Deforestation on the rise in Dhangadhi

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DHANGADHI, Dec 21 - Local people living close to rain forest area of this far-western Terai district say that a nexus between forest officials and wood-cutters is the main problem of heavy deforestation.

A local from Balmi village, Chet Bahadur Rokaya, told a visiting team of locally formed Forest and Environment Concern Group Thursday that such a massive scale of deforestation was not possible without the involvement of the forest officials.

The group has collected 156 sal logs from Balmi village alone which is very close to the East-West highway. Locals said that these logs were cut within a year. Likewise, about 100 sal logs have been seized by the local people from the Chaumala and Lathaiya areas.

Coordinator of the group, Gajendra Bahadur Singh, claimed that the utter negligence of the forest officials has helped the woo-mafia steal the valuable sal trees.

Locals also claimed that the forest officials indulged in heavy irregularities during an auction of the logs seized from the wood-cutters. The forest officials, however, claimed that they were doing their best as per the means and resources available.

‘Govt fails to protect oppressed class’

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KATHMANDU, Dec 21 - As the government fails to protect the oppressed class of people from living subordinate lives even after a decade of restoration of democracy, the political leaders demand for amendment in the constitution itself.

Lawmaker and General Secretary of Communist Party of Nepal (UML) Madhav Kumar Nepal today demanded that the constitution be changed to guarantee the basic rights of the oppressed class (Dalit) from being socially discriminated by so-called upper class.

"The present provision of punishment for the wrongdoer is very broad and a more strict law is essential to cease the social evil," he said.

He was addressing a seminar on the challenges of the 13th birth anniversary of Mukti Samaj, a non-government organisation against racism, working for the upliftment of the dalits.

Member of Human Right Commission Prof Kapil Shrestha said Nepal signed the international treaty against slavery in 1958 but the plight of common Nepalis is the same as before. He urged the

dalits to come up with a stronger voice against the government’s idleness in this connection.

Another human right activist and HRC member Sushil Pyakurel said that the government is fuelling caste discrimination. He asked, "Why the government did not punish anybody discriminating those

dalits while it had plenty of evidences against this illegal social practice?"

Sociologist Dr Ganesh Gurung said that the organisations concerning this caste discrimination dalits are concentrated in the cities alone and a few are showing interest to expand their movement into rural areas where such awareness programmes are more important.

Effective English teaching in govt school

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SYANGJA, Dec 21 - Schools operating with government grant may also provide quality education at a par with or better than private boarding schools. This has been amply demonstrated here by a school.

This experience was gained by Kalika secondary school located at Putali Bazaar Municipality-13 which has also been running a class in English medium as in private boarding schools in the current academic session with the cooperation of teachers.

In view of the increasing attraction of parents to private boarding schools being run under PABSON in English medium, headmaster of the school with a long teaching experience, Prem Narayan Aryal, attempted to make the best use of available resources at the school and ran a class on an experimental basis in accordance with PABSON curriculum.

A total of 161 students were admitted to class six in Kalika secondary school in the current academic session five months ago. The headmaster asked students willing to study under the PABSON courses to enrol in section "C" and others who wish to study the syllabus prescribed by the government in sections A and B. There are 55 students in section A, 58 in section B and 48 in section C.

The students of section C who are studying PABSON curriculum in English medium are doing extremely well. "Students have demonstrated that they can do well given proper atmosphere, the headmaster said.

"After we started classes in English medium, students have developed the feeling that they should work hard and we have also accorded top priority to discipline and good conduct," Aryal shared his experience.

Young teachers, who are teaching in this class, use new methods of teaching and are doing far better than teachers with long experience, the headmaster said. Aryal who is well-known in teaching mathematics also teaches in classes like all the rest of the teachers.

Aryal who plans to upgrade it into a higher secondary school, said he had started this experiment with a view to teaching students in all the classes in English medium in future.

Season to choose better half in life

By Rebecca Harding

KATHMANDU - It has been quite a feat navigating oneself down the winding streets of Kathmandu over the last month without getting tangled up in one wedding procession or another. Revelers spilled onto the streets, accompanied by a cacophony of trumpets, drums, clarinets and motorbike horns. A visual delight, a rickshaw puller’s worst nightmare, the auspicious month of Mangsir witnessed Kathmandu burst into colour and lavish celebration.

Filled with curiosity, I attended my first Nepali wedding celebration and watched as flower garlands were exchanged, mantras recited and the fire circled, in a room heady with incense. At the wedding feast, soberly dressed men, and women clad in flamboyantly-coloured saris, danced and drank rakshi to strains of Western and Nepali music. A true feast for the senses.

"Professional match for very pretty, slim, convent-educated girl of a business family, now in capital venture. Requires professional boy from educated, high-status family. Box no. 205574", reads an ad in the matrimonial pages of an Indian daily. In recent months, such advertising can be found in some Kathmandu newspapers too. Advertizing remains a well-established tradition for parents of prospective brides and grooms to state their requirements. More and more busy, young professionals are requesting their parents to find suitable partners for them as they find themselves with less time to socialize.

For millions, the custom of arranged marriage remains central to the fabric of their society, with over 50 percent of couples never meeting before their actual wedding day. Some say, 95 percent of marriages in Nepal are arranged. However, in many cases, especially in larger Nepali cities, Westernstyle love marriages may be triumphing over tradition. Advances in technology are altering the shape of traditional social interaction, with Internet chat rooms becoming a popular medium for young people to exchange ideas and get to know each other.

Yet love-marriages are not always acceptable in the West. Especially in royal circles. On December 11, 1936, in a radio broadcast that reached millions, the newly-proclaimed King Edward VII of England announced the unthinkable. "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do," he said, "without the help and support of the woman I love." That woman was a domineering, twice-divorced American named Wallis Simpson. Edward’s wildly romantic declaration cost him his job and his country.

Most ancient societies needed a secure environment for the perpetuation of their lineage and a system of rules to handle the granting of property rights. The institution of marriage provided a solution to both these needs. In most cultures, ancient or modern, from the East or west, wedding days have traditionally been steeped in custom, rituals and superstition - many believing it to be a time when brides, especially, were susceptible to bad luck and the influence of evil spirits. The veil, which covers the bride’s face in many cultures, not only symbolizes modesty and chastity, but also provides protection against malevolent spirits. According to custom, the ‘best man’ protects the groom from bad luck. Traditionally at a Christian wedding, the bride wears white. This custom began in the 16th century. Queen Victoria gave the custom a boost when she married in white, instead of silver, the traditional colour for royal brides.

The timing of a marriage celebration is of utmost importance. In Nepal only a few dates of a few months of the year are considered suitably auspicious. Similarly, in the Western calendar, the month of May was thought to be especially unlucky, so much so that Queen Victoria supposedly forbade any of her children from marrying at this time. The Pagan festival of Beltane celebrated with outdoor orgies to herald the arrival of summer was, probably wisely, considered an ‘unsuitable’ time to tie the knot and embark upon married life. June, named after Juno, the Roman goddess of love, was considered the luckiest month of all.

At the dawn of Paush, the streets of Kathmandu are quiet once again. The red and gold saris have been packed away until next month. The glitzy parties and elaborate ceremonies will have to wait for some time. The honeymoon is over. Reality kicks in. For thousands of young women across Nepal, the transition from daughter to daughter-in-law has only just begun. Not just one, but a whole new set of family relationships to come to terms with.

Shankar lives with disfigured face

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LAMJUNG, Dec 21 - Shankar’s father showed him to a faith healer. He took him even to New Delhi for treatment. But the lump on his son’s cheeks grew larger and larger covring his left eye.

Shankar, 9, from the western part of this district has developed a lump of fleshy thing in his face which was like a small mole at the time of his birth.

Shankar is currently studying in class two at Chetmada primary school. Some villagers said it was a wholesome bag of wealth and some said it was okay, says Shankar’s father Shanta Bahadur, a poor villager. Till the time Shankar attained one year, the lump started to increase. He says that now he is finding difficult to talk and eat. His left eye has already been covered by the lump.

Santa Bahadur has worshipped all the gods of the village and has even shown his son to several faith healers.

They all have spent fifteen days in New Delhi’s hospital too. But the result was disappointing. His mother is very worried because of her son’s disease.

Rain water collection plan extended

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DAMAULI, Dec 21 - The advanced plan of collecting rain water to provide it as drinking water in the dry season has been extended in Tanahun district after its initial success.

Although the government had not made arrangements for separate budget for this plan the District Drinking Water Office had started this plan as a pilot project in three villages three years ago. The government has earmarked separate budget for this work from this year after the success achieved by this project.

The project was initially started in Thansingh and Barchyang of Jamune VDC and Naya Gaon of Keshabtar VDC. Following its success, this project has been started in 15 districts, including Tanahun this year.

According to the District Drinking Water Office engineer, Buddhi Prasad Gautam, this project will be implemented at Korthok in Kyamin VDC-6, Simle and Gunjara in Jamune VDC-5, Bahapur in Jamune VDC-4, Taragaon and Samung in Satiswanra VDC-6 and Dhyanu in Bhagawatipur VDC. Rs 2 million has been earmarked for implementing the project in these villages.

This project is specially designed to suit the high mountain regions, where there is no water source, to provide drinking water for a maximum of six months in dry seasons, according to the capacity of the water tank.

This technology is the only means of providing water in areas where all the other alternatives become inapplicable, said engineer Gautam. From the viewpoint of purity, rain water is more pollution-free than the water received from well, river and taps, he added.

There is scarcity of water in high mountains since February until May every year when the sources of water dry out. The water collected in rainy season may meet the shortage of drinking water during this period if it is properly stored.

Under this technology, cemented ponds are constructed according to people’s need. Rain water is collected using plastic or corrugated sheets by properly filtering it and it is protected from the outside dirt or uncleanliness. Such water is fit for human consumption for six months.

"Rain water is pollution-free and good for health if it is properly protected from the uncleanliness that might be caused from outside the pond," engineer Gautam said.

Hannibal and Jerry : A musical film for children

KATHMANDU,Dec 21 (PR)- A Danish boy who looks very much like Macaulay Culkin of Home Alone-1 days and an ordinary-looking dog with extraordinary trait were source of much entertainment last weekend on the first day of the Danish film festival at the capital.

The musical film for children Hannibal and Jerry is a baroque comedy where all characters break into song at unexpected moments with the plot providing a lot of action, though everything is played deadpan.

Jerry is a dog that talks and the one who tells the story, and Hannibal is a boy who happens to get Jerry as his pet. Uncle Granddad is a jovial fellow who also happens to be a commercial on-screen television phoney, and who snatches Jerry. The film ends happily with Jerry united with Hannibal and Uncle Granddad arrested. The film also consists of a crazy kind of romance between a romantic cop and his no-nonsense type female colleague.

Although the casts, an array of people of different colours, spoke Danish the subtitles were in English and the film lively enough even for a non-Danish speaker to enjoy it fully.

Even though the Russian Cultural Centre’s hall was sparsely occupied, and the audience of Danish origin were in the majority, the film festival to some extent may have achieved its objective - "to let more Nepalis get to know about the Danish culture", as said by Himalaya SJB Rana, the President of the Nepal-Denmark Friendship and Cultural Association.