Project Mulghat

The School project in Mulghat, Dhankutta, Nepal is underway in partnership with the Rotary. Among all the changes happening at the school, the most important one is the construction of the pipeline to bring drinking water to the school. Not only will this allow access to drinking water to the village community, it will also also provide a steady flow of running water essential to run the newly constructed male/female restrooms.

We have decided to continue our support to the school for next year. The next round of improvements will most likely involve renovation of the classrooms and new desks/benches in all classrooms. We also plan to continue our ongoing support of the 10 (current number) deaf children that the school houses by providing them with new clothing, bedding, lockers, etc.

Thank you to everyone involved for your support.

Team Ghintang. 

XXX Infestation

As we all know that the internet is infested with many sites, let's just say, not suitable for family viewing. Well, while I have been enjoying my busy life I forgot to renew the old domain and someone else bought it--they have now turned it into a site with "dog and pony" show. My apologies! Ghintang is now available on arthabeed.blogspot.com until further notice.

Arthabeed.

You Reap What You Sow

There have been a lot of outcry from Nepal and around the world against Monsanto in Nepal. Here are a few articles and videos from various sources to make you better aware...

• Slok Gyawali, et.al. write about the lack of tranceparency in the Monsanto deal between USAID and GoN. They start with the protest that they observe outside the U.S. embassy:  

A three-layer queue of people with banners above their heads and red and black tapes covering their mouths are marching. Across the road a few meters away, the square brown facades of the American embassy can be seen as well as a line of two dozen or so policemen clutching onto their batons, halting the protestors from going any further. Disgruntled protesters complain against impediments to their right to protest. “Aafnai desh ma aafai hidna napaune? (Why can’t we walk in our own country?)” one of the protestors yells, amid the crowds."  

• USAID Nepal's website has put out an update on "Hybrid Maize Project, " where they mention the need to increase food production and a little scary phrase of "food-security" but conviniently leave out the word Monsanto from the update. 

We believe such discussion is healthy but wish to clarify that no new programs have been entered into by the US Government with the Government of Nepal to introduce hybrid maize seed as some articles suggest. We have discussed options with the government, but no decisions have been made yet. We continue to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and hope, through President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative, to be able to support a wide range of activities intended to foster greater agricultural production and food self-sufficiency in Nepal.

• On Mero Report, MadhuSudhan Guragain writes that Monsanto seeds have been allowed to come to Nepal since last year.

अमेरिकी बहुराष्ट्रिय कम्पनी मन्सान्टोले विकसित गरेको मकैको बीउलाई नेपाल भित्र्याउन हुन्न भनेर विरोध चलिरहँदा सरकारले गत वर्षबाटै सो कम्पनीको बीउलाई दर्ता गरेर ल्याउन दिइरहेको खुलासा भएको छ ।

•  Anil Bhattarai writes about the complexity of soil ecology and sustainable farm practices.

Protesting a bad company or a bad project, although very important, is limited when it comes to actually promoting ecologically sensible and productive farming practices. Just because we know a company such as Monsanto is in the business of bad business, or some specific development projects are promoting bad agriculture, this does not mean we have an adequate grasp of what constitutes good farming practices.

And finally here is a video discussing the issues related to Monsanto with Dr. Vandana Shiva

Beggars Can't Be Choosers

It came to light today that Nepal Airlines Corporation(NAC), a government owned and operated airlines in Nepal, has requested “eight planes from the northern neighbor as a grant.” The story from eKantipur quotes Krishna Hari Banskota, Finance Secretary at the Ministry of Finance as saying that “if it is not possible as a grant, we have also requested China to provide a soft loan.”

This is the state of the government run airlines in Nepal—it needs to beg for planes!

Now, when one begs for gifts, one loses the right to complain or receive any compensation for any faults with the gift. In other words, one might be stuck with a long bill on repairs and other expenses if the gift is faulty. It seems like the officials at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation and Ministry of Finance have discounted these possible future costs. Even if China donates brand new planes (highly unlikely) to Nepal, this story demonstrates the colossal failure of the NAC. It is highly inefficient, lacks the trust of the flying public, and is “incurring Rs 50 million in losses annually from each aircraft serving the remote sector.”

It is high time that we dismantle the NAC!

This can be done in phases and in partnership with private air carriers to have little or no impact on employment. In an industry that has grown with the entry of private carries, NAC’s existence only hinders the improvements that are possible in air travel in Nepal. It takes teh government away from the actual job that it should be doing--making travel safe and secure.The government should move away from trying to provide flights and concentrate more on improving the infrastructure to support the industry. The increase in crashes in recent years and the damage to the runway in Kathmandu are some examples of the failure of various government bodies associated with air travel and tourism. It is also an indication of the bigger problem of corruption in the Nepali public sector.
Getting new planes, whether for free or for a “soft loan” from China, ignores the underlying problem at the NAC, drains the national treasure, while postponing the inevitable.

How quickly we forget the Lauda scandal!

The Prakriti Project

Where would I be at 5pm on November 15, 2011 if I was in Kathmandu? That's easy--I would be in Gyaneshwor at the Fulbright Commission Auditorium. The Fulbright presentations are well researched and very interesting and I would like to encourage you, if you are in Kathmandu, to attend. The details of the program is posted below from the e-mail I got from Fulbright.

F U L B R I G H T F O R U M

" The Prakriti Project:
A Pioneering Synthesis of Newari Repoussé and Contemporary Painting"

Speaker - Ms. Maureen T. Drdak, Senior Fulbright Researcher of Art

Date - Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Time - 5:00 p.m.
Venue - Fulbright Commission Auditorium, Gyaneshwor

Abstract
Taking its name from the Sanskrit word prakriti, signifying both physical matter and the primal creative force that shapes it, Maureen Drdak’s Prakriti Project is the first synthesis of contemporary painting and the metal art of traditional Newari repoussé, a technique in which sheet metal is hammered from both sides to produce a three-dimensional bas-relief.

Drdak is working both at her studio in the Patan Museum, and in the Patan atelier of contemporary master of Newari repoussé, Raj Kumar Shakya, to continue and advance her study with Raj Kumar's brother Rabindra Shakya. Both men are grandsons of the venerable Kuber Singh Shakya, the acknowledged historical master of repoussé. The Kuber Singh Shakya family lineage of artists and scholars, patronized by the Malla rulers, is traceable back to Abhaya Raj Shakya, founder of the Mahabouddha Temple in 1601.

The significance of The Prakriti Project lies in the creation of a genuinely new art form resulting from the mergence of specific materials, artistic practices, and cultural traditions. It represents a unique contribution to the vocabulary of the visual arts, evidencing the unexplored contemporary applications of this venerable and ancient art form, addresses the relevance of qualitatively endangered material techniques to contemporary art practices, and furthers the dynamic expansion of cultural boundaries and the ongoing artistic and cultural dialogue between the Asia and the West. It serves as a model for future investigations of the expressive potential for contemporary art inherent in Nepali traditional practices.

Drdak is creating a major artwork demonstrable of this synthesis, to be exhibited at Siddhartha Art Gallery in Kathmandu in January 2012. She will exhibit jointly with her guru, Rabindra Shakya, in order to exemplify the linkage between master and student, traditional legacy and contemporary form. Drdak’s work, Flying Nagas, takes as its theme the protective serpent deities of the Kathmandu valley; among the Naga’s many powers and blessings is the ability to alleviate drought--a growing problem for Nepal--beset as it is by the accelerating effects of global warming. Closely associated with the health of the environment, and symbolic of the integration of opposites, the Naga is a beloved and powerfully relevant symbol for Nepal and for this project, one which speaks with authenticity and eloquence to the Nepalese people and to their current environmental concerns.

Drdak explains her work and its genesis, introduces the audience to the repoussé form and process, its contemporary masters, and presents her work progress to date. A Power Point presentation rich in visual imagery and photos will accompany her presentation.

Economics of Terrorism

Nobel In Economics

As you may already know, Christopher Sims and Thomas Sargent won the Nobel prize in Economics this year. I have decided to post this video of the presentation by Dr. Sims to give you an idea of his work, but mostly because of my interest in DSGE models.