Wednesday, September 7, 2011

todays currency exchange rate

Exchange Rates as of 2011-09-08 [Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank]
Currency UnitBuyingSelling
US Dollar1.0073.4574.05
Euro1.00103.42104.27
Pound Sterling1.00117.62118.58
Swiss Franc1.0085.7986.49
Australian Dollar1.0077.8878.52
Canadian Dollar1.0074.3474.95
Singapore Dollar1.0060.8261.31
Japanese Yen10.009.519.58
Chinese Renminbi (Yuan)1.0011.4911.59
Saudi Arabian Riyal1.0019.5819.74
Qatari Riyal1.0020.1720.33
Thai Bhat1.002.452.47
UAE Dirham1.0019.9920.16
Malaysian Ringgit1.0024.6524.85

BEAUTFUL

Show stealing

 
leaders
 
Since the CA elections, each government has been formed over shifting issues, and each government has failed over these issues—anti-India-pro-India, holy-unholy alliance, chicken or egg controversy.   However, some issues have remained constant: While the anti-Maoists always raise the issue of Maoist dishonesty over PLA integration and the broader peace process—an issue over which they prevented the Maoists from coming to power—the Maoists themselves, even while suspecting the non-Maoists, have shifted their goal posts from revolt to peace and constitution in the throes of their own intra-party dialectic.  Despite some salutary effect of this shift in the Maoist position on the public at large, it has had little impact on the Congress and a section of the UML.  And now that Khanal is out of government, he, too, has forgotten all about left solidarity and begun to sound like Oli and has already wished Bhattarai bad luck.  In the meantime, the Madhesi leaders, after tearing each other apart and splitting or looking up to the Congress and now to the Maoists for the fulfillment of their demands, have finally overcome their confusion and hang-ups, and joined the Maoists in government formation.
  
In all this confusion and back-and-forth over the last three years, the Maoist position has constantly evolved.  Can the same be said of the anti-Maoists?  For example, the Armageddon that the self-appointed guardians of Nepal’s democracy had foretold after Khanal government’s so-called Left Alliance, never materialised.  Instead, we have Baburam Bhattarai trying his best to settle in and steer the process forward despite
a foreseen hurdle from his party hardliners.  But the majority government must turn into consensus political formation for Bhattarai to succeed.  And the Congress and the UML must join hands in order to A. rescue themselves from their own confusion and future doom and B. help Bhattarai and Dahal wrestle with their own hardliners so that Nepal can have a future as a country and so they can have a future as political parties.
 
But it appears that the Nepali political scene has turned from hopelessness and suspicion into fear of success.  And this fear of success has afflicted both the Maoists and the non-Maoists in different ways: Suffering from the martyr’s syndrome and steeped in the language of fire and brimstone, Maoist hardliners fear that, alas, they may not have to die for the cause and that, by living, they may have to deal with the capitalist world and its technology of freedom and prosperity—its iPads and iPhones rather than the grass bread in the jungle.   Secondly, they fear that the comrade they vilified so much for his political stance may very well succeed.  How can a man whom they designated as revisionist and pro-India succeed?  They have read about success always stemming from the barrel of the gun based on the theories of the past two centuries; not pragmatism, diplomacy, or by running the state based on original thinking that they can themselves come up with after the deep reading of the past and present in a new dialectic.   They fear that dialectics, after all, is not just something of historical events alone but of theories and philosophies also.
 
Then we have the anti-Maoists.  They have their own fear of success.  They fear that the Maoists, whom they detested so much for so long, have finally got their house in order by taking up the challenge of peace and constitution seriously and, like the success of the insurgency, will deliver peace and constitution under their leadership.  So, Khanal, embittered by his ouster, has begun to sound like his arch rival Oli, and many of his party colleagues—who at heart, are anti-Madhesi— and has begun to oppose what the Madhesis might get as a result of their alliance with the Maoists.  The perfidy of the UML’s anti-Madhesi stance stems from Madhav Kumar Nepal government’s decision to make daura-suruwal and topi Nepal’s national dress.  I mean, what do these people think?  Do they live on some other planet or what?  Or, are they burying their proverbial heads in the sand?  So, UML has reason to fear Dahal and Bhattarai’s success in delivering peace and constitution and rendering its hill chauvinism defunct. The Congress, too, has its own fear of success.  Long held, and justifiably so, as the bulwark of Nepali democracy, it fears the
 
Maoists and Madhesis dethroning them from that high pedestal.  Besides, they fear that the Maoist-Madhesi alliance will forever rob them of their already shrinking Madhesi vote bank.  Both the UML and the Congress suffer from the hubris of the entitled: that they are the only forces ordained to rule Nepal and that only their rule can get the stamp of legitimacy.  Congress had this hubris in the 1990s.  By now, the UML, too, suffers from it after so many stints in the government.
 
Somebody should tell them that times have changed; the ground beneath their feet has shifted.  Old political and cultural verities no longer hold nor will they endear them to Nepal’s divergent people.   Fear of others’ success will not save them from electoral doom in the future.  To remain in currency, they need to update and upgrade themselves. 
 
On the other hand, the Maoists should also know that without the help of Congress and the UML, the constitution will be difficult —even if the peace process finally concludes.  But if the Maoists and the Madhesis play their part well and the Congress and the UML remain hung up on old prejudices and hubris, as goaded by their organic intellectuals, then they will have nobody to blame but themselves if they disappear from the Nepali political scene like the Liberal Party in Britain.  In a post-Congress-UML Nepal, the Maoists will become the party based on economic issues and a new party will emerge based on ethnic and cultural issues with economic conservatism.  In any event, if not totally wiped out, the UML and the Congress will have to sit in permanent opposition. 
 
It is clear by now that the top leaders of these parties, unable to form a consensus for a variety of reasons, will not deliver either the peace process or a complex constitution that satisfies most Nepalis.  Too many big egos, too many petty ambitions, too many outdated mental habits—and dearth of vision for a just and prosperous Nepal.  This is why, it is the Central Committee folks of the Congress and the UML who have to step up to the plate to press their leadership to forge consensus with the Maoists and Madhesis on peace and constitution.  They need to wake up, stand up and break ranks if necessary, and come together for the common cause.  Don’t let the upstarts steal the show.have remained constant: While the anti-Maoists always raise the issue of Maoist dishonesty over PLA integration and the broader peace process—an issue over which they prevented the Maoists from coming to power— the Maoists themselves, even while suspecting the non-Maoists, have shifted their goal posts from revolt to peace and constitution in the
throes of their own intra-party dialectic.  Despite some salutary effect of this shift in the Maoist position on the public at large, it has had little impact on the Congress and a section of the UML.  And now that Khanal is out of government, he, too, has forgotten all about left solidarity and begun to sound like Oli and has already wished Bhattarai bad luck.  In the meantime, the Madhesi leaders, after tearing each other apart and splitting or looking up to the Congress and now to the Maoists for the fulfillment of their demands, have finally overcome their confusion and hang-ups, and joined the Maoists in government formation.
 
In all this confusion and back-and-forth over the last three years, the Maoist position has constantly evolved.  Can the same be said of the anti-Maoists?  For example, the Armageddon that the self-appointed guardians of Nepal’s democracy had foretold after Khanal government’s so-called Left Alliance, never materialised. 
 
Instead, we have Baburam Bhattarai trying his best to settle in and steer the process forward despite
a foreseen hurdle from his party hardliners.  But the majority government must turn into consensus political formation for Bhattarai to succeed.  And the Congress and the UML must join hands in order to A. rescue themselves from their own confusion and future doom and B. help Bhattarai and Dahal wrestle with their own hardliners so that Nepal can have a future as a country and so they can have a future as political parties.
 
But it appears that the Nepali political scene has turned from hopelessness and suspicion into fear of success.  And this fear of success has afflicted both the Maoists and the non-Maoists in different ways: Suffering from the martyr’s syndrome and steeped in the language of fire and brimstone, Maoist hardliners fear that, alas, they may not have to die for the cause and that, by living, they may have to deal with the capitalist world and its technology of freedom and prosperity—its iPads and iPhones rather than the grass bread in the jungle.   Secondly, they fear that the comrade they vilified so much for his political stance may very well succeed.  How can a man whom they designated as revisionist and pro-India succeed?  They have read about success always stemming from the barrel of the gun based on the theories of the past two centuries; not pragmatism, diplomacy, or by running the state based on original thinking that they can themselves come up with after the deep reading of the past and present in a new dialectic.   They fear that dialectics, after all, is not just something of historical events alone but of theories and philosophies also.
 
Then we have the anti-Maoists.  They have their own fear of success.  They fear that the Maoists, whom they detested so much for so long, have finally got their house in order by taking up the challenge of peace and constitution seriously and, like the success of the insurgency, will deliver peace and constitution under their leadership.  So, Khanal, embittered by his ouster, has begun to sound like his arch rival Oli, and many of his party colleagues—who at heart, are anti-Madhesi— and has begun to oppose what the Madhesis might get as a result of their alliance with the Maoists.  The perfidy of the UML’s anti-Madhesi stance stems from Madhav Kumar Nepal government’s decision to make daura-suruwal and topi Nepal’s national dress.  I mean, what do these people think?  Do they live on some other planet or what?  Or, are they burying their proverbial heads in the sand?  So, UML has reason to fear Dahal and Bhattarai’s success in delivering peace and constitution and rendering its hill chauvinism defunct.
 
The Congress, too, has its own fear of success.  Long held, and justifiably so, as the bulwark of Nepali democracy, it fears the
 
Maoists and Madhesis dethroning them from that high pedestal.  Besides, they fear that the Maoist-Madhesi alliance will forever rob them of their already shrinking Madhesi vote bank.  Both the UML and the Congress suffer from the hubris of the entitled: that they are the only forces ordained to rule Nepal and that only their rule can get the stamp of legitimacy.  Congress had this hubris in the 1990s.  By now, the UML, too, suffers from it after so many stints in the government.
 
Somebody should tell them that times have changed; the ground beneath their feet has shifted.  Old political and cultural verities no longer hold nor will they endear them to Nepal’s divergent people.   Fear of others’ success will not save them from electoral doom in the future.  To remain in currency, they need to update and upgrade themselves. 
 
On the other hand, the Maoists should also know that without the help of Congress and the UML, the constitution will be difficult —even if the peace process finally concludes.  But if the Maoists and the
 
Madhesis play their part well and the Congress and the UML remain hung up on old prejudices and hubris, as goaded by their organic intellectuals, then they will have nobody to blame but themselves if they disappear from the Nepali political scene like the Liberal Party in Britain.  In a post-Congress-UML Nepal, the Maoists will become the party based on economic issues and a new party will emerge based on ethnic and cultural issues with economic conservatism.  In any event, if not totally wiped out, the UML and the Congress will have to sit in permanent opposition. 
 
It is clear by now that the top leaders of these parties, unable to form a consensus
for a variety of reasons, will not deliver either the peace process or a complex constitution that satisfies most Nepalis.  Too many big egos, too many petty ambitions, too many outdated mental habits—and dearth of vision for a just and prosperous Nepal.  This is

why, it is the Central Committee folks of the Congress and the UML who have to step up to the plate to press their leadership to forge consensus with the Maoists and Madhesis on peace and constitution.  They need to wake up, stand up and break ranks if necessary, and come together for the common cause.  Don’t let the upstarts steal the show.

Cops act tough against substandard food

Agrawal, the owner of Kanhaiya Ghee Packaging Industry and issued arrest warrants against Narendra Maskey, the owner of Corner Taja Gudpak Bhandar for selling substandard sweets
.
 
Gudpak
 
KATHMANDU, SEP 07 - It seems the government has finally woken up after recent revelations that sweet manufacturers were using substandard materials and preparing sweets in unhygeinic conditions.
 
On Wednesday, police arrested Yog Prasad Agrawal, the owner of Kanhaiya Ghee Packaging Industry, for selling adulterated ghee in the market and also issued arrest warrants against Narendra Maskey, the owner of Corner Taja Gudpak Bhandar, and owners of Shri Krishna Gudpak Bhandar and Anmol Catering and Sweets, for selling substandard sweets, Superintendent of Police Kedar Rijal said.
 
According to the Director General of the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control, Jivan Prabha Lama, a government lab report has revealed that Kanhaiya Ghee had zero percent original fat and that the company was found to have been using animal fat.
 
Sources said the company may have been using fat wastage of pork and water buffalo, which is available at throwaway prices in Kathmandu's meat market.
 
The offenders will be tried under the Black Marketing Act 1975, which provisions one to two years of prison term or Rs 5,000 to 10,000 in fine or both.
 
"Since these cases have been registered at the District Administration Office, we have no other option but to go through the Black Marketing Act," said Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, the Chief District Officer of Kathmandu.
The police crackdown follows a strong directive from the Finance and Labour Relations Committee (FLRC) and increased concern from all quarters in view of the upcoming festivals like Dashain and Tihar. The parliamentary panel, which had summoned government officials to discuss the issue, directed authorities to continue market inspections throughout the year.
 
Chandra Ghimire, officiating secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, said the ministry has been facing problems as they lack the required manpower and funds to control illegal activities in the market.
"We need at least a semi-judicial legal authority to take immediate action," he said.
 
Following the meeting, the committee directed the officials to submit a detailed report on the places
inspected, the directives issued and details of action taken.
 
The committee also directed the government to provide the needed resources, additional security personnel and manpower to conduct effective market monitoring.
 
Keeping in view the black marketing of air and bus tickets during the festivals, the committee directed the government to carry out inspections in this sector too.

According to the Kathmandu CDO, the Kathmandu District Administration Office has formed five units to look over five sectors--food, petroleum products, meat items, medicine and weighing standards. Dhakal said the units will keep an eye on the market up to mid-October in the first phase of the plan.

picture itself said

Picture itself said. no word we had to say

Friday, August 26, 2011

“Dar Khane Din”

Teej – The Festival And The History:


Teej is a fasting festival for Hindu women of some parts of India and Nepal. It takes place in August or early September. It is celebrated for marital bliss, well-being of spouse and children and purification of own body and soul. The festival is a three-day-long celebration that combines sumptuous feasts as well as rigid fasting.
Generally falling on the Hindu month of Shravan (August), it also celebrates the arrival of monsoon after a season of oppressive heat. “Teej” is a small red insect that comes out of the soil during rains.

In Nepal, the first day of Teej is called the “Dar Khane Din”. On this day the women, both married and unmarried, mainly of Khas ethnicity, assemble at one place, in their finest attires and start dancing and singing devotional songs. Admists all this, the grand feast takes place. The jollity often goes on till midnight, after which the 24 – hour fast starts.

The second day is the fasting day. Some women live without a morsel of food and drops of water while others take liquid and fruit. On this day, they gaily dress and visit a nearby Shiva temple singing and dancing on the way. The Pashupatinath temple gets the highest number of devotees. At the Shiva temple, women circumambulate the Lingam, the symbol of the lord, offering flowers, sweets and coins. The main puja (religious ceremony) takes place with offerings of flowers, fruits etc made to Shiva and Parbati, beseeching teej is so hot their blessing upon the husband and family. The important part of the puja is the oil lamp which should be alight throughout the night for it is bad omen if it dies away.

The third day of the festival is Rishi Panchami. After the completion of the previous day’s puja, women pay homage to various deities and bathe with red mud found on the roots of the sacred datiwan bush, along with its leaves. This act of purification is the final ritual of Teej, after which women are considered absolved from all sins. The recent years have witnessed alteration in the rituals, especially concerning the severity, but its essence remains the same.

Teej is being celebrated just before one day of Ganesh Chaturthi. Married women do 24 hours nirjala fasting (without water or fruit) for the wellness of their spouse and married life.

Teej Dress:
Generally women wear red saree, bangles and green Pote (a garland made of tiny beads). The following models from thikthak.com are depicting the Teej Dress.





Now-a-days, its dar khane din being one of the famous festivals for the unmarried and married woman.dar khane din is celebrating one and two months before teej festivals. mostly the dar khane din is celebrating in different party palace taking per person Rs1000/-.

Teeja ko lahar aayo bari laaye