Contain HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS cases have reached an alarming proportion since the disease was first detected fifteen years ago in the country. This is unfortunate since the efforts of the government and the many health related NGOs have led to little if anything effective to contain the deadly epidemic. The disease is now spreading fast across the country. It is this country’s tragedy that the disease continues to kill many people, both literally and emotionally, every day. If the government had given serious thought to this problem and introduced measures to contain it, things might not have reached the horrifying situation it is in today. This only highlights the inefficacy of the government’s plans and programmes. As a result, the threat of this plague continues to loom large over the country.

Although it is a global problem, the country appears to be more susceptible to this killer disease and its repercussions. Over the decade, more than 25,000 AIDS patients have succumbed to the disease. The number of victims infected with HIV stands closer to 34,000. In a modest bid to combat this disease, Shukra Raj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital recently launched a special clinic for HIV positive AIDS patients. At a time when people are increasingly dissatisfied with public hospital services, this new clinic meant for providing medical and counselling services should, at least, give a glimmer of hope to these patients and social activists. However, the concept of separate and specialized health services for infected patients, if implemented as planned, would go a long way in tackling the challenges posed by this disease. This means that establishing clinics alone is not enough. Proper infrastructure and well-trained manpower is a must if the government is serious about combating the disease. Moreover, without awareness programmes, all other efforts, no matter how scientific, will be futile.

In a country where poverty and ignorance are rampant, the battle against AIDS is an uphill task. More importantly, the open border with India has aggravated the situation. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people cross the border freely, bringing in the deadly disease with them. Although various non-governmental organizations have been working in the name of controlling the epidemic, not all of them are service-oriented. Only a few appear to have been doing notable work.

Due to taboos or irrational perception, patients carrying the HIV virus are being ostracized in our society. Such a social attitude only serves to demoralize and provoke the victims. However, it is the duty of society to create a friendly environment where they can live with dignity. This is not an easy task. But if continued efforts are made at all levels of society, this daunting task can be accomplished. For this, various awareness campaigns focusing on sex education and use of contraceptives have to be implemented effectively. Such a campaign must not be confined to the Kathmandu Valley. Simultaneously, malpractices such as the use of unmonitored blood, prostitution, girl-trafficking and intravenous drug abuse must be kept in check. It is high time the government stopped tall talks and delivered promises to minimize the threat of the killer disease.

Realms of marketing in tourism

By Aditya Baral

Nepal’s tourism prospect started in 1960s when "Hippies" flocked in for making their mind happy. However, the hippy fashion has vanished and most of them have already satiated their soul, we, as a host cannot console our soul. This "why" may be the good reason to prowl for tourists and to establish this trade as a mainstay of our economy.

By far tourism is also an art or part of entrepreneurism. These days economy is governed by knowledge. Knowledge is the driver for empowerment. As a result, discoveries and development primarily in the Information Communication and Entertainment (ICE) vis a vis with the new evolving theories propounded through the hangovers of liberalization, privatization and globalization (LPG), have not only miracled the marketing activities but they have also posed a formidable challenge. In this contextual meeting of promoting tourism, Foreign Minister Bastola astonishingly asked: "Are we not at all effected while a big globalization tremors in the North and South is occurring? Should we keep silent today too?" LPG is inviting an explosion of choices since today's customers are harder to please, more demanding, less forgiving.

Simultaneously, it is also the age of technology which is indeed creating harmony among humankind, nature and technology for enhancing human potential and productivity. It is particularly information technology that is eliminating the market place and replacing it with "market spaces". As a consequence, the competition is not between companies or countries but between marketing networks. And, of course, better networks have high performance.

We have missed innumerable opportunities in harnessing resources despite knowing clearly - opportunity is the most perishable resource. When economy is trying to globalize, politics is trying to regionalize and society is trying to localize, we should not take time to comprehend this turbulent order. How would we be able to grapple with the outcome of the gang up reality of universal order is the actual crux of the problem for the people of this region.

At this juncture, if marketing tourism is our prime concern, then it is most complicated task we are entrusted with. We are carrying our activities based on assumptions. Assumptions based on the perception of the individual devising marketing strategy. So, psychological variables are involved in the course of tourism marketing. One has to woo them by winning their hearts and mind. Mind is always fickle; the advantage of this fickleness can subsequently be shared by many. Alluring tourist through the means of marketing mixes (tools) is the only available means to reach them. Therefore, sustaining marketing strategy is required to checkmate the markets, this means consistency followed by continuity as the hallmark.

If we desire tourism to stay as a bread and butter for our economy as also to stay at par with other real market driven organizations, how you turn those tools for your competitive advantage is an art to learn. For this, we have to prove as exciting in three distinctive capabilities.

Market sensing: Tourists have become very specific and choosy about their needs. It is not possible to market Nepal to the entire tourists’ population of 657 million. Hence, we have to confine our strategy within the paradigm of "sense and respond" segment. We have to red alert our marketing tentacles, create an effective market intelligence system and carve the niche market. Once niche market is excavated, then, reposition the marketing tools or mixes with aggressive strategies. The past tourist flow can also serve us to chart out our way for reaching the market.

Customer linking: Once the existing the potential tourists are identified, then, comes the task of bridging the gap through the means of either direct contact or through the means of marketing networks. In order to properly link customers, the marketing audit has to be carried on for appropriate information and feedback. Based on these data, new module has to be developed for proper linking.

In a process of linking the tourists, our diplomatic missions abroad have to be revitalized for propagating tourism diplomacy within the broad framework of economic diplomacy so that these institutions perpetually keep abreast about our country’s touristic bounty and our potential strengths to the prospective tourists. A word of mouth plays great role in promoting tourism business. In this sense, real advertisers are those who are too satisfied.

Similarly, a national celebrity can be appointed for promoting tourism in the name of goodwill ambassadors. For devising a good tourism marketing strategy all the private participators have to come up with a massive homework of integrating a most sustainable strategy to saviour the trade from collapsing. For this, they have to work in tandem with NTB. Besides, making a great hue and cry against NTB let us sit together to devise common solutions anticipating the future.

Channel bonding: Means and measures adopted for bonding has to be beefed up for additional betterment of quality services. Again, supportive communication and other matching infrastructures have to be developed for constant feedback support. From a tourist’s point of view, a good channel can be safe and reliable. However, good sense of bond can be maintained with the different professional intermediaries involved in between the source and the host. Meanwhile, rapid development in information technology has enabled networks to facilitate interactive communications and help tighten relationships.

In order to stay in win position, a great sense of cooperation among the competitors (presently known as cooperations in marketing jargon) has to be gradually developed anticipating heterogeneity in behaviour but homogeneity in consumer’s choice. The theory of cooperation would at least help check the rising expectation appearing in the tourism labour, mainly backed for political mileage by the different ideological outfits. Many other anomalies can be fuelled in days to come.

Importing experts for 10+2

By Arun Gupto

Our academic life becomes wretched without the foreign experts. And if the visitors are from the land where English is the native language, all of them hold authorities walking down the corridors of Nepali schools and campuses and dictating what should be the national policy of education in this tiny Himalayan country. These visitors, who come from the United States or Britain and etc, are experts to tell what should Nepali students read. I was a student some years back in the United States, one university person (70 years of age) had gladly told me something like this: "Arun I know that now you have black and white television sets in Nepal." I replied glowing a cigarette: "It’s a nice way to feel young, travelling back in time."

This incidentally is a metaphor of how some of us here too believe that we now have black and white TV sets because a western "expert" informs us. This is what some of the 10+2 officials feel when they see the trademarked experts. The Palestine-born American academician Edward Said calls this tendency orientalism, an offshoot of imperialism: the half-cooked, arrogant knowledge of the west about the east. And the funny thing is that we have many insiders who still look for such masters. Nepal was never politically colonized, but colonization is not merely a political empowerment, our own people, time and again, prove that.

Peace Corps Nepal now thinks that they can call anyone from the Unites States and judge the English language policies of Nepal. One of my friends told me while working at Peace Corps as TEFL trainer, a lady named Bernadette (not sure about spelling) was deputed to teach English to the fifth graders at Palpa. She told my friend that she had come to see the Himal, not to teach English. Thanks for you pastime with our education!

Such visitors can dictate the Nepali scholars who have years of research experiences, who have documented needs and qualities of Nepali students, had teaching tenures in American universities, have scores of quality academic interactions every year, and supervise doctoral theses and what not. These qualities in our scholars still do not authorize them to be the perfectionists in education (no one can be), but they can certainly speak about the fact that such foreign visitors are unwanted here if the later do not follow some academic codes.

When you are commenting on the text books of a national university or a board, your ethics, your respect for cultural literacy, your sense of proportion, knowledge of the land and your local experience or your respect for the pedagogy should teach you what and how to give suggestions. What a genuine scholar usually does is that if s/he is really concerned, s/he comes more to learn than to act masters; this is how you should come to a foreign land. Tread carefully for every academia is a sacred ground of knowledge.

The problem lies within. The people, on the one hand, have faith and confidence in our scholars. On the other hand, there are those who still live in a kind of cultural colonial era and think that anybody from America is capable of teaching English at any schools here. And that is why even tourists are picked up here to teach language. The ultimate farce boiling down in plus-two education will be, I can predict, to rewrite the syllabus once again by those who look for "patent" western masters to fill their own pockets. We look too much for the outside aid but we should learn to keep us away form such imported mediocrity.

Will new US proposal resolve refugee impasse ?

The Kathmandu Post and Mercantile Communications conducted a survey on the topic: "Do you think the new US proposal will resolve the Bhutanese refugee impasse?" This survey was done on the Net last week. Of the total 286 respondents, 52.1 percent (149) said "No", 38.5 percent (110), said "Yes" and 9.4 percent (27) said "Don’t know".

We regret the inconvenience, if any, that may be caused on account of original names being kept back by some respondents.

I don’t think the new US proposal will resolve the Bhutanese refugee. To solve the problem, India has to do something. For, the problem is being created by India. Bhutan is ruled by India, not by the Bhutanese king. Hence, Nepal has to put the issue at the UN table, and the US and India should act as mediators.

- Kailash Subba

The US, as a superpower, can influence nations in resolving crises. The US proposal has not come out yet. It is difficult to assume whether it will support in resolving the problem. However, Nepal and Bhutan should be able to resolve this problem through a dialogue. It is very shameful to invite third country to resolve the issue which is a bilateral problem. I think that Nepal and Bhutan are insensitive to aspirations of their people. India has played a negative role in this issue. India allowed refugees to enter Nepal in groups, but refused them to travel back to Bhutan. Is this fair? No one will agree India’s stand. The India’s dual character has been unacceptable to those who have interests in resolving this problem.

- Jyo

We all know that the US is the superpower of the world . As one of its ministers has said, the Bhutanese refugees can return to their country via India, they must force India to agree to this proposal. Otherwise, the Indian government will not believe as it is the India’s nature.

- Sushil Kumar Byanju

If you analyse the current situation, the US proposal has created more trouble everywhere. So, I think it will create the same situation in Nepal. We’ve got to study first, then only should we decide.

- Sanatan Regmi

Well, the US is the superpower. So, it could definitely resolve the refugee problem. Since, this is a matter of serious concern within the subcontinent and the members of SAARC should try to resolve this matter without the interference of foreign countries. Moreover, India is a highly influential country in the region and Kathmandu should seek help of New Delhi to resume dialogue with Thimpu to end the decade-long refugee problem.

- Jhapali

How can you ask such a question? Terms of the US proposal have not been made public yet. How can you ask us to prejudge the merit of the proposal? Why don’t you learn before asking such a question. What kind of diplomacy is that? Surely there are more important issues that could be discussed.

- Bill Bahadur

The new generation will not be ready to accept whatever the US says. The US has been saying it is the most democratic country but its claim stood the test during the recently concluded electoral battle. They could not even count their citizens’ votes properly. How can we expect them to come up with an impartial solution to the Bhutanese refugees? They are trying to dump date expired food into our country .They do have a record of this kind in Bosnia and in some African countries. If they can prove us that they are really impartial and can publicize their proposal, then we can consider.

- Save Nepal

I do not hope that the impasse will have a clear outlet. If Bhutan were serious, the problem would have been settled long back. The intention of Bhutanese regime is to prolong the process and make the refugees settle in Nepal permanently. India does not wish this problem to be solved, as it is not to their advantage.

With it’s size and capacity, India could have played a very positive role in the region. But since it has an age-old enmity with Pakistan, it’s attitude towards other countries has not improved. I think India could have been the champion of democracy in the region. Nepal and India have many similarities (geographic, cultural, traditional, historical and religious), I do hope that India realises this and hammers out a way to get out of this mess. Ability to talk has broken a lot of ice in the world. And Nepal should learn to be less diplomatic and follow the path of Prithvi Narayan Shah. That is how we can survive.

- Ramesh Bastola

India holds the key to resolve the Bhutan issue. The US might just work as a mediator. Bhutan needs to be tamed first. Otherwise, just issue Nepali citizenship to all the refugees, which will solve the problem for once and all. If there are nine million Indians waiting for Nepali citizenship, why can’t you issue them? After all they are Nepalese who move to Bhutan from Nepal only.

- Demachi

First, try to solve your problem inside the country. Why are people running after the US? Why.... can’t our brilliant politicians solve this problem? First and foremost, think about other crises which are plaguing the country. Then only think about this. But Nepalese have even not read the content of the proposal.

- Shine

No. Bhutan is not that co-operative in this issue. They have been delaying it by citing one reason or the other. I don’t think it will make different this time. I have this view because the Bhutani ambassador to Nepal said that the issue could be solved by just the two countries and that there was no need of any foreign body to get involved into it.

- Suman

I don’t think this problem is nowhere near an end. Unless India really puts its efforts into solving this problem, nothing can be achieved. Since, Bhutanese refugees came to our country via India and when they tried to return to their home, the Indian government took them in custody. Bhutan will not listen to us unless India gives a green signal. And the other best way to solve the problem is to internationalise the issue.

- Sujan Acharya

There are many people in Fiji, Thailand, Burma, India of Nepalese origin. But they call themselves Fijians, Thais or Indians. In times of trouble, they turn to their origin. People of Uganda wanted to settle in India, but the latter did not accept them.

So we cannot expect anything from India and the US. Likewise, Nepali politicians and bureaucrats have projected the country’s stand and interest on this issue very unsuccessfully. We should not trust various UN agencies which never solve any crisis, but rather helps in flaring up violence. Back home, communists are also not serious about the issue. They can produce rallies and street demonstrations, but has done literally nothing, when it comes to the Bhutanese issue.

- A Nepali

No. This problem is not going to be solved until India takes up actively. It is an open secret that Bhutan runs under the shadow of India. So, India’s role is crucial to solve this problem.

- Man Mulepati