Hari Sapkota

Property Right and Freedom

2010-05-31T22:44:00.001-07:00

Private property is essential for a free nation. It gives meaning to the concept of freedom. It is a prerequisite for trading in a market economy. If the founders of a free nation are to have any chance of succeeding, they must have a moral theory of property rights.

Freedom and property rights are tightly related. Freedom means doing what you want to do rather than what someone else tells you to do. The right to do as you please with your own property makes up a large part of your freedom. On the other hand, other people's property rights limit your freedom. Each person's freedom ends where another person's freedom begins. A free nation would be a place where each person is free to acquire property and do whatever he wants with it without interference, as long as he does not trespass on the rights of others.

Freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech cannot be fully realized without private property. For example, there cannot be freedom of the press in a society where all printing presses are owned and controlled by the state. Even if the rulers do not want to practice censorship, unless they are willing to publish absolutely everything, which could require them to devote almost all resources to the publishing industry, they must decide, somehow, what to publish and what not to publish. They must also decide how many copies they will print of each publication, how to distribute them, what price to charge (if any) for each copy, and many other things that can affect the impact that the publication will have on society.

Even so-called free countries, whose governments do not directly interfere with religious practices and which permit private property, impose general regulations and taxes that limit religious activity more than a truly free nation would. Local governments restrict religious freedom indirectly through zoning laws and building codes. All levels of government that collect taxes thereby limit the resources that taxpayers can spend on religion. By demanding tax payments under penalty of the law, all states imply that what they want is more important than what any god or religious community or individual wants.
Freedom of speech is the right to say whatever you want on your own property and the right to stipulate the rules that others must obey when they speak on your property. It is not the right to speak at the same time as everyone else, to interrupt, to shout down, or to disregard the rights of others. You should always get permission from the owner before using his property as your stage. If the streets and parks and town halls and theaters and all other meeting places are owned by the state, the state must decide whether to permit assemblies, protest marches, and speeches. The state has the right to say how the public property may be used, including who may speak there and what they may say. Under communism there is likely to be less freedom of expression and freedom of religion than in a private property system. Any freedom allowed in these areas under communism is at the pleasure of the ruling class and they can end it whenever they choose.
The more private property you own, the more ability you have to exercise these freedoms. But what about the poor man who has no property? What difference does it make to him whether all property is in private hands or whether it is in the hands of the state? In either kind of society, he can't do anything or have any freedom unless someone who owns property allows him the use of it. In either case, someone other than he decides what actions he is allowed to perform, if any. This poor wretch is clearly in a bad situation under either system. Even so, he should prefer the private property system, because it offers him more hope of improving his situation. First, in the private property system there are many property owners ranging from struggling poor folks to small businessmen to big tycoons. Somewhere in this range there is bound to be someone looking to hire workers or someone with compassion looking to help people in need. The propertyless man has many different people he can plead with or try to negotiate with to get temporary use of property. If one property owner turns him down, he can try another, and another, and another. But when the state owns all the property, the state is the only one he can plead with or try to negotiate with. If the state turns him down, he is done. Second, if he understands economics or history, our vagrant will realize that a free-market economy produces more and more wealth and, consequently, more and more total freedom, whereas a centrally planned economy wastes resources and produces less and less wealth and less total freedom. In a free-market economy there is an increasing amount of wealth available for charity and there are more new business opportunities for people who are looking for work. In a centrally planned economy, the amount of wealth available for distribution constantly shrinks as the planners inevitably misallocate resources. Third, in the private property system, the propertyless wretch has a possibility of someday owning property and, thereby, gaining some freedom and independence. Under the state-ownership system, he has no chance of ever owning property and being free.

Capitalism: the cure for poverty

2010-05-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

I was encouraged to learn then that "the poor" really only means the Gentiles, as they are impoverished in not being a party to the Lordâ€™s Covenant.

I usually find it prudent to avoid religious quotations. They invite correction and friction. Yet poverty, its causes and consequences, remains central to both politics and economics.

It seems to me those of the Left have co-opted it as "their" topic. The representatives of capitalism - the CBI or the Chambers of Commerce or even the Institute of Directors - avoid the theme, beyond suggesting that companies exist to be creamed for taxes so the state can help the poor.

I argue it is bold, liberalising projects that will invest those on the most modest incomes with dignity. Poverty, at its core, is about more than relative income streams. It is about extending choices that make life better and probably longer.

It is markets and capitalism that will lift everyone out of poverty - if it is opened up in ways that we seem too timid to touch.

I acknowledge the good intentions of many left-wing thinkers. I repudiate the results of their policies. One definition of poverty involves the proportion of income spent on food. A wealthy professional may eat very well, but his or her food budget is no more than 10 per cent of total budget.

For those at the bottom of the spectrum, 40 per cent goes on food. Yet the cost of our groceries is grossly too high because of the autarchic policies of the European Commission. The European Union protects the agricultural sector so tightly that the cost of food in our supermarkets is acknowledged to be at least 25 per cent higher than it need be.

That agreed sum may understate matters. If the commission lowered its tariff barriers, vast acres of land on other continents would come back under husbandry and prices would fall further. It seems plain to me that prices would fall immediately by 40 per cent and in many foodstuffs it would be 50 per cent. In the case of some commodities, such as sugar and bananas, falls would exceed 50 per cent.

This is a tangible and vivid way to dilute poverty yet who speaks out clearly against the inequity of the common agricultural policy? All the candidates in the Euro-elections in June are mute on CAP reform. Above all, why does Labour not scream from the rooftops? The Left, alert to the truth, ought to be tireless in abusing the malignant CAP.

The prospect of GM foods is treated as a threat of some nature. In fact, GM techniques will be a great blessing to the poor of the planet. The Green Revolution has enhanced the harvests more than the incremental improvements of the past 2,000 years. It is agronomists whose names we never know who have done more to mitigate poverty than high-minded European socialists.

The other dominant expenditure for those at the lower end of the income spectrum is housing - usually expressed as rent because ownership is usually not an option. Every community in Scotland is seeing the price of homes surge, whether it be in urban Edinburgh or remote rural communities.

The poor are marginalised even further. Often they are locked into the worst municipal housing schemes where life is grim and bleak. Scotland has no shortage of land. Prices are high only because of the constrictions we preserve.

If you want to make life easier - or cheaper - then land use has to be liberalised. Supply and demand is an equation we all know works in every other market, but in housing the principles of economics have to be suspended to preserve the ritual or ceremonial roles of councillors and planning officials.

Agronomists have done more to mitigate poverty than high-minded European socialists

Scotlandâ€™s Labour establishment seems blind to the notion of permitting many more new homes. Some would be on new sites, but much of it would be adaptation of present structures. It is simply ludicrous rural Scotland pretends it has no space.

Another cause of sustained poverty seems to me to be dreadful schooling. A poor education makes for a poor life. At its most simple if, after ten years of state schooling, you emerge unable to read or write or count your life chances are stunted.

Chancellor Gordon Brown can pour billions into "education", but success eludes him as the system crushes any element of choice. I believe that a legal test-case brought by an 18-year-old graduating from an Edinburgh school without elementary skills might transform the opportunities.

We need a mechanism that allows pupils to select strands of education and also one that rewards teachers that show real merit. I think our more dreadful schools stunt the lives of millions of kids. They are as bright as the rest of us, but are repelled by grottier schools.

There are some strands to the phenomenon of poverty that may be more intractable. Many people may seem slothful or incapacitated from normal work routines not because they are lazy or inept but because they have psychological or psychiatric problems - mostly undiagnosed.

Nonetheless, it would be feeble not to agree that the social-security system is nourishing a class of professional welfare beneficiaries who are adept at avoiding work. I was arrested by the Newsnight Scotland disclosure that one-third of Glaswegians now live off benefits. I am not contesting legitimate claimants, but I do think a high proportion of "the poor" are choosing not to work. This may be entirely rational behaviour. Why work if you are no better off after income tax and national insurance?

So, I offer three policies to liberate the poor: free trade in foodstuffs to halve the price of groceries; relaxing land-use impediments to dissolve the cost of housing and radical reform of schooling to break the cycle of stunted learning.

I can understand why politicians prefer to preserve the present systems, but the more imaginative must see that capitalism will lift the poor. It is socialism that keeps people crushed.

By JOHN Blundell

(â€¢ John Blundell is the director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs )

Read to Lead

2010-02-22T21:32:00.000-08:00

By Morton C. Blackwell

(Morton Blackwell is the Founder and President of the Leadership Institute.
Widely experienced in and out of government, Mr. Blackwell served three years in the Reagan Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Public Liaison. In 1984, Mr. Blackwell left the White House Staff to work full-time as the president of the Leadership Institute, his educational foundation which identifies, recruits, trains, and places conservatives in politics, government, and the media)

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Some people bluntly say they don't read. They say they would read if only they had the time.
I will also be blunt: You have time to do what you choose to do. The more you read, the better you read -- and the more you enjoy it.

People who don't read cheat themselves. By not reading, you limit what you can achieve, make mistakes you could avoid, and miss opportunities that could improve your life. Soon, as the gaps in your knowledge become apparent to others, you must reconcile yourself to not being taken seriously.
Before going any further, I must make clear that I do not urge you to spend the rest of your days nestled in a cozy spot at the local library. Far from it.

Actively involved in politics since the early 1960s at the local, state, and national levels, I understand the importance of action. Nothing moves unless it is pushed. Political activists elect candidates, pass or repeal laws, and determine public policy. But while boundless energy and enthusiasm are essential in activists, something else is necessary. To be successful leaders, activists must also be well-informed.

How To Learn
You can learn in three different ways:
1. By personal experience.
You can learn by trial and error. Known also as the school of hard knocks, trial and error is the most painful way to learn anything. I can't deny that this school teaches its lessons well. Its drawback, however, is that by the time you graduate -- if, indeed, you ever graduate -- you're too old to go to work. Students who study only at this school learn things only the hard way. No matter how diligent a
student you are of the school of hard knocks, you cannot learn by first-hand experience everything you should know.
2. By observation.
By paying attention to what goes on around you, you can learn from the experience of others. Careful observation is invaluable to anyone in any field, from sports to science to politics. But again, you cannot be everywhere. Everyone's individual power of observation is necessarily limited.
3. By studying the experience of others.
You can't experience or observe everything, but you can, by reading, learn from the experiences of your contemporaries, the previous generation, and those who lived ages ago.
You can learn from them all by reading their works and books about them.
After you have accumulated a lot of knowledge about how the world really works, you can become highly effective and achieve many things important to you.
In politics, it is not enough to know what's right. To succeed, your command of a subject must be so secure that you can persuade people you are right. And then you must activate them.
You should have such a mastery of the issues that you can frame your arguments to anticipate and render ineffective your opponent's arguments. You should know all you can learn about what works and what doesn't work. How do you accomplish this? Schooling alone will not suffice. All knowledgeable people are largely self-taught.

How To Read
The surest way to acquire a wide range of useful knowledge is to read every day.
My introduction to books came early, before I started school. We had a lot of books in our house. First, my parents regularly read aloud to me. After I learned to read, they did what Samuel Johnson advised other parents to do more than 200 years ago:
I would put a child into a library (where no unfit books are) and let him read at his choice. A child should not be discouraged from reading anything that he takes a liking to, from a notion that it is above his reach. If that be the case, the child will soon find it out and desist; if not, he of course gains the instruction; which is so much the more likely to come, from the inclination with which he takes up the study.

In time, I moved on from my family's books to my grammar school library and then to the well-stocked children's section of the East Baton Rouge Parish public library. From there I went to the well-stocked library of my junior high school, where I read, if not all, at least a large percentage of its books. After this, at my small rural high school, I read every book in that school's library at least once.

Sometimes my reading is systematic. I took a decade, ending a few years ago, to read at my cabin in the Blue Ridge mountains everything I could about the Roman Republic and the Greek city-state era. I believed the experience of people in those semi-democratic periods might be applied helpfully to modern-day America.
Well-written history books have all the drama of novels and the added merit of being (generally) true. And I systematically read many political biographies. Anyone interested in the public policy process should read biographies and autobiographies of political leaders. Histories and biographies, even if the authors are unsympathetic to conservatives, unfailingly contain a trove of information about how to succeed in the public policy process.

The art of politics cannot be as exact as, say, mathematics or chemistry, because it is so much more complicated. A number doesn't care if it's added or
subtracted; a chemical doesn't care about its history or its future. Understanding people requires wisdom, not just knowledge.

You have time to read, if you want to, every day. Read in bed, before you go to sleep. Read when you wake up in the morning. Read while your car is being serviced. Read on airplanes. Read during the dull parts of meetings you have to attend. Read while you're waiting in those long lines to get your driver's license renewed. Almost every day you can reclaim, by reading, some of your time which otherwise would be wasted.
You don't have to finish a book before starting another. Most well-educated readers read two or more books at the same time. Read some in one book. If you temporarily tire of it, read some in another for a change. There is no shortage of good books available.

Over the years, I have often been asked to recommend books I consider of particular value for conservatives. What follows is a core library of 26 books, all of which can be purchased from online services. Most of them can be found in libraries or in good used-book stores. I introduce the authors in alphabetical order. Every conservative leader should read (and re-read) these books. You can get all of these from sources at the end of this booklet.

No one could agree with every view expressed in these books. In some matters the authors have opposing views. But any conservative will find merit in each one.

Google Buzz 'breaks privacy laws'

2010-02-19T12:19:00.001-08:00

A leading privacy group has urged US regulators to investigate Google's new social networking service Buzz, one week after its launch.
The Electronic Privacy Information Centre (Epic) has made its complaint to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
It says that Buzz - which is part of Google's Gmail service - is "deceptive" and breaks consumer protection law.
The search giant has twice made changes to the service to placate an outcry from users about privacy concerns.

Canadian officials are also looking at whether Buzz violates privacy laws.
"Google still hasn't gone far enough," Epic's consumer privacy counsel Kim Nguyen told BBC News.
"Twitter is a social networking site and people know what they are signing up for. With Gmail, users signed up for an e-mail service not a social networking service," said Ms Nguyen.
"Despite all the changes, they still do not give users a meaningful way to opt into it."
Buzz was automatically rolled out to Gmail's 176 million users.
The FTC has been asked to "require Google to provide Gmail users with opt-in consent to the Google Buzz service".
The complaint has also asked the FTC to "require Google to provide notice to and request consent from Gmail users before making material changes to their privacy policy in future, and seek appropriate injunctive and compensatory relief".
'Rightfully upset'
Since launching Google Buzz as part of Gmail last week, the search giant has faced a torrent of criticism regarding privacy.
The feature that attracted the biggest outcry was one which automatically gave users a ready-made circle of friends to follow based on the people they emailed the most.

Privacy advocates said that meant the list of contacts was open for all to see and could have had serious implications for journalists, businesses or even those conducting illicit affairs.
Engineers have now replaced the auto-follow feature with one that suggests who to follow but EPIC said that still leaves the "user with the burden to block those unwanted followers".
The organisation also wants the company barred from using Gmail address book contacts to make up social networking lists.
Google has apologised and said it acted quickly to address concerns including introducing a new option to disable the service.
"If it becomes clear that people don't think we've done enough, we'll make more changes," Todd Jackson, product manager for Google Buzz told BBC News.
He acknowledged that many of Gmail's "tens of millions" of users were "rightfully upset" and that the firm was "very, very sorry".
'Seek forgiveness'
The botched launch of Buzz has led many to ponder how and why it happened.
In an interview with BBC News, Mr Jackson admitted that testing of the service had been inadequate and that it was not opened up to a big enough group of people to try out.
"We've been testing Buzz internally at Google for a while. Of course, getting feedback from 20,000 Googlers isn't quite the same as letting Gmail users play with Buzz in the wild."
The Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group, said it was not surprised by this stumble.
"This case illustrates a lot about Google's corporate culture where a company is run by computer scientists whose operating method is don't ask for permission when you can always ask for forgiveness," said the organisation's John Simpson.
The move by EPIC to ask the FTC to investigate Buzz mirrors one it made in December against the world's biggest social networking platform Facebook.
Then, the privacy watchdog was not happy about changes the company made to its privacy settings.

Dolphins have diabetes off switch

2010-02-19T12:16:00.000-08:00

A study in dolphins has revealed genetic clues that could help medical researchers to treat type 2 diabetes.

Scientists from the US National Marine Mammal Foundation said that bottlenose dolphins are resistant to insulin - just like people with diabetes.
But in dolphins, they say, this resistance is switched on and off.
The researchers presented the findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Diego.

They hope to collaborate with diabetes researchers to see if they can find and possibly even control an equivalent human "off switch".
The team, based in San Diego, took blood samples from trained dolphins that "snack" continuously during the day and fast overnight.
"The overnight changes in their blood chemistry match the changes in diabetic humans," explained Stephanie Venn-Watson, director of veterinary medicine at the foundation.
This means that insulin - the hormone that reduces the level of glucose in the blood - has no effect on the dolphins when they fast.
Big brains
In the morning, when they have their breakfast, they simply switch back into a non-fasting state, said Dr Venn-Watson. In diabetic people, chronic insulin resistance means having to carefully control blood glucose, usually with a diet low in sugar, to avoid a variety of medical complications.
But in dolphins, the resistance appears to be advantageous. Dr Venn-Watson explained that the mammals may have evolved this fasting-feeding switch to cope with a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet of fish.
"Bottlenose dolphins have large brains that need sugar," Dr Venn-Watson explained. Since their diet is very low in sugar, "it works to their advantage to have a condition that keeps blood sugar in the body… to keep the brain well fed".
But other marine mammals, such as seals, do not have this switch, and Dr Venn-Watson thinks that the "big brain factor" could be what connects human and dolphin blood chemistry.

“ There are several interesting diseases that you only see in humans and dolphins ”
Lori Schwacke NOAA

"We're really looking at two species that have big brains with high demands for blood glucose," she said.
"And we have found changes in dolphins that suggest that [this insulin resistance] could get pushed into a disease state. "If we started feeding dolphins Twinkies, they would have diabetes."
Genetic link
Since both the human genome and the dolphin genome have been sequenced, Dr Venn-Watson hopes to work with medical researchers to turn the discovery in dolphins into an eventual treatment for humans.
"There is no desire to make a dolphin a lab animal," she said. "But the genome has been mapped - so we can compare those genes with human genes."
Scientists at the Salk Institute in San Diego have already discovered a "fasting gene" that is abnormally turned on in people with diabetes, "so maybe this is a smoking gun for a key point to control human diabetes", Dr Venn-Watson said.
If scientists can find out what switches the fasting gene on and off in dolphins, they may be able to do the same thing in people.
Lori Schwacke, a scientist from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Charleston, South Carolina, said that the work demonstrated that there are interesting similarities between dolphins and humans.
Dr Schwacke, who is studying the effect of pollution on dolphins along the coast of the US state of Georgia, is also interested in the links between dolphin and human health.
"There are several interesting diseases that you only see in humans and dolphins," she told BBC News. In this case, Dr Venn-Watson said, "the fundamental difference is that dolphins can switch it off and humans can't".

सम्पतिको अधिकार

2009-12-17T15:28:00.000-08:00

सम्पति भन्नाले साम्पतिक अधिकारलाई बुझिन्छ / सम्पति हस्तान्तरण हुन सक्ने हुनाले अधिकार को द्योतक मानिन्छ / सम्पतिमा मुर्त अमुर्त, दृश्य अदृश्य सम्पतिको अधिकार सम्मिलित हुन्छ / प्राचिनकालमा हिन्दुहरुमा घर जगा, जमिन, सुन, चादी, पशु आदिको अतिरिक्त पुत्र पुत्रिहरुलाई पनि सम्पतिको रुपमा गणना गरिन्थ्यो / प्रत्येक मान्छेको आफ्नै सम्पति हुन्छ / बेक्तिमा निहित अधिकार नै सम्पति हो / सम्पति अधिकार मानिसका असिमित अधिकारहरुका संग्रह हुन् / तर राज्य र गैर राज्यका केहि सिमित बेक्तीहरुले एस अधिकारलाइ सिमित गराउछन / राज्यले कानुनको प्रयोग गरेर बेक्तिको असिमित अधिकारलाई सिमित गरिन्छ भने गैर राज्यले लुटको माध्यमबाट यो अधिकारलाइ सिमित पारिन्छ /

एस अबस्थामा सम्पति र स्वामित्वोको बारेमा प्रस्ट हुनु पर्दछ / स्वामित्व पूर्णतया प्राकृतिक बेक्तिको अधिनमा रहनु पर्दछ / स्वामित्व बिना कुनै सम्पति हुनै सक्दैन / अर्थात् प्रत्येक बेक्तिको जिबन, स्वतन्त्रता , ख्याती सबै आफ्नै अधिनमा रहन्छ / कुनै बेक्तिको सम्पति केवल निजको स्वामित्व मात्र हो / सम्पति हाम्रो जिबनको अभिन्न अङ्ग हो / यो सबै मानिसहरुमा हुन्छ / मानिसको निम्ति एसको बारेमा सीकौनै पर्दैन, किनभने यो प्राकृतिक हो /

प्राकृतिक स्रोतमा आफ्नो कौशल, बुद्दी र बिबेकको निरंतर प्रयोग गरेर एबम एकनास श्रम गरेर मात्र मानिस बाच्न र आफ्ना चाहानाहरुलाई पूर्ति गर्न सक्छ / सम्पतिको उद्गम नै यो प्रक्रिया हो / तर सत्य त यो पनि हो कि मानिसहरुले अर्काको श्रमबाट भएको उत्पादनमा कब्जा जमाएर एबम उपभोग गरेर पनि आफ्ना चाहना पूर्ति गर्न र बाच्न सक्छ / येही प्रक्रिया नै लुटको उद्गम हो / प्राकृतिक रुपमा मान्छे दुखलाई पन्छुना चाहने स्वोभाबको हुन्छ र परिश्रम त आफैमा दुख हो / तेसैले जबजब काम गर्नु भन्दा लुट्नु सजिलो हुन्छ, मान्छेले लुटकै बाटो अनुसरण गर्छ / यो कुरा इतिहासदेखी नै देखिन्छ / र एस्तो अबस्थामा न धर्मले न त नैतिक्तालेनै एस्लाई रोक्न सक्छ / अहिले हाम्रो देसमा एस्तो लुट भै रहेको छ / सामन्तीको सम्पति कब्जा गर्ने नाममा बेक्तिगत सम्पति लुट्ने कम भैरहेको छ /

तेसो भए यो लुट कहिले रोकिन्छ त ? रोकिन्छ / त्येस अबस्थामा मात्र जब परिश्रम गर्नु भन्दा लुट्नु बढी कस्टकर र असुरकक्छित हुन्छ / तेसकारण यो प्रस्ट छ कि श्रम भन्दा लुट सहि भन्ने घातक प्रबृत्तिलाइ रोक्न सामुहिक बलको शक्तिलाई उपयोग गर्नु नै कानुनको सहि उदेश्य हो / मतलब दण्डहीनताको अन्त हुनु पर्दछ / कानुनले हर उपायको प्रयोग गरेर सम्पतिको बचाऊ गर्नु पर्दछ र लुट लाई दण्ड दिनुपर्छ /

मानिसले प्राकृतिक स्रोतमा लगाउने श्रम, सिप, ज्ञान र बुद्दी नै सम्पति आर्जन गर्नको लागि हो / एदी उसले आर्जन गरेको सम्पतिको बचाऊ हुदैन वा त्यो सम्पति लुटिन्छ भने उसले आफ्नो श्रम र बुद्दी लागौदैन र उत्पादन पनि हुदैन / नया नया आविस्कार पनि हुदैन र मानब विकासमा पनि अबरोध हुन्छ / जस्तै माइक्रोसफटका बिल गेट्सले आफ्नो सम्पतिको लुट हुने भए सफ्टवेरमा तेत्रो लगानी गर्ने थिएनन् / थप सम्पति आर्जन गर्नको लागि नै लागनी गरेका हुन् / उनले गरेको लगानी र श्रमले सारा मानब जातिले आज फाइदा उठिरहेको छ / एदी सम्पतिको अधिकार उनीमा थिएन भने उनले न त लगानी गर्थे न त संसारले कम्पुटरको एती सहज उपयोग गर्न सक्थ्यो /

मानबाधिकार

2009-12-14T12:00:00.000-08:00

काभ्रेको खरेलथोककी किशोरी मैना सुनार हत्याका आरोपी सैनिक अधिक्रीत निरञ्जन बस्नेतमाथि कारवाही प्रक्रिया सूरु गरिएको छ / एसले मानव अधिकार उल्लंघनकर्तालाई उन्मुक्ति मिल्न सक्दैन भन्ने कुराको पुस्टी गर्न खोजेको छ। सेनाले अफ्रिकी मुलुक चाडमा शान्ति मिसनमा पठाएका बस्नेतलाई राष्ट्रसंघीय शान्ति मिसनले फर्काउने प्रक्रिया अघि बढाएको हो। उनी शान्ति मिसनमा खटिएको समाचार प्रकाशित भएपछि उनलाई फिर्ता पठाउने प्रक्रिया सुरु भएको थियो। अमानवीय कार्यमा नेपाली सेनामात्र होइन माओवादीको गम्भीर संलग्नता रहेको छ। के तिनलाई पनि कानुनको दायरामा ल्याउने बेला भएन? रामहरि श्रेष्ठको हत्यामा संलग्न कालीबहादुर खाम मगरलाई माओवादीले अहिलेसम्म प्रहरीमा बुझाएको छैन। मानव अधिकार उच्चायुक्तको कार्यालयका प्रमुख रिचर्ड बेनेटले खामलाई प्रहरीमा 'सरेन्डर' गर्ने आदेश दिन माओवादी अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डलाई आग्रह गरेको बताएका थिए। उनले आग्रह गरेको ६ महिनाभन्दा बढी भए पनि उनलाई कारवाही होइन केन्द्रीय कमिटीमा बढुवा गरी पुरस्कृत गर्ने काम भएको छ। माओवादीले उनलाई आन्तरिक कारवाही भइसकेको बताएको छ। कुनै राजनीतिक दल वा संगठनले आन्तरिक कारवाही गरेको भरमा अपराधबाट मानवताविरुद्धको जघन्य अपराधबाट उन्मुक्ति मिल्न सत्तै्कन। त्यसो हुने भए स्वतन्त्र अदालतको आवश्यकता रहने थिएन।बाराका पत्रकार वीरेन्द्र साहका हत्यारा निर्विघ्न घुमिरहेका छन्। उनीहरूलाई माओवादीले आफ्नो पार्टी कमिटीमा राखेर प्रोत्साहित गरेको छ। पार्टी कार्यकर्ता जोडिएका धेरै मुद्दामा कारवाही हुनेभन्दा पनि कानुन उल्लंघन गर्नेलाई प्रोत्साहन गर्ने गरिएको छ। यो त माओवादी शान्ति प्रक्रियामा आइसकेपछाडिका उदाहरण हुन । दण्डहीनताको अन्त्य गर्न सरकारमा भएका राजनीतिक दल वा माओवादीको प्रतिबद्धता र इच्छाशक्ति देखिँदैन। अहिले बल्ल निरञ्जन बस्नेत एकजनामाथि कारवाही हुने अवस्था आएको छ। त्यो पनि राष्ट्रिय तथा अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय दबाबका कारणले। यसरी कारवाही प्रक्रिया अघि बढ्यो भने आफूमाथि नै कारवाही हुने हो कि भन्ने डर धेरैजसो पार्टी नेताहरूलाई छ। त्यसकारण हिजो द्वन्द्वकाल र त्यसपछि अपराध गर्नेहरूलाई न्यायालयमा पुर्‍याउने काम हुन नसकेको हो। यसकारण बस्नेतमाथिको कारवाहीलाई यस दिशामा पहिलो पाइला साबित हुने वातावरण सरकारले बनाउनुपर्छ। मानवताविरोधी अपराधमा संलग्न भएकालाई न्यायालयमा उभ्याउनै पर्छ। बस्नेतमात्र होइन, माओवादीलाई पनि उत्तिकै जिम्मेवार ठहर्‍याउन सरकार, अधिकारकर्मी र अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय संस्था अग्रसर हुनुको विकल्प छैन। जिउदै बसमा जलाउने, सर्बसाधारन चड्ने बसलाई एम्बुस थपेर हत्या गर्ने,घरमा सुतिरहेको बिनाहतियारको मान्छे लाई बच्चाको अगाडि रेटेर मार्नेलाई पनि तुरुन्त सजाय हुनुपर्दछ । हैन भने बस्नेतमाथी कारबाही गर्नुको कुनै मत्लब हुदैन । द्वन्द्वकालमा गरियेको अमानबिय कार्यको सजाय दिन भनेर सैनिक अधिक्रीतलाई नेपाल फिर्ता पठाइयेको छ र उनीलाई अदालतमा लगिदै छ । तर त्यही समयमा माओवादीबाट गरियेका जघन्य अपराधको सजाय कहीले दिने ?

दुरुपयोग

2009-12-09T15:54:00.000-08:00

केहि समय अगाडी बिरामी पिताको उपचारको लागि सिंगापुर गएकी सुजाता कोइरालाले महँगो होटेलमा बसेर महँगो कार भाडामा लिएर राज्य कोषको दुरुपयोग गरिन भन्ने बिषयले धेरै चर्चा पायो / तेसको केहि समय अगाडी अहिलेका प्रधानमन्त्री माधव कुमार नेपालले संयुक्त रास्त्रसंघको सभामा जादा जम्बो टोलि लगेर राज्यकोषको दुरुपयोग गरे भनेर आलोचित भए / हालै उनि डेनमार्कको कोपेन्हेगेनमा हुने जलवायु सम्बन्धि सम्मेलनमा सहभागी हुन जम्बो टोलि लिएर फेरी राज्य कोष को चरम दुरुपयोग गरिरहेका छन् / पूर्व प्रधानमन्त्री तथा आफुलाई सर्बहाराको नेता भन्ने माओबादीका नेता प्रचण्डले आफु प्रधानमन्त्री हुदा लाखौ पर्ने खाट किनेर राज्यको ढुकुटी सखाप पारे / तेस्तै गरि नेपालका मन्त्रि, पूर्व मन्त्रि, सचिब र अन्य कर्मचारीहरुले महंगा गाडी आफुले मात्र प्रयोग नगरी आफ्नो परिवारका सदस्य हरुले समेत प्रयोग गर्ने गरेको कोहि बाट छिपेको छैन /हुलाकको हल्काराले चिठीपत्रहरु घरघर सम्म लाग्नको लागि उससंग केहिपनि सवारी साधन हुदैन तर तेही हुलाकको माथिल्लो तहको कर्मचारीसंग गाडी सुबिधा हुन्छ र उसले त्यो गाडी घर र कार्यालय अनि आफ्नो घरायेशी कामको लागि प्रयोग गर्छ / अनि हुलाकले कसरि छिटो छरितो सेवा दिन सक्ला र हामी जनताका चिठीपत्र समयमानै सहि ठाउमा पुग्ला ? येस्ता उधारणहरु हामी अनगिन्ति प्रस्तुत गर्न सक्छौ / विदेशमा लगेर राज्यले एकजना नेतालाई करोडौ रुपैया खर्च गर्न सक्छ तर तेही कालिकोटमा झाडापखाला लगेर सारा गाउले मर्दा पनि औसधि पुर्याउन सक्दैन /

एस्ता उदाहरण हरु हामी संग धेरै छन् / यो बैध लुटको उदहारण हो / प्रजातन्त्र र समाजबादको नाम मा विभिन्न कानुन बनाएर गरिब जनतासंग कर लिने अनि तेस रकमलाई आफ्नो स्वार्थ र आफ्नो सुबिधाको लागि प्रयोग गर्ने / यो लुट नभएर के हो त? एउटा गरिबले मट्टीतेल किन्दा होस् वा सियो किन्दा होस् , उसले कर तिरेको हुन्छ / एदी उसलाई कर नलिने हो भने उसले त्यो पैसा बचत गर्न सक्छ र तेसबाट आफ्नो र परिवारको उपचार र बच्चाको पढाई मा खर्च गर्न सक्छ / जनतासंग कर लिने अनि तेस्लाई नेताले मनलाग्दी आफ्नो सेवा र सुबिधा मा मनलाग्दी खर्च गर्ने कस्तो प्रजातन्त्र हो यो? अनि कस्तो समाजबाद हो यो ? नेपाली इतिहासलाइ हेर्ने हो भने यो एउटा परम्परा जस्तै बनिसकेको छ / राणाकालमा राणाहरुले जनतासंग उठाएको करले आफ्नो सेवा सुबिधामा मात्र खर्च गर्थे / पंचायेती बेबस्था मा पनि यो क्रम रोकिएन / प्रजातन्त्र आयो , गणतन्त्र आयो तर यो लुट को सस्कार रोकिएन / हामी जनताले हाम्रो पैसाको दुरुपयोग रोक्न सकेनौ / राजनैतिक बेबस्था परिबर्तन भयो तर नेताहरुमा परिबर्तन आएन / यो सस्कार नरोकिने हो भने अब हामीले कर किन तिर्ने ? नतिरे हुदैन?

Himalaya glacier deadline 'wrong

2009-12-06T21:14:00.000-08:00

The UN panel on climate change warning that Himalayan glaciers could melt to a fifth of current levels by 2035 is wildly inaccurate, an academic says.

J Graham Cogley, a professor at Ontario Trent University, says he believes the UN authors got the date from an earlier report wrong by more than 300 years.
He is astonished they "misread 2350 as 2035". The authors deny the claims.
Leading glaciologists say the report has caused confusion and "a catalogue of errors in Himalayan glaciology".

The Himalayas hold the planet's largest body of ice outside the polar caps - an estimated 12,000 cubic kilometres of water.
They feed many of the world's great rivers - the Ganges, the Indus, the Brahmaputra - on which hundreds of millions of people depend.
'Catastrophic rate'
In its 2007 report, the Nobel Prize-winning Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said: "Glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world and, if the present rate continues, the likelihood of them disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high if the Earth keeps warming at the current rate.

“ It is not plausible that Himalayan glaciers are disappearing completely within the next few decades ”
Michael Zemp, World Glacier Monitoring Service

"Its total area will likely shrink from the present 500,000 to 100,000 square kilometres by the year 2035," the report said.
It suggested three quarters of a billion people who depend on glacier melt for water supplies in Asia could be affected.
But Professor Cogley has found a 1996 document by a leading hydrologist, VM Kotlyakov, that mentions 2350 as the year by which there will be massive and precipitate melting of glaciers.
"The extrapolar glaciation of the Earth will be decaying at rapid, catastrophic rates - its total area will shrink from 500,000 to 100,000 square kilometres by the year 2350," Mr Kotlyakov's report said.
Mr Cogley says it is astonishing that none of the 10 authors of the 2007 IPCC report could spot the error and "misread 2350 as 2035".
"I do suggest that the glaciological community might consider advising the IPCC about ways to avoid such egregious errors as the 2035 versus 2350 confusion in the future," says Mr Cogley.
He said the error might also have its origins in a 1999 news report on retreating glaciers in the New Scientist magazine.
The article quoted Syed I Hasnain, the then chairman of the International Commission for Snow and Ice's (ICSI) Working group on Himalayan glaciology, as saying that most glaciers in the Himalayan region "will vanish within 40 years as a result of global warming".

When asked how this "error" could have happened, RK Pachauri, the Indian scientist who heads the IPCC, said: "I don't have anything to add on glaciers."
The IPCC relied on three documents to arrive at 2035 as the "outer year" for shrinkage of glaciers.
They are: a 2005 World Wide Fund for Nature report on glaciers; a 1996 Unesco document on hydrology; and a 1999 news report in New Scientist.
Incidentally, none of these documents have been reviewed by peer professionals, which is what the IPCC is mandated to be doing.
Murari Lal, a climate expert who was one of the leading authors of the 2007 IPCC report, denied it had its facts wrong about melting Himalayan glaciers.
But he admitted the report relied on non-peer reviewed - or 'unpublished' - documents when assessing the status of the glaciers.
'Alarmist'
Recently India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh released a study on Himalayan glaciers that suggested that they may be not melting as much due to global warming as it is widely feared.
He accused the IPCC of being "alarmist".

Mr Pachauri dismissed the study as "voodoo science" and said the IPCC was a "sober body" whose work was verified by governments.
But in a joint statement some the world's leading glaciologists who are also participants to the IPCC have said: "This catalogue of errors in Himalayan glaciology... has caused much confusion that could have been avoided had the norms of scientific publication, including peer review and concentration upon peer-reviewed work, been respected."
Michael Zemp from the World Glacier Monitoring Service in Zurich also said the IPCC statement on Himalayan glaciers had caused "some major confusion in the media".
"Under strict consideration of the IPCC rules, it should actually not have been published as it is not based on a sound scientific reference.
"From a present state of knowledge it is not plausible that Himalayan glaciers are disappearing completely within the next few decades. I do not know of any scientific study that does support a complete vanishing of glaciers in the Himalayas within this century."
Pallava Bagla is science editor for New Delhi Television (NDTV) and author of Destination Moon - India's quest for Moon, Mars and Beyond.

तस्बिर जोमसोम

2009-12-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

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2009-12-01T20:59:00.000-08:00

नेपाली राजनीतिका अचम्म लाग्दा पक्षहरु

2009-11-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

नेपाल गजबको देश भएको छ। नेपालको राजनीतिक यस्तै हुन्छ भनेर कसैले भन्न नसक्ने भएको छ। २०४६ सालमा प्रजातन्त्रको पुनःप्राप्तिपछि नेपालको राजनीतिमा भविष्यवाणी गर्न नसकिने उतारचढावहरू आएका छन्। नेपालको राजनीतिमा पहिले १० वर्षमा परिवर्तन हुन्छ भन्ने गरिन्थ्यो। १९९७ साल, २००७ साल, २०१७ साल, २०२७/२८ साल, २०३६ साल र २०४६ सालका परिवर्तनहरू यसका उदाहरणहरू हुन्। तर २०४६ सालपछि नेपालको राजनीतिमा आउने परिवर्तन १० वर्षे घेराबाट घटेर वर्ष, महिना वा दिनको सीमाभित्र आइपुगेको देखिन्छ। नेपालमा तत्काल के राजनीतिक परिवर्तन हुँदैछ र त्यसमा कसको अडान के हुन्छ भन्ने कुरा कसैले अनुमान गर्न सक्दैन। संघीयता र खासगरी जातीय संघीयताको सन्दर्भमा विभिन्न पक्षहरूबाट आएका विचारहरूलाई केलाउँदा पनि कुन पक्षले, कुन कुरा किन वकालत गरिरहेछ भन्ने अनुमान गर्न धेरै अप्ठेरो पर्ने अवस्था छ। कुनै पक्षले आफ्नो अडानभन्दा बिल्कुल फरक खालको कुनै मत ल्याएको अवस्थामा त्यो किन आयो बुझ्न अप्ठेरो पर्नु स्वभाविक हुन आउँछ। यस्ता कुराहरूलाई पहलु पनि भन्न सकिन्छ। नेपालमा संघीय शासन र त्यसमा जातीय संघीय शासनको सन्दर्भमा विभिन्न पक्षहरूबाट आएका विचारहरूलाई यस्तै पहलुको रूपमा लिन सकिन्छ। केही यस्ता पहलुहरू यसप्रकार देखिन्छन्:

नेकपा माओवादीले जातीय संघीयताको माग गर्नु

चिनियाँ नेता कमरेड माओको विचारलाई मूल आधार बनाएर गाउँबाट शहर घेर्ने नीति अन्तर्गत संचालित पार्टी नेकपा(माओवादी) हो। एक त कम्युनिष्ट पार्टी त्यो पनि युद्धमा रहेको हुनाले त्यस पार्टींले निभाउने भूमिकाको सन्दर्भमा निर्णय गर्ने सम्पूर्ण अधिकार कमरेड प्रचण्डमा केन्द्रित रहेको देखिन्छ। यो पार्टी जनवादी केन्द्रिीयता अन्तर्गत चल्ने पार्टी हो। जनवादी केन्द्रीयता भन्नाले तल्ला संगठनहरू माथिल्ला संगठन अन्तर्गत रहन्छन्, अल्पमत बहुमत अन्तर्गत रहन्छ, व्यक्ति संगठनको अन्तर्गत रहन्छ र सम्पूर्ण पार्टी महाधिवेशन अन्तर्गत रहने गर्दछ। जनवादी केन्द्रियता अन्तर्गत मूलतः केन्द्र नै बलियो भएर रहेको हुन्छ। त्यहाँ सबै अधिकार केन्द्रमा रहेको देखिन्छ। यसरी सम्पूर्ण अधिकार केन्द्रमा रहेका र केन्द्रले नै नीति निर्माण गरी भूमिसुधार लगायतका क्रान्तिकारी कदम चाल्ने नीति लिएको पार्टीले नेपालका लागि संघीता र त्यो पनि जातीय आधारमा भन्ने माग गरिरहेको छ। बारम्बार स्विट्जरल्याण्डको उदाहरण दिने त्यस पार्टीका नेता प्रचण्डले स्वट्जरल्याण्ड जातीय हिसाबमा मूलतः तीनवटा जाति रहेको र ती जातिहरू आ–आफ्नो क्षेत्रमा सघन रूपमा बसेको हुँदाहुँदै पनि जातीय राज्य नबनेको कुरालाई याद नगरी नेपाल जहाँ कुनै पनि क्षेत्रमा खास जातिको सघन बसोबास छैन, त्यहाँ जातीय राज्य आवश्यक छ भनिरहेका छन्। नेपालमा सबै जातजातिलाई राज्य दिन सकिंदैन तर यस मेसोमा गएपछि हरेक जातिमा यो भावना आउने र अनन्त संघर्षमा पसिन्छ भन्ने पनि त्यसलाई थाहा छ। अर्को तर्फबाट हेर्दा नेपालभन्दा झण्डै ६६ गुना ठूलो चीनले अस्वीकार गरेको संघीयतालाई नेपाल जस्तो सानो मुलुकमा लागु गर्न खोज्नु कुन माओवाद हो त्यो पनि देखिंदैन। संघीय देश भारतले पनि आफ्नो बाटो तय गर्दा एक त जातीय आधारमा नगरेर केही राज्यमा भाषिक अधारमा र त्यो पनि धेरै अधिकारहरू केन्द्रमा रहने गरी गरेको छ भन्ने कुरा पनि त्यस पार्टीलाई थाहा छ। त्यस्तै समाजवादी व्यवस्थाका लागि केही न केही केन्द्रीय हस्तक्षेप हुनुपर्छ भन्ने मान्यतालाई बिर्सेर केन्द्रका अधिकारहरू निक्षेपणको नाउँमा पूरै अराजकता तर्फ जाने कुरा कति सान्दर्भिक छ? यी सबै कुराहरूको आधारमा हेर्दा माओवादीको नीति नेपाली जनताका लागि पहलु नै भएको देखिन्छ।
हुंकारको हिसाबले हेर्दा नेपालमा अब्बल दर्जाको कम्युनिष्ट आफू मात्र रहेको कुरा म ाओवादीले घोषणा गरेको छ। तर यसले लिएको विचार भने कम्युनिष्ट आन्दोलनलाई सखाप पार्ने खालको देखिन्छ। यसले बोकेको जातीय रुाज्यको सिद्धान्त नै पश्चिमा देशहरू र नेपालमै पनि बाम आन्दोलनबाट पलायन भएकाहरूले उठाएको इतिहासलाई हेर्दा माओवादी पार्टी पनि विस्तारै त्यतैतिर जाँदैछ भन्ने देखिन्छ। जातीय राजनीतिको अनिवार्य परिणाम जातीय पार्टी भएकाले नेकपा माओवादी पनि वर्तमान मूलधारका पार्टीहरूलाई विघटन गराई जातीय मोर्चा फार्त् शासन गर्न चाहन्छ भन्ने प्रष्ट हुन आउँछ। साम्राज्यवादको उग्र विरोध गर्ने माओवादी र वामपन्थी आन्दोलनलाई खतम बनाउन जातीय आन्दोलनलाई अगाडि बढाउन चाहने साम्राज्यवादीहरूको बीचमा ठ्याक्कै लक्ष्य मिल्नु चाहिं अर्को अचम्म देखिन्छ। त्यसैगरी इथियोपियाको बाटो हिंडेर स्वीट्जरल्याण्ड पुगिने त्यस पार्टीको गफ पनि सुन्न मजै लाग्ने खालकेा देखिन्छ।

नेकपा एमालेले संघीयताको माग गर्नु

नेकपा एमाले त्यस्तो पार्टी हो जुन संगठनभित्र जनवादी केन्द्रीयताको सिद्धान्तलाई पालना गर्छ र पार्टीको मूल नीति निर्माण गर्ने केन्द्रीय कमिटि छ। पाँचौं महाधिवेशनभन्दा अघि यस पार्टीको महाधिवेशन नभएको बेलामा सार्वभौमिकता रहने केन्द्र राष्ट्रिय परिषद्मा थियो तर त्यस अधिवेशनपछि पार्टीको सामान्य जीवनमा सार्वभौम केन्द्र केन्द्रीय कमिटि रहँदै आएको छ। एमाले पार्टी त्यस्तो पार्टी पनि हो। जसले बहुदलीय प्रतिस्पर्धामा आफूलाई समावेश गरेदेखि नै पूर्ण विकेन्द्रीकरण (निक्षेपण) को पक्षमा आवाज बुलन्द गर्दै आएको छ। बहुदलीय जनवाद लगायत यसका समग्र नीतिगत दस्तावेजले पूर्ण विकेन्द्रीकरणको पक्षमा वकालत गरेका छन्। विभिन्न समुदायहरूको उन्नति का लागि धर्म निरपेक्षता, स्वशासन, भाषिक स्वतन्त्रता, सांस्कृतिक उन्नति आदि समस्याहरूलाई यस पार्टीले निक्षेपणकै अधीनमा रहेर समाधान गर्ने नीति लिएको हो। खास भन्ने हो भने नेपालको विकेन्द्रीकरणको सन्दर्भमा प्रवक्ताको भूमिक ा निर्वाह गर्दै आएको पार्टी यही नै हो। २०५१ सालमा बनेको यस पार्टीको अल्पमतको सरकारले ल्याएको आफ्नो गाउँ आफै ब नाउँ भन्ने कार्यक्रमको प्रभावकारिताले नै नेपालमा केन्द्रीय तहबाट भन्दा तल्ला निकायहरूबाट प्रभावकारी रूपमा काम हुन सक्तछन् भन्ने प्रमाणित भएको हो। आफ्नो गाउँ आफै बनाऔं कार्यक्रमलाई कनिका छर्ने कार्यक्रम भन्ने नेपाली कांग्रेसले पनि गाउँको अधिकार गाउँलाई नै भन्ने नारा लगाउनु पर्ने स्थितिमा यही पार्टीको नीतिले पुर्यानएको हो। निवर्तमान स्थानीय निकायका पदाधिकारीहरूलाई पुनर्वहाली गर्नुपर्ने कुरा अहिले पनि यस पार्टीको एउटा एजेन्डा ब न्दै आएको छ। तर यही पार्टीले आफ्नो समाजवादी सिद्धान्तको विपरीत र आ्कपूले बसाएको विकेन्द्रीकरणको वस्ती अरूलाई जिम्मा लगाएर संघीयताको अपरिचित गाउँतिर किन जानु पर्यो त्यो पनि बुझि नसक्नुको कुरो देखिन्छ। किन आफ्नो भूमिलाई छोडेर विदेशतिर लाग्नु परेको हो।त्यसको उचित जवाफ नेकपा एमालेका कार्यकर्ता, समर्थक र नेपाली जनताहरूले अहिलेसम्म प्रष्ट रूपमा प्राप्त गर्न सकेका छैनन्। यी सबै विषयहरू नेपाली जनता र यस पार्टीका कार्यकर्ताहरूका लागि पहलु नै भएको देखिन्छ।

जनजातिले संघीयताको माग गर्नु

नेपालमा अनेक जनजातिहरू दुर्गम पहाडी इलाकामा बस्छन्। अधिकांश जनजातिहरूको औसत जीवनस्तर नेपालको औसत स्तरभन्दा तल रहेको छ। नेपालमा पहाडी जनजातिहरू पहाडका दुरदराजमा बस्छन् र उनीहरूको ठाउँमा यातायात, संचार र आधुनिक विकासको चेतना पुग्न सकेको छैन। जीवनयापनका उपायहरूको खोजीमा जनजातिकै मानिसहरू विदेशी भूमिमा पलायन भएका छन्। पहाडी जनजातिहरू बस्ने अधिकांश ठाउँहरूमा आधुनिक अर्थव्यवस्थाले आफ्नो पहिचान कायम गर्न सकेको छैन। स्थानीय आर्थिक गतिविधि कम भउकाले त्यहाँ स्थानीय राजस्व पनि कम उठ्ने गरेको देखिन्छ। त्यसैगरी तराईका जनजातिहरू नेपालका सबैभन्दा बढी शोषित मानिसहरू हुन्। जनजातिहरलाई मात्र हिसाब गर्ने हो भने पहाडमा भन्दा तराईमा झन् बढी शोषण र चेतनाको अभाव छ। हिजोका खासगरी सामन्ती सरकारहरूले विभाजन गर र शासन गर भन्ने नीति अन्तर्गत तराई पहाड, खस जनजाति, दलित उच्चवर्ग, महिला पुरूष, दुर्गम सुगम आदिको विभेद सिर्जना गरेकोमा अबको लोकतान्त्रिक नेपालमा यस्ता विभेदहरूलाई खतम गरी सम्पूर्ण जातजातिको उचित प्रतिनिधित्वको हिसाबमा न्यायपूर्ण नेपाल निर्माण गर्नुपर्ने स्थिति छ। तर यस्तो स्थितिमा जनजातिहरू नै जातीय आधारमा नेपाललाई विभाजन गरी अनावश्यक द्वन्द्व निम्त्याउने र साधन र स्रोत सम्पन्न ठाउँमा केन्द्रित गरी दुर्गम ठाउँहरूलाई अझै दुर्गम बनाउने नीतिको माग गरिरहेका छन्। मधेशकाहरू मधेसको साधन र स्रोत समधेसमै राख्न चाहन्छन् तर जनजातिहरू मधेसमा उठेको राजस्व जनजातिको ठाउँमा खर्च नपाइने नीतिको समर्थन गरिरहेका छन्। के देखिन्छ भने अहिलेको अवस्थामा यदि उपत्यका र मधेसमा उठेको राजस्व जनजातिहरू बस्ने ठाउँमा खर्च नगर्ने हो भने त्यहाँ कुनै पनि प्रकारको सरकार चल्न सक्दैन। यसरी आफू खस्ने खाडल आफै किन खनिरहेका छन् प्रष्ट बुझ्न सकिएको छैन। साथै नेपालमा भ एका १०० भन्दा बढी जनजातिहरूको राज्य बन्न सक्दैन भन्ने कुरा पनि बिर्सिएर जातीय राज्यको माग गरिरहेका छन्। यो मागमा राज्य पाउने आशामा रहेका र नरहेकाहरू पनि उत्तिकै लागि परेका छन्। संसारमा कतै पनि जातीय आधारमा राज्य विभाजन भएका देशहरू सफल भएका छैनन्। सोभियत संघ, युगोस्लाभिया र चेकोस्लोभाकिया विभाजन नै भइसक्यो भने नाइजेरिया जातीयताबाट गैर जातीयतातर्फ लागेको छ। इथियोपिया अहिले जातीय आधारमा विभाजित छ, तर यो देश पनि अहिले बाटो थाहा नभएको दोबाटोमा उभिएको बटुवा जस्तो भएको छ। बेल्जियम, स्पेन आदि देशहरू पनि धेरै मात्रामा अस्थिरताको शिकार हुँदैछन्। त्यहाँ पनि कुनै पनि दिन राज्य विभाजन हुने थरहरी कायम नै छ। यदि जातीयताको मुद्दालाई उचाल्दै लगिएमा नेपालमा पनि त्यो स्थिति नआउला भन्न सकिंदैन। यसरी जातीय आन्दोलनको अन्तिम परिणाम देशको विभाजन हो भ न्ने कुरा घाम जत्तिकै छर्लङग हुँदाहुँदै पनि त्यही समुदायको त्यतातिर ध्यान नजानु अर्को अचम्म लाग्दो विषय देखिन्छ।
नेपालमा लोकतन्त्रका लागि लडेका तमाम नेताहरू नेपाल जनजाति महासंघमा रहेका देखिन्छन्। यसबाट के प्रष्ट हुन्छ भने त्यो संगठन लोकतान्त्रिक छ। तर त्यसका कतिपय नेताहरूले प्रतिगमनलाई पुग्ने अभिव्यक्ति दिनु, लोकतान्त्रिक मान्यताविरूद्ध जातीय अग्राधिकार खोज्नु, प्रतिगमनका नाइके र जनआन्दोलनमा कहिल्यै नलागेकाहरू त्यस संगठनका अगुवा बन्नु, त्यसको विचार र प्रतिगमनकारीहरूको विचार ठ्याक्कै मिल्नु आदि पनि नेपाली राजनीतिका पहलुहरू हुन् भन्न सकिन्छ।

दलितहरू नबोल्नु

नेपालका विभिन्न जातीय समुदायहरूमध्ये दलितहरू सबैभन्दा पिछडिएका समुदाय हुन्। दलितहरू पहाडमा भन्दा पनि मधेशमा बढी शोषित, पीडित देखिन्छन्। पहाडमा नै पनि दलितहरूको आर्थिक स्थिति अत्यन्त क मजोर छ। यस्तो अवस्थामा राज्यको पुनःसंरचना गर्दा सबैभन्दा बढी प्राथमिकता यही दलित समुदायलाई नै दिनुपर्ने हो। तर विभिन्न पार्टी तथा समुदायहरूको पुनःसंरचना सम्बन्धी दस्तावेजहरूले दलितको समस्यालाई गम्भीरतापूर्वक चर्चा गरेका छैनन्। साँच्चै भन्ने हो भने यस सम्बन्धमा कसैको पनि प्रष्ट धारणा आएको छैन। अहिले केन्द्रीय सरकार र उच्च जातिहरूको थिचोमिचामा परेको दलितहरूको बारेमा कसैले प्रष्ट कुरा गरेका छनन्। जुन मुल समस्या हो त्यसको बारेमा प्रष्ट कुरा नगरी आ–आफ्ना लागि मात्र बोल्नुबाट आजका नेपाली कति नेपालीवादी छन् भन्ने देखिन्छ। साथै आफुलाई यसरी अन्यायमा पारेको कुरा थाहा पाउँदा पनि त्यस समुदायबाट जुझारू कार्यक्रम नआउनु अर्को चाखलाग्दो विषय भएको छ।

राप्रपा जनशक्ति पार्टी लगायत केही राजनीतिक पार्टीहरूले संघात्मकताको समर्थन गर्नु

राप्रपा लागयतका हिजोका राजावादी पार्टीहरू पनि अहिले संघीयताको वकालत गरिरहेका छन्। राप्रपा र जनशक्ति पार्टी अहिले सबैभन्दा बढी संघीयता र मधेसमाथि भएको अन्यायको विरोधी भएको छन्। यी दुई पार्टीले मधेसमा भएको विभेदको बारेमा बोल्नु भनेको हजार मुसा खाएर बिरालो धर्म गर्न काशी गए जस्तै हो। यस्तो किन हो भने हिजो मधेस र पहाडको बीचमा विभेद सिर्जना गर्ने राजतन्त्रको मूल् मतियार यी दुवै पार्टीहरू नै हुन्। निरंकुश तन्त्रले नै पहाड र मधेसको बीचमा विभाजन ल्ार्य शासन सत्ता चलाएको हो। त्यसैले राप्रपा र जनशक्तिले यसको समर्थन गर्नु नयाँ जोगीले बढी खरानी घसे जस्तै देखिन्छ। नेपाली जनताका लागि यो पनि हेर्न लायक अचम्मको जादु भएको छ।

सिंगो तराईलाई एउटै बनाउन खोज्नु

नेपालमा हिजो निरंकुश राजतन्त्रले मधेसलाई आम्दानीको स्रोतको रूपमा अघि बढायो। नेपालको एकीकरणपछि मधेसी जनता कहिल्यै पनि नेपालको मूलधारमा आउने स्थितिमा पुगेनन्। तर अहिले परिस्थिति बदलिएको छ। लोकतन्त्रको प्राप्ति र खासगरी मधेशीहरूको जनसंख्याको आधारमा संविधानसभाको निर्वाचनमा प्रतिनिधित्व गर्न पाउने सहमतिपछि मधेस राजनीतिको केन्द्र बन्न पुगेको छ। झण्डै आधा प्रतिनिधि मधेसबाट आउने निश्चित छ। भविष्यमा मधेस नेपालको राजनीतिको मूल केन्द्र हुने निश्चित छ। अबको नेपाल मधेसको नेपाल हो। अब यो देशलाई एकीकृत राख्ने नराख्ने, यसको उन्नति गर्ने नगर्ने आदि कुराहरूको सम्पूर्ण जिम्मा मधेसीहरूको हो। अबको राजनीतिमा मधेस नै मूल प्रवाह हो। मधेश देशको आर्थिक केन्द्रविन्दु त पहिलेदेखि नै थियो नै अब राजनीतिक केन्द्रविन्दु पनि रहनेछ। पृथ्वीनारायण शाहको नेतृत्व र मूलतः पहाडीहरूको सहभागितामा निर्माण भएको नेपालको आवश्यकता छ–छैन निर्क्योल गर्ने जिम्मा पनि मधेसको काँधमा आएको छ। मधेसले हिजोदेखि नेपालको मूल प्रवाहमा समावेश हुनका लागि गरेको संघर्षको चरण पनि समाप्त भएको छ। यस्तो स्थितिमा मधेसीले आफूभित्र रहेका विभाजनका खाडलहरूलाई निमिट्यान्न पादै समग्र नेपालको नेतृत्व गर्न अघि बढ्नुपर्ने स्थितिमा मधेस दुइ राष्ट्रको नाउँमा अलग हुने कुरा गर्दैछ। कताक ता अभागीलाई खाने बेलामा रिस उठ्छ भने जस्तै मधेसीहरूलाई पनि खाने बेलामा बुद्धि बिग्रन थालेको त होइन? यो पनि एउटा पहलु नै रहेको देखिन्छ। साथै आफ्नो अधिकार माग गर्नेले अरूको अधिकारलाई पनि सम्मान गर्नुपर्ने हो। मधेसले आफ्नो अधिकार माग गर्ने सन्दर्भमा अरूमाथि आफ्ना आग्रहहरूलाई बलजफ्ती लाद्ने काम पनि गरिरहेको छ। संघीयताको सवाल त्यस्तै सवाल हो। सकेसम्म जनमत संग्रह र नसकेपनि संविधानसभाद्वारा निर्क्योल हुनुपर्ने देशलाई संघीयतामा लैजाने सवालाई बजलफ्ती संविधानमा राख्न लगाइएको छ। देशको संरचना छान्ने नेपाली जनताको अधिकारलाई खोसिएको छ। अब यो प्रावधान २०४७ सालको संविधानमा राखिएको राजतन्त्रको सवाल जस्तै भएको छ। जसको बारेमा कुनै बहस गर्न पाइँदैन। लोकतन्त्रप्रेमी मधेसीहरूले किन यसरी आफ्ना मान्यताहरूर्ला बलजफ्ती अरूमाथि लाद्न काम गरे यो पनि बुझ्न नसकिने कुरा देखिएको छ। साथै मधेसलामई लागेको छ, पहाडमा कुनै साधन र स्रोत छैन, त्यसैले पहाडले हामीलाई शोषण गरिरहेको छ। तर कुरा त्यति मात्र होइन। पहाडमा थुप्रै साधन र स्रोतहरू छन् जसको सोध र दोहन हुन बाँकी छ र अथाह जल प्रवाहको प्रयोग पनि हुन सकिरहेको छैन। यदि कुनै दिन यी साधन र स्रोतको उचित प्रयोग हुन सकेमा मधेसभन्दा पहाड धेरै गुना प्रगतिमा जाने सम्भावना छ। भुटान जत्तिकोले पनि यो कुरा बुझिसकेको छ। पहाडमा केही छैन, पहाडियाहरू मधेसको शोषणा गर्नका लागि आएका छन् त्यसैले उनीहरूले मधेसको आदेश मान्नुपर्छ भन्ने कुरा पनि अनौठो छ। अर्को कुरा मधेस एउटा मात्र छैन भन्ने कुरा पनि त्यहाँका नेताहरूले बुझ्नु आवश्यक छ। यदि पहाडविरूद्ध मधेस एउटै बनाउने हो भने पहाडबाट छुट्टिएको भोलिपल्ट त्यहाँ पनि विभाजनका श्रृंखला शुरू हुनेछन्। किनभने मधेस नेपालको सबैभन्दा बढी सामाजिक आन्तरिक विभेद भएको क्षेत्र हो। साथै राजवंशी, थारू आदिले सिंगो मधेस सिद्धान्तको विरोध गरिरहेका छन्। नेपाली राजनीतिको तर मारेर पाखा लागेका, क्रान्तिकारी भूमिसुधारले आफ्नो शोषणको अन्त्य होलाा भन्ने डर बोकेकाहरूले हाँकेको यो राजनीतिमा सम्पूर्ण मधेस सधै एकाकार हुन सक्दैन भन्ने पनि प्रष्ट छ।

देशको परिस्थितिको सन्दर्भमा नेपाली कांग्रेसले कानमा तेल हाल्नु

नेपालको राजनीतिक सन्दर्भमा अर्को अचम्म लाग्दो विषय नेपाली कांग्रेसको व्यवहार देखिन्छ। यो पार्टी नेपालको पुरानो र अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय समर्थन प्राप्त पार्टी हो। बुढापाका नेताहरू र प्रजातान्त्रिक सिद्धान्तको कारणले नेपालको लोकतान्त्रिक आन्दोलनमा ७ पार्टीमध्ये एउटा प्रमुख पार्टीको रूपमा रहेको थियो। आन्दोलनमा नेतृत्व गरेकै र अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय समर्थन भएकै कारणले सरकारको नेतृत्व गर्ने अवसर पनि यस पार्टीले पाएको छ। तर सत्तामा गएपछि यस पार्टीको भूमिका सधै अत्यन्त यथास्थितिवादी रहने गरेको छ। जसले गर्दा यस पार्टीको स्थिति पनि बिस्तारै खस्कँदै गएको छ। यही यथास्थितिवादिताकै कारणले आन्तरिक बिग्रह बढेर त्यस पार्टीमा विभाजन पनि आएको हो। यस पार्टीले सहकारिताको संस्कृतिलाई पनि कहिल्यै अगाडि बढाउन सकेन। अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय समर्थनको आडमा हैकम चलाउनु यसको प्रवृत्ति हुँदै आएको छ। देशको अहिलेको अराजकताको स्थितिमा पनि कतिपय मामिलाहरूमा निर्णय दिन नसक्नु र कतिपय अवस्थामा साझेदारहरूको भावनालाई नबुझी सधै आफ्नो सत्ता स्वार्थमा लिप्त हुनु यसको विशेषता भएको छ। यथास्थितिवादकै कारणले आफू निरन्तर खस्कँदै गइरहेको र आफूसँ नेपाल पनि भासमा गईरहेको अवस्थामा पनि आफूलाई मूल्यांकन गर्नतर्फ नलाग्ने यस पार्टीको प्रवृत्ति पनि अनौठो खालको रहेको देखिन्छ। नेपाली कांग्रेस विगतमा अत्यन्त यथास्थितिवादी पार्टीको भएको छ। विकेन्द्रीकरणको सम्बन्धमा यसले थोरै मात्र पनि अग्रगमनको नीति लिएको भए र स्थानीय तहलाई अधिकार सम्पन्न गराउने तर्फ गएको भए अहिले देशले संघीयतामा जानुपर्ने अवस्था आउने थिएन। स्थानीय निकायलाई पुनर्वहाली गरेको भए तापनि त्यस्तो स्थिति आउँदैन थियो होला। नेपाली कांग्रेस पार्टीले यो महशुस नगर्नु पनि अचम्म छ।

--पुष्पराज कंडेल

Rising sea levels: A tale of two cities

2009-11-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

When people talk about the impact of rising sea levels, they often think of small island states that risk being submerged if global warming continues unchecked.

But it's not only those on low-lying islands who are in danger. Millions of people live by the sea - and are dependent on it for their livelihoods - and many of the world's largest cities are on the coast.
By 2050 the number of people living in delta cities is set to increase by as much as 70%, experts suggest, vastly increasing the number of those at risk.
To shed light the impact of rising sea levels, we are taking a close look at two very different cities,

and

, and their varying responses to the problem.

Glaciers: If the world's mountain glaciers and icecaps melt, sea levels will rise by an estimated 0.5m

Thermal expansion: The expansion of warming oceans was the main factor contributing to sea level rise, in the 20th Century, and currently accounts for more than half of the observed rise in sea levels

Ice sheets: These vast reserves contain billions of tonnes of frozen water - if the largest of them (the East Antarctic Ice Sheet) melts, the global sea level will rise by an estimated 64m

Much of Rotterdam - Europe's busiest port city - lies several metres below sea level, and this vulnerable position has led it to develop some of the best flood protection in the world.
As the capital of Mozambique - one of the world's poorest countries, and one that is already feeling the effects of climate change - Maputo is struggling to provide cost-effective measures to mitigate the effects of the rising waters.
Authorities in both cities know urgent action is needed to protect their populations, and both are trying to rise to the challenge.
Weaker Gulf Stream

A rise in temperatures around the world due to carbon emissions since the industrial revolution means many icecaps and glaciers are steadily melting.
Rising temperatures have also caused ocean waters to expand - the main cause of sea level rise in the 20th Century.
The 2007

projected a likely sea level rise of 28-43cm this century, but it acknowledged that this was probably an underestimate, as not enough was known about how ice behaves."The fact that sea levels are rising is a major reason for concern and it's a combination of the global average rise together with the natural variability leading to larger regional rises," said Dr John Church, from Australia's government-funded science and research body, the CSIRO.
The weakening of the Gulf Stream coupled with the gravitational effects of being closer to the North Pole mean waters in the northern hemisphere are experiencing the biggest rise.

Off the Netherlands, for example, sea levels rose by some 20cm in the last 100 years. But the country's national Delta Commission predicts they will increase by up to 1.3m by 2100 and by as much as 4m by 2200.
"There is a problem and we have to find an answer," said Rotterdam's Vice-Mayor Lucas Bolsius.
"We need to invest. If we don't put money into this issue we'll have a problem surviving."
Cyclones
The Dutch drew this conclusion from a massive storm surge in 1953, which caused widespread flooding and killed nearly 2,000 people.
They set about defending populated areas with a massive network of dykes and dams, and experts now estimate the country is protected from all but a one-in-10,000-year event.
The story is very different in Mozambique.
Already buffeted by regular floods and cyclones, the problem of rising sea levels is one the authorities in Maputo could do without.
But Mozambique has been identified as one of the countries likely to be affected most by climate change, and the issue will not go away.

While scientists cannot give an exact figure of how much the sea has already risen in Mozambique, the effects are already obvious.
"I went to the beach a lot as a child, and I've noticed things are changing," said 34-year-old Jose, who lives in Maputo.
"The water is eating the land - little by little it's eating the land."
Mozambique has compiled an action plan, and has been offered help from the World Bank, UN agencies and a plethora of other aid agencies.
But so far little has been done, and much of what the country would like to do is beyond its budget.
"I think people are still at the stage of 'Oh my God - what are we going to do?'" as environmentalist Antonia Reina puts it.
Mozambique will be going to the Copenhagen summit as part of a united African delegation, to ask for help from richer countries - like the Netherlands.
Africa argues that climate change - including rising sea levels - is a global problem, and demands a global response.
While most would agree with that sentiment, the reality is that every country has its own battles to face - and in this series of articles we examine how our two cities are coping, both at an individual and a municipal level, as the waters rise.

BIBAHA PANCHAMI

2009-11-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

In the end of November the festival of Bibah Panchami (also referred to as Bibahah Panchami) is an expression of the devotion of Hindus to Lord Rama and Princess Sita, during which the marriage of these two venerated figures is re-enacted. This much anticipated seven-day festival, which is held in Janakpur, eastern Terai, attracts Hindu pilgrims from far and wide.

The story of the marriage of Lord Rama and Princess Sita begins when the princess had many suitors, making it difficult to decide who would most be worthy to marry the daughter of King Janak. To determine which suitor would make the grade, King Janak proposed a test of strength that involved stringing the great bow of Lord Shiva. Kings, chieftains and warriors traveled from far and wide, determined to meet this challenge, but not one of them was even able to lift the bow, let alone string it. Just as it seemed that Princess Sita would never find a suitable husband, along came Lord Rama who managed to lift the bow with no effort at all. However, when he attempted to string the bow, it shattered into countless pieces, proving his immense strength. The delighted Princess Sita had at last found a man worthy of her. Lord Rama and Princess Sita were married in Janakpur.

Female Hindu devotees strive to reach the standard Princess Sita set for an ideal wife. Without a word of complaint, Princess Sita willingly followed her husband anywhere, irrespective of how uncomfortable their journey, or how inhospitable their destination may prove to be. She viewed a wife as being the shadow of her husband, demonstrating self-sacrifice at all times. Husbands may aspire to the moral perfection of Lord Rama. The celebration of Bibah Panchami is also a time for couples to pledge their love for one another and make a commitment to marriage. This story is based on Ramayan.

Facebook acts on follower trade

2009-11-21T21:51:00.001-08:00

Facebook has threatened legal action against a service that sells friends on the social networking site.

It said it would take the action against marketing firm USocial unless it stopped violating Facebook's rights.

It also wanted USocial to stop helping members break the site's terms and conditions, specifically letting people profit from their profile.

In response, USocial agreed to a change in its practices but would not shut down its service.

Facebook sent Cease and Desist letters to USocial claiming that the way the marketing firm operates violates its rights by sending spam, using web tools to harvest pages, getting login names and by accessing accounts that did not belong to the marketing firm.

Customers of USocial use it to boost follower and friend numbers on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

On micro-blogging site Twitter, followers can be bought in blocks starting at £53 for 1,000. The biggest block USocial is selling is 100,000 people.

USocial defended itself against Facebook's claims, saying that it did not spam users or use web tools to gather information about profiles.

However, in response to the legal letters, USocial said it would delete the login information it had collected and broadly stop offering to sell Facebook friends. It also put a notice on its site saying it was not affiliated with Facebook.

However, it said, there was "possibility" that it would resell the service in the future. If it was to re-start the service it said it would let Facebook know beforehand.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/8370302.stm

Published: 2009/11/20 13:46:11 GMT

© BBC MMIX

Large Hadron Collider works again

2009-11-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Large Hadron Collider experiment has re-started after a 14-month hiatus while the machine was being repaired.

Engineers have made two stable proton beams circulate in opposite directions around the machine, which is in a tunnel beneath the French-Swiss border.
The team may try to increase the £6bn ($10bn) collider's energy to record-breaking levels this weekend.
The LHC is being used to smash together beams of protons in a bid to shed light on the nature of the Universe.

It is the world's largest machine and is housed in a 27km-long circular tunnel.
During the experiment, scientists will search for signs of the Higgs boson, a sub-atomic particle that is crucial to our current understanding of physics. Although it is predicted to exist, scientists have never found it.

“ It happened faster than anyone could have dreamed of, everything went very smoothly ”
James Gillies Cern

Dozens of giant superconducting magnets that accelerate the particles at the speed of light have had to be replaced after faults developed just days after the collider was inaugurated last year.
Operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern), the LHC will create similar conditions to those which were present moments after the Big Bang.
The BBC's Pallab Ghosh in Geneva says the restart of the collider was the moment the scientists had been waiting for.
It means they can once again go in search of the new discoveries they believe will roll back the frontiers of understanding our universe, says our correspondent.
"It's great to see beams circulating in the LHC again," said Cern's director-general Rolf Heuer.

"We've still got some way to go before physics can begin, but with this milestone we're well on the way."
Engineers sent their first beam all the way round the LHC's circumference 100m underground after 1930 GMT on Friday.
Record attempt
The beams themselves are made up of "packets" - each about a metre long - containing billions of protons. But they would disperse if left to their own devices.
Electrical forces had to be used to "capture" the protons. This keeps them tightly huddled in packets, for a stable, circulating beam.

Engineers had not been expected to try for a circulating beam before 0600 GMT on Saturday.

James Gillies, Cern's director of communications, told BBC News: "It happened faster than anyone could have dreamed of."
"Everything went very smoothly."
Dr Gillies said that if everything continued to go well, Cern might try to reach a record-breaking beam energy of 1.2 trillion electron volts this weekend.
Only the Tevatron particle accelerator in Chicago, US, has approached this energy, operating at just under one trillion electron volts.
But other team members want to keep the beam circulating at low energy and try for the machine's first proton beam collisions.
"The LHC is a far better understood machine than it was a year ago," said Steve Myers, Cern's director for accelerators.
"We've learned from our experience, and engineered the technology that allows us to move on. That's how progress is made."

1 - 14 quadrupole magnets replaced

2 - 39 dipole magnets replaced

3 - More than 200 electrical connections repaired

4 - Over 4km of beam pipe cleaned

5 - New restraining system installed for some magnets

6 - Hundreds of new helium ports being installed around machine

7 - Thousands of detectors added to early warning system

There are some 1,200 superconducting magnets which form the LHC's main "ring".
These magnets bend proton beams in opposite directions around the tunnel at close to the speed of light.
At allotted points around the tunnel, the proton beams cross paths, smashing into one another with enormous energy. Large "detector" machines located at the crossing points will scour the wreckage of these collisions for discoveries that should extend our knowledge of physics.
Engineers first circulated a beam all the way around the LHC on 10 September 2008.
But just nine days later, an electrical fault in one of the connections between superconducting magnets caused a tonne of liquid helium to leak into the tunnel.
Liquid helium is used to cool the LHC to its operating temperature of 1.9 kelvin (-271C; -456F).
The machine has been shut down ever since the accident, to allow repairs to take place.
Professor Norman McCubbin, from the UK's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Didcot, added: "I'm sure every particle physicist has been feeling just a little bit impatient as the 're-start' of the LHC has drawn nearer. It's great to see beams circulating again."
The damage caused to the collider meant 53 superconducting magnets had to be replaced and about 200 electrical connections repaired.
Engineers have also been installing a new early warning system which could prevent incidents of the kind which shut down the experiment.
Cern has spent some 40m Swiss Francs (£24m) on repairs to the collider.
Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Peru arrests 'human fat killers'

2009-11-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing dozens of people in order to sell their fat and tissue for cosmetic uses in Europe.
The gang allegedly targeted people on remote roads, luring them with fake job offers before extracting their fat to sell it for $15,000 (£9,000) a litre.
Other suspected gang members, including two Italian nationals, remain at large.
Police said the gang could be behind the disappearances of up to 60 people in the region.

At a news conference in the capital, police showed reporters two bottles containing human body fat and images of one of the alleged victims.
One of the alleged killings is reported to have taken place in mid-September, with the person's body tissue removed for sale.
Cmdr Angel Toledo told Reuters some of the suspects had "declared and stated how they murdered people with the aim being to extract their fat in rudimentary labs and sell it".
Police said they suspect the fat was sold to cosmetics and pharmaceutical companies in Europe, but have not confirmed any such connection.
'Detailed confession'
Gen Felix Burga, head of Peru's police criminal division, said there were indications that "an international network trafficking human fat" was operating from Peru.
The first person was arrested earlier this month in a bus station in Lima, carrying a shipment of the fat.
The Associated Press news agency quoted Col Jorge Mejia as saying one of the suspects had described to police in detail how the victims were killed and their fat removed.
The suspect said the fat was then sold to intermediaries in Lima and that the gang's leader, Hilario Cudena, had been carrying out such murders for decades, AP reported.
The alleged buyers of the fat are also being hunted by police.
The gang has been referred to as the Pishtacos, after an ancient Peruvian legend of killers who attack people on lonely roads and murder them for their fat.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/8369674.stm

Published: 2009/11/20 01:04:06 GMT

Tiny chip could diagnose disease

2009-11-18T21:45:00.000-08:00

Researchers have demonstrated a tiny chip based on silicon that could be used to diagnose dozens of diseases.

A tiny drop of blood is drawn through the chip, where disease markers are caught and show up under light.
The device uses the tendency of a fluid to travel through small channels under its own force, instead of using pumps.
The design is simpler, requires less blood be taken, and works more quickly than existing "lab on a chip" designs, the team report in Lab on a Chip.

It has a flexible design so that it could be used for a wide range of diagnostics.
Much research in recent years has focused on the chemical and medical possibilities of so-called microfluidic devices at the heart of lab-on-a-chip designs.
These microfluidics contain between dozens and thousands of tiny channels through which fluids can flow, and as micro-manufacturing methods have advanced, so has the potential complexity of microfluidics.

Now, scientists at IBM's research labs in Zurich have developed a cheap lab-on-a-chip that has the potential to diagnose dozens of diseases.
Bind and shine

The device relies on an array of antibody molecules that are designed to latch on to the protein-based molecular markers of disease in blood.
The antibodies are chemically connected to molecules that emit light of a specific colour when illuminated - but only when they have bound to the disease markers.
"There are devices that have been developed in microfluidics to do analysis of proteins, but most of them use active pumping and electrical components," said Luc Gervais, a co-author on the study.
"They're very complex systems; this makes them less easy to use by non-trained personnel - and it makes them a lot more expensive to manufacture," Dr Gervais told BBC News.

Instead, the new device exploits capillary action, the tendency of fluids to climb through narrow channels - the same phenomenon that drives water into a sponge placed on a wet surface.
The speed with which blood is drawn through the chip can be controlled by the design of the micro-channels on the device. Those channels can be designed with incredible precision on a silicon chip - something with which IBM has significant experience.
The microchannel-patterned chip is then sealed with a special polymer called polydimethylsiloxane, to which the "detector" antibodies easily bond.
Different antibodies can be placed in a number of distinct channels, making it possible to diagnose a range of different diseases simultaneously.
Such wide-ranging studies can be done in large analysers, found in the central laboratories of hospitals.
"Typically you'll take a couple of millilitres of blood send it to the central lab and it can take up to an hour or even more to get the results," Dr Gervais said.
"In our case you can get a quantitative analysis of the patient's blood within just a few minutes at the bedside of the patient."
What is more, it can be done with just a few microlitres of blood - a thousand times less - an amount that could be collected with a prick of a finger instead of a syringe.
While the approach will make diagnosis cheaper, co-author Emmanuel Delamarche said the key aspect of the approach is its speed.
"We are giving back precious minutes to doctors so they can make informed and accurate decisions right at the time they need them most to save lives."

खासा यात्रा

2009-11-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

मलाई निश्चित गते र दिन याद भएन / तर त्यो दिन मई दिबस थियो/ माओबादीको चहलपहल निकै थियो / हामी सबै साथीभाइ एकपटक खासा जाऊ भनेर सल्लाह गरेपनि भ्यागुत्ताको धार्नी कहिले पनि पुगेको थिएन/ हामी चार जना मात्र भएपनि जाने भनेर अघिल्लो साझ सल्लाह गरियो / बिहान सात बजे कोटेस्वेरमा जम्मा हुने अनि सार्बजनिक बस चढेर जाने सल्लाह भयो/ बिहान जम्मा हुदा हामी तीन जना मात्रै भैयो / सागरलाई फोन गरेको त एक छिन् मा आउछु भन्यो / तेसपछी मोबाइल अफ गरेर सम्पर्क बिहिन भयो / हामी तीन जना भएपनि जाने निधो भयो / गाडी चढ्न भनेर गाडी लाग्ने ठाउमा गएको त आज मजदुर दिबस हो, मजदुरले कहाँ गाडी चलौछन त भनेर सडकमै सानो पसल राख्ने दिदि ले भन्दा पो अब के गर्ने भनेर हामी अलमलमा पर्यौ / अनि मजदुरी नै नगरी मजदुर दिबस मनाउने मजदुरको हकको एकछिन कुरा गरियो / मजदुरले काम नै नगरी अधिकार खोज्छ / कर्मचारीले काम पुगेन भन्दैन खाली सुबिधा मात्र पुगेन भन्छ / सबैलाई बसेरै सुबिधा चाहिएको छ / श्रम गर्नुपर्छ भन्ने भाबना हराउदै गरएको छ / अब जान त जाने तर कसरि? एकछिन सल्लाह भयो / तेसपछी एकजना साथीको कार्यालयको गाडी काठमाडौँ आएको रहेछ / अरु कर्मचारीहरु पनि आउनु भएको रहेछ / साथीले सबैलाई खासा घुम्न जाऊ भनेर कुरा मिलाए / अनि आदि घण्टामा गाडी आइपुग्यो / जुरुजी सहित हामी छ जना खासा को लागि प्रस्थान गरियो / तेही बेलाको केहि तस्बिर

तातोपनी भन्दा अली तल

काभ्रेको जिरोकिलो मा नास्ता खायेपछी

भोटेकोशी को बन्जि हेर्दै

नेपालबाट देखियेको खाशा बजार

एउटा सुन्दर तस्बिर

ईन्द्र अनी म

BALA CHATURDASHI

2009-11-18T15:42:00.001-08:00

Bala Chaturdashi — a religious event during which devotees prays for their deceased family members.
Also referred to as ‘Sat Bij Chharne Din’, the day is marked with devotees offering seven varieties of holy grains, fruits and coins to deities. Bala Chaturdashi falls on the 14th day after the full moon in the month of Kartik (late November — early December) as per Bikram Sambat calendar.

On the occasion, the devotees also perform ritual walk along the Slesmantak Forest which is situated just above the Pashupatinath Temple. As per tradition, devotees light traditional oil lamp and recite mantras, keeping themselves awake all the night to ensure that the lamp keeps burning. The next day, as day breaks, the devotees, who spent their sleepless night, take a holy dip in the Bagmati River and offer prayers to the guardian deity of Pashupatinath to wish eternal peace to departed ones. They set out for Guheshwori Temple to scatter the holy seeds before sunrise.

The story is about the relation of Bala Nandu with the dense forest of Shlesmantak sitated on the hills above the temple of Pashupatinath, east of Kathmandu. One day long ago, Bala Nanda, a trader, came to an auspicious cremation ground, Arya Ghat, to attend a cremation ceremony for one of his relatives. As the body lay burning on the pyre, mourners along wih Bala Nanda sat nearby and ate the ceremonial food being served, according to the custom. While eating a small portion of the dead body fell from the fire onto his plate. As soon as he inadvertently ate it he transoformed from an ordinary man into a horrible demon having silver head and become fond of human flesh. After that, Bala Nanda took the dead body from the pyre and devoured it and people being terrified fled from there. Having the behavior of a demon, his name was changed to Balsur, the great demon. Arya Ghat soon became the favorite place for Balasur, which explains why people became afraid to go to Arya Ghat to cremate their relatives and asked the king to solve the problem. Knowing Brisha Singh was a close friend of Balasur, the King asked him to kill Balasur. According to the king's desire Brisha deceived Balasur and killed him, using their bond of friendship.

Feeling guilt, Brisha meditated in the Shlesmantak and prayed to Lord Shiva for the salvation of his demon friend, Balasur. Lord Shiva gave him a blessing being pleased by his sincere affection for his friend and also told him to scatter sat bij, or seven varieties of grain, on the holy grounds of the Shlesmantak forest to cleanse the sin of cannibalism by Balasur and to erase his own guilt for killing a friend.

From that day on, the practice of scattering seven varieties of grain has said to have continued.

Honor China, Not Its Communism

2009-11-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

(http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=507484&Ntt=Honor+China)

Public Relations: The Empire State Building this week will illuminate red and yellow, celebrating China's 60 years of communist rule. There are many things to appreciate about China, but communism isn't one of them.

What was the Empire State Building thinking in lighting up in celebration of China's long communist rule?

Amid all the charming reasons the classical 102-story skyscraper colors the Gotham sky at night — the 70th anniversary of "The Wizard of Oz," El Museo del Barrio's reopening, Columbus Day and Gabrielle's Angel Foundation, according to its Web site — China stands as a negative outlier.

Cynics call it recognition that the Chinese, who buy U.S. debt, now own us. But this looks more like a thoughtless confusion of China with its communist government, in perhaps the same impulse that prompts some to set up kitschy eateries bearing photos of Mao.

Recognizing China's regime with bright lights does New York's most visible landmark no honor at all.

China's 6,000-year-old history and civilization are loaded with things to celebrate — from its invention of paper money and fireworks, to its great cuisines, its Taoist philosophy, the daring historic voyages of Sanbao (a possible model for Sinbad), millions of Overseas Chinese, and perhaps the awed arrival of Marco Polo into the Middle Kingdom, which ignited the Age of Exploration.

Much of the story of civilization is rooted in the West's longing to connect with China — and this is not a finished story. In 1989, China saw brave young people stand up to tanks in the name of liberty at Tiananmen Square, an event surely worthy of the Empire State Building's honor as a beacon of freedom.

So it's discordant and jarring to see the tyranny that's plagued China for 60 years now the object of the skyscraper's approbation.

"Would the Empire State Building honor the government of Sudan or the birth of Nazi Germany?" asked Thor Halvorssen, whose Human Rights Foundation has an office in this building. "It's sad that a symbol of free enterprise honors the butchers of Beijing."

Communism is the root of the honor and nothing has harmed China so much. The nightmare began with Mao Zedong in 1949. He imported the alien ideology that is still around, diluted only because the authorities made such an economic hash of the country. By Mao's 1976 death, his successors had no choice but to open up.

Before that, the communist regime was responsible for wars, purges and famine on a scale untold in human civilization. According to University of Hawaii historian R.J. Rummel, the communist regime is responsible for the deaths of nearly 77 million people.

"... this equation of power is not limited to democide (murder by government). ... Power also breeds violence and war and all their associated killing. War, revolution and democide are as natural to power as the lust for power is to our species," Rummel wrote.

The writings of Nien Cheng and Harry Wu, in the telling of their personal stories, describe just how cruel the Chinese regime has been to millions of innocents.

"So much for the statistics," Rummel adds. "These numbers alone do not measure the pain and suffering involved. For each person murdered, there remain grieving relatives and possibly broken homes and children. How many more died as a consequence is itself unknown and unestimated here. Then many of those killed did not die easy; often it was by inches, under torture, through starvation, overwork and exposure, or from painful wounds. These statistics only reflect in small measure the monstrous human misery."

The suffering in China isn't confined to the past. Xinjiang's Rebiya Kadeer and Tibet's Dalai Lama continue to speak out about the depredations of the communism that has never stopped persecuting its ethnic minorities who challenge its rule.

And with an unrepentant regime, which still enslaves 8 million in its prison camps called Laogai, this will be the reality of China until it faces the errors of the past.

The Empire State Building's managers who mainstreamed this lighting display ought to have known this.

They run a great American symbol of freedom and enterprise, dear to the hearts of Americans because it still stands after 9/11.

To use the building as a lighted billboard to congratulate a regime whose cruelty is a matter of record ought to be protested.

China's long history is well worth honoring from the Empire State Building. But it's China's enterprising and freedom-loving people who deserve the honor, not its oppressive communist regime.

http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14889162

2009-11-16T16:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14889162

संबिधान

2009-11-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

राज्यको परिकल्पना गरेपछि संचालनका निम्ति आवश्यक प्रमुख औजार भनेको संविधान अर्थातमुल कानून हो। सभ्य, सुखी र सम्पन्न राष्ट्रका रूपमा स्थापित गरी आर्थिक, राजनीतिक, र सामाजिक विकास गर्ने संविधानको पुनीत उद्देश्य हुन्छ। संविधानले संम्पूर्ण सार्वभौमसत्ता तथा राजकीयसत्ता निहित जनतामा भन्दछ । मुलुकको संविधान निर्माण गर्ने र राज्य व्यवस्था संचालन गर्ने अधिकार जनताको मात्र हो। अर्को अर्थमा समग्र राज्यपद्धतिमाथि जनताले आफ्नो स्वामित्व र अपनत्व स्थापित गर्ने माध्यम संविधान हो। संविधान सम्पूर्ण जनताको चासो र समर्थन प्राप्त देशको मूल कानुन हुने भएकाले संविधान निर्माणको प्रक्रियामा सबै जनता र पक्षको सहमति र सहभागिता प्रोत्साहित गर्न आवश्यक हुन्छ।

संविधान राज्य संचालन गर्नका लागि आवश्यक तत्व मात्रै नभै राज्यका सम्पूर्ण जनताको अधिकार प्रत्यभूति गर्ने आधार हो। संविधान शासक र शासितबीच संतुलन कायम गर्ने एउटा महत्वपूर्ण लिखत हो। एउटा संविधानले धेरैवटा महTवपूर्ण कार्यहरू सम्पादन गदर्छ। यसले राज्यलाई, जसभित्र विभिन्न स्वार्थ समूहहरूको सह–अस्तित्व रहेको हुन्छ, वैधानिकता र वैधता प्रदान गर्दछ। यसले राज्यको आधारभूत संरचना प्रदान गर्दछ, जसको वरिपरि राजनीतिक प्रक्रिया संचालन भएको हुन्छ। संविधानले भेदभाव, असमाहिकरण, पहिचान र इतिहास तथा सांस्कृतिको पुनर्व्याख्याका प्रश्नहरूको सरल जवाफ प्रदान गर्दछ।

संविधानको उद्देश्य भनेकै वैयक्तिक अधिकारको न्यायपूर्ण सुरक्षाको सामुहिक प्रयास हो। यदि यो सत्य हो भने, योभन्दा ज्यादा प्रामाणिक अरु नहोला कि कानून, प्रकृतिप्रदत्त अधिकारको न्यायपूर्ण रक्षा गर्ने संस्था हो। यो व्यक्तिगत समूहका निम्ति आम समूहको विकल्प हो। र व्यक्ति, स्वतन्त्रता र सम्पत्तिको सुरक्षा एवं हामी सबैका लागि न्यायको शासन प्रत्याभूत गराउने तथा अधिकारको रक्षा गर्ने जस्ता प्राकृतिक र न्यायपूर्ण अधिकार जस्ता व्यक्तिगत समूहले गर्ने काम नै आम समूहले पनि गर्नु पर्ने काम हो।

शक्ति प्रयोग गरेरै सही, यदि प्रत्येक व्यक्तिलाई आफूभित्र रहेको व्यक्ति, स्वतन्त्रता र सम्पत्तिको रक्षा गर्ने अधिकार छ भने मानिसहरूको समूहलाई पनि यो अधिकार सदैव जोगाउनका लागि एउटा आम समूह गठन गर्ने र त्यसलाई सघाउने हक छ। यसरी सामूहिक अधिकारको सिद्वान्तको उपस्थिति र यसको न्यायपूर्णता वैयक्तिक अधिकारमा आधारित छ। र, जसका निम्ति सामूहिक अधिकारलाई संरक्षण गर्ने आम समूहले वैकल्पिक रुपमा गर्दछ, त्यसका लागि बाहेक तर्कसङ्गत रुपमा कुनै अन्य उद्देष्य वा ल73य त्यसले अँगाल्न मिल्दैन। यसअनुरुप एक जना व्यक्तिले अर्को कुनै व्यक्तिको जीवन, स्वतन्त्रता र सम्पत्तिका विरुद्ध जसरी न्यायपूर्ण रुपमा बल प्रयोग गर्न मिल्दैन, त्यसैगरी आम समूहले पनि यिनै कारणका लागि व्यक्ति वा समूहको जीवन, स्वतन्त्रता वा सम्पत्ति नाश गर्ने काम न्यायपूर्ण रुपमा गर्न मिल्दैन।

तर, दुर्भाग्यवश, अकारण कानूनले आफ्नो वास्तविक कार्यप्रणालीलाई सीमित राखेको छ। र, यसले वास्तविक कार्यप्रणालीको परिधि नाघ्दा केवल केही महत्वहीन र विवादयोग्य कुरामा त्यसो गरेको छैन। कानून यसभन्दा अझै टाढा पुगेको छ, यो आफ्नो उद्देष्यको सीधा विपरीत पनि देखिएको छ। आफ्नै उद्देष्य नाश गर्न पनि प्रयोग भएको छ कानून, न्यायलाई कायम गर्न प्रयोग हुनुपर्नेमा ध्वस्त गर्न यसको प्रयोग भएको छ . न्यायको सम्मान गर्ने वास्तविक उद्देष्य हुनुपर्नेमा अधिकारलाई सीमित गर्ने र विनाश गर्ने काममा यसको प्रयोग भएको छ। सामूहिक शक्तिलाई कानूनले भ्रष्टहरूको हातमा सुम्पिएको छ, जो बिना जोखिम अरुहरूको वैयक्तिक, स्वतन्त्रता र सम्पत्तिको शोषण गर्न चाहन्छन्। लूटलाई संरक्षण दिनका लागि यसले लूटलाई अधिकारमा परिवर्तन गरेको छ। र न्यायपूर्ण प्रतिरक्षालाई द0ड दिनका लागि यसले न्यायपूर्ण संरक्षणलाई अपराधमा बदलिदिएको छ।

शक्तिको यस्ता खाले दुरुपयोग, दुवै घटनामा हाम्रो सिद्धान्त विपरीत हुन जान्छ। आफ्नो व्यक्तिगत अधिकारको रक्षा गर्न हामीलाई शक्ति उपलब्ध भएको हो। आफ्ना भाइबन्धुहरूको समान अधिकारलाई नाश गर्न हामीले शक्ति पाएका हौँ भन्न सक्ने कसैको सामर्थ्य छ र कुनै पनि व्यक्तिले अर्काको अधिकार नाश गर्न शक्तिलाई छुट्टै तरिकाले न्यायपूर्ण रुपमा प्रयोग गर्न मिल्दैन। आम समूह भनेको नै व्यक्तिगत समूहको सङ्गठित सम्मिश्रण हो। त्यसैले तर्कसङ्गत रुपमा व्यक्तिले मात्र सो सिद्धान्तको अनुशरण गर्ने होइन आम समूहका निम्ति पनि यो समान सिद्धान्त लागू हुन्छ।

सामान्यता संविधान सरल र स्पष्ट हुन्छ जसले कुनै पनि व्यक्तिको असीमित अधिकारहरुको वैधानिक रक्षा गर्दछ। अर्थात जीवन स्वतन्त्रता र सम्पतिको अन्योन्यश्रित आधारहरु सुरक्षित गरिएका हुन्छन। यी अधिकारहरुको हरणमा न्यायिक उपचारको बाटो र्निक्योल पनि गरिएको हुन्छ /