Top of the pop

By Perina Pathak and Pragya Koirala

Good news for Nima Rum ba’s fans. He is performing solo on 15th March at the Dasarath stadium. And they needn’t go to Hong Kong to seem him or attend his shows. Nima is planning to settle again in Nepal very soon. What brought his change of heart? "I love my fans and my country. I felt the need to do something for the Nepali music field."

A crowd of 15,000 and more saw Nima perform at the Dasarat Stadium during the Shikar Beat Contest after a long hiatus of 7, 8 years. Nima is now planning for his solo concert in various part of the country. On the March 15 concert Nima is singing altogether 25 songs. His fans will get to hear his very first song Aai deu priya najik mero sung in the year 1992. He will also sing for them the best songs from his albums as well as new songs especially prepared for the concert. Nima has brought out altogether five albums: Nima Suna Suna-1994, Nima Memories- 1996, Nima Huribatas – 2000, Best of Nima-2002 and Lalita- 2002. He has sung around eighty songs till date.

Though Nima got popularity from his first song Aai deu priya najik mero in 1992, the song Catwalk from Nima Memories-1996 and Huribatas from the cassette Nima Huribatas gave him the pop icon stature and made him immensely popular. Nima is inspired by Arun Thapa, Harish Mathema, George Michael and Bob Morley. This top Nepali pop singer writes lyrics for his songs by himself.

When asked about the difference between the star Nima and the regular struggling artist yet to see success, he says, "I feel that before becoming a star I was unsuccessful in most sectors but now I feel successful in everything." Born in the year 1975 and a Gemini by birth-sign some people think that he hails from Hong Kong. But he is actually a local of Maharajgunj where he spent his childhood and teenage days. He did his schooling from Swayambhu Bijeshwori School and completed his college from Kathmandu Multiple Campus. Nima regrets for not completing his education. "I regret that I could not complete my education, though I am happy that I achieved something from my sacrifice."

Before 1992 he was an amateur singer. He used to perform English songs during the college and school programmes. It was during these first days of his singing career, he met his lovely wife Sheli Thapa, who is also his great fan. "I was enjoying my life and popularity but when I met her I had a feeling that she was my final destination." Nima got married, when he was only twenty one and now after seven years he is a father of two sons. Now planning to settle again in Nepal Nima has many ideas to do apart from composing and singing. "I am planning to make a movie different from the mainstream movies that are being produced in scores each year. My target will be to provide something new to young generation using new technology, young talents and a different kind of story," says the singer.

When asked to say something for his fans he said, "Thanks for the love and support during this 13 years."

February night sky

DR DEEPAK RAJ PANT

The sky-map shows the sky as seen from Kathmandu at 9:00 P.M. tonight. To use the map, put it over your head facing downwards so that the cardinal directions are correctly orientated. The centre of the map marks the zenith, the point directly overhead. The circular edges of the map represent the horizons. Azimuth (Az) is the angular distance measured clockwise from northwards towards the east around the horizon. Altitude (Alt) is the angular distance of a star above the horizon. Correlate the sky-map with the heavenly objects you spot in the sky. Larger dots show brighter stars of lower magnitude. The lines reveal the constellations with names written on them. The table gives the brighter celestial objects name, position and constellation.

The brightest celestial object in the sky is the ruling planet Jupiter that will dominate the eastern sky, staying on the constellation Cancer during the winter. Above your head on the constellation Taurus, is the presence of demanding planet Saturn. Visible in the southern sky is Sirius, the Dog Star in Canis Major. The constellation Orion ("the Hunter") is high in the central-southern sky. Bright stars, some of them young and hot, shape the outlines of Orion’s shoulders, knees, sword belt and sword. Notice the three bright stars Yale Zeta, Yale Epsilon and Yale Delta almost in a straight line.

One of the stars in Orion’s sword is actually a star-forming region known as the Orion Nebula. Contained within Orion are M42, the Great Nebula distinguishable by its pinkish color and M43, the Lesser Nebula as well as the bright stars Betelgeuse, Bellatrix and Rigel. The Great Orion Nebula is faintly visible to the naked eye. It occupies an area of sky about one degree across. It appears greenish because of the eye’s low sensitivity to red light and the green emission is due to oxygen. The Orion cloud is the largest such dark cloud known in the Galaxy. Looking through a binocular in this direction will reveal four stars forming a Trapezium in the heart of the Orion Nebula which is part of a complex region of interstellar matter at a distance of 1,300 light years. The group of four young hot stars in the Trapezium is less than 100,000 years old and is creating an expanding spherical cavity near the edge of the dark cloud.

Many stars, such as the sun, are born in places like the Orion Nebula. Stars form when enough matter gathers in a ball to gravitational compress mass at its center and set off the nuclear fires that power stars. Shaped like cocoons the distant object paints a grim picture of the formation of infant solar systems that are struggling to survive in the blast of radiation coming from nearby evolving massive stars. Some of them are losing gas and dust at the rate of an earth mass a year. The whole disk will be gone within a hundred thousand years. In the process of the solar system creation, a young star gathers surrounding disk of dust and gas to eventually aggregate to develop planets, moons and other objects.

During the first stage, dust and gas coagulate into larger and larger grains, leading to the construction of solid planets, such as the Earth and Mars. The latter stage gaseous planets, such as that of Jupiter and Saturn materialise when young stars loses neighbouring matter rapidly and blows them away. These thrown-up materials take a million years to mold into giant planets such as that of Jupiter and Saturn.

During the month of February, the sun passes from Capricornus to Aquarius. Today the moon (Rises: 7:24am, Sets: 6:24pm, Illumination: 1.5 percentage) is 1.17 days old and has the phase Waxing Crescent. Tomorrow the sun rises: 6:35am, sets: 5:30pm and the astronomical twilight time begins: 5:12am, ends: 6:53pm.

Dial M for m-commerce

Sudan Jha

Mobile commerce is a concept, which promises to change our lives. It shall transform the way we transact and do business. The synergy of mobile and Internet technologies provide a matchless combination of speed and convenience.

So, how is M-commerce good for a business executive?. If you are a busy executive on the move and your travel plans depend upon a number of unforeseen contingencies, M-Commerce enables you to plan and dynamically reschedule your travel reservations online, anytime. It enables you to keep updated with all the vital information that may be crucial for your informed decision-making.

You do not need to plan your entire tour and expenses in advance and carry an assortment of debit and credit cards. The Authentication Key stored in the memory of your mobile handset will enable you to undertake the necessary transactions. It shall provide a seamless two-way link whereby you can access your banker for credit facilities as and when required. Exciting possibilities are likely to unfold as UMTS, i.e. Universal Mobile Telecommunications System; a third-generation broadband mobile network enables high-speed data and multimedia applications on mobile platform.

Wireless internet applications will enable one to interact online and access personalised information. Welcome to fourth generation (4G)! By virtue of 4G, you shall have customised news updates, customised music and customised entertainment. Even on the move, you shall be updated with real time analysis, just in time for vital business decisions. Before landing in a foreign land, you shall be updated on the weather/traffic conditions, the best route to reach the hotel, the schedule of events planned for the day and the latest news headlines. You can interact with your office/clients, send important messages, access relevant information and read your e-mail. Obviously,
if you are in a hurry, m-platform will navigate for you so that you are not caught in a traffic jam.

If you are a stock trader, you shall have the vital statistics from the stock exchanges customised to your need. And, if you need to trade, it is possible to trade online at anytime on the same mobile phone. When on an outing you can choose a restaurant of your choice which is near and can select the movie, theatre to visit. You can also book advanced seats.

With more than five hundred million mobile users worldwide and a high penetration rate, the potential of m-commerce is truly limitless. Whether you are a service provider or a client, an employee or a customer, in a bank, restaurant or store, in a shopping mall, or work at the airlines industry, you will not be left untouched by this revolution in waiting.

The next sensation: Facilitated by WAP, involving dual slot phones, smarter terminals and more standardised protocols that allow for greater inter-terminals and more standardised protocols that allow for greater inter-activity, m-commerce is bound to be the next wave in IT. For e.g. wireless banking services will allow customers to access real-time account information, transfer funds between accounts, pay bills and access stock information on a variety of wireless devices.

Building M-commerce: - Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM): Voice data transfer through mobile sets and to send short text messages.

General Packet Radio Service (GPRS-also known as 2+G Tech): The next phase in the development of the mobile commerce. GPRS represents the first implementation of packet switching within GSM, which is essentially a circuit switched technology. This technology allows users to send and receive data at speeds of more than 115 kilobits per second (kbs/sec).

Telecommunications System (UMTS): Uses packet switching technology. UMTS is the chosen standard for the 3G mobile internet with data rates of 144 kbs/sec (vehicular); 384 kbs/sec (pedestrian); 2 mbs/sec (in building).

Tiger under threat

Dr Ravi Sharma Aryal

At the apex of a complex ecosystem, the tiger is an index of the health of forests and their water catchments and climates, which sustain people as well as wildlife. The battle to save the tiger is truly an endeavor to conserve an ecosystem. The tiger is once again unsafe. The tiger (Panthera tigris) is threatened with extinction in the world. Today only about 5,000-7,000 wild tigers live across Asia. Presently there are five tiger subspecies found in the world. Which are as Siberian tiger, South China tiger, Indo-Chinese tiger, Sumatran tiger and Royal Bengal tiger. The tiger is found in a variety of habitats. Tigers are also found in the Himalayan valleys, and tracks have been recorded at 3,000 meters. The tiger usually live where there is vegetative cover, efficient large ungulate prey, and access to water. In Nepal, Royal Bengal Tigers are found and they prey primarily on wild deer and wild cattle. They are the strongest cat species and sometimes an old or renegade tiger may kill cattle or become a man-eater.

In the last decade or two the destruction of its habitat and demand for hides has brought threats to the tiger in Nepal. Previously, the southern plain of Nepal stretching from east to west in the Terai belt used to be the natural habitat of the tiger. But now deforestation and human encroachment of the forest has left only three protected areas for their prime habitat in Nepal. The areas are Chitwan-Parsa, Bardia-Karnali and Shuklaphanta, where their population is normally found. It was estimated in 1999 that there are about 97 adults tigers in Nepal. The combination of rampant poaching of tigers and their prey and unabated habitat loss due to fragmentation and conversion has intensified the threats to the survival of healthy wild populations. Poaching remains a major threat to the survival of healthy wild populations including tigers. Tiger parts are highly valued in Chinese medicinal markets. A TRAFFIC survey reveals that the brain of a tiger is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat laziness and pimples, eyeballs are used for epilepsy. While whiskers are used for toothache, bones are also used for rheumatism, weakness or paralysis and tail for skin diseases. Tiger skin is used for fashion, including carpet and wall hanging. Tiger skins are illegally traded at Rs 20,000 to 50,000 each in Nepal and can fetch up to US$ 30,000 abroad.

The tiger is a worldwide endangered species and is in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Special attention is also given by the world community to stop the extinction of this species. Nepal has also kept it under Schedule I of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973 (NPWCA). NPWCA, 1973 provides that any person found guilty of killing or injuring or found guilty of possessing parts of tiger and any person with an intention of selling, found guilty of possessing, selling, buying or transferring the trophies of tiger shall be punishable with a fine not exceeding Rs 1,00,000 subject to a minimum of Rs 50,000 or from 5 years to 15 years imprisonment or both of such fine and imprisonment. The Act provides regulatory approach and aims to conserve endangered species and their habitats, which indirectly curbs trade in specimens of such species.

Man-eating tigers are part of folklore in many parts of the world, but still in some parts of Nepal, there are occurrences of man-tiger conflict in the villages near the forest area. Of late, poisoning of tigers by irate villagers as a vengeance for cattle killing has emerged as a dangerous threat. The alarming rate, at which the population of the tiger is being decimated, suggests that they may become extinct in Nepal even earlier than the next two decades. Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation’s (DNPWC) official data reveals that in the year 1998/1999 seven tigers were casualties, while in the year 1999/2000 four tigers were casualties and in the year 2000/2001 eight tigers were killed. A recent local survey data shows that in the year 2001/2002 more than eleven tigers have died. This trend is much alarming as the birth rate of the tiger population is very low in comparison to the casualties’ rate of tiger in Nepal.

A local conservationist says the real data of tiger casualties are nearly double that of the official data. As nobody goes inside the core area of the forests, it is difficult to make assumptions that all tigers are safe in the protected areas. Similarly habitat loss, increasing demand of derivatives, ineffective surveillance and ineffective anti-poaching units are the main causes, which help in more casualties of tigers. The Tiger Conservation Action Plan of 1999 has not been followed properly and has not stopped the increasing trade of tiger parts. The act should be implemented more seriously and practically. It is essential that the Government should formulate a practical agenda that not only carries the responsibility of law enforcement, but also has other awareness programmes that would contribute towards a substantial increase in tiger population.

Conservationist should not lose time to prevent damage to tiger habitats, to catch the poachers and to stop illicit trade in tiger bones and skin. Seizures of tiger bones and skin of tigers is just the tip of iceberg and a vast trade still exists. There should be studies to identify causes of man-animal conflict, habitat destruction and its volume on trade. The authorities need to be more aware of illegal trade on tiger products in the country and need to raid such places. Similarly, a local network to crack down the poachers and illegal wildlife traders with effective modern surveillance systems should be established. At the same time the DNPWC should develop specialised enforcement units for undercover investigations and provide special incentives for the informer.

Nepal as a signatory to CITES has an obligation to implement CITES properly. Law alone can not stop alarming trends of trade on tiger parts. The enforcement agencies need to be more serious to bring poachers to the court. There is a need of good legal mechanisms for coordination between Enforcement Agencies, NGOs and experts in this sector.

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