Transportation means in Kathmandu

Transportation means in Kathmandu
Bhrikuti Rai
Kathmandu, 10 July

Public transportations are the life lines of Kathmandu. Without them the city’s fast pace life would have come to a standstill. Although not very comfortable, these vehicles have become commoner’s best friend. “Public transportations are good here. There are student discounts which is very helpful for students. So I think it is great ”, says Bhim Ghimire, student.

In addition to public transportations there are plenty of comfortable taxis on Kathmandu’s streets to choose from as well. But not everyone can afford their high tariff rates. Ramesh Thapa, a taxi driver says, “People choose taxis because they are faster, convenient and is safe from pick pocketing. It is especially useful when people are in hurry and in situations when people are too sick to travel in local buses. But with its comparatively higher fare, it is not possible for average Nepali to travel by taxi that often. So, taxis are only used in emergency situation.”

With tempos and micro buses available for most of the routes, public transportations have made travelling in Kathmandu a lot convenient. However, in Kathmandu’s messy traffic, narrow lanes the best and fastest means of transportation seems to be two wheelers. Utsav Rai, a college student, has been riding bikes on Kathmandu’s streets since the last four years. “The fact that two wheelers help people get past traffic jams and even through the narrowest streets is the reason I ride bike”, he says. “However during petrol shortage, it is best to travel in micros and tempos rather than to wait in queue for petrol”, he adds.

But not everyone is lucky enough to own two wheelers to get past serpentine traffic in Kathmandu. So the only way is to hop onto buses and tempos, pay nominal fare and get down at the destination slowly and safely.

Korean wave

If a poll among the young urban Nepalese population is conducted to choose the trendiest and cool Asians it ought to be Koreans. It has already been quite some time since South Korean movies and television series hit the Nepali market. And if the number of people queuing up to buy pirated Korean movies and television series are anything to go by, young urban Nepalese have definitely been hit by the Korean wave which is gaining momentum world over. This increasing popularity of South Korean culture around the world is referred as.
Few years back when I had the opportunity to visit South Korea there wasn’t much fanfare in my friends and family. It was after all just one of those developed but lesser talked about Asian countries. But just a few months back when an announcement regarding a program in Korea was announced in our college, hundreds of them thronged to submit their applications. The buzz that the announcement created lasted for quite some time.
There was a time when there was just a single Korean channel available through our cable operators. Furthermore, Korean movies and television series hardly made it to our local CD shops. But now that piracy is thriving more than ever and the internet in readily accessible, getting a tab on the latest news of Korean entertainment has become a cake walk. Not only do some Korean enthusiasts around me keep a tab on their favorite Korean artists but they also seem to be so well versed with the lyrics of popular Korean songs. Initially I didn’t quite believe it. But when I saw a bunch of young school girls thronging internet cafes to download contemporary Korean songs and their lyrics I had to believe it. It just didn’t end there, they even sang along to those tunes blaring through the speakers.
Korea is cashing in a lot on its thriving pop culture and so it doesn’t come as a surprise when I frequently see commercials of Korean tourism being endorsed by their local talents on international channels. And those same popular Korean faces seem to have made their way into our local gift shops and stationary shops too. Gone are the days when all we saw was rugged Bollywood heroes adorning the walls of our local gift shops. We now have terribly cute Korean guys on huge posters in almost every stationary shops.
Many entrepreneurs in Nepal too are cashing in on Korea’s thriving pop culture. The increasing number of Korean restaurants, clothing stores and department stores that promise to have authentic Korean goods are testimony of how the Korean pop culture has gained momentum among urban Nepalese.
Like many people I too wouldn’t have been as enticed by kimbap (a Korean delicacy) or karaoke as I am now, had it not been for the Korean movies and television series. Korea’s entertainment industry has been pivotal in bringing Korea and its culture in the limelight. And this has resulted in everyone taking notice of Korea and its steady growth.

Daddy Dearest

Since time immemorial, mothers have always hogged the limelight for their children’s success and even for the failures. Because we children have made our way into this world from our mother’s womb, the relationship between us and our mothers have always been special and distinguished. And all this while when mothers bask in the glory of being penned in poems, movies and many art forms, I feel sorry for all the equally wonderful fathers who have always been sidelined from the same glory many a time.

Maybe it is our social and cultural construct that compels our fathers to engross themselves in bringing bread and butter to our tables and leave them no time to work on the special bond with us like our mothers do. But somehow we always know that they are there for us, the protective shield of the family. Unlike mothers, fathers rarely show even the tiniest bit of their emotional streak. They tend to bring about a certain air of formality even in the most informal relationships we share as close knitted families. Fathers are the first towering personalities we witness as a child which in many cases seems to fade with each passing year and in some cases only grows stronger.

Because fathers do not always know how to express themselves as our mothers and always stay neutral during petty brawls in the family, children see themselves distanced from them. I know so many of my friends who do not feel to need to talk to their fathers until they need their father’s signature in some documents and just a nod to get an approval to do something.

For mothers their relationship with their children is innately strong and it shows irrespective of the gender and age of the child. But for fathers it is always a tricky to deal, especially during the adolescent years of their children. Having been through the same stage as their son, fathers prefer to keep a safe distance from their sons with only occasional advices and let them know things on their own. Well as for the daughters, they know they possible can’t have a say, when the mothers tend to them form such close quarters. All that fathers do is begin treating their little princess like a lady in the making. So as children reach the threshold of adulthood, fathers who presumed to have taken the right step from refraining temporarily into the adolescent years of their children are left with awkward conversations and even more awkward silences in the remaining years.

Fathers do not acknowledge their yearning to be acknowledged because that is how their fathers and their grandfathers always preferred. With just a faint smile they thank us for making them proud but rarely do they show their upset expression. It is especially during our crisis filled times when mothers break into wails with us (and then to comforting hugs), fathers are there to give us the smile of hope and an encouraging pat on our backs to get us going again. So this Father’s day, I would like to thank all the fathers for being there for their children and family and never complaining about not being acknowledged for who they are. Happy Father’s Day!
Bhrikuti Rai

Utilitarian ethics

Utilitarianism is an effort to provide an answer to the practical question What ought a man to do? Its answer is that he ought to act so as to produce the best consequences possible.

Basic concepts
In the notion of consequences the Utilitarian includes all of the good and bad produced by the act, whether arising after the act has been performed or during its performance. If the difference in the consequences of alternative acts is not great, some Utilitarians do not regard the choice between them as a moral issue. According to Mill, acts should be classified as morally right or wrong only if the consequences are of such significance that a person would wish to see the agent compelled, not merely persuaded and exhorted, to act in the preferred manner.

In assessing the consequences of actions, Utilitarianism relies upon some theory of intrinsic value: something is held to be good in itself, apart from further consequences, and all other values are believed to derive their worth from their relation to this intrinsic good as a means to an end. Bentham and Mill were hedonists; i.e., they analyzed happiness as a balance of pleasure over pain and believed that these feelings alone are of intrinsic value and disvalue. Utilitarians also assume that it is possible to compare the intrinsic values produced by two alternative actions and to estimate which would have better consequences. Bentham believed that a hedonic calculus is theoretically possible. A moralist, he maintained, could sum up the units of pleasure and the units of pain for everyone likely to be affected, immediately and in the future, and could take the balance as a measure of the overall good or evil tendency of an action. Such precise measurement as Bentham envisioned is perhaps not essential, but it is nonetheless necessary for the Utilitarian to make some interpersonal comparisons of the values of the effects of alternative courses of action.


Utilitarian ethics as a guidance for government and personal action is based upon the maximization of the good: by government for those within the society, and by individuals. It is a code for public actions and of personal actions. The issue of what should be done about behavior that produces significant harm for a society, on a government level, it would be to for to select policies which would reduce the overall harm. A policy of warehousing that costs $45,000 per year is producing harm to society, harm to the individual, and harm to those separated from that person. To minimize these, a policy of retraining, of supervision upon release, and of making the conditions of confinement only moderately odious. Odious enough so that those in need of assistance don ‘t see for example robbing a bank as way to get into a job training & drug rehabilitation program.

Utilitarian society goes not just to the issue of personal actions and social policy, but also to the very nature of society. It was the understood question in Plato’s Republic: How to build the ideal society? Utilitarian theory is applied not just to the conditions of incarceration, but also to that of employment, goods and service, and the distribution of wealth. Utilitarians is about maximizing the good. And if an area such as administration of programs is found wanting, then positive change is required. Plato gives us the first extensive example of this approach.

Improving conditions of confinement and release is not an isolated issue, but ought to be part of an overall program to make society better.

One way to view society is that like of nature, full of niches. A niche is an environmental slot which accommodate a certain number animals. Thus there are in a given area certain number of seed eating birds, of insect eating birds, of nectar gathering birds. And within this broad categorization, there would be birds that can eat seeds with hard shells, and those that can’t. In our society there are certain behavior niches. Conditions support a the various mass religions, gambling casinos, sporting good stores, etc. The same too with biker clubs, drug dealers, and robbers. Changes in conditions entails changes in the number and type of churches, of sporting good stores, etc. Changes in social conditions and the numbers of bikers, recreational drug users, and thieves change. The change of niches results in a changing of enterprises. The Roosevelt New Deal had within the constraints of capitalism a vision of changing niches, of maximizing the number of sober, hardworking citizens. We need to get back to Plato, to making government a good parent.

And we need a public-interested media (not our corporate media), one which will raise repeatedly the questions of what is the good life and what should government be doing to promote it? We need a media which does not give the corporate answer of removing regulations for the sake of profits, and thereby presuming that the law of the jungle is the road to the good life. We have gone from the wisdom born of the depression to the idiocy of the 1920s and the era of robber barons. History is repeating itself: corporate greed is not the way to build a healthy society.


This article discusses utilitarian ethical theory. For a discussion of John Stuart Mill's book Utilitarianism, see Utilitarianism (book). For the architectural theory, see Utilitarianism (architecture)
Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its utility in providing happiness or pleasure as summed among all sentient beings. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome. The most influential contributors to this ideology were Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.
Utilitarianism is often described by the phrase "the greatest good for the greatest number of people"[1], and is also known as "the greatest happiness principle". Utility, the good to be maximized, has been defined by various thinkers as happiness or pleasure (versus suffering or pain), although preference utilitarians define it as the satisfaction of preferences. It may be described as a life stance, with happiness or pleasure being of ultimate importance.
Utilitarianism can be characterised as a quantitative and reductionist approach to ethics. It can be contrasted with deontological ethics (which do not regard the consequences of an act as being a determinant of its moral worth) and virtue ethics (which focuses on character), as well as with other varieties of consequentialism.
In general usage, the term utilitarian refers to a somewhat narrow economic or pragmatic viewpoint. Philosophical utilitarianism, however, is a much broader view that encompasses all aspects of people's lives.
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History

The origins of utilitarianism are often traced as far back as the Greek philosopher Epicurus, but, as a specific school of thought, it is generally credited to Jeremy Bentham.[2] Bentham found pain and pleasure to be the only intrinsic values in the world: "nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure."[3] From this, he derived the rule of utility: the good is whatever brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people.
Bentham's foremost proponent was James Mill, a significant philosopher in his day and the father of John Stuart Mill. The younger Mill was educated according to Bentham's principles, including transcribing and summarizing much of his father's work while still in his teens.[4]
In his famous work, Utilitarianism, the younger Mill argues that cultural, intellectual and spiritual pleasures are of greater value than mere physical pleasure because the former would be valued higher than the latter by competent judges. A competent judge, according to Mill, is anyone who has experienced both the lower pleasures and the higher. His famous quote found in Utilitarianism (book) was, "it is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied"[5] demonstrating Mill's distinction between higher and lower pleasures. He justified this distinction by the thought that "few human creatures would consent to be changed into any of the lower animals, for a promise of the fullest allowance of a beast's pleasures."[5] In distinguishing between types of pleasure, Mill distanced himself from Bentham, who famously said[6] that the child's game of push-pin is as good as poetry (assuming that the two bring equal quantities of pleasure).
Like Bentham's formulation, Mill's utilitarianism deals with pleasure and happiness. However John Stuart Mill made a clear distinction between happiness and pleasure; and made it evident that Weak Rule Utilitarianism was focused on maximising happiness rather than pleasure; for the naturalistic fallacy made it clear that what one desires and what is good are not always the same thing. For example a pleasure/desire may be to bully a lonely child, which may produce pleasure, however happiness comes from following virtues rather than desires.


John Stuart Mill
The classic utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill influenced many other philosophers as well as the development of the broader concept of consequentialism. As a result, there now exist many different accounts of the good, and, therefore, many different types of consequentialism besides utilitarianism. Some philosophers[who?] Edward Westermarck The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas 2 Vol. - reject the sole importance of well-being, arguing that there are intrinsic values other than happiness or pleasure, such as knowledge and autonomy.
Other past advocates of utilitarianism include William Godwin, Henry Sidgwick and notably Niccolò Machiavelli, who introduced utilitarian notions in his political treatise The Prince, and wrote that "in the actions of all men, and especially of princes, which it is not prudent to challenge, one judges by the result"[7]. Modern-day advocates include R. M. Hare, Peter Singer and Torbjörn Tännsjö.
Up to and including John Stuart Mill, utilitarianism was mainly the province of practical reformers. The publication of Henry Sidgwick's The Methods of Ethics in 1874 can be viewed as the date utilitarianism began to be more commonly associated with academic philosophy.
Utilitarianism has been used as an argument for many different political views. In his essay On Liberty, as well as in other works, John Stuart Mill argues that utilitarianism requires that political arrangements satisfy the "liberty principle" (or harm principle), according to which "the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others."[8] Prevention of self-harm by other persons was considered expressly forbidden. Instead, Mill states that only persuasion can be rightfully used to prevent self-harm.[citation needed]
Ludwig von Mises advocated libertarianism using utilitarian arguments. Likewise, some Marxist philosophers have used utilitarianism as arguments for communism and socialism.[citation needed]
Types
Act v rule
Main articles: Act utilitarianism and Rule utilitarianism
Act utilitarianism states that, when faced with a choice, we must first consider the likely consequences of potential actions and, from that, choose to do what we believe will generate most pleasure. The rule utilitarian, on the other hand, begins by looking at potential rules of action. To determine whether a rule should be followed, he looks at what would happen if it were constantly followed. If adherence to the rule produces more happiness than otherwise, it is a rule that morally must be followed at all times. The distinction between act and rule utilitarianism is therefore based on a difference about the proper object of consequentialist calculation — specific to a case or generalized to rules.
Rule utilitarianism has been criticized for advocating general rules that will in some specific circumstances clearly decrease happiness if followed. Never to kill another human being may seem to be a good rule, but it could make self-defense against malevolent aggressors very difficult. Rule utilitarians add, however, that there are general exception rules that allow the breaking of other rules if such rule-breaking increases happiness, one example being self-defense. Critics argue that this reduces rule utilitarianism to act utilitarianism and makes rules meaningless. Rule utilitarians retort that rules in the legal system (i.e., laws) that regulate such situations are not meaningless. Self-defense is legally justified, while murder is not.
However, within rule utilitarianism there is a distinction between the strictness and absolutism of this particular branch of utilitarianism. There is Strong Rule Utilitarianism which is an absolutist theory which frames strict rules which apply for all people and all time and may never be broken. John Stuart Mill proposed Weak Rule utilitarianism which posits that, although rules should be framed on previous examples that benefit society, it is possible, under specific circumstances, to do what produces the greatest happiness and break that rule. An example would be the Gestapo asking where your Jewish neighbours were... A strong rule utilitarian might say that the "Do not lie" rule must never be broken, whereas a weak rule utilitarian would argue that to lie would produce the most happiness.
Rule utilitarianism should not be confused with heuristics heuristics but many act utilitarians agree that it makes sense to formulate certain rules of thumb to follow if they find themselves in a situation whose consequences are difficult, costly or time-consuming to calculate exactly. If the consequences can be calculated relatively clearly and without much doubt, however, the rules of thumb can be ignored.
Average v total
Total utilitarianism advocates measuring the utility of a population based on the total utility of its members. According to Derek Parfit, this type of utilitarianism falls victim to the Repugnant Conclusion, whereby large numbers of people with very low but non-negative utility values can be seen as a better goal than a population of a less extreme size living in comfort. In other words, according to the theory, it is a moral good to breed more people on the world for as long as total happiness rises.[16]
Average utilitarianism, on the other hand, advocates measuring the utility of a population based on the average utility of that population. It avoids Parfit's repugnant conclusion, but causes other problems like the Mere Addition Paradox. For example, bringing a moderately happy person in a very happy world would be seen as an immoral act; aside from this, the theory implies that it would be a moral good to eliminate all people whose happiness is below average, as this would raise the average happiness[17].
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Predicting consequences
Utilitarians note that utilitarianism seems to be the unspoken principle used by both advocates and critics of nuclear power something cannot be determined at the moment is common in science and frequently resolved with later advancements.
Utilitarians, however, are not required to have perfect knowledge; indeed, certain knowledge of consequences is impossible because consequences are in the unexperienced future. Utilitarians simply try their best to maximise happiness (or other forms of utility) and, to do this, make their best estimates of the consequences. If the consequences of a decision are particularly unclear, it may make sense to follow an ethical rule that promoted the most utility in the past. Utilitarians also note that people trying to further their own interests frequently run into situations in which the consequences of their decisions are very unclear. This does not mean, however, that they are unable to make a decision; much the same applies to utilitarianism.
Importance of intentions
Utilitarianism has been criticised for looking only at the results of actions, not at the desires or intentions that motivate them, which many consider important, too. An action intended to cause harm but which inadvertently causes good would be judged equal to the good result of an action done with the best intentions. Many utilitarians argue that utilitarianism applies not only to results but also to desires and dispositions, praise and blame, and rules, institutions and punishment. Bad intentions may cause harm (to the agent and to others) even if they do not result in bad acts. Once this is recognised, supporters argue that utilitarianism becomes a much more complex, and rich, moral theory, and may align far more closely with our moral intuitions.
Furthermore, many utilitarians view morality as a personal guide rather than a means to judge the actions of other people, or actions already performed: morality is something you look at before deciding what to do. In this sense, intentions are all that matter, because the consequences cannot be known with certainty until the decision is made.
Human rights
Utilitarians argue that justification of slavery, torture or mass murder would require unrealistically large benefits to outweigh the direct and extreme suffering to victims. Utilitarianism would also require the indirect impact of social acceptance of inhumane policies to be taken into consideration, and general anxiety and fear could increase for all if human rights are commonly ignored.
Act and rule utilitarians differ in how they treat human rights themselves. Under rule utilitarianism, a human right can easily be considered a moral rule. Act utilitarians, on the other hand, do not accept human rights as moral principles in and of themselves, but that does not mean that they reject them altogether: first, most act utilitarians, as explained above, would agree that acts such as enslavement and genocide always cause great unhappiness and very little happiness; second, human rights could be considered rules of thumb so that, although torture might be acceptable under some circumstances, as a rule it is immoral; and, finally, act utilitarians often support human rights in a legal sense because utilitarians support laws that cause more good than harm.
Lack of convincing proof
Another criticism of utilitarianism is that it is not proven, either by science or by logic, to be the correct ethical system. Supporters claim that this is common to all ethical schools, and indeed the system of logic itself, and will always remain so unless the problem of the regress argument, or at least the is-ought problem, is satisfactorily resolved. It might instead be argued that almost all political arguments about a future society use an unspoken utilitarian principle, all sides claiming that their proposed solution is the one that increases human happiness the most.
Mill's argument for utilitarianism holds that pleasure is the only thing desired and that, therefore, pleasure is the only thing desirable. Critics argue that this is like saying that things visible are things seen, or that the only things audible are things heard. A thing is "visible" if it can be seen and "desirable" if it ought to be desired. Thus the word "desirable" presupposes an ethical theory: we cannot infer what is desirable from what is desired. This criticism, however, reads the word "desirable" as "able to be desired" rather than "worth being desired", and does not take into account the moral assessment that must take place to categorise something as "desirable", which does not occur when categorising the same thing as "visible" or "audible".
Individual interests vs. a greater sum of lesser interests
Critics have also asked why one should follow utilitarianism instead of ethical egoism. The legal system might punish behavior that harms others, but this incentive is not active in a situation where one can personally gain by breaking it without punishment. One egoist, however, may propose means to maximise self-interest that conflict with the means proposed by another egoist. As a result, self-interest behooves them to compromise with one another to avoid conflict. The means proposed may incidentally coincide with those prescribed by utilitarianism, but the foundational ethical imperative would not, of course, be utilitarian.
Another reason for an egoist to become a utilitarian was proposed by Peter Singer in Practical Ethics. He presents the paradox of hedonism, which holds that, if your only goal in life is personal happiness, you will never be happy: you need something to be happy about. One goal that Singer feels is likely to bring about personal happiness is the desire to improve the lives of others; that is, to make others happy. This argument is similar to the one for virtue ethics.
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Calculating Consequences: The Utilitarian Approach to Ethics
By Claire Andre and Manuel Velasquez
When Oliver North was asked to explain why he lied to congressional committees about his role in the Iran-Contra affair, he replied, "Lying does not come easily to me. But we all had to weigh in the balance the difference between lies and lives." Elsewhere in his testimony, North was asked about the false chronology of events he fabricated when preparing a summary of the government's involvement in arms sales to Iran:
Questioner: . . . You have indicated that. . . in your own mind . . . it was a good idea to put forth this false version . . . [But] there were reasons on the other side, were there not?
North: . . . Reasons on the other side?
Questioner: . . . First of all, you put some value, don't you, in the truth?
North: I've put great value in the truth. I came here to tell it.
Questioner: So . . . that would be a reason not to put forward this [false] version of the facts?
North: The truth would be reason not to put forward this [false] version of the facts, but as I indicated to you a moment ago, I put great value on the lives of the American hostages . . . and I put great value on that second channel [an intermediary used by the U.S. to deal with the Iranians], who was at risk.
Questioner: By putting out this false version of the facts, you were committing, were you not, the entire Administration to telling a false story?
North: Well, let, let�I'm not trying to pass the buck here. OK? I did a lot of things, and I want to stand up and say that I'm proud of them.
North's method of justifying his acts of deception is a form of moral reasoning that is called "utilitarianism." Stripped down to its essentials, utilitarianism is a moral principle that holds that the morally right course of action in any situation is the one that produces the greatest balance of benefits over harms for everyone affected. So long as a course of action produces maximum benefits for everyone, utilitarianism does not care whether the benefits are produced by lies, manipulation, or coercion.
Many of us use this type of moral reasoning frequently in our daily decisions. When asked to explain why we feel we have a moral duty to perform some action, we often point to the good that will come from the action or the harm it will prevent. Business analysts, legislators, and scientists weigh daily the resulting benefits and harms of policies when deciding, for example, whether to invest resources in a certain public project, whether to approve a new drug, or whether to ban a certain pesticide.
Utilitarianism offers a relatively straightforward method for deciding the morally right course of action for any particular situation we may find ourselves in. To discover what we ought to do in any situation, we first identify the various courses of action that we could perform. Second, we determine all of the foreseeable benefits and harms that would result from each course of action for everyone affected by the action. And third, we choose the course of action that provides the greatest benefits after the costs have been taken into account.
The principle of utilitarianism can be traced to the writings of Jeremy Bentham, who lived in England during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Bentham, a legal reformer, sought an objective basis that would provide a publicly acceptable norm for determining what kinds of laws England should enact. He believed that the most promising way of reaching such an agreement was to choose that policy that would bring about the greatest net benefits to society once the harms had been taken into account. His motto, a familiar one now, was "the greatest good for the greatest number."
Over the years, the principle of utilitarianism has been expanded and refined so that today there are many variations of the principle. For example, Bentham defined benefits and harms in terms of pleasure and pain. Today utilitarians often describe benefits and harms in terms of the satisfaction of personal preferences or in purely economic terms.
Utilitarians also differ in their views about the kind of question we ought to ask ourselves when making an ethical decision. Some utilitarians maintain that in making an ethical decision, we must ask ourselves: "What effect will my doing this act in this situation have on the general balance of good over evil?" If lying would produce the best consequences in a particular situation, we ought to lie.
Others claim that we must choose that act that conforms to the general rule that would have the best consequences. In other words, we must ask ourselves: "What effect would everyone's doing this kind of action have on the general balance of good over evil?" So, for example, the rule "to always tell the truth" in general promotes the good of everyone and therefore should always be followed, even if in a certain situation lying would produce the best consequences. Despite such differences among utilitarians, however, most hold to the general principle that morality must depend on balancing the beneficial and harmful consequences of our conduct.
While utilitarianism is currently a very popular ethical theory, there are some difficulties in relying on it as a sole method for moral decision making. First, the utilitarian calculation requires that we assign values to the benefits and harms resulting from our actions and compare them with the benefits and harms that might result from other actions. But it's often difficult, if not impossible, to measure and compare the values of certain benefits and costs. How do we go about assigning a value to life or to art? And how do we go about comparing the value of money with, for example, the value of life, the value of time, or the value of human dignity? Moreover, can we ever be really certain about all of the consequences of our actions? Our ability to measure and to predict the benefits and harms resulting from a course of action or a moral rule is dubious, to say the least.
Perhaps the greatest difficulty with utilitarianism is that it fails to take into account considerations of justice. We can imagine instances where a certain course of action would produce great benefits for society, but they would be clearly unjust. South African whites, for example, sometimes claim that all South Africans--including blacks--are better off under white rule. They have claimed that in those African nations that have traded a whites-only government for a black or mixed one, social conditions have rapidly deteriorated. Civil wars, economic decline, famine, and unrest, they predict, will be the result of allowing the black majority of South Africa to run the government. If such a prediction is true, then the white government of South Africa would be morally justified by utilitarianism, in spite of its injustice.
If our moral decisions are to take into account considerations of justice, then apparently utilitarianism cannot be the sole principle guiding our decisions. It can, however, play a role in these decisions. The principle of utilitarianism invites us to consider the immediate and the less immediate consequences of our actions. It also asks us to look beyond self-interest to consider impartially the interests of all persons affected by our actions. As John Stuart Mill, a famous utilitaritan, once wrote:
The happiness which forms the utilitarian standard of what is right in conduct, is not...(one's) own happiness, but that of all concerned. As between his own happiness and that of others, utilitarianism requires him to be as strictly impartial as a disinterested and benevolent spectator.
In an era that some have characterized as "the age of self-interest," utilitarianism is a powerful reminder that morality call us to look beyond the self to the good of all.


Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v2n1/calculating.html
http://www.utilitarianism.com/utilitarianism.html
http://nefe.danielsfund.org/ethics/section_two/ue.html

Forced choices

Majority of the students from the beginning of their high school begin drawing their aspirations, albeit vaguely. Not everyone has a step by step plan of what to do next, but at least by that age students are able to figure out which subject they like and which, they dread. Although Science and Mathematics for ages have been able to make it to the hate list of subjects in schools, surprisingly there always seems to be a huge turn out in the Science stream during the intermediate level.

Every one who has sat for SLC examinations in the past few years are well aware of how fun SLC examinations are because of all the "lenient" practices inside the examination halls. Therefore, SLC result shouldn't and can never be the parameter to judge students' abilities to pursue higher studies. However, with growing number of distinction and first division holders in the SLC examination, parents have begun nurturing their dreams of seeing their children as doctors, engineers and nothing else. No wonder Science faculty is flooded during admissions.

Even in the under graduate level, parents continue having their upper hand in the selection of further courses for their children. Students from Science background almost never miss out on entrance preparation classes for MBBS and engineering. My friends who finally got through grade twelve's Science papers after two failed attempts have joined similar MBBS preparation classes yet again upon their parents' decision.

Parents' are in denial about their children's capabilities academically. They turn blind eye to the red marked mark sheet of their children. And instead of counseling them about further favorable academic choices, they only pressurize the children further to meet their (parents') aspirations and hopes. Children can do nothing but succumb to their parents' decisions.

Majority of the parents are engulfed with we know it all attitude and fail to pay heed to their own children's aspirations. Year after year as parents make academic choices for their children, it is the children who have to bear the brunt in the years to come. For their parents' sake, hundreds of young people with high spirits are compelled to shove away their dreams and aspirations.


Our notion of social prestige that is associated with only certain professions is warped. It is high time that parents and teachers re orient themselves and their children about striving for excellence rather than for distinction marks. Only then will they be able to play their part as support pillars in the truest sense and guide their children to explore avenues that have other wise been looked down upon.

climate change

There is no denial about the planet’s changing climate. Over the past hundred years, the earth’s average temperature has increased by 0.74degrees Celsius. Scientists predict that the global average temperature in 2100 AD is likely to increase by 1 degree Celsius to 6.3 degree Celsius. The increase in earth temperature, mostly prompted by the emission of greenhouse gases, has led to frequent events like drought, floods and other adverse climatic situations, and poor countries like Nepal are likely to be affected the most.

Almost 67 percent of the glaciers in our Himalayas have retreated, as rapid as 10 meters a year. Scientists believe that most of the glaciers in the Himalayan region will vanish within 40 years as a result of global warming, increasing the mass in glacier lakes and ultimately increasing the risks of catastrophic Glacier Lake Outburst Flood. Equally threatened by climate change is our traditional agricultural pattern. Due to dependency on rain for agriculture, production has been severely affected by unwanted rain and prolonged drought. This in turn has further hiked the already prevalent food shortage in the far western regions of Nepal.

Nepal is ranked sixth in the Climate Risk Index (CRI) though our contribution on global carbon emission is only 0.025 percent. Developed countries along with the big emerging economies like China, India, Russia, and Brazil have large and growing emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. There are therefore responsible for the climate change threatening the planet Earth. Unfortunately, the impact of climate change has already taken its toll on the poor and vulnerable majority of the developing countries. With no safety nets, they are left helpless at every strike of nature year after year. More than anyone, it is the big economies that thrive on industries, which need to get their act together to alleviate climate change. They also need to help the developing countries with greater financial and technical means to cope with the climate change and its consequences.

Climate change is here and its impact on our lives is going to be a part of the whole environmental picture. Challenges have increased alarmingly in matters of food security, water supply, outbreak of diseases and bio-diversity. As long as big and emerging economies of the world are reluctant to commit to reduce their emissions, countries like Nepal will continue to live at the mercy of the Mother Nature.

London Dreams come to life

Skyscrapers give way to lush green hills that slowly seems to fade as the jet plane inches closer to the haphazard settlement of Kathmandu. Soaring above 11000 feet, the urban settlement in Kathmandu looks like chunks of matchboxes thrown blindly in all directions. As the plane descends, stupas, rivers and the buildings become more vivid. Arrival at the Tribhuwan International Airport is announced but the passengers seem to be in no hurry to release their seat belts.

Amongst the economy class passengers is a tired face that looks around discreetly, flashing a half smile to the fellow passengers. The tired face belongs to Sunita Rai who has come all the way from London. Travelling in jet planes across countries isn’t new to her, thanks to her marriage to a British Gurkha sergeant courtesy whom she has been to almost all the East Asian countries. However this journey she made from Heathrow to Delhi to finally Kathmandu has been etched onto her heart. It is the time she flew across the borders, alone.

Kathmandu looks all the same to her. After all it is her second trip to Kathmandu in two months. When she left for London after a relaxing vacation with her children last September, she knew she had to wait for another few years to make a trip like this one. Merely the thought of the long working hours at the factory she worked in London made her cringe. Fortunately unfortunately, her mother’s death brought her back to Nepal and allowed her body to switch to a relax mode that she was yearning for.

The British Government’s decision to allow Gurkhas to settle in the United Kingdom in the year 2004 was applauded by the British Gurkha families in Nepal. And in no time hundreds of British Gurkha ex-servicemen along with their eligible dependents made preparations to head to the United Kingdom. Sunita like many lahureni, British Gurkha’s soldiers’ wives, was elated at the prospect of residing in London. She had been to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and a host of other Asian countries before her husband’s retirement. But had only heard of how wonderful the United Kingdom was. She had always wanted to step on the land that people sang praises of. Finally, she felt her dream was coming true.

“It was chaotic when we were making preparations to leave for London”, she recalls. “Since my husband was working for a cruise line back then, legal procedures were hassles for me”, she adds. Apart from the legal hassles it was her changed routine that dampened her spirit to go London. On her friends’ and husband’s suggestion to brush up her English she joined a language institute. And the when some of her friends joined beauty parlor trainings she couldn’t resist doing the same. “Everyone told it was the need of the hour to learn some skills so I joined the herd”, she says. “But it was really frustrating at times since I was so used to doing only household chores. I had to go to the classes on time, complete assignments and then come back home and feed my children”, she says in a single breath. Although she spent months brushing up her skills she feels it all went away in vain. “Neither did the training get me a job nor did the English I learnt help me find my lost baggage at the airport”, she says in a matter-of –fact tone. However the training period in Nepal did teach her a thing or two about time management she says.

The lazy afternoons she spends in Kathmandu gossiping with her sisters almost seems surreal to her at times. Climbing the stairs to go to the kitchen from her bedroom at her sister’s place, reminds her of the dingy apartment at London that only allows few footsteps of walking around from one end to the another. Having maids prepare the food, bring it on to the table and being addressed as didi with respect in her sister’s house makes her feel no less than a queen. The load shedding hours and the dirty roads of Kathmandu do remind her of London’s subways and her centrally heated apartment. But the very thought of London takes her back to the monotonous life that she is compelled to live. Working 8 hours each day standing, six times in week has taken a toll on her once manicured feet. “The area near the ankle gets swollen”, she complains.

Sunita spent most of her married life as a spend thrift laureni. But now that she lives in one of the most sought after shopping destinations in the world, she cannot afford to shop like in her heydays in Nepal. Yes London is the capital of high end shopping, but not for migrants like Sunita. “Going to the high end fashion stores needs a lot of courage and deep pockets”, informs Sunita. “First of all the stuff there is way beyond our reach and second of all our broken English give us a complex in such stores. So it is better for us to stick to down town shops with plenty of sales”, she adds. However, once in Nepal she goes on shopping sprees without any hesitance. She shows her sister the list of things she needs to take back to London. The list has things like beaten rice, dalle khursaani, wai wai, jhoos -home made body scrubs, sel rotis etc. Most of the things on the list needn’t be purchased her sister says.

Ironically her spirits are high as she looks forward to the 45th day ritual of her mother’s death. With a cup of tea in her hand she basks in the sun at the balcony of her sister’s house. Looking over at the Shivapuri hills from the balcony she can’t help feeling nostalgic about their home that was almost as fancy and huge like her sister’s. She recalls her eight year old daughter complaining how she disliked living in matchbox like apartments in South London and missed her bungalow like home back in Nepal that they recently sold. It is only three in the afternoon and the wafting smell of matar paneer fills the balcony signaling her snack time. Making her way to the kitchen downstairs, she is carried away by the thought of doing the same in the new house her husband promised to buy in North Hall by the next Christmas.

Dream driven

I weave the same dream each day
But I am awoken the next moment
Fulfilled unfulfilled my dreams may remain
Yet I continue weaving the same dream

The dream tempts me
And I chase the dream
Running past the obstacles,
I inch closer to the dream

Lost in the thoughts of my dream
I fear what if…
Stretching my rusted limbs,
I step closer to my dream

Crying and screaming
I shout at the top of my lungs
And then I calm down
Striving for my dream to come true
Mind starts racing and feet quiver
Yet I don’t deter from the path
Sharing my dream with the world
I dream of living the dream

Frail eyesight have taken its toll
Yet I dream of this dream so old
Same eyes revisit our past so glorious
Same eyes dream of reviving the lost glory

Every breath resonates my dream’s tune
Wish the tune echoed far and wide
In the smoke like life that goes up in air
I pray to go in ashes with my dream

I am a common Nepali
And I dream of PEACE
Devoting my life for it
I continue dreaming about peace

Significance of mass media research

Research may evoke pictures of scientists working in a laboratory. So the very meaning of research needs to be clarified before proceeding to the significance of mass media research.
Research refers to scientific method of investigation. Research uses concepts like objectivity of approach and the acceptability of the results hence it is called as science. Objectivity indicates to observe things as they are and Acceptability is judged in terms of the degree to which observations and experiments can be reproduced. The findings should not be altered by the mere alteration of the investigator, and then only it is termed as objective. Research is also called as science because it is less prone to errors.

There are two major types of research:
1. Natural science research
2. Social science research

All the academic field of study needs research and a media study is not an exception. Media research is a part of communication research and falls under social science research. Media research does the scientific study of mass communication and media and its interaction with the people as individual and as group.Survey conducted to investigate what segment of consumers read which periodicals and/or listen to or watch which radio or television programs is Media Research. Media research mainly concerns media content and activities of media professionals, media owners and audiences. Media research may be media centric or society centric.
Every time “who, what, when, where, or why” question when using the mass media arises, you have raised a question that can be investigated.

For instance, why is a certain magazine popular amongst youngsters and why more people tune into the eight o’clock news of only certain television channel? How has the use of internet shaped the traditional media viewing practices, why are some television soaps more popular than the other? All such questions raised can be answered through media research. Therefore, mass media research is all about trying to find answers to mass media questions.

Different types of media form use varying research techniques to investigate. Some of them have been discussed here below.

Print Media: In print media, these types of research that have gained most attention in the past several years:

Readership: the most widely used of all print research procedures including research in areas such as reader profiles, item-selection studies, reader-nonreader studies, editor-reader comparisons, and psychographic and lifestyle segmentation studies.
Circulation: research about who reads the newspaper or magazine, how can circulation be increased, and what the readers want to have included in their newspaper or magazine.
Management: research concerning goal setting by management, employee job satisfaction, and effects of competition and ownership on newspaper content and quality.
Readability: research on all the elements and their interactions that affect the success of a piece of printed material.
On-line media usage: research concerning the Internet and how it affects newspaper and magazine reading.

Advertising and Public Relations: Just as with the other media, research in advertising and public relations includes a variety of topic, some of which include:

Copy Testing: research on the effectiveness of advertising.
Reach and frequency: how many people are exposed to advertising?
Internet-related: research on how the Internet affects advertising and public relations.
Campaign assessment: research on the success of an advertising campaign.
Public relations: applied, basic, and introspective research to examine specific practical issues.
Public relations audit: a comprehensive study of the public relations position of an organization.
Social audit: a small-scale monitoring program to measure how well a company is living up to its public responsibilities.
Internet: The Internet has quickly become a mass medium, and it is changing every day. However, one thing is certain about the Internet, and that is it will provide a countless number of research possibilities for mass media researchers. Consider some of the possibilities:
On-line research: respondents answer questions using Internet-based questionnaires.
Web site research: what makes a good web site? How can more people be attracted to a web site?
Music testing: radio stations and music companies test short segments of songs.
Advertising testing: respondents provide reactions to audio, video, and print advertising.
Broadcast media: Ratings and non ratings research is used in broadcast media. This type of research provides information about what the audience likes and dislikes analyses of different types of programming, demographic and lifestyle information about the audience.

Out-of-home media: They are also known as place-based media. This includes billboards, outdoor boards, transit posters, theater and video ads, product placements in movies, aerial advertising. Research helps in coming up with effective placement of ads in this form media.

Mass media research in the contemporary society

Mass media industry has grown by leaps and bounds and is now considered as big bucks churning industry. At the end of the business is what matters to the people who own media houses. Therefore it all boils down to numbers be it the audience size, profits or unit sales. In order to extract such statistics, researches have become inevitable.
On the other hand, the proliferation of new media technologies and devices is empowering people in more than just one way. These changes create an increasingly challenging environment for capturing a greater share of market and monetizing your audience effectively.

To extract more value from the content and optimize ad sales yield. To measure the quality of the audience, not just the quantity and to adapt to the dynamically changing marketplace in advance of the competitors. To help understand viewers or listeners - and the industry - in new and more profitable ways. To understand consumers so that their next move can be anticipated, mass media researches are significant.

love Aaj Kaal

No matter how good a movie is, it lingers only for a while. Rarely do I sit down to write about the after effects of any movie. But after watching the recent Bollywood flick Love Aaj Kal, I couldn’t help pondering and wincing at the state of romance of Gen Y.

The movie has beautifully blended the love stories of couples of yester years and the couples of today. Couples back then chose to love their beaus trusting their gut feeling. But the present lot of romantic couples let “rational” thinking override most of the time. While trying to think and act too rationally, so that our lives don’t get messed up, the essence of love in lost in most couples. Gone are the days when love stories began with chasing the girls, stealing loving glances every possible time, meeting secretly, making vows to stick through thick and thin, so on and so forth. That was how love bloomed. However, things have changed 180 degrees today. I’d like call our generation the “making out” generation. We go out on dates, do the deed and after few months or so we realize we aren’t compatible enough and start running in opposite directions. If that’s not the case, citing our career goals and the most widely sought after reason; distance factor, we choose to part ways.

We call ourselves practical like the young couple in the movie does. We are yet to reach the state of throwing break up parties like them, but we sure have become pro at getting through with one relationship and moving on to the next ones. My mind is racing with examples of so many couples who have gone through similar break ups citing distance factor. A friend of mine fixed a final date with her then boyfriend to part ways. Wishing each other all the best they stepped out as single individuals who were more than ready to mingle with the probable crowd of singles in the city. As of now, my friend is in a ‘steady’ relationship.

Unlike the elderly couple in the movie who represent the forever kind of love, we are far from reaching even the first year mark. For many of us, the whole idea of being in a relationship for more than a year or so with the same person is in it self is very boring. To curb this boredom issue, my friend suggested us to date the seniors at college. That way, she says, we’ll have high chances of reaching the one year mark and when the guys graduate breaking up will probably remain the only option. Win- win situation, I guess. Therefore, it comes as no surprise when even the seemingly most compatible and adorable couples of the college decide to part their ways once they are done with their convocation ceremony.

The scene in the movie where the young couple decides to break up citing long distance relationships and the stress baggage it brings along with is very apt for people of today’s generation. The reasons are same. Long distance relationship equalizes to higher probability of misunderstandings. Granted we live in the era of communication, but when the person in question is physically absent, no means of communication seem to help the relationship work. Eventually people in long distance relationship give up and walk around like a free bird.

I am the kind of person who appreciates people moving swiftly from one relationship to another sans the emotional baggage. However, the whole idea of high school and college sweethearts getting married always appeals to my old fashioned romantic heart. But it seems the forever kind of love is hard to find these days. The best example is that of my friend who broke up with her boyfriend of two years citing stress and miscommunication due to the distance factor. The distance: 28 kilometers from Kathmandu to Dhulikhel.

Development Journalism

The term development journalism first appeared around 1967 to define a notion of journalism according to which reporting events of national and international significance should be constructive in a sense that it contributes positively to development of the country concerned. Its main focus should not be on day to day m news but on long-term development processes. The term “development journalism” emerged in Asia, more specifically in the Philippines, through the efforts of journalists such as Juan Mercado and Alan Chakley.

The term “development journalism” is used to refer to two different types of journalism. The first is a new school of journalism which began to appear in the 1960s. The idea behind this type of development journalism is similar to investigative reporting, but it focuses on conditions in developing nations and ways to improve them. The other type of development journalism involves heavy influence from the government of the nation involved. While this type of development journalism can be a powerful tool for local education and empowerment, it can also be a means of suppressing information and restricting journalists.

The first type of development journalism attempts to document the conditions within a country so that the larger world can understand them. Journalists are encouraged to travel to remote areas, interact with the citizens of the country, and report back. This type of development journalism also looks at proposed government projects to improve conditions in the country, and analyzes whether or not they will be effective. Ultimately, the journalist may come up with proposed solutions and actions in the piece, suggesting ways in which they might be implemented. Often, this type of development journalism encourages a cooperative effort between citizens of the nation and the outside world.

The second type of development journalism can walk a thin line. On the one hand, government participation in mass media can help get important information spread throughout the nation. Governments can help to educate their citizens and enlist cooperation on major development projects. However, a government can also use the idea of “development” to restrict freedom of speech for journalists. Journalists are told not to report on certain issues because it will impact the “development” of the nation in question, and therefore citizens are not actually being given access to the whole picture.

As a tool for social justice, development journalism can be very valuable. By speaking for those who cannot, a development journalist can inform the rest of the world about important issues within developing nations. Looking at the strengths and weaknesses of a country may also help identify ways in which the nation can be helped. This style of development journalism is a tool for empowerment.

The term development journalism first appeared around 1967 to define a notion of journalism according to which reporting events of national and international significance should be constructive in a sense that it contributes positively to development of the country concerned. Its main focus should not be on day to day m news but on long-term development processes. The term “development journalism” emerged in Asia, more specifically in the Philippines, through the efforts of journalists such as Juan Mercado and Alan Chakley.
Development communication is understood as the communication strategy related to an entire society, respectively a comprehensive national development plan. In ideal case development journalism is to be oriented to the needs of the population. It neither aims in endangering the manageability of a state nor being able to be misused to legitimize obviously unjust structures of rule. This notion of development journalism proceeds from the normative assumption that the people affected must be actively involved in the decision- making, planning and implementation of development projects. With that, apart from dissemination of information, two functions of development journalism are particularly emphasized; the motivation to active co operation of the people affected and the active advocacy of their interests Vis a Vis the planners, respectively the government.

Thus development journalism is imbedded in the context of a general management concept of the planning and implementation of development programs, that is, it is ascribed a quite instrumental, socio-technological character. The journalists working within these prescribed norms will become comparable in aspects of one’s profession with the on-site leader of development projects. Development journalism is the synonymous with a “grass root approach”, that is, it is decentralized and participatory. It must not limit itself to the communication channels of the mass media alone but also use the traditional communication media. This development journalism is primarily “local journalism” in the sense that the journalist should be rooted in the local culture concerned.

Enchanting Radio Nepal

Among many facts and events about our country we learnt in our Social Studies class at school, Radio Nepal is one of them. Although many of us admit to have never been keen on listening Radio Nepal, being a media student the importance of Radio Nepal can never be overlooked. But after visiting Radio Nepal, the seemingly gloomy sounding voice –“Namaste yo Radio Nepal ho”-that reminds us of Radio Nepal, changed for better.

Radio Nepal was established on 1st April 1951. Initially, the transmission covered duration of 4 hours and 30 minutes through a 250 Watt SW transmitter. Over the years, Radio Nepal has strengthened its institutional capacity considerably and diversified itself in terms of programme format, technical efficiency and coverage. Radio Nepal airs programmes on Short Wave, Medium Wave and FM frequencies. Regular broadcasts cover duration of 18 hours everyday which includes about 2 hours of regional broadcasts 09:45 hrs. to 11:00 hrs. in the morning and 18:00 hrs 18:30 hrs in the evening. FM Kathmandu, the first FM-Channel covering Kathmandu valley and adjoining areas was started in 1995 from its premises at Singh Durbar, Kathmandu.

As we made our way inside the music studio of Radio Nepal, photographs of music legends welcomed us. The mere sight of such a jaw dropping music studio brought out the singers in each of us. There were pianos, harmoniums, guitars, sitars, even vibraphone (the only vibraphone in Nepal) and a host of other instruments that we laid our hands on. This is the place where the songs are recorded, many of which have ended up becoming classic in the Nepali music fraternity.

Next we headed to one of the many state-of-the-art studios of Radio Nepal. There was live program being aired in one while there was another studio that was studio cum news room. None of us could help laying our hands on the microphone in the recording studio where we got totally lost hearing our own voice.Then we made our way to the music library that probably boasts of the largest Nepali music collection in Nepal.

As we were scribbling notes of everything we were being told, everything that caught our fancy, we were led into a room for a pleasant surprise. There we were greeted by the legendary singer Meera Rana. Everyone was totally in awe of her presence and then began the photograph and autograph session. There could not have been a better end to our visit to Radio Nepal.

Dry spell at 13th Educational Book Fair

Nepal Educational and Book Fair, Nepal’s largest educational and book fair, concluded its 13th edition last Saturday. Unlike last year, when the presence of Bollywood veteran personality Dev Anand in the inauguration ceremony created quite a buzz, this year’s event didn’t stand out in the media which affected the number of visitors and book sales. According to the organizer, Global Exposition and Management, more than a hundred thousand people had visited the fair last year.

Although there were more book activities to cover this year, it didn’t generate much media coverage. Writers Karna Shakya, Jagadish Ghimire, Sushma Joshi, Krishna Dharabasi, Krishna Thapa signed their books at the fair. However, publishers blamed the political scenario, economic recession and the coinciding of exams for the decreased turn out this year.

According to Anjan Shrestha of Educational Book House the number of vistors has gone down by one fourth compared to the last year. He also expressed his worry regarding the future of the educational fair if such trend continued.

Another reason for the less turn out was the lack of new books. Most of the stalls were selling the same books that could have been bought at the bookstore itself. Unlike last year where Penguin had put up a wide range of books, its stall this time around seemed almost deserted. Similarly, Oxford University Press’s stall also had similar picture. There weren’t enough books to fill the stall’s space. Sales manager of these stalls blamed the Terai bandas for the unavailability of new books.

Saurav Rai, an engineering student, said that this year’s fair was lack lustrous compared to last year. “Except for Paulo Coehlo’s Winner Stands Alone I couldn’t find any new book”, he whined.
“Participation of educational consultancies did help in bringing more visitors in the first few days but after they removed their stalls, the number of visitors declined visibly”, said Pravin Bista, one of the volunteers at the fair.

Blame it on the organizers’ mismanagement, the political scenario or the growing inflation, the number 13 seems to have actually brought in plenty of setbacks in this edition of Nepal Education and Book Fair.

The Sky Isn’t Falling

It certainly looks like another example of crying wolf. After bracingourselves for a global pandemic, we've suffered something more like theusual seasonal influenza. Three weeks ago the World Health Organizationdeclared a health emergency, warning countries to "prepare for a pandemic"and said that the only question was the extent of worldwide damage. Seniorofficials prophesied that millions could be infected by the disease. But asof last week, the WHO had confirmed only 4,800 cases of swine flu, with 61people having died of it. Obviously, these low numbers are a pleasantsurprise, but it does make one wonder, what did we get wrong?

Why did the predictions of a pandemic turn out to be so exaggerated? Somepeople blame an overheated media, but it would have been difficult toignore major international health organizations and governments when theywere warning of catastrophe. I think there is a broader mistake in the waywe look at the world. Once we see a problem, we can describe it in greatdetail, extrapolating all its possible consequences. But we can rarelyanticipate the human response to that crisis.

Take swine flu. The virus had crucial characteristics that led researchersto worry that it could spread far and fast. They described—and the mediareported—what would happen if it went unchecked. But it did not gounchecked. In fact, swine flu was met by an extremely vigorous response atits epicenter, Mexico. The Mexican government reacted quickly andmassively, quarantining the infected population, testing others, providingmedication to those who needed it. The noted expert on this subject, LaurieGarrett, says, "We should all stand up and scream, 'Gracias, Mexico!'because the Mexican people and the Mexican government have sacrificed on alevel that I'm not sure as Americans we would be prepared to do in theexact same circumstances. They shut down their schools. They shut downbusinesses, restaurants, churches, sporting events. They basicallyparalyzed their own economy. They've suffered billions of dollars infinancial losses still being tallied up, and thereby really broughttransmission to a halt."

Every time one of these viruses is detected, writers and officials bring upthe Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918 in which millions of people died.Indeed, during the last pandemic scare, in 2005, President George W. Bushclaimed that he had been reading a history of the Spanish flu to help himunderstand how to respond. But the world we live in today looks nothinglike 1918. Public health-care systems are far better and more widespreadthan anything that existed during the First World War. Even Mexico, adeveloping country, has a first-rate public-health system—far better thananything Britain or France had in the early 20th century.

One can see this same pattern of mistakes in discussions of the globaleconomic crisis. Over the last six months, the doomsday industry has movedinto high gear. Economists and business pundits are competing with eachother to describe the next Great Depression. Except that the world we livein bears little resemblance to the 1930s. There is much greater and morewidespread wealth in Western societies, with middle classes that canwithstand job losses in ways that they could not in the 1930s. Bear inmind, unemployment in the non-farm sector in America rose to 37 percent inthe 1930s. Unemployment in the United States today is 8.9 percent. Andgovernment benefits—nonexistent in the '30s—play a vast role in cushioningthe blow from an economic slowdown.

The biggest difference between the 1930s and today, however, lies in thehuman response. Governments across the world have reacted with amazingspeed and scale, lowering interest rates, recapitalizing banks andbudgeting for large government expenditures. In total, all the variousfiscal--stimulus packages amount to something in the range of $2 trillion.Central banks—mainly the Federal Reserve—have pumped in much larger amountsof cash into the economy. While we debate the intricacies of each and everymove—is the TALF well -structured?—the basic reality is that governmentshave thrown everything but the kitchen sink at this problem and, takinginto account the inevitable time lag, their actions are already takingeffect. That does not mean a painless recovery or a return to robustgrowth. But it does mean that we should retire the analogies to the GreatDepression, when -policymakers—especially central banks—did everythingwrong.

We're living in a dangerous world. But we are also living in a world inwhich deep, structural forces create stability. We have learned fromhistory and built some reasonably effective mechanisms to handle

Style check meter

Given the long hours of load shedding, bumpy dusty narrow roads, frequent stikes, fuel shortage etc etc, we are bound to cringe at the sorry state of our country. But when I look at our ever stagnant Nepali film industry and the lack lustrous fashion scene, I find one more reason to cringe even more.

Come Friday and we have people of all ages thronging at newspaper stands to get their copy of a very popular Nepali weekly tabloid. I myself was one of its avid readers until a few years back. As a kid I used to read its kid section and my mom used to force me to fill out the crossword puzzle (which I never won). I even used to paste pictures of the featured models. Those were the days when pretty faces (sans the hideous dress) used to adorn the coveted page. Then began the time when girls of all sizes (including the hideously bulky in the most fitting dresses) began making rounds in those very pages.

The number of girls dying to get into the field of glitz and glamour are on the rise. Rising number of fashion columns in print media, astounding number of websites dedicated to promote fresh faces, numerous beauty pageants have definitely been a boon for aspiring models. However, the competition has become tough. Fresh faces vying to get noticed seem to have been living by the mantra of ‘lesser the better’ when it comes to clothes and ‘more the better’ when it comes to skin show. Our numerous websites and tabloids are testimony to it.

There are plenty of aspiring models who pose and expose hideously. “Eww !” is the first reaction when we look at those scantily dressed girls. But since there are plenty of them we forget them soon after. And then we have our most talked about actress Rekha Thapa whose style quotient overpowers every hideously dressed model. She would probably be the first person fashion police would get hold of. Lord help that lady with a sensible stylist! Totally understandable is their not so celeb status with just an okay paycheck. But hey, style doesn’t always have to equalize to more moola!

Giving everyone a fair chance is something good, but just because someone is ready for plenty of skin show with the most (disgustingly) suggestive poses doesn’t mean the paper needs to compromise with its standard. The same thing applies for a host of up and coming and even the most established websites. Maybe because we are so used to seeing the picture perfect images adorning the pages and screens of international media, we totally freak out and are embarrassed beyond words by our local models and celebrities who seem to have lost their mind. Ladies (and sometimes even gentlemen) please check yourself out in the mirror before coming in the public eye

Worshipping gods in the chemical age

Rhino, tiger and elephant are the images we have when we are said to picturise 100, 500 and 1000 rupees Nepali notes respectively. But what about the 10 rupees Nepali note? Does it evoke any picture? Probably not. However, upon closer look it has a sculpture of Lord Vishnu riding on Garuda.

This sculpture is one among the many inside the Changunarayn temple’s complex. This complex falls under the World Heritage Site list. In spite of holding such great archaeological and religious importance the sculptures, like the one in 10 rupees Nepali note, and many others within Changunarayan’s complex are in dire strait.

A life size 5th century statue of Garuda, the carrier of Lord Vishnu kneels with his hands folded before the temple. Besides Garuda is one of the oldest Licchavi stone inscriptions. In front of the temple here is a statue of kneeling King Bhupatindra Malla and his queen.

There is a 6th century stone statue of Vishnu Viswarup, the universal form of Lord Vishnu that Lord Krishna showed Arjuna while speaking the Bhagavad Gita. On the Lakshmi Narayan Temple there is an 8th century statue of six-armed Trivikratha (Lord Vamana), and next to it is a statue of Lord Narasimha, the man-lion incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Behind the last two statues is a little black slab that has an image of Narayan lying on the traditional serpent Ananta and above it Lord Vishnu with 10 arms and heads.

All these sculptures have started showing signs of wearing out with cracks and stains all over them. Sculputers of such significance have all been kept outside the temple without any attempt of preservation. Pandit Rajopadhya of Changunarayan expressed his concern regarding the worsening condition of these sculptures. He says that not only the heat and and rain but also the chemical filled tika and other ingredients that people throw at these idols, albeit in the name of worshipping, have to be blamed for the sorry state of these sculptures.

He further elaborates that earlier idols were worhipped with panchamrit that was benificial for these idols. But now panchamrit has long been forgotten and the only resort is the chemical mixed worshpping ingredients. If the idols are worshipped in such a way that harms them then such act instead becomes misdeed.

Seems like its best to just stick to offering prayers with folded hands and set aside all those chemical filled puja ingredients.

Bitter-sweet truth about Changunarayan

Ever heard of Dolashikhar Swami?? No thats not the name of some saintly figure. Its the original name of one of the most oldest temples with great archaeological importance- the Changunarayan. Situated on a ridge overlooking the Kathmandu Valley, Changunarayan is one of the oldest and most impressive examples Lichachhavi period's astounding architecture in Nepal.

Changunarayan which was called Dolashikhar Swami in the Lichchhavi period was reanamed as Chaugunarayan in Nepal Bhasa during the Malla period. Also known as Champa Narayan in Sanskrit, the present Changunarayn temple is most widely popular for it has the probably oldest inscription in Nepal's history. Changunarayan's complex is a World Heritage Site, and is known for its incredible woodcarvings, metal inscriptions and stone statues, which adorn the courtyard, all dating between the 5th and 13th centuries.

This impressive double roofed temple is said to be the most ancient Vishnu temple in the Kathmandu Valley. The original temple was built around the 4th century. Although history books have it that king Manadeva built the temple, the reality seems far from it. according to the temple's priest, Chakradar Ananda Rajopadhyay, King Haridatta Varma who is supposed to have ruled nine generations ahead of Manadeva was the first person to built the temple. The inscription at the temple says nothin about King Manadeva buliding the temple, rather it has been mentioned that the very king only donated land for the temple's guthi.

If we go by History books, they say alot of insanely wrong things about Changunarayan. For instance, eigth grade EHP book published in the year 2052 had it that the Changunarayan jatra takes place in the month of Magh. But it actually takes place in the month of Baisakh. Similarly, it also writes that Changunarayan is called Maghman Narayan which is absolutely false. It is infact not none by any other name except for Chagunarayan, Champanarayan and Garudnarayan.

So, the next time you visit places of archeological importance don't just go by what the history books say.

Why journalism and democracy are considered inter dependent?

Democracy has always been hailed as the form of government that is of the people, formed by the people for the people. Democracy is a form of government in which power is held indirectly by citizens in a free electoral system. The popularity of democracy is evident primarily because citizens enjoy universally recognized freedom and liberties. On the other hand journalism, most popularly referred to as press, has long been recognized as that part of social activity which is concerned with the dissemination of news and views of the society. Journalism primarily functions as a watchdog and it bridges the government and the public. The very nature of journalism requires absolute democratic environment for it cannot fulfill its functions in the absence of freedom of expression and opinion. Journalism helps people fully exercise their right to get information and express their opinion. Had it not been for press, people would not have been living in a democratic society rightfully.


Journalism for democracy

As John Stuart Mill stated reading newspapers, and perhaps writing to them, public meetings, and solicitations of different sorts addressed to the political authorities, are the extent of the participation of private citizens in general politics during the interval between one Parliamentary election and another, the role of journalism is more than evident in a democratic society.
In democratic societies the press is acknowledged as the fourth state. Government is the most powerful entity. Government is the only such party which can work for the public or against the public. Power may corrupt, therefore government need to be scrutinized. Government runs the country, so journalists need to co operate with the government. Press needs to deal with government due to its watchdog function and mediating function. Government needs to communicate with the public through press. Since democratic government is supposed to put the people first, the role of press is inevitable in constantly letting the people about the government’s doings. Had it not been for press, the government would have never been watchful enough to let democratic values and practices prevail in any state.


Democracy for press and journalism

Press is also subjected to be regulated and government is the regulatory body. Only a democratic government ensures the proper regulation of the press through which the press can function smoothly and provide citizens with the information required. Only a democartic government can ensure pres freedom. Government can even sue the press in matters of violation of rules or irregularities in the court. Government also provides facilities by regulating advertisements, providing incentives and huge source of news content etc to the press. Government is a major source of advertisements. Press is also an industry. So, it cannot remain aloof. Government can hinder or facilitate the press in many ways as per its own wish. Since legal provisions regarding every institution including journalism are made by the government, it can hugely influence the state of journalism in any country. The very essence of journalism lies in the democratic principles and ideologies which shows how inevitable democracy is for press.

Inter dependence of journalism and democracy

The history of journalism can be traced back to those days when anti-colonial freedom fighters started revealing the unjust activities of the colonizers in front of the mass people through the use of pamphlets. This message disseminating activities were intended to obtain independence and sovereignty of their nation and also get rid of slavery.

Whenever there is any attempt against democratic principles, ideology and system of government, the first attack is seen on press. If we see the case of military system of Junta in Union of Myanmar, the censorship, restriction and ban on broadcasting all news of public concerns characterizes the media system. Which is also proved by very less numbers of radio, television and newspaper houses? On the others side while if we see the state of media in our own country Nepal, freedom of press and publication, right to expressions etc are highly emphasized. This proves that democracy and journalism are like the two sides of a same coin.

The political history of Nepal, during the people’s revolution, the liberation force (Mukti Sena) established radio-broadcasting station at Bhojpur which was shifted to Biratnagar later. The active role of that radio-station and distribution of message through pamphlets to gather mass for protest against tyrannical Rana-regime to establish Democracy for the first time in Nepal can never be forgotten. Similarly the role mainstream media during Jana Andolan II to uproot tyrannical Monarchy system of government and restore Democratic system of government is considered very crucial. During the April uprising, only the private media houses were giving the factual news. On the other hand, the state media was giving false news so as to supress the people's movement.

Gyanendra's step of dissolving the parliament and taking the power in his hand was first evident when he intervened in the operation of press. There were news censorhip and army personnels were on duty inside the newsroom. This was the then monarch's first step in curbing democratic spirit of the press.

Thomas Jefferson’s famous saying of choosing press over government illustrates power of press. Like people’s representatives journalists are also in many ways people’s representatives albeit non elected. They have earned this status out of their work. Press as an institution maybe considered as alternative government/parliament/court.

Due to its very nature government and press don’t get along very well. They are almost always at conflicting/confronting situation. It is so because press acts as a watchdog but the government wants press to be its lapdog.

Worldwide press has been time and again criticized for focusing on government’s criticism only. Reconciling is done by the press through objective/ balanced reporting. Government on its part should allow judiciary to watch over the press and act as the regulatory body. Maintaining transparency would also silence all the confrontation and conflict. Antagonism can be reduced if the government understands journalists’ objective coverage of both positive and negative aspect of government.

Time and again it has been proved that the role of press becomes more than evident when democracy needs to be ushered in or needs to be protected in any country. Similarly, press freedom can only be ensured when there is a democratic government fully supporting the journalism's genuine cause for serving the citizen by letting them exercise their right to opinion and expression. Thus, journalim and democracy can grow from strength to strength when both walk hand in hand working for the upliftment of the country and its citizens.

Community Journalism

Community journalism is locally oriented, professional news coverage that typically focuses on city neighborhoods, individual suburbs or small towns, rather than metropolitan, state, national or world news. While prioritizing news stories, proximity factor is taken into consideration in community journalism.

If it covers wider topics, community journalism concentrates on their effect on local readers. Community newspapers, often but not always published weekly, also tend to cover subjects larger news media do not, such as students on the honor roll at the local high school, school sports, crimes such as vandalism, zoning issues and other details of community life. Sometimes dismissed as "chicken dinner" stories, such "hyper local" coverage often plays a vital role in building and maintaining neighborhoods.

Leo Lerner, founder of Chicago's erstwhile Lerner Newspapers, used to say, "A fistfight on Clark Street is more important to our readers than a war in Europe."

In the United States, about 97 percent of newspapers are classified as "community" newspapers, with circulations below 50,000. Their combined circulation, nearly 109 million, is triple that of the combined circulation of the country's large daily newspapers. An increasing number of community newspapers are now owned by large media organizations.

Community journalists are typically trained professional reporters and editors. Community journalism should not be confused with the work of citizen journalist, who are often unpaid amateurs, or with civic journalism although many community newspapers practice it.

Attacks on Delhi Public School, Dharan by the Maoists in the year 2003 wasn’t given major coverage in the national media but the local paper ‘Blast Daily’ had made it the main new story. People residing in and around Dharan would be more interested in knowing what has been happening around their town rather than a huge event taking place in the capital or other place.

SLC and all that fuss!!!!

SLC- the most dreaded and the most talked about examination more often referred to as the Iron Gate has once again begun to take center stage in Nepali households. From the year students in our country are promoted to the grade when they start using ink pens, SLC begins haunting them. Everything that they are forced to do, right from the cut down on leisure periods( that is if they had any) to the increasing hours of extra classes are all tried and tested methods of SLC preparation practiced in abundance. Students are no longer just mere students; they are almost like soldiers being prepared to face the monster that has been the hovering around every tenth grader for decades. As if parents’ and teachers’ constant reminders about SLC weren’t enough, everyone under the sun who is aware of your SLC candidacy makes it to a point of reminding you how much of a big deal SLC is.

But all the SLC fear is long thrown out of the window by the candidates all thanks to the pleasant experiences shared by their seniors who have been there and done that. For private school students (educated in English medium) the first paper of English is bound to be a cakewalk. However, the scenario is poles apart for the government school counterpart (now that’s a different sad story). Easily comprehendible texts and equally easy grammar questions await them. So the invigilator swears by his duty on the first day. The next day and the days that follow will probably be the most memorable days for most of the SLC candidates since there isn’t any examination that’s more dreaded yet so loved by the students for more than just one reason.

Plenty of students who have appeared for the exam in the past will have one or other incident related to cheating full throttle in the examination hall. My cousin was more than elated to have SLC invigilators who would direct them to maintain silence and do anything they wanted (that included passing answer sheets to changing seats albeit temporarily). The cherry on top, as per my cousin’s say, used to be the daily newspaper spread just perfectly covering his face averting direct encounter of things happening inside the examination hall.

Not all are blessed to have such understanding invigilators who believe in doing their job in the most “student friendly” manner. But then SLC invigilators’ one or the other lenient methods of invigilating make us realize that there are still plenty of Samaritans around us. Except for the super studious lot, who probably loath about the board first declaration being removed, most of them tend to study lesser and lesser as the examinations approach near. Not because of the overly good preparation. Rather they are consoled time and again about how fun it’ll be cheating right under the invigilator’s nose which but obviously lifts their long tired spirits.

Private school students are blessed to have their courses completed on time; actually way before the stipulated time. You see, the faster the better is the mantra private schools abide by to proudly announce the whole world their astounding number of distinction holders. The two shifts of coaching classes (irrespective of students’ personal requirements) are followed by endless revisions, tests, mock tests, and the list goes on. Most of the straight A students by heart almost all the past SLC questions. They almost become maniacs till they are done with the SLC exams. Students are forced to eat breath and sleep the SLC model questions. SLC candidates’ parents find plethora of reasons to not allow their children from taking a break from the academics throughout the tenth grade. After all their kids’ SLC results are crucial in making or breaking their social status.

With so much of overwhelming preparation done just to get past eight subjects teachers and parents should learn to stop pestering the students regarding SLC examination. Yes getting past school is a big deal but what is the whole point of bidding adieu to the golden years of school life with so much of fear embedded in students. For god sake, students who are used to giving three terminal examinations annually need not panic about SLC at all. Only if school officials and parents understood, the whole fuss surrounding SLC would have long disappeared.