Combating Terrorism
Need For International Coalition

By Yuba Nath Lamsal

IN the aftermath of September 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre in the United States of America, there has been an unprecedented polorisation in the world—good versus evil, civilization versus barbarism, freedom versus dictatorship and creation versus destruction. The whole world has demonstrated a unique example of unity and solidarity against terrorism and terrorists wherever they are.

The Pentagon is the symbol of American military supremacy whereas World Trade Centre the nerve center of global capitalism. But the attacks should not be and has not been taken as the attack against the US alone. It is an attack on civilization, democracy, peace, and human prosperity—the modern day ideals. It is this reason why the whole civilized world has stood by the side of America condemning the attack and expressing its full support and solidarity in the war against terrorism. Even the countries, which protected and supported some terrorist groups in the past, have now clearly voiced against terrorism.

Immediately after the suicide attack, President George W. Bush declared war against terrorism. Now America is at war and the world is with it. Behind the terrorist attack, as the investigations have pointed out, is a Saudi billionaire, Osma bin Laden and his Al Queda, an organisation believed to be orchestrating violence and terror in different parts of the world, although he has denied his involvement. Bin Laden has connection and network with different terrorist groups from America to Africa and from Kosovo to Kashmir, through which he operates terrorist activities.

America and the world is seeking bin Laden for trial. Bin Laden is in Afghanistan under the protection of Taliban, who have been controlling and ruling most parts of Afghanistan. Talibans have refused the US demand to hand over bin Laden. The war in Afghanistan, thus, looks imminent.

Talibans are protecting bin Laden simply because they have one thing in common—spreading violence and terror both within and without Afghanistan. The Talibans have unleashed a reign of terror within Afghanistan whereas bin Laden and his Al Queda operates elsewhere in the world. The Talibans’ first victims are their own people. They have closed down schools, dismissed women from jobs, and enforced laws of medieval period. Their targets range from civilians, religious and cultural heritages to economic and social infrastructures. The demolition of the huge ancient Buddhist statues in Afghanistan a few months ago is a clear example of their terrorist attack on culture, and religious heritage and faiths. There is close collaboration between bin Laden’s groups and Talibans in creating terror in the world. If they are not contained in time, one day Liberty of Statue also could be a target of terrorist attack.

If America and its allies attack on Afghanistan, many civilians would be definitely killed, which is the worst part of the story. Killing civilians is no bravery but a cowardly act. In the war, there is no victory but civilization, humanity and development would be defeated. Should there be any options available, war must be avoided and peaceful solution sought. But it looks war is looming large in Afghanistan because Talibans are not listening to the world. As Afghanistan has been devastated by more than a decade-long war during Soviet invasion, Afghan people know how painful the
war is. There is nothing more to be destroyed in Afghanistan. It has no economy, no governance, no highways, no power and no development infrastructures. The country is littered with landmines left by both Soviet troops and Mujaheedins.

America and its allies are clearly aware of it. If war begin first at, Americans will have to clear the land mines and build roads and other development infrastructures to let their troops go in. Only then they would be able to capture the culprits.

The attack on Afghanistan will definitely have fall out in South Asia. South Asian nations know it very well. But the devil of terrorism is more dangerous than the war. Thus they have not only supported America but also accepted America’s offer to join this war. Nepal has also become part of the international community. It has always opposed and condemned violence, terrorism, conflict and war anywhere in the world. If needed, Nepal even offer its territory to be used in the war against terrorism.

Some tend to describe these developments especially after the suicide attacks in the United States as a clash between two civilizations—Christian West and the Islamic world. However, terrorism, violence, conflicts and killings are no civilization but an enemy of civilization. All religions in the world including Islam do not at all promote terrorism, hatred, conflicts, war and killings. Islam promotes love, harmony, understanding, peace and cooperation. Thus, the efforts of bin Laden and some international terrorist outfits to give religious cover to the heinous crime against humanity appear to be futile. The Islamic community has also realise, this and has condemned the terrorist acts.

Terrorism is the number one enemy of 21st century. It has no particular country and boundary. It exists all over the world in different forms and different names. The whole world has suffered from the menace of terrorism. It is the dangerous disease of humanity, civilization, peace and prosperity. It, thus, must be contained, combated and eliminated from the world.

However, it is not an easy task to contain it. It needs a global commitment and alliance of all freedom and peace loving people to sustain the fight against terrorism. Now the United States has led the international coalition against terrorism. It needs to sustain and continue unless the international terrorism is completely wiped out. There are some root causes of terrorism. Poverty, disparity and discrimination are the most prominent one. These issues and problems need to be addressed first to eliminate terrorism from the world. Unless poverty is attacked, gulf between the rich and the poor narrowed and a system of judicial distribution of wealth ensured, the war against terrorism might not be effective and decisive. Military action is also needed at present to teach perpetrators of terror a good lesson. But such an action would contain terrorism temporarily in certain area but it will revive and shift to other parts of the world as long as poverty and disparity continue to exist. The long-term and effective war against terrorism should be directed towards eliminating poverty and uprooting all social and economic ills that have been afflicting the people across the world.

Solar Energy For Rural Development

By Krishna Adhikari

NEPAL is well known for vast water resources. Though, theoretical hydropower potential of Nepal has been estimated to be 83,000 megawatt (MW), experts estimate only 42,000 MW is technically feasible. Ironically, only 300 MW has been generated so far. Hydroelectricity is still about one per cent of the total energy requirement of Nepal. More than twenty million rural people live without electricity. Despite government’s plan for massive rural electrification 83 per cent of the total population have no access to electricity. Firewood and biomass are the major sources of energy for cooking and heating in most of the rural areas. Rural households consume 85 per cent of Nepal’a primary energy of which firewood accounts for about 75 per cent. Nepal’s per capital energy consumption is one of the lowest in the world.

Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) offers the most appropriate way for meeting energy demand in rural and remote areas. In the Nepalese context, micro-hydro biomass, solar energy etc are useful particularly in remote villages. For rural population where the utility grid is unlikely to reach in the near future, RET sources are the most viable option to meet the energy demand. It will also help to improve social and economic conditions of rural peoples. Solar Photovoltaic energy is the most cost effective way to supply people with energy necessary for low power consuming electrical load like lights, television, radio etc. Experts predict Nepal has solar energy potential of 26.6 million-MW. Although much of the country’s land lies on the good solar belt, a detailed radiation mapping is still not available.

On an average there is more than 4.5 hours of sunshine per day in Nepal. As per World Meteorological Organisation, the average isolation for Nepal lies between 4-5 kilo watt hour (kWh) per square meter per day with the growing energy needs. More efficient devices are being developed to utilise solar energy. If the average solar radiance for Nepal is considered to be 4.5 kWh per day then the total energy generated due to global diffusion comes out to be about 662,000 Giga watt hour per day. If 0.01 per cent of this is used with an active device having 10 per cent conversion efficiency, then 6.62 Giga watt hour per day can be generated which comes out to be about 0.5 per cent of the total yearly electrical energy generated in Nepal. Besides Nepal in average has 300 sunny days a year which is a good sign for the potential development of solar energy.

Solar Photovoltaic energy among various renewable energy sources provides an inexhaustible and refined clean source of energy. Solar energy can be used as heat and light. Its utilisation in two methods are the thermal method using the heat for heating, cooling, drying, water purification and power generation. The photovoltaic method converts light into electricity.

Solar energy is environment friendly and reduces dependency on expensive imported fossil fuels. It can contribute both to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by replacing fossil fuel and the development of rural areas. According to American National Audubon Society, 10 per cent of electricity would be solar generated by the year 2002, we would eliminate up to 170 million tons a year of carbon dioxide and help save the Earth from the worst of global warming.

Solar energy was first introduced in the country in 1963 by Nepal Telecommunications Corporation to operate a transceiver. It is estimated that photovoltaic systems producing about 1,600 kWh of electricity have been installed in Nepal. Apart from this, solar energy is being used in civil aviation, water supply, tourism, health, education and other sectors. Similarly, about 8,000 solar home systems have been installed in the country. Almost sixty per cent of those systems were installed through government subsidy programmes. The government of Nepal is promoting solar energy generation in a sustainable manner. However, the government has since last year reduced subsidy from prevailing 15,000 rupees per household to 12,000 rupees for extremely remote, 10,000 rupees for remote and 8,000 rupees for general rural areas. Rural financial institution like Agricultural Development Bank and other micro-credit organisations lack capital necessary for investment in such sectors. This has hindered the accelerated growth of this technology in the solar energy development.

At present, government of Denmark under DANIDA/ESAP programme is assisting Nepal with 25,000 Solar Home System, which will approximately add 1,000 kW of electricity within four years. Though the project lacks funding for rural credit scheme and larger institutional projects, many international organisations like European Union and Japan have shown keen interest for multi-million dollar investment in RETs with special focus on Solar photovoltaic.

Ten local private solar industries are qualified in Nepal for government subsidy programme. Local industries are mainly electronics manufacturers. Solar Modules and Batteries are imported since market is still limited for local lamination of solar PV modules. However, many small manu-facturers still import finished electronic goods due to poor monitoring policy of the government. Private sector has been instrumental in popularising solar PV technology in Nepal. It is estimated over 1,000 individuals are directly or indirectly dependent on manufacture, sales, repair and maintenance of Solar Electric business.

Though on-grid and off-grid applications are gaining market worldwide, in Nepalese context rural electrification and small institutional system are directly linked with income generating activities like cottage industry. Similarly, this technology can also be best applied for future development of the technology like solar community, water pumping, solar irrigation, water purification, milk chilling stations, rural health posts, education resource centres, and vaccine freezing for life saving drugs. However, telecom is already a mature market for Solar PV in Nepal.

Summing up, Solar PV technology is a potential energy and could be made affordable to rural people. It can be further developed in Nepal with an organised planning by the government with support from private sector.

Agonising Leisures

By Govinda Bhattarai

What shelter to grow ripe is ours?
What leisure to grow wise?

— Mathew Arnold

WHEN a busy person is suddenly shot out of the regular schedule, he/she may find it very hard to while away the time, especially if the person is out of home and has a few hours to pass. Worse if the time is morning when the usual city business, except the march of the college going crowd, is yet to begin. We are so obsessed with our routine and mechanical timetable that we find it very difficult to decide on how to utilise a precious moment bestowed upon us by chance.

One day it so happened that I missed my morning classes and found myself at the crossroads of time. Indecisive, I rode round the city so that, as I thought, I would be able to do away with the leisure that occurs out of the blue in my daily affairs. Despite my best efforts to be slow in motion, the bike would take its regular pace – in pace with the general traffic. I even feared that someone – be it an acquaintance of mine or traffic police personnel – might ask me why I was riding so slowly. I made a big circle and came to the same tea stall where I had already taken more tea than my usual dose.

As a rule, I am always on the road, hurrying to meet different deadlines the whole day from dawn to dusk. Had I been at home that day, I would have found it easier thumbing through books or playing music on the recorder or just surfing the TV channels. In order to avoid a shower of why’s and what’s, I did not go back home.

Where could I go then? There were no libraries open, no parks nearby and nothing to indulge in. Unwillingly, I ordered for another cup of tea. All the time I prayed that the man behind the counter would share a good chunk of my time and spend it on boiling the tea. But this fellow found that day to serve me so promptly! All other mornings I used to curse him for making me wait long. I glanced over the morning papers but the stale news stuff was no solace. Time moved too slow and I grew desperate.

My wandering thoughts suddenly halted at my decision to have my hair cut though I had it done only a few days back. I thought that the barber would make me wait in queue and would customarily take a good deal of time for the job. But lo! he instantly proceeded me to the chair as soon as I entered into the parlour and began his scissoring operation on my head. I finally found the refuge though it was just for a while. I never enjoyed the barber’s "bend your head this or that side" and bits of hair sticking all over the body. I always felt sick during the lengthy hour of haircutting. But this time it was a pleasant experience. The rhythm of the snapping scissors, along with the barber’s humming, thrilled me from inside. It far surpassed even the music that was being aired on the radio at that moment. I realised that we fail to understand the freshness that lies hidden behind what generally appears trivial.

I had learnt Einstein’s Theory of Relativity during my college days but had never been in its crux. We have various experiences in our lives but never bother to make meanings out of them. This experience of mine made me live through what the greatest scientist of the 20th century had discovered long ago.