I am alive (by Smrit)

My mother said to me, "If you become a soldier, you'll be a general, if you become a monk you'll end up as the pope". Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.
— Pablo Picasso

When I was six I was supposedly asked what I would like to be. "Doctor!" came the pat reply. When same question was put across when I was 11, I answered "Engineer". At 15, I wanted to be an "Artist" : at 17, I a "Nurse"; and the answer kept changing.

My friends had similar replies doctor/pilot/engineer- no doubt parroting the perception of the society engraved in our minds. No importance was given to other professions. However, times have changed. My six -year- old niece wants to be a "Successful Mode" and my teenage nephew wants to be a "Musician" and their partents have no objections regarding his'wants'- not yet.
It feels great to know that traditional perceptions regarding profession have changed.
- By Smriti RDN Neupane

Wa ! Lolita

Aid for infrastructure development

India agreed on thursday to provide Rs. 32 billoin for the development of infrastructure in Nepal. Following talks in the morning with Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who is here on a five day official visit, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukharjee informed the media of the assistance for Nepal's development. The Indian support will be utilised for constructing four different projects in Nepal, construction of the Tarai Postal Road, a rail link, united customs check posts at border points and a police academy. The assistance provided as per the high level decision of the Indian government to help in building three big infrastructure projects will facilitate estension of trade between the two close neighbours. Of the total assistance, IC 700 crore will be used for the construction fo the first phase of the postal road, IC 700 crore for the railways, IC 300 crore for check posts and the remaining for the police academy. Construction of customs check posts at Nepal India border section of Raxaul Birgunj and Jogabani-biratnagar has yet to be carried out although it has been already decided upon. According to Raghuji Panta, PM's political advisor, in the meeting with Prime Minsiter Nepal, Indian Finance Minister Mukharjee mentioned that Nepal had a challenging job to take peace process to its logical conclusion .The Indian Minister also expressed the belief that the present government would accomplish the peace and constitution writing processes. Panta informed that an understanding was made in the meeting to form a joint mechanism to sort out problems and work out solutions between the two countries. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nepal on Thursday said that the Nepalese government had taken initiatives to move ahead by forging unity among the political parties for a peaceful, prosperous and long term development of the country. Stressing on the need of peace and stability in the country, Premier Nepal said that Indian support was essential for the development of the landlocked Nepal. Nepal made such remarks while interacting with the leaders of the Nepal India Parliamentary Committee and Parliamentarians at a programme organised here Thursday afternoon. Saying that as there was closde relation among the people of India and Nepal in the grassroots level also, Janata Dal United's chairman Sarad Yadav said that India would have some interest in the development of Nepal. He also expressed his hope on the safe and ruitful landing of the ongoing peace process of Nepal. During the programme, Indian leaders D.P. Tripathi of the Nationalist congress Party, and Rajiv Shukla of the INdian Congress Party, among others, expressed their hope that the ongoing peace process would be successfully concluded making a new constitution in the leadershikp of Primer Nepal. Earlier, PM Nepal, in an interaction with the Indian intellecturals, senior journalists and editors, said that the consensus with the UCPN Maoist was indispensable for taking the present peace proces to a logical end integrating Maoists combatants, restructuring the state into federalism. Talking about Indian assistance for peace process and economic development of the country , Prime Minister Nepal described his ongoing India visit as a success. Similarly, Indian Home Minister P Chaidambaram, in a meeting with Nepal today, expressed his concern ver the security situation and increasing criminal activities in Terai. Former Prime Minister I.K Gujral and Bahujan Samaj Party's Chairman and Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Kumari Mayawati also met with PM Nepal. During the meeting, Gujral expressed that the Indian government should provide largest possible assistance to Nepal government overlooking petty issues.(Source : TRN)

Dying in Streets (by Narayan )

This must have been the most terrible of accidents at the very heart of Kathmandu. A speeding car hit, over ran and killed six pedestrians on the spot. Driven by a drunken college youth in the middle of the night, the car made a U-turn after hitting the ill-fated pedestrians and near by iron railings. The accident was merely caused by the uncontrollable speed. Taking advantage of the traffic-less road at the night time, the young boy, high on alcohol, threw caution to the wind and accelerated the car's speed so high that he could not keep control over the vehicle, leading to one of the most appalling accidents on the streets of the capital city. Several accidents occur in the streets of Kathmandu but Tuesday night's accident has effectively exposed the falling standard of our traffic safety system. Every passing day, people are dying untimely death because of failure in the effective control over the movement of vehicles in the inner parts of the city where pedestrians are always at the risk of being hit by some speeding cars, microbuses, nini trucks and motorcycles. The growth in the number of vehicles within the city has made the task of controlling traffic a headache for the traffic department. Within a view to put strong surveillance on erring vehicles and drivers, the department has few years ago installed modern Circuit Cameras (CC) system at many intersections of the major throughfares of the capital. Sadly, we have not heard any good news regarding the traffic departmen'ts success in arresting any drivers who have broken the traffic rules. Many accidents in Kathmandu occur during the night time due to drunken driving and high speed, but many of these Circuit Cameras which were installed to spy over the drivers who blatantly flout the rules, fail to spot even the colours or registration numbers of erring vehicles during the night time. Likewise the traffic department considers it unnecessary to depute on regular basis the traffic policemen during night time at several parts of Kathmandu.
The matter of making the crowded Kathmandu streets safe has gone from bad to worse by another factor : the rampant corruption in the distribution of driving licenses. The officials at the department responsible for issuing driving licenses have been providing licenses many unqualified drivers in return of some rupees. As the number of unqualified drivers takes to the steering wheels, commuting in the Kathmandu streets becomes fraught with mortal danger.
Other factors such as rise in shrinkage of existing streets, poor road conditions, failure in monitoring vehicles that play on the capital roads and failure in strict imposition of punishment to erring drivers have also led to many awafully unpleasant accidents in the streets of Kathmandu.
If we recount several road accidents and the failure of our authority in preventing them, we can say without doubt- dying in Kathmandu streets is easy. (Article by : Narayan Uppadhya, Source : The Rising Nepal)

Melamchi to be completed in time

"Melamchi drinking water project will complete in time. This will fulfill the shortage of drinking water for Kathmandu Valley People", Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said on Monday during lying the foundation stone for the construction of tunnel from Melamchi to Sundarijal in Sindhupalchowk.

Necessary to launch a campaign.

Epidemic of diarrhoea spread in different district of Nepal. The most important cause is impure water they are using. People should drink water only after boiling or filtering. Concentrating in treatments cannot cure the epidemic. Neither the government nor the local people have paid proper attention in this regard. More than 200 people lost their lives in Jagarkot due to this simple disease. Now, launching a campaign for educating people, for drinking hygienic water, is necessary.

After kabi gosti, ( at Newroad)

Schools to reopen from today

All institutional and community schools across the country which have been shut down for two days because of a bandha announced by the Nepal Educational Republican Forum -NERF) will open from Friday.
Academic institutions will return to their normal business after the government expressed its commitment to implement the past agreements through holding a series of dialogues with the NERF in the days ahead. Another round of talks has been scheduled for Friday noon at the MInistry. "We agreed to open the schools from Friday and decided to give continuity talks on how the past agremements can be implemented at the earliest possible", Guna Raj Lohoni , former president of NERF and advisor to NERF told. The talks between the agitating teachers'unions and the government were held at 8 :00 a.m.to 12:00 noon and secod phase started from 4 :30 p.m. "The government also agreed to solve the teachers' and school employees' vancancies both in private and community scholls on a gradual basis and other past agreements linked four years ago," Lohoni said. Janardan Nepal, Joint secretary at the education Ministry, also said that the government was seriously engaged in implementing the past agreements with the unions through holding a series of dialogues in the coming days. (Source : The Rising Nepal)

A Dramatic Increase in Price

Government has increased salary of civil Servants. The impact is now in daily consumer goods. Trader has raised price in daily consumer goods and is beyond the reach of ordinary people. Opportunists are keeping stocks creating an artificial shortage. So, there is need of government interference.

Single Women not satisfied with Government allowance

Government announced to provide allowance to a person who marries a single woman. Single woman of Kaski has protested against it. "The Government should provide free education to our children, concession in transportation, ration card and proper employment instead", they said. In Nepal only 29 percent of them are literate. Many of woman got married in teen age so most of the single woman of 20-35 age are living with two three children.

Indefinite Strike Called ' Off '

After agreement between public transportation entrepreneurs and the government the transport strike was called off. The strike was announced on Sunday in eight district of Bagmati zone. The Protester demanded for the security and compensation to the vehicles that were vandalized in street protest.
Government has agreed to provide Four Lakhs Rupees as compensation to Micro Vans that was burnt in front of Trichandra Campus.