Give peace a chance

By KESHAB SIGDEL 

The seven year long Maoist war has now stopped following the com-promise between the government and the rebels to announce ceasefire. But any further settlement processes are obscure and implicit. Rumors about the possible consequences are hovering all around.

People are hopefully wishing for an affirmative resolution of a long-standing crisis through the initiated peace process. Every moment, they are skeptical about these matters. They have not forgotten the bitter past where ceasefire was used just as a strategic weapon to strengthen and fortify the militants’ power only for a greater amount of bloodshed and destruction.

Till when should the Nepalese people suffer? Are we doomed to born in the turmoil of violence and die in wars? For whose interest is peace forbidden to us? These questions have to be answered, and everyone responsible for the present crisis should redeem themselves by making an effort for establishing peace. Peace is our ultimate aim, and there is no way out.

The fortune of the people is not predestined by history, rather people make history of their own. Now, time has come to build a history, and it should not be missed.

But, unfortunately, the political scenario is quite gloomy which raises numerous suspicions about the future of the peace process. Since people are the ultimate stakeholders of the peace process, there is no reason why people should be kept uninformed about the developments of peace process. Otherwise, it cannot be denied that the fog of suspicious secrecy prevailing for a longer time may be interpreted as a rehash of a greater national tragedy.

Everybody must accept the ground reality that the present government as the representative of the palace and, the Maoists as the rebels are the two major participants of the proposed peace talks. But there should be no confusions that peace talks without the involvement of parliamentary parties like the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML, and others, cannot find credible and sustaining outlet to the present crisis.

In view of the need for the involvement of these political parties, the peace talks should not prove to be an impetus for them to beat their own drums and promote their vested interests. It does not mean anything to win at the cost of peace and stability of the country. They should best regard the sentiments of the people and direct their new roles to let the hopes of people come true. Whoever the constituents be in the newly emerging state of power equilibrium, none can escape from being responsible to the people.

Though it cannot be expected to pass in a single night from war to peace, but it is essential on the part of the major participants of negotiation that they show real interest on resolving the problems. It is equally necessary that every peace settlements be regarded, not as the consummation of a given victory, but as the foundation of a process of reconstruction.

The negotiators must be representative of the general will of the people. In the proposed round table conference, it is a must that voices of all sectors of the society are equally represented. And it would be a blunder to come up with an idea of not involving the king in the round table meet (as CPN-UML General Secretary Nepal has said) , the palace being one of the major constituents of new power equilibrium. How can any delegation be representative if it is composed exclusively of war leaders? The political parties should not hesitate to accept that after the royal move of 4th October, the palace and the Maoists are in the frontiers of the war, and the peace settlement cannot be thought of in the absence of either of the two.

It is true that it is impossible to make a quick peace after a long war of seven years. But the government as an executive authority should be aware of the fact that the armistice will have to be followed by an integrated package of rehabilitation and reconstruction. Otherwise, the compromise reached at the top level may not secure the permanent peace process if the plight of the war victims remains the same.

Conflict management is not an easy job, and it is necessary to understand the causes of war before the dispute is resolved. Without the proper diagnosis of the root cause, we shall be in danger to apply the remedies to the symptoms rather than to its cause.

It should not matter much whether it takes a few months to come upon an agreement, but compromise should not be that of a hastily gathered agendas of avoiding the present crisis ultimately weakening the crux of people’s sovereignty.

How meditation helps man

By Damaru Lal Bhandari 

The book received has got to with immensely with phenomenon of meditation through times when advances made by science has virtually broken all the limits of the physical world. From cracking of DNA to cloning of life to much more, science has gone a long way indeed. But what has not yet been fully explored by society as a whole is "Man" itself.

However, the practical use of the book lies in the fact that it points out how embarking on meditation can bring about remarkable changes in the life of man.

For a student of science "man" may be flesh and bones formed of a number of complicated chemical compounds. But it is not so for someone who believes in meta-science and power of meditation unraveled centuries ago. The book under review is the result of the research conducted by the author by studying ancient Pali text, which fully explains the means and joys of meditation in just over 100 pages.

The writer starts by outlining the purpose of the book, which of course is to goad man to ask a number of questions like: Does the mind operate independent of the body? Where does mind originate? Can a dead person think? And so forth. These, among other questions, have been answered under suitable titles in the course of the next 100 pages or so.

Among other things, thought is a key to the phenomenon of understanding the man or mind. Conversely, failure to revise the same rules out clear knowledge. In fact, Gautam Buddha always encouraged the monks to discuss good things and good laws since discussion is considered as means to learn more and more about various phenomena.

Moreover, Buddha considered silence as the avocation of animals. Hence what goes without saying here is epistemology of Buddhism is indeed sophisticated for everything it means.

The writer has in the following pages outlined five aggregates of being which include corporeal physical body, feeling, perception or recognition, mental formation and consciousness. What this categorisation suggests is man is more a mental phenomenon than merely a physical phenomenon. Of course, as readers shall find for themselves this has been further analysed meticulously indeed and what is certainly linked with Buddhist philosophy surrounding man.

Next comes faculty of thought which again is the sum total of many different factors. All the senses are interdependent on each others. In fact this phenomenon has been likened to electricity current. In fact the claim coming from scientists that human brain contains some nearly 43 billion motors of its own kind is vindicated by the claim coming from Buddhist scriptures.

Much in tune with what modern biologists say, Buddhist scriptures too have stressed on the importance of the brain, a system, which creates or receives information and "permeates the same into the whole knowledgeableness in the brain-body." Here body is the mere channel to pass and receive the messages and thoughts.

Since thought is much subtler than the feeling it is very difficult to gauge what any one else has in his/her mind. Buddha knew that different thoughts had different quality-result. Unwholesome thoughts are known to have a telling impact on the people depending on the extent of the severity of the same.

On the other hand, wholesome thoughts cling to no false state and hence are good for anything ranging from career pursuit to farming to a life in politics. As has been stressed living with good thoughts in mind does more good by itself than any benevolent person can to unto oneself. Again this has been meticulously dealt with in greater detail under ethical perspective of thought.

The rest of the part of the book deals with the principles of meditation even as it sets out guidelines on how to practice it. Definitionally speaking, setting mind on something without distracting away from it is what is called meditation. Again this has been divided into two: right and wrong meditation.

While wrong meditation is something which is undertaken with selfish interests in mind right meditation is something which undertaken with holier objective in mind. Buddha, for example, laid stress on right meditation, which has been further divided into calm (samantha) and insight (vipasana).

What follows next are the benefits issuing out of meditation in this world where people are caught up with number of hardship bordering on the physical and mental stress and ambivalence.

On the eve of Shivaratri

By YUYUTSU R D SHARMA

Dark blanket of the Night falls  early. I take a round of the city.Catherine had promised to meet me today, on the eve of Shivaratri. The city seems to be swarming with devotees, semi-nude drunken ascetics thread through the valley’s lanes, begging. Taste of your bittersweet wine in my mouth, I come out of the bus and start climbing slope of a sleep. A plane has just come from Frankfurt: it whizzes past, almost deafening me. I notice it land safely. Bright lights of the airport besmirch my eyes. I turn around to face the dark path and go over to the Bagmati Bridge.

Your temple bells ring, Pilgrims seem to be in a trance. Soft jingle of bells like drops of fire trickling from lamps drops in my ears. Once inside, on the damp floors of your courtyard. I go past your golden Nandi and start circumambulating round the shrine. The sky jammed in a cold windless stupor, I step down a flight of stairs and decide to circle tiny idol of Vishnu. I stand at sleeping Lord’s feet, bend and touch them with my forehead. I go on to the terrace to watch a dying Bagmati.

Beyond the river I find a swarm of tourists scurry like untouchables, distanced by a hiatus of a history. A lone pyre burns in its smoldering fire. Shall I hurry down the sudden steps of mossy stairs and freeze in cold waters.

But what about the erect linga of Bhairaba in the adjoining shrine? The old, flaccid pilgrims and holy men and women waiting for their Ultimate End in a pagoda roofed pavilion have their eyes fixed on me. Shall turn around and drop a coin? There lies nailed to the ground face of a god who out of his greed having eaten all his limbs has nothing left of him except his greedy mouth. I drag my steps around eight goddesses. They seem they have gone to sleep, I stand before entrance of Bhairab shrine, the doors have been shut by the priests. I touch the steps, imagining the larger than life Bhairaba standing with its erect linga.

Around eleven I cross the Bridge. Semi nude sadhu sit cross-legged before livid bonfires. I climb flagstone steps, looking for Catherine. Her soft honey-sweet skin warming my mind. The way she lay on the train berth opposite me, how her body throbbed, her breasts shook and her cheery mouth, it all comes back to me. Where would she be at this moment? I let my hands rove over her huge body. I massage her long marble limbs. In the dark I make love to her. But where is she? In she entangled like Mahadevi in a Shiva’s asna, in the naked lap of an ashen ascetic. These holy men had become her obsession.

I find a fire before a semi-nude sadhu crackle. Having taken a dip in not-so-holy- anymore waters of Bagmati, he is rubbing fresh ash from the bonfire all over his body. He finishes his makeup, puts on a sandal tika on his broad forehead and pulls a deep puff of hashish from the Chilum-pipe and discreetly eyes one of the blondes sitting opposite him. ‘A ruffian’, I say aloud in my mind. The blonde seems to be in awe of his dreadlocks, his tika, his muscular chest, his extra-terrestrial pose. His testis protrude forcibly out from his homespun loincloth......

Bagmati seems to be flowing mournfully. There isn’t much water in it. The fire in the pyre seems to have leapt up into a tiny volcano. I can see the human body crackling in its flames, spurting a fantail of sparks. "Is it luck," I ask, "to die on the eve of Shivaratri?. Is there any luck at all, after your death?"

Only some conch
of sacred waters of Gangotri
that’s to wash
my ashes one day
will take away
bat-faced wasps of death
clinging to the tragedy
of my aging lips .......

(Some Female Yeti, P. 24)

Managing banking risks

By CHANDRA THAPA 

Banking and financial services are among the fastest growing industries in the developed world and are also emerging as cornerstones for other developing and underdeveloped nations as well. But the growth or the bubble of the same industry has proved to be a driving force for slowing down the economy in many cases. The present economic downturn in Japan is due to the huge accumulation of bad debts. Similarly, in the bank based economy as the momentum of growth flames up, bankers face the daunting task of positioning themselves competitively in the market, and thus face the challenge of reducing risks and uncertainty during the period of unprecedented innovation and prosperity.

Bank’s primary function is to trade risk. Risk cannot be avoided by the banks but can only be managed. Now the question is what types of risk exist in the banking system and how these are managed. Following are some of the primary risks which the banking industry faces and must be point of interest not only to bankers and regulators but most importantly to the depositors as well so that they can map the capacity of their bank and safeguard their hard earned money.

Interest rate risk: This is one of the most common risks the banks face owing to the volatility of the interest rate in the market. In Nepal, just a decade ago, the interest rate on saving and time deposits were at the height of around 8 percent and 12 percent respectively, but today they have pathetically gone down with an average of 4 percent and 6 percent respectively due to the dwindling economic scenario (domestic and international). Similar volatility has also been observed in case of lending interest rates as well. Deposits are liabilities of the banks, whereas their lending is assets and the spread of interest between these two is what the banks earn but with above stated volatility there is great uncertainty and the banks are exposed to the mismatch of asset transformation.

Trading/market risks: Banks productively manage their excess liquidity (cash flow) by investing in various securities (government and corporate, such as Treasury bonds, Treasury bills, Development bonds, National Saving bonds, mutual funds, Certificate of deposits, Common stocks, Convertibles, Corporate bonds etc), in foreign currencies and in other assets for instance swaps, option etc. These are also assets of the banks and owing to the market uncertainty the value of these assets may also decline/ incline. Hence, managing such investments need experts who can predict the future returns of these assets and invest the excess liquidity smartly. In Nepal, the investments in currencies has always propped up lucrative returns since our money has continuously devalued in terms of all foreign currencies but all other investments depends on market movement and information. Personnel responsible for funds management must abreast themselves with the latest happenings since information plays the vital role in making the placement of the funds. Business channels such as CNBC, Bloomberg and other business channels as well as business/financial journals are the key sources of information. Such personnel must also be equipped with the technical knowledge of making necessary analysis so as to predict the volatility of the investments. Hence, the depositors and other stakeholders must have the knowledge about their bank’s treasury management.

Credit risks: Presently, the Non Performing Loans of the commercial banks in Nepal is around 16.5 percent of the total lending and the international standard in this regard is 3-5 percent. The present economic scenario is not conducive enough to recover all these bad lending and as in other nations, we do not have any Asset Management Companies who can productively take care of these bad assets. The consequential effect is that business investments will be and are severely hampered, as banks are skeptical to make further investments in the form of lending. In banking terms, such non-payment of promised cash-flows and in extreme cases, default on principal is called credit risk Such risk is one of the most significant risks which the banks face and particularly in underdeveloped country like Nepal because ours is a bank based financial system. Hence, it’s key that the bankers manage such risks prudently since it not only hampers the particular bank in concern but also badly affects the growth prospects of the entire economy. Credit risks are of two types. The first is the diversifiable risk or the firm specific risk which can be mitigated by maintaining an optimum and diversified portfolio. This is due to the fact that when one sector does not do well the growth in another might offset the risk. Thus, depositors must have the knowledge of the sectors in which their banks have make the lending.

The second is the undiversifiable risk and is correlated across borrowers, countries, and industries. Such risk is not under the control of the firm and bank. A good example is the plummeting revenue of the hotel industry due to the dwindling tourism industry and in such cases neither the hotel is able to pay the cash nor can the bank do anything to monitor the borrowers because the entire economy as such is not generating the badly needed cash flows.

Off balance sheet risks: Banks often create contingent liabilities. And since these do not materialise until the happenings of the specified event or after the expiry of the maturity date, they are thus not shown in the balance sheets. Some of the examples of such off-balance sheet items are as guarantor in case of default by the principal borrower in loan commitments (issuance of guarantee) or risk of incurring loss in a forward contract due to change in price of the purchasing/selling of the asset, swaps, options, commitments made in Letter of Credit etc. One of the very good examples of such risk in Nepal is the LC (letter of credit) scam, which surfaced some few years back. It involved almost all the commercial banks of Nepal and the government undertook a very comprehensive investigation.

Such risks are managed by a prudent analysis of the bank officials materialising such contingent contacts. The capacity of the professionalism in most of the Nepalese banks dealing with such liabilities is not upto the mark.

Technology/operational risks: If anybody wants to know the status of his account maintained at the Nepal Bank Limited or the Rastriya Banijya Bank, s/he has no option than to visit the concerned branch and get the information. But if the same person maintains the account in private commercial banks such as the Nabil Bank Limited, the Standard Chartered Bank, the Himalayan Bank, the Kumari Bank Ltd, then he can get the status either through tele-banking service, on-line account statement using modem or through net banking. As a result, these latter banks are among the best in terms of services, profitability and image as well. Yes, this a very small example where the government-owned banks have failed, as compared to the technological up-gradation of other commercial banks.

Liquidity risk: One of the very important and strong features of a good banking system is the liquidity position maintained by the bank when the demand for cash from the customers arises. Any bank facing solvency problem (inability to pay maturing liabilities i.e. a condition in which a firm’s liabilities exceed the value of its assets - net worth becomes negative) is a big threat to its survival because the customers loose confidence and is viewed with distrust eyes. In order to avoid such risks, the central banks have initiated the regulation, whereby the banks needs to maintain reserve (hard cash) in their vault and a certain specified percentage of the total deposit with central bank (NRB). Such problems of maintaining liquidity position usually arise and are managed in Nepal during the peak season when most of the purchases are made ie, during Dashain and Tihar festivals. Sometime there may be unexpected need of huge cash. Thus, it is a matter of great concern for the banks to maintain sufficient liquidity in the form of hard cash or marketable securities which can be converted into hard cash in no time.

Risk management of the banks is not only crucial for optimum trade off between risk and profitability but is also one of the deciding factors for the overall business investment leading to growth of the economy. Managing such risks not only needs sheer professionalism at the organisational level but an appropriate environment also needs to be developed. Some of the major environmental problems of Nepalese banking sector is undue government intervention ( in the state-owned banks), relatively weak regulatory frame, although significant improvement has been made in the last five year but still not competitive enough when we consider the international standard, meager corporate governance and the biggest of all is lack of professionalism ( especially commitment). The only solution to mitigate the banking risk is to develop the badly needed commitment, eradication of corrupt environment, especially in the disbursement of lending, and to formulate prudent and conducive regulatory frame work.