Dhankuta grooms bring brides without Naumati bajas

By Our Correspondent

Dhankuta, March 31: Traditional musical instruments such as Panche and Naumati bajas played with five and nine instruments respectively are gradually disappearing, giving way to modern music and musical instruments.

Those musical instruments used to be played in marriage and sacred thread ceremonies and other festivals but nowadays those traditional instruments are completely swamped by modern bands and music.

The gradual waning of such instruments has posed threat to the livelihood of those, who make and play them.

"Now traditional bands have become useless with the excessive use of modern bands," says a 75-year-old Dhimro Panchkoti, resident of Dandagaon.

Recalling his days almost 30 years ago, he says how he used to be busy hopping from one ceremony to another. Certain rites were not performed until the panche baja was not played and in marriages the brides were sent away with the grooms only with the sounds and rhythms of the naumati bajas. He now fears that the modern bands may completely replace the traditional ones. Worse, he says, people do not seem to miss those musics.

Rudra Bahadur Tumba, chairman of Jitpur Village Development Committee (VDC), says with more people, trying to be modern, preferring modern music and musical bands, the traditional ones could be extinct. The extinction of those traditional instruments will endanger our folk culture and folk music.

Headmaster of the local high school also says those instruments are an important part of our tradition and culture. But he says the children now go for modern music and this does not augur well. The concerned sector has to take initiative to preserve and promote those musical instruments to preserve our culture and traditional music.

Terrorists set fire Bhogateni sub-health post

By Our Correspondent

Biratnagar, March 31: The Maoist terrorists have shown their cowardly character by targeting health offices.

The terrorists set fire on a sub-health post at a remote village of Bhogateni in Morang district yesterday evening. Valuable medicines and other medical equipment were burnt down in the incident, said Dolakh Bahadur Gurung, Chief District Officer (CDO) of Morang.

The terrorists also destroyed important documents of Bhogateni VDC as they set a blaze. The terrorists are said to have targeted other villages lying in the northern part of the district.

During the last few days, the terrorists set a fire on the VDC offices of Tandi and Madhumalla Yangshila.

Tulu Ram Rajbanshi, Chairman of Morang District Development Committee (DDC), says that the civil society and political parties have to work together to foil the terrorists’ attempt.

Dang doctors violate NMC’s code of conduct

By Our Correspondent

Dang, March 31: The huge boards of the doctors just outside the main gate of the Rapti Zonal Hospital indicate something is wrong with the medical services that the hospital is providing.

There are many signboards placed right in front of the hospital to lure patients to the doctors’ clinics.

Those signboards also violate the code of conduct of the Nepal Medical Council (NMC).

In order to attract their clients, doctors have hung large signboards on the entrance gate of the Rapti Zonal Hospital violating the code of conduct of Nepal Medical Council (NMC).

NMC has introduced a 10-point code of conduct, which the doctors have to abide by strictly.

Many poverty-stricken people of the area are compelled to visit the private clinics of doctors for treatment, as the latter are not often available at the hospital.

The doctors, who have hung signboards on the medical stores outside the hospital, are blamed for staying most of the times at the medical shops.

Some doctors of the hospital say that doctors should not stay at the medical stores. An employee at the hospital says that most of the doctors leave the Out Patient Department (OPD) of the hospital at 11 A. M. everyday. "They have to stay at the OPD at least till 2 P. M.," says the employee.

Dr. Bikash Devkota, who is in favour of providing healthcare facilities to patients at the hospital, says that doctors need not be motivated only towards making money.

Some peons and brokers are blamed to take patients visiting the hospital to the private clinics.

But Medical superintendent of the hospital Dr. Shrawan Kumar Chaudhari denies that the doctors have not worked outside during the office time.

Night Sky In April

By Rishi Shah

The warm and clear night skies of this month provide sky-gazers immense opportunities to observe and marvel at the planets, starts, constellations and the grandeurs of the the heavens. As it darkens. the zodiacal constellations of Taurus (bull), Gemini (twins), Cancer (crab), Leo (lion), Virgo (maiden) and Libra (scales) are seen stretching across the sky from western to eastern horizon. Later in the night, Scorpius (scorpion), Sagittarius (archer), Capricornus (sea goat) and Aquarius (water bearer) climbs the eastern sky till dawn. Other constellations also come alive and cover the entire sky displaying their mysterious beauties throughout the night.

The pentagon-shaped Auriga (charioteer) with its glittering star Capella and the unmistakable constellation of Orion (hunter) are descending the western sky. Canis Major (great dog), Canis Minor (small dog) and Monoceros (unicorn) are chasing the hunter. Sirius at a distance of about 8.6 light-years is the brightest star in the sky. It is blazing in great dog. The star Procyon is flaming in small dog. It is around 11.4 light-years away. The largest constellation of Hydra (water serpent) is slithering in the southern sky. Its resplendent orange-coloured Alphard, meaning the solitary one in Arabic, is twinkling conspicuously. It is some 175 light-years away. The tiny constellations of Sextans (sextant), Crater (cup) and Corvus (crow) are leaning on the northern flank of Hydra. Constellations of Antlia (air pump) and Pyxis (compass) are hovering low above southern horizon.

Camelopardalis (giraffe), Perseus (hero) and Lynx (animal) are hanging in the northern sky. The keystone-pattern of Hercules (strong man), the semi-circle of Corona Borealis (northern crown) and broad tie-like Bootes (herdsman) with its sparkling star Arcturus (Swati) are ascending the eastern sky. Tiny constellations of Canes Venatici (hunting dogs), Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair) and Leo Minor (small lion) are standing to the east of Bootes.

The circumpolar constellations of Ursa Major (great bear), Draco (dragon), Cepheus (king) and Cassiopeia (queen) are circling Polaris, the Pole Star (Dhruba Tara) in Ursa Minor (little bear). Polaris is circa 680 light-years away. The shimmering veil of our galaxy, the Milky Way, runs through Cassiopeia, Perseus, Auriga, Monoceros and Pyxis.

A spectacular parade of five planets adorns the evening western sky by the month’s end. The scintillating elusie Mercury, the dazzling Venus and the glowing red planet Mars, which are all gathered in the constellation of Aries (ram), team-up with the lustrous giant Jupiter in Gemini and the gleaming ringed planet Saturn in Taurus. The greenish Uranus and bluish Neptune are poised as telescopic targets in Capricornus after midnight. Spotting the distant diminutive planet Pluto in Ophiuchus (serpent bearer) is a challenge to planet-hunters.

The famed meteor shower Lyrids is expected to exhibit its shooting stars in the northeastern sky before sunrise radiating from the constellation of Lyra (harp). Its peak is awaited on 22 April. Lyrids are caused as the earth ploughs through the swath of debris left behind by Comet Thatcher when it visits our Solar System every 415 years. Virginids and Sigma-Leonids show their weak meteor showers. They emanate form of Virgo and Leo. Asteroid-watchers can track Juno-3, as it dashes across Hydra and Cancer regio of the sky.

Comet Linear WM1 is receding from us into the deep space towards Oort Cloud, which is considered to be the nursery of long period comets surrounding the Sun from a distance of twenty to hundred thousand Astronomical Units. Astronomical Unit (AU) is the mean distance between the earth and the Sun. One AU is about 150 million km. Linear can be followed in the constellations Aquila (eagle) and Hercules. Comet lkeya-zhang with its orbital period of 341 years is streaking through Cassiopeia, Cepheus and Draco. Comet Snyder-Murakami is plunging through Vulpecula (fox), Lyra and Cygnus (swan). Comet-hunters can enjoy the awe-inspiring apparitions of these comets before daybreak in the east preferably with binoculars. Comet Utsunomia is crossing Triangulum (triangle), Perseus and Aries. It can be viewed after nightfall in the west.

An environmental satellite, known as Envisat, has begun its work after being successfully launched on Ariane-5 rocket from Kourou-spaceport in French Guiana. The spacecraft is carrying ten instruments that will monitor the earth for signs of pollution and climate change. It will provide vital information and data on the health of the land, oceans, ice caps and atmosphere, which will be shared by the members of European Space Agency (ESA) and participating countries of this programme. Envisat is ten metres long and weighs eight thousand kilograms. It will circle the earth every hundred minutes in polar orbit from a height of around eight hundred kilometres. The acquired data will be used to decide how to protect the planet from climate change, ozone damage and other environmental problems. The mission price is estimated to be about two billion US Dollars.

Scientists have discovered that the formation of common light absorbing chemical in the stellar atmosphere is contributing to the wild changes in luminosity of certain Mira Variable-type stars, which likely represent the ending stage of our sun. In some five billion years, our sun would be swollen into a giant red orb swallowing the inner planets including earth. It would then expand further and fade away before shrinking and flaring up again. German astronomer David Fabricius, while searching for Mercury in 1596 had discovered such varying nature of a star, which was then dubbed Mira the wonderful in the constellation of Cetus (whale) in 1642. These variable stars alter their shine as they pulsate like beating hearts. They become smaller and hotter and then larger and cooler. Such pulsations could explain oscillating brightness up to some extent but not dramatic ones as seen in Mira variables. It has been now verified that these stars form molecules like titanium oxide used in sunscreens and increase the opacity of its atmosphere. Light from inner hotter regions of the star is absorbed. As the optical surface of the giant star expands even further extreme dimming of the star at visible wavelengths takes place apparently making it disappear to human eyes.

The European countries have decided to set-up a global network of thirty satellites named Galileo that would be used as navigational network for ships, planes, cars and spacecraft. Positioning satellites orbiting 23 thousand, kilometres above the earth would transmit signals which, when picked up on the ground, allow someone to pinpoint their exact location on a map with accuracy down to one metre. The system would be used to provide surveying references for building roads, bridges and cities. The satellite network would further offer many diverse services to users of mobile phones and pocket computers. Currently there are two satellite-positioning systems in use viz the American Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian Network Glonass. Galileo, which would be operational by 2007, will cost some three billion US Dollars.

The new moon falls on 12 April, while the full moon is on 27 April. The accompanying star chart approximately portrays the night sky in the Northern Hemisphere at about 20 hours local time in mid-April 2002.