Of.kebabs.and Indian delicacies

Kebab that literally melts in your mouth…and created for leisure loving Nawabs! Crabs and shrimps fished out straight from the deep blue sea.

Udaypuri alu, Barwaan gatte, Chicken korma with coriander, Elaichi gosht and a variety of other traditional Indian delicacies..the like of which you’ve never tasted except in the streets of India.

All these foods…and more…can be tasted right here in the heart of Kathmandu now, with the opening of Indian Food Festival Thursday, October 24 at Hotel Yak and Yeti. And what a perfect setting: mouthwatering delicacies and sweets from across Bharat in Madhuwan garden of the Rana rulers where cool November breeze blows by.

The week long festival, jointly presented by Yak and Yeti and the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), coincides with the Fourth SAARC Trade Fair, which kicked off here Friday October 25. And the men who’ve concocted these exotic dishes are Master Chefs Marut Sikka, Jiggs Karla and their team.

"These food are a result of our meticulous research and experimentation spanning 22 years," says Sikka, the mater chef, his index finger and left had stretched out to show his innovations. "They represent best tastes of India…from Lucknow to Rajasthan, and Delhi to Kolkata. You can’t get them easily even in India. In a way, these are foods from the streets, the best place to taste traditional dishes."

As a matter of fact, Sikka and his mates have conceptualized and executed gourmet meals for many world leaders, including Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani president Gen. Pervez Musharraf at the Agra Summit, and Prince Charles and Princess Diana, during their visit to India.

Sikka proudly says he keeps touring around the world promoting the traditioal Indian cuisine. "But this is the first time I am in kathmandu," he says, appearing extremely delighted for having landed in the valley that is nestled in the Himalayan foothills. "After the festival is over, I am planning to go around sightseeing."

How about tasting his delicacies before he winds up his Nepal tour?

Science : Field or method of study ?

K P MAINALI

Mostly science is defined in terms of its knowledge. Scientific knowledge is the total knowledge gained by science down the ages. Today science has huge amount of knowledge. It is true. But the definition of science on the basis of its coverage of knowledge is rather incomplete. Basically science is not an area or subject of study, it is the way or method of study.

Since there is a constant addition to knowledge in science, if we go back in history, we can see times when there was little knowledge and when today’s major study areas in science were missing. For instance, transmission of characters from one generation to next generation in living beings was not the study of science till middle of the 19th century. Some scientists, interested in a totally new area of study, accepted the challenge and carried out experiments and synthesized new ideas. Today many firm principles have been established in this branch of science – genetics, and it is one of the major fields in biological science. We can do genetic mapping of an individual on the basis of biomolecules, called DNA.

From this we can see that any kind of study can come under science, and with advancement in knowledge, there is constant increase in number and depth of study areas in science. With more and more study of the natural world, new and new fields appear in science. Today what is considered not to have any connection to science may become a major study area of science tomorrow. It is because science is simply the search for truth. Or, we can say it is the search for different natural phenomena and processes, relationships between cause and effect, and facts and events of the natural world. The rate of findings is more today than ever before because today we are equipped with more scientific ideas and technology than before, and in-depth knowledge and advanced technology has more potential to explore the mystery of nature.

But from taxonomy to molecular biology, mechanics to plasma physics, geology to ecology or even in the study areas to be discovered in the future, one thing that is common to all is the method of study – the scientific method. This is what makes science unique.

The final product of a scientific method, a theory, has a high validity, and it is irrespective of who you are. Whether you like a scientific principle or not, whether you agree to it or not, whether you feel pleased by it or not, the validity or the truth of the product of science does not vary. And this is the beauty of science.

By the word ‘truth’ we should understand ‘more accuracy.’ Science always moves to more accuracy. Galileo studied gravitation on earth and Kepler did it in heavenly bodies. They formulated certain principles. Both of them were then incorporated in a very simple law of gravitation by Newton. Newton’s law of gravitation is more accurate to explain gravitation than the previous two, and accordingly more valid. But Newton’s law couldn’t explain some of the movements of mercury. Then appears Einstein who solved the problem by introducing an even more accurate law of gravitation. In fact, Einstein didn’t disprove Newton, but on the basis of Newton, he made the law more complete. This is the second beauty of science – it is always progressive. Or, we can say it always moves to describe the natural phenomena, to explain the causes and consequences and to discover the facts of nature more accurately.

The aspects of knowledge which are described as scientific must be capable of ‘refutation’. This means the findings of a scientific knowledge must be testable by others. Under identical conditions the results must repeat all the times. If it can be done, the findings are accepted as valid. Knowledge which cannot be investigated in this way or if it gives different result while repeating is not scientific. Therefore a scientific knowledge is established only after a long sequence of scientific method.

Future of e— commerce in Nepal

Sudan Jha

The Internet has had an uphill struggle in Nepal. A thriving Internet requires complementary telecommunication infrastructure, trained technicians, demanding users, and networking and end user equipment, but these are not abundant in Nepal. The Nepalese Internet got off to a later start when most developing nations had adopted initial UUCP connectivity in 1994, the licensing of ISPs in 1997, and VSAT licenses in 1999. Today there are fifteen operating ISPs (Internet Service Providers). According to the Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC), the number of Internet and e-mail users has reached to above 35,000 (excluding the services provided by private companies). Roughly 30% of these are commercial, and most of the Internet account holders are from the Kathmandu Valley. Nepal’s late start with the Internet has left it with relatively little business activity in the Net technology arena. A survey of tourism and export related companies showed only 49% of the companies had email addresses and many fewer Web pages. Looking at the Web sites that do exist shows the evidence of Nepal’s late start on the Internet. Now the time has come to our country to really realize the importance of trade and business via Internet i.e. ecommerce.

What is e-commerce? Many people in Nepal are still ignorant about it. It is a process of buying and selling goods and services through Internet, e-mail or other electronic devices. E-Commerce comprises of placing orders, providing information about goods and services and their payment and delivery as well. Ecommerce could be the best tool for a landlocked country like Nepal to reduce dependency upon other countries. Besides, Nepal is in the process of getting the membership from the World Trade Organization (WTO) by which it will be able to sell its goods and services to various countries under the WTO framework. In a way, e-commerce is an obligatory tool when a country enters the WTO.

Like the proverbial blind men and the elephant, there are many ways by which ecommerce can be used and implemented in Nepal like information products, electronic markets, vertical industry portals, extranets, business-consumer enterprises, and ecommerce involving government. Information products are unique in that selection, transaction, payment and fulfillment may be completed electronically without involving physical infrastructure for warehousing and delivery. Information products can be attractive in a developing nation like Nepal, where roads, transport, post and delivery facilities are poor. On the other hand, the banking and legal system must provide for electronic payment, and, of course electrical and telecommunication infrastructure must be available and reliable.

In considering information products for export, one should ask what is uniquely Nepalese. What news, literature, music, images, and video content would have a market? Who would be the users: -Nepalese expatriates, or the foreigners. An ecommerce presence could perhaps evolve out of a government sponsored Nepalese culture site on the Internet.

Apart from isolated efforts undertaken by a few Pashmina traders, the Handicraft Association of Nepal has the beginning of a vertical portal at www.nepalhandicraft.com.np. This site has links to twelve member home pages and an email ombudsman service to match suppliers with foreign distributors. Also there are other few individuals who have tried to create an atmosphere of e-commerce but organized bodies in private sector such as - the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have failed to give due priority to this sector. The leaderships at both the government and the private sector lack the understanding of promoting IT for trade and economic development. In a democratic society, the government plays the role of facilitator and it is the private sector that does the trade.

On the other hand, the tourism and trekking industry is a candidate for a Web-Portal (vertical portal). The Web site should be comprehensive, providing for selection of transportation to and within Nepal, accommodations, guides, etc. These type of sites can provide descriptions, search and selection tools, and links to competing companies in each of these areas, necessitating the participation of representatives of several industries. As with most ecommerce, the Web site can be the tip of the iceberg. Payment and fulfillment can also be provided for. Similarly, systems for international travel, visa and immigration matters, local transportation, and housing would all have to be integrated.

Electronic marketplaces and vertical portals are open, hoping to attract all buyers and sellers, but the Internet is also used to create closed "extranets" to facilitate communication and cooperation between relatively stable business partners. For example, the handicraft industry involves raw material producers, individual artisans, producer and craft-based organizations, marketing and fair-trade organizations, commercial buyers and importers, government customs and export regulators, retail outlets, and warehousing and transportation at every step in the process. Simply connecting the appropriate people in each of these organizations with email would no doubt increase production and logistic efficiency. Providing them with Web sites for querying inventory status, ordering, scheduling, tracking shipments, etc. would provide still greater returns.

Software and data entry are another form of information product. This can take several forms including transcription and data entry, call center operation, animation and drawing, Web hosting and design, contract programming (on site or remote), and software packages. Of course the Internet merely enables or facilitates such activity – management, marketing and human capital are at its core. The markets for this sort of service are very competitive and crowded, making differentiation difficult. One strategy is to focus effort on areas of current competence. For example, Chilean banking and forestry software was successfully exported because they had developed excellent local systems. Nepal may have expertise in systems for electrical power generation and distribution since we have extensive hydroelectric capacity and are a power exporter.

There is also a domestic market for information products. But due to the lack of the infrastructure in place to deliver them, ecommerce for the domestic market has been unable to be implemented. Information products involving credit, education, news, health, entertainment, and personal communication can be sold in rural and in urban areas if people have access to the Internet at home, work, school etc.

At present the three options/tools for the ecommerce seems to be implemented: a business-consumer site for marketing via the Internet, a series of vertically focused workshops bringing together members of the Nepalese IT community and members in industries which may be likely ecommerce candidates, and the establishment of a village-connectivity.

Science can’t predict cancer’s return—yet

Linda Marsa

Though they’ve defeated the disease that could have taken their lives, cancer survivors are often haunted by the specter of a fatal recurrence. The fears are especially keen for patients with slow-growing malignancies, such as those of the breast, because they never know if their cancer has been truly eradicated. They can suffer relapses five, 10, even 20 years later.

Although the risk of recurrence declines over time, it never disappears. "When it comes back, patients are devastated because they thought they had it licked," said Dr Susan M Love, a breast cancer surgeon at UCLA. And when cancer recurs, it’s usually more aggressive and more difficult to treat. Even using today’s most precise prognostic tools, doctors are never sure which cancers will remain dormant and which ones will spread. That may change soon.

Screening techniques now under development may be able to identify the worst malignancies. Such tests, which examine the cancer cells’ genetic makeup, would free people from this terrible uncertainty while sparing patients with indolent tumors from undergoing needless treatments that often have horrific side effects. "These tests will revolutionize all cancer therapy," said Dr Gabriel N Hortobagyi, chairman of the breast medical oncology department at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Knowing that about 25 percent to 33 percent of women with operable breast cancer will have a recurrence within five years of diagnosis, doctors currently must gather circumstantial evidence, such as the size, shape, location and microscopic appearance of cancer tumors, said Dr Patricia A Ganz, director of Cancer Prevention and Control Research at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center. Age can be a factor too: Premenopausal women tend to get more aggressive cancers than older women. Genetic clues can also indicate which breast cancers are more deadly. The her-2 neu oncogene, for instance, which sparks virulent tumor growth, is present in about 25 percent to 30 percent of women with breast cancer. Also, the more advanced the cancer is (that is, the higher its stage), the more likely it is to recur.

Women with tiny tumors confined to the milk ducts, called ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, are often considered Stage 0 and are usually considered cured after treatment. While the highest risk of recurrence is in the first two years, even small Stage I cancers can reappear years later in a more lethal form. Stage IV breast cancer has the poorest prognosis; it involves tumors that have spread to other parts of the body, such as bone, lung, liver and brain. Doctors have no way of knowing if, during that time, malignant cells have already hitched rides in the lymphatic system or blood vessels and set up colonies in bones and vital organs such as the liver or lungs. When cancer does recur, "the cells may have been continuously growing, or they became dormant for a while and something wakes them up," Love said.

Such uncertainties could be resolved through the use of the new technology, called molecular profiling. In a study reported in January, scientists at Merck & Co. and the Netherlands Cancer Institute studied the genetic characteristics of 70 breast cancer patients, half of whom had a recurrence. They discovered that a different set of genetic patterns occurred for those with tumors that had spread throughout the body. "Out of 25,000 genes, we were able to isolate several dozen genes that were clues to recurrence," said Dr Stephen H Friend, a study co-author and a researcher at Merck in West Point, Pa.

It will take several years to refine this test, which probably won’t be used on patients for four to five years. "But with this technology we hope to be able to forecast whose cancer will recur with a 90 percent degree of certainty," said Friend.

(La Times-Washington Post)

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