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Friday, August 29, 2008
One of the positive things I noticed while visiting Nepal was the large number of newspapers, websites and blogs writing and publishing open critique of the events as they unfolded. People openly discussed their opinions about the waning days of the monarchy, the government in transition, and the effect on the people. Freedom of the press is a hallmark of participatory government, or dare I say, democracy.
Now, less than a few days following the swearing in of the Prime Minister, Maoist leader Prachanda, a major new publishing company has been formed. The new company, the Nhu Republic Media, will bring out Nhu Nepal, Nepali daily, and the New Republic, English daily in about three months.The new company plans to pump 400 million rupees into the economy over the next five years.
The company is being formed by editors who recently resigned from Kantipur Publications.
The editor of the Nepali daily will be Narayan Wagle (author of the award-winning fiction Palpasa's Cafe) who resigned from the editorship of Kantipur, Nepal’s largest daily, a few days ago. The editor of the English daily will be Ameet Dhakal who resigned from the Kathmandu Post, Nepal’s prominent English daily, a few days ago.
The editors wished success of Kantipur terming that as “the best newsroom in the country”. They said they wanted a strong and vibrant newspaper in Kantipur so that they could compete with a strong team and paper. They said they will be focusing mainly in the Kathmandu markets in the beginning- at least the first year- and go outside valley depending on how they perform in Kathmandu.
“We will be driven by journalistic principles,” he said and said that commercial priorities would be second to the newspapers.
Wow, putting journalistic principles over making money? America, are you listening?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Nepalese prime ministers traditionally visit India after they take office.
However, this Prime Minister, Maoist Prachanda, visited China first. He attended the closing ceremony of Beijing Olympics and met top leaders.
India has a major influence on Nepal's political and economical matters, while China keeps its distance.
Nepal gets all its oil products and most of its consumer goods from India. Landlocked Nepal also has to depend on India to move cargo and passenger traffic.
The Prime Minister said not to worry. He plans to keep an "equi-distant" relationship between India and China.
Interesting.
One of the major platforms of the Maoist Party was gender equity and inclusiveness. I mean, they made a big deal, and rightly so, about how the monarchy and the old feudal system in Nepal kept women out of the ranks of the powerful.
Prachanda, the new Prime Minister, has now appointed the new set of Ministers - like our Cabinet in the U.S. Executive Branch. There are NO women ministers.
Where are the Women???
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The monsoon season in Nepal this year has been particularly disastrous for people living to the southeast of Kathmandu. Yes, it's a natural disaster. But like the Katrina flooding of New Orleans, part of the blame for the severity of the disaster lies in the hands of the government. The dams and levees there were in bad shape.
The Embassy of Nepal, Washington DC appeals to all friends of Nepal to contribute funds to support relief efforts for the people affected by the recent flooding by Saptakoshi River in south east Nepal.
The flooding has severely affected more than 50,000 people who urgently need support for their daily livelihood and protect their lives from diseases. Not only government organizations, but also non-governmental organizations, people from private sector and civil societies have been actively involved in the rescue efforts.
Members of the Embassy Staff have decided to contribute seven days salary to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund as a token of assistance to the victim of flooding to help immediate relief efforts. The Embassy of Nepal urges all to contribute generously to help relief endeavors of the government of Nepal.
Looks like when I return to Nepal I can count on a lot more walking. Very good for my health!!!
Edited from a story by Tripti Lahiri in Yahoo! News
In fuel-starved Nepal, filling tank is a full day's job
How to get hold of petrol is one of the hottest topics in Nepal ever since its sole supplier, India, began refusing to sell fuel on credit a year ago to Nepal's state-run fuel monopoly, which owes it millions of dollars.
The ensuing shortage has led to rationing and pump queues of several kilometres.
The three men standing by their cars as night fell peered into the little white taxi, and recognising the Nepali cab driver as a friend, hissed, "Need petrol? We know where you can get some."
The driver slowed, and said he would return later for the few litres of black market petrol that would save him from losing an entire day queueing.
"I parked the truck in this line at 7:00 pm yesterday," said food transporter Krishna Bahadur Shrestha, 40, who was number 56 in a queue for diesel.
"They will only give me 10 or 15 litres. I won't be able to run my truck for even a full day on that."
In recent months -- despite a hike in government-set prices in June -- the supply has shrunk even more as rising crude costs that India passes on to Nepal have further limited how much the landlocked Himalayan country can buy in cash.
But the Nepali government continues to subsidise pump prices for fear of widespread protests in the country, still navigating a two-year-old peace process that saw Maoist rebels lay down their arms after a decade of war.
The policy has led the Nepal Oil Corporation into a sink-hole of almost 230 million dollars of debt -- and counting.
In July it was only able to import half what it needed, which it sold at a loss of 11 million dollars. Most of that was from diesel, which sells at a loss of 40 US cents a litre.
"Our purchasing price is higher than our selling price," said Mukunda Prasad Dhungel, deputy director of Nepal Oil Corporation's fuel supply and distribution department.
"The price is fixed by government. We can't do much," he said, adding the government needs to overhaul its fuel policy.
Maoist leader Prachanda, sworn in this month as the country's new prime minister following the abolition of Nepal's monarchy, has promised to tackle food and fuel shortages gripping impoverished Nepal -- but has not said how.
Meanwhile, Nepali workers devote multiple hours -- or even days -- each week to filling up. Drivers jostle to keep their spots every time the queue edges forward, while enterprising snack and water sellers flock to the lines and the captive customers.
Where possible, Nepalis try to keep their ears open for anyone who might be stockpiling some fuel to sell on the black market.
"One week ago I waited in the queue to refill the tank but when my turn came the gas station ran out of petrol. I wasted six hours of waiting," said taxi driver Bir Bahadur Lama, 48.
He eventually bought five litres from a bus driver who picked up extra fuel on a trip south to the region bordering India.
"Life is getting miserable," said Lama, who earns 103 dollars a month but owes almost twice that in monthly payments on the new taxi he bought last year.
Recently he has had to borrow from friends and family to make the payments, racking up a hefty debt.
"I think I put my money in the wrong place," said a morose Lama. "I spend more time queuing up at gas stations than waiting for customers."
Even those who don't depend directly on fuel for livelihood are suffering.
Food prices have gone up 20-30 percent in recent months, according to the UN's World Food Programme, because farmers have had to pay more to run tractors and transporters charge more to get food to markets.
"This subsidy is destroying the country," said Shiva Prasad Ghimire, president of Nepal's petroleum dealers association, which wants the government to raise prices again.
"All the development money, the money for roads, for drinking water is all going into the Nepal Oil Corporation's losses."
I've been hanging out with Katie who returned to college this past Thursday *sigh*, and reconnecting with friends. I miss Katie ALOT already!
The other thing I've been doing is grieving Nepal. I miss my friends there SOOOOO much!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
I couldn't have said it better myself: BBC Story on the Prime Minister
0 comments Posted by Jules West at 2:21 PM
The elevation of Nepal's chief Maoist, the leader of the former rebels, Prachanda, to the prime ministership is something he could barely have dreamt of just three years ago.
By the early 1980s, with political parties still banned, "The Fierce One" had abandoned his job as a teacher and was operating underground as an outlaw.
Not until 2006 did he appear in public again, after the end of a decade-long Maoist insurgency that cost 13,000 lives.
Whether he retains his war name or reverts to being Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the new prime minister has a massive task ahead of him.
The euphoria surrounding the restoration of democracy two years ago; the successful elections this April; the historic end of the monarchy shortly afterwards - these have been milestones.
The last two years have been full of historic symbolism as the old Hindu kingdom became a secular republic, sweeping away all references to its past, to the delight of some and the dismay of others.
But at the same time, state authority has crumbled so much that many Nepalis are in utter despair.
Squabbling
A sense of anarchy prevails nationwide, so much so that mention of the phrase "the government" tends to elicit scornful sniggers.
Crime and violence have spiralled. The slightest grievance brings people onto the street to demonstrate or blockade. For example, eastern Nepal has been at a complete standstill for six days, called by transport workers in protest at the murder of a bus driver and a broad lack of security.
Not only that. The shortages of petrol, diesel, kerosene and gas are beyond measure because the authorities won't balance the financial books.
There is severe hunger in the hills. There are power cuts at the height of the rainy season. The police appear unable to do anything other than arrest demonstrating Tibetans.
Luckily most Nepalis are adept at getting on with their lives despite their rulers, so the country has not imploded.
As prime minister, Prachanda will also have to draw together a country which for the past year-and-a-half has been displaying new and worrying fissures along ethnic and regional lines.
As a man who comes from the hills but moved to the southern flatlands as a child, he is only too aware of the widening rift in the south between people of hill origin and the Madhesis -southerners ethnically close to neighbouring Indians who have been campaigning against their marginalisation since late 2006.
Although the new president and his deputy are both Madhesis, the community's sense of grievance persists.
Violence in the south-east bubbles away, with shadowy rebel or criminal groups proliferating and people dying each week.
In July a Roman Catholic priest was killed by a militant Hindu group waging what it called an "anti-Muslim campaign".
In an ethnically complex society, many more regional groups are emerging and clamouring, mostly peacefully, for inclusion.
Perhaps the biggest question is how the Maoists can transform themselves into a party of government.
'Switzerland of Asia'
After the Maoists' surprise but convincing victory in the April elections, their deputy leader admitted to having some "sleepless nights" given the prospect of running the country.
Having promised, extravagantly, to make Nepal into the "Switzerland of Asia", they have encouraged high expectations.
Nepalese traditionalists worry that the former rebels retain a totalitarian bent.
This is a party which still sports Stalin as an icon and praises him - alongside Mao, of course. It has not renounced violence.
Since the election, many accounts have emerged of the way Maoist cadres cheated at the ballot boxes in far-off places, and in May party members killed a businessman inside a military camp.
Yet now could also be the time when the Maoists are given a chance to prove themselves: to show they are serious about the social transformations in whose name they went to war.
They have a very strong presence in the villages, and many now long for them to be able to build on the starts they have made at eroding caste and gender discrimination.
They also promise a more equitable system of land ownership.
This will be a test of other politicians, too: of whether they can shake off their ingrained habit of trying to do down their rivals and prevent others from getting credit for change.
There are still further challenges ahead.
Many people whose near and dear ones died or disappeared during the conflict are awaiting truth and justice. They will want the authorities to provide it.
On a different matter, having a Maoist prime minister may help resolve the future of the 19,000 Maoist former combatants still in camps as part of the UN-assisted peace process.
With a new prime minister and president at last in place, one more task can also get properly under way - the writing of a new constitution by the huge assembly elected in April.
Hitherto its members have complained that the body is being marginalised by the usual coterie of establishment politicians.
There has been enough talking. The work must now begin.
