Beautiful Lotus

Lotus stemming from water!!!

Coffee and its Production in Nepal

Coffee is one of the most loved beverages in the world. Originated in Ethiopia and made popular by Arabs it has become an integral part of modern day society. Caffeine is the main chemical substance in coffee and is responsible for the many good effects including increase in memory performance, decreased heart rate and even retarding factor in cancer. Most of the coffee is produced in Africa and South America (mostly in Brazil). In terms of agricultural product it has high commodity value. It was ranked as the agricultural export for twelve countries in 2004, and it was the world's seventh-largest legal agricultural export by value in 2005.

Mr Hira Giri, a hermit, is given credited for introducing coffee in Nepal. He bought some seeds of coffee from Myanmar in 1938 and Aapchour (Gulmi District) for the first time in Nepal. It was just curiosity based expansion until some people understand its commercial value and started its business and export abroad. Currently it has been planted in 39 districts (out of total 75 districts) in mountainous region and expanding day by day. Area of plantation has increased from135.7 hectares in 1994 AD to 1531 hectares in 2008 AD. Adjacent graph shows the current trend of production. It has increased steadily from 114 ton in 2004 to about 500 ton in 2011. This is not big amount compared to the global production which accounts 7,742,675 ton. Even India produces 288,000 ton. Given the position of Nepal with diverse climate and high altitude , Nepal can produce coffee for local consumption as well as export organic coffee which has big business in international sectors including Europe and Japan. Nepali coffee is exported to Japan, Europe and American market where organic grown coffee from Nepal is popular.

Prince Pranjal Thinking Higher

Prince Pranjal, very cute and sweet baby is progressing day by day. He is learning many things and is fond of electronic gadgets. Here in the photograph he is thinking "always aiming higher". God bless you baby.

Prince Pranjal Playing with Snow

Prince Pranjal playing with snow ( December 2011)
Copyright reserved

Children are the most happiest people in the world and they show their utmost  sincerity in expression. Children are the princes and princesses.They are the future of the world and if we can nurture the true humanity in them it is sure that the world will be more happier place to live in. Please love children and make them more happy whatever means you have and whatever small it may be. Wishing a very happy time with children.

DEAR Children we wish you very very wonderful days ahead.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012.

Top Universities in the World 2011

Each year universities around the world are ranked to give the glimpse of the impact they have on the academic community and contribution to the humanity. QS world ranking is prestigious ranking. In this ranking, for each university 100 marks is allocated of which academic reputation counts for 40% weight, employer reputation 10%, citation per faculty 20%, faculty student ration 20%, proportion of international student 5% and  proportion of international faculty 5%. 

Fig 1 Allocation of weightage for evaluation

The top 10  universities in this year are from United Kingdom and United States of America (5 from each country).University of Cambridge from UK ranks first, Harvard and MIT from USA ranks second and third respectively. Details are as shown below:

Fig 2 Top 10 Universities in 2011

It is interesting that western universities are again the top universities in the world. However, many Asian universities are also vying for top position. The HongKong university ranks 22nd, The University of Tokyo 25th, National University of Singapore 28th and Kyoto University  32nd. Regarding South Asia, the situation is bleak as the most renown universities in the region are not even within top 100. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Delhi ) is just 218th.There is no rank for the university in Nepal. There must be some reasons behind this situation. Some reasons are  politics in the education, lack of motivation and research fund, high teacher student ratio and so on.

Panorama

Panaromic view of Garden, Japan

Lapaz, The world's highest capital city

Lapaz is world's highest capital city in the world. Located in the South America it is the capital of Bolivia and is above the 3,650 m (11,975 ft) above the sea level. Bolivia is landlocked country like Nepal. Capital of Nepal is Kathmandu which is valley and has elevation of 1,400 m (4,593 ft) above sea level. Lapaz has population of about 1 million and is the second largest city of Bolivia. It has subtropical highland climate with average temperature of 30 degree Celsius.

Landslide Disaster

There is a big news from Colombia in South America regarding the deadly landslide causing widespread destruction and damage. Landslide is one of the natural or man- made hazards and can be disaster if it affects the human population directly or indirectly. It is to be noted that it happens only in those places which have mountains so it is not found in plain areas. Each year many people around the world are affected by landslide and it is common in many countries including Nepal during the rainy seasons. Landslide in Krishnabhir on Mugling highway is well known in Nepal for its yearly blockage during Monsoon time causing the disruption in transport disruption and break in supply chain to Kathmandu city.

In 1949 landslide in then USSR killed 12,000 people, Honduras landslide ( 20 Sep 1973) killed more than 2,000 people and in the latest event landslide in China (7 Aug 2010) killed 1,756  people. Many factors are involved in landslide like nearby the fault area, slope of the mountain, proximity to river and so on.Sometimes earthquake also induces instability to the weak mountain and causes the landslide.Figures below from USGS shows the before and after the landslide event where we can see closely the damage to the roads (red circle). 

Landslide images  (Up: Before and Down: After)

There are many ways to tackle the landslide and one is the landslide mapping and do land-use according to the hazard. Beside that, retaining wall and other engineering methods can also be employed.Forestation of affected area can also help a lot in controlling the rain water and thereby reducing the chance of landslide in very steep slope areas as in Nepal.Water Induced Disaster Prevention (DWIDP) was established on 7 February 2000 under the Ministry of Water Resources  to tackle with the water induced disaster including landslide in Nepal. Next blog will talk about the disaster scenario of Nepal including landslide.

HAPPY DASHAIN 2011

Tika and Jamara 

हट्यो सारा हिलो मैलो, 

हरायो पानीको वर्षा,

                                     भवानीको भयो पूजा,

                                     चल्यो आनन्दको चर्चा,

        जहाँ जाउँ उतै भन्छन्,

                    दशै आयो दशै आयो

Nepalimana family wishes:
 Happy Bijaya Dashami  2068  to all valued readers and well wishers. May peace, prosperity and progress prevail in your all walks of life !!!  

 

भिसाका लागि एक वर्षमै ६४ करोड!

लोकमणि राई,


काठमाडौं, माघ १७ - एक वर्षयता अमेरिका, बेलायत र अस्ट्रेलिया जाने विद्यार्थीले भिसा प्रक्रियाका लागि मात्रै करिब ६४ करोड रुपैयाँ खर्चेका छन् ।


फिर्ता नहुने यो रकम विद्यार्थीले भिसा पाउनुअघि तिर्नुपर्छ । भिसा प्रक्रियाका लागि अमेरिकाले सन् २००८ मा नेपाली विद्यार्थीबाट करिब ४४ लाख २ हजार अमेरिकी डलर -करिब ३४ करोड ८ लाख रुपैयाँ) असुलेको छ । त्यसमध्ये डिपार्टमेन्ट अफ होमल्यान्ड सेक्युरिटीले स्टुडेन्ट एन्ड एक्स्चेञ्ज भिजिटर इन्फर्मेसन सिस्टम-सेभीस) शुल्कका नाममा करिब २० करोड ५९ लाख रुपैयाँ लिएको छ । काठमाडौंस्थित अमेरिकी दूतावासले झन्डै १३ करोड ४९ लाख असुलेको छ ।
दूतावासले भिसा आवेदन शुल्कबापत प्रतिविद्यार्थी १ सय ३१ डलर -करिब १० हजार १ सय रुपैयाँ) र होमल्यान्ड सेक्युरिटीले प्रतिविद्यार्थी २ सय डलर -करिब १५ हजार ४ सय रुपैयाँ) लिन्छ । दूतावासका अनुसार २००८ मा करिब १३ हजार ३ सय विद्यार्थीेले भिसा आवेदन गरेका थिए । त्यसमध्ये ८ हजार ९ सय ३६ ले भिसा पाए । दूतावासले भिसा शुल्कबापत थप २ सय डलर असुल्छ ।


दूतावासका अनुसार उक्त वर्ष विद्यार्थीबाहेक भिसा आवेदन गर्नेको संख्या करिब २० हजार छ । उनीहरूले पनि त्यति नै आवेदन र सेभीस शुल्क तिर्नुपर्छ । दूतावासले विद्यार्थीबाहेक भिसा आवेदनबाट मात्रै करिब ५१ करोड ६३ लाख रुपैयाँ आम्दानी गरेको छ ।


यस्तै, अस्ट्रेलियाले चालू आर्थिक वर्षमा भिसा शुल्क आवेदनबाट करिब १९ करोड ५० लाख रुपैयाँ असुलेको छ । उसले भारतस्थित अस्ट्रेलियन हाई कमिसनमार्फत नेपाली विद्यार्थीको आवेदन लिने गरेको छ । कमिसनले प्रतिविद्यार्थी करिब २५ हजार रुपैयाँ लिन्छ ।


शिक्षा मन्त्रालयका अनुसार आर्थिक वर्ष २०६४/६५ मा ७ हजार ७ सय २२ विद्यार्थीले अस्ट्रेलियाका लागि 'नो अब्जेक्सन लेटर' लिएका थिए । अस्ट्रेलियाका उच्च शिक्षालयले नेपाली परामर्शदाता कम्पनीलाई शैक्षिक सत्रभरि विद्यार्थीले तिर्ने शुल्कबाट कमिसन दिने गरेको सम्बद्ध व्यवसायी बताउँछन् । अस्ट्रेलियाका लागि नेपाल
११ औं ठूलो स्रोत मुलुक हो । मन्त्रालयका अधिकारीले पनि त्यहाँ जाने विद्यार्थी संख्या बढेको जनाए ।
बेलायतले गत आर्थिक वर्षमा नेपाली विद्यार्थीबाट भिसा शुल्कबापत करिब १७ करोड ६० लाख रुपैयाँ पाएको शैक्षिक परामर्श कम्पनीहरूको अनुमान छ । राजधानीस्थित यूके भिसा एप्लिकेसन सेन्टरका सुपरभाइजर अमित चुकेले यसबारे तथ्यांक दिन नमिल्ने बताए ।
सेन्टरले प्रतिविद्यार्थी करिब १२ हजार रुपैयाँ शुल्क असुल्छ । मन्त्रालयको तथ्यांकअनुसार आर्थिक वर्ष २०६४/६५ मा बेलायत जान 'नो अब्जेक्सन लेटर' लिने विद्यार्थी संख्या २ हजार ८ सय ४४ थिए ।


नेपाली विद्यार्थीको अर्को आकर्षक गन्तव्य क्यानडाले भने भिसा आवेदन शुल्क लिँदैन । उच्च शिक्षाका लागि विदेसिनेमा नेपाल दक्षिण एसियाकै दोस्रो ठूलो मुलुक हो । गत आर्थिक वर्षमा यहाँबाट २१ हजार ३५ विद्यार्थीले 'नो अब्जेक्सन लेटर' लिएको मन्त्रालयले जनाएको छ । हालसम्म ५१ मुलुकमा नेपाली विद्यार्थी पढ्न पुगेका छन् ।

(Source: Kantipur)

Nepal Earthquake 2011

On 18th September 2011  earthquake of magnitude 6.9 rocked in the Nepal Sikkim border. Till date more than 70 people have been killed in Nepal , India and Tibet. Nepal is earthquake prone countries. The constant movement of  tectonic plates between Indian and Tibetan subcontinent is pushing each other thereby causing stress underneath. For this reason, earthquake happens to release the pressure. After the  deadly earthquakes of 1934 and 1988, it is more devastating. Due to the low preparedness as well as non engineered houses there is more probability of the high damage situation. Pralhad Uprety  et al (2009) has done good research on the Kathmandu  city area and in their finding shows significant loss in possible large earthquake with epicenter nearby the Kathmandu.This time it was 300 km away from the epicenter and so not significant damage. Their findings are coming in international journal and will highlight the situation.

The Japan Earthquake March 11, 2011- Part 4 (6 months anniversary)

Time is running leaving us with all the good and bad memories of past times. It is the law of nature and therefore time is said to be very mighty. It has been 6 months since the great Tohoku earthquake has hit  Japan on 3/11/ 2011 causing widespread damage and casualties.More than 20,000 people lost their lives. 

Another tragedy of the event is the nuclear plant damage due to tsunami in Fukushima Nuclear plant run by TEPCO. Because of the radiation many areas have been evacuated. Though the situation has been taken under control but it is said that more than 100,000 people have not been able to  return their homes either due to the prohibitory orders and voluntary evacuation.It must have been very hard times for the affected population. In  spite of this resilience shown by them is praiseworthy.

On the very same day of the event it is the 10th anniversary of 9/11 event in New York, USA where the twins towers were hit by the suicide  aeroplane hijackers killing more than 3,000 innocent people. Designed by  architect Minoru Yamasaki, twins towers were two 110 storey with 10,000,000 square feet (930,000 m²) buildings.

RICE

Rice (the grass species Oryza sativa) is one of the most popular food in the world. 

• Rice has a long history and it is mentioned in the Vedas.
• Rice is grown in Asia, Africa, South America,  and some parts of North America.
• There are many folk lore, culture and tradition related with the rice cultivation.
• It is main staple food of about 2.5 billion people.
• More than 90% of rice is consumed in Asia.
• Most of the rice is consumed where it is produced  like India, China, Japan. Only some countries like Thailand, Vietnam and USA export rice to other countries.
• There are 140,000 varieties of cultivated rice. Basmati rice is famous for its sweet flavor.
• Rice is water intensive farming. For each kilo of rice production  5,000 liter of water is needed.
• Rice production (in million metric tons)
• World 476
• Asia-430
• India  and China -215
• Nepal-4

Regarding rice farming in Nepal it is one of the oldest agricultural practices. There are about 3000 varieties  of rice in Nepal.Out of 75 districts in Nepal only 3 districts are without rice farming.Rice is grown in 1.4 million hectare of land producing about 4 million metric ton. Chandannath rice is grown in Jumla and  it  is the highest rice planting area in the world(about 3000m above sea level).  

Rice is one of the most important food and has the great influence in the economic sector  (25% of GDP). This is the reason why the Nepal government has started commemorating Asar 15 (June/July) as the National Rice Festival for last 7 years. It is to be noted that Asar 15 is also celebrated as the Dahi Chiura Khane (Curd and beaten flake rice eating ) festival and traditionally rice plantation festival.This year rice production is expected to be of 90 billion rupees.

The Japan Earthquake March 11, 2011- Part 3

On 11 March  2011, Japan was severely rocked by earthquake of magnitude of 9 Mw It is also called "Eastern Japan Great Earthquake Disaster" (東日本大震災 Higashi Nihon Daishinsai).  It is already 5 months. The latest casualty figures include

• 23,000 deaths (if included   4,666 missing people)
•  5,715 injured 

There have been more than 1200 after shocks after the event and many include earthquakes of magnitude over 6. It is to be noted that most of the casualty in the event was primarily due to the tsunami rather that the building damage caused by the shaking. 

According to Japanese government, estimated loss is 16.9 trillion yen and this does not account  loss  caused by the Fukushima nuclear plant accident. Since the earthquake caused tsunami and subsequent affect on the nuclear power plant it is more complex to investigate the true situation. It is the first ever kind of accident in human history.

In this tragedy all the international communities stood behind Japan and help in all ways they can. Many countries have offered help and support. and even international celebrities come forward like Lady Gaga supported by making "We Pray for Japan bracelet" and raised more than 1 million dollar for relief works. As per the data released by Japan Red cross (as of 5th August 2011) 489 million US dollar has been donated (38.6 billion Japanese yen)  through National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world. 

In the ray of hope for which man is always craving is that there have been continuous countermeasure against the debacle. Japanese government has formulated the reconstruction plan under the title of  Towards Reconstruction “Hope beyond the Disaster. World is eagerly watching Japan with all the great belief and hope that Japan can overcome the all the odds as it has shown the endurance after 1923 Kanto earthquake, after World War II as well as aftermath the 1995 Kobe earthquake. 

World Heritage Sites and Nepal

There are some gifted items either man-made or naturally endowed which are so beautiful/important not only to some particular people or nation but to the world. The legacy of  our forefathers are both culture and natural heritage. These global entities are designated as the World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO. Till date there are 936 in the list. Followings are the breakdown:  

Cultural World Heritage Sites-725 

Natural World Heritage Sites-183

Mixed World Heritage Sites-28.

These world heritage sites are indicators of  global importance of site so it is a matter of pride for each country to have as many sites as possible in the list. Protecting and nurturing of designated site is duty of each country and person in the world so it is good for the developing nations to be enlisted as this will enhance their chance to get international support for the cultural and natural heritage conservation.

Regarding Nepal, there are 10 world heritage sites. 7 sites are located in the Kathmandu valley (in hilly region), 1 in Himalayan region and 2 in plain region. Details is as follows:

1. Kathmandu Valley (7 heritage sites)
2. Sagarmatha National Park
3. Royal Chitwan National Park
4. Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha

Sites in Kathmandu valley are Durbar Squares of Hanuman Dhoka (Kathmandu), Patan and Bhaktapur, the Buddhist stupas of Swayambhu and Bauddhanath and the Hindu temples of Pashupati and Changu Narayan. Sagarmatha (Nepali name of Mt. Everest) houses the highest peak in the world and is rich in flora and fauna. Royal Chitwan National Park is famous for one horned rhinoceros, Royal Bengal tiger and crocodile. Lumbini, being the   Birthplace of the Lord Buddha, is sacred not only to Buddhist but also to all peace loving people.

Red Sun and Moon (Rato Chandra Ra Surya)

Government of Nepal has decided to honour the creators of very popular national song Rato ra chhandra surya (Red Sun and Moon). Writer late Gopal Prasad Rimal and musician/singer Amber Gurung  will be honored with  Mahasenani post (Colonel) of Nepal Army along with cash reward while  side singer Fatehman will be honored with cash reward.

The song is like this 

Rato ra chhandra surya jungi nishan hamro 
Jiundo ragat sari yo baldo yo shaan hamro
Rato ra chhandra surya jungi nishan hamro 
Jiundo ragat sari yo baldo yo shaan hamro
Rato ra chhandra surya jungi nishan hamro 
Jiundo ragat sari yo baldo yo shaan hamro
Rato ra chhandra surya
 
Himal jhain aatal yo, jhukena ko kahile
Latrana yo kahile, jungi nishan hamro
Yo janmadai jagat ma kayoun prahara aaye
Samrajya dubi hare, harena shaan hamro
Rato ra chhandra surya jungi nishan hamro 
Jiundo ragat sari yo baldo yo shaan hamro
Rato ra chhandra surya 


Jaba samma chhandra surya aakash ma rahanchha
Taba samma hunchha aafnai rato ragar yo hamro
Gai sari chhan sankhu jo jo yahan jagat ma
Sabako saran baljhiyo jungi nishan hamro
Rato ra chhandra surya jungi nishan hamro 
Jiundo ragat sari yo baldo yo shaan hamro
Rato ra chhandra surya jungi nishan hamro 
Jiundo ragat sari yo baldo yo shaan hamro
Rato ra chhandra surya

It is to be noted that this song is used as Nepal Army as the army song.