR 17 -The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) plans to set up 13 slaughterhouses in various parts of the city in a couple of months.
The KMC effort to create an environment for distribution of safe meat as envisioned in the Slaughterhouse and Meat Inspection Act 2055 is heading towards success three years after metropolis first started groundwork. Though KMC formed a high level committee in 2008, things did not bear fruit.
Last year, another committee was formed, led by Babu Ram Gautam, chief of the Department of Public Health at the KMC. To accomplish the task, the government has allocated Rs 50,960,000 this fiscal year.
The Veterinary Public Health Office (VPHO), under the Department of Veterinary Service, which was assigned to select the contractor for the construction of slaughterhouses, invited tender from the cooperatives of meat entrepreneurs setting April 13 as the deadline. However, the department received only one proposal as the number of meat cooperatives is small in the Valley.
The department refused to reveal the name of the entrepreneurs on grounds of confidentiality. Dr Bodh Prasad Parajuli, chief of the department and committee member, said only one proposal had been received due to the strict terms and conditions for bidding.
Proposals were called a second time this year as what was sought last year from various entrepreneurs could not meet the prerequisites. Parajuli said the department has only begun the study on the proposal and will present it in the committee on Sunday.
“After it is verified by the committee, the report will be handed to the evaluation committee for final approval,” said Parajuli. “After verification, we will advise the KMC to let the contractor start construction work.” The department will allocate the budget to the KMC and look after the implementation part.
Gautam said construction will start once the proposal is endorsed. He added KMC was planning to set minimum criteria for meat shops to maintain quality.
According to KMC, there are 900 meat shops in the Valley while only two laughterhouses exist, in Tankeshwori and Huimat. (source : ekantipur)
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Nepali To English Date Converter
Nepali Date Converter converts bikram sambat Nepali Date to English date and English date to Nepali Date in Bikram Sambat. It is also use to convert hindi date to english and english to hindi date. Bikram Sambat is used in Nepal and India. Country like Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thiland and Malaysia also use Bikram sambat or Vikram sambat
Nepali Date Converter
Now "Bikram(Vikram) Sambat Nepali Date Converter" (Version 5.6) Can convert dates from Nepali Date(1970-2100)B.S and from English Date (1913-2043)A.D. Bikram Sambat is specially use in Nepal and India. Nepali Date Converter(from version 1 to 5.6) is functioning almost around 6 year, in this time several error are fixed. Nepali Date Converter (V 5.6) was tested individually for each dates. So the results are 100% accurate till now.
Nepali Date Converter
Now "Bikram(Vikram) Sambat Nepali Date Converter" (Version 5.6) Can convert dates from Nepali Date(1970-2100)B.S and from English Date (1913-2043)A.D. Bikram Sambat is specially use in Nepal and India. Nepali Date Converter(from version 1 to 5.6) is functioning almost around 6 year, in this time several error are fixed. Nepali Date Converter (V 5.6) was tested individually for each dates. So the results are 100% accurate till now.
Posted in: nepali unicode and calender
