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EDUCATION MISERY IN NEPAL: Is it mandatory to have a physical protest to acquaint the administration? The Central Department of Computer Science and Information Technology has been padlocked by students for more than a month now. The issue of the padlock being a dispute in introducing the Ph. D program in computer science. There is a great confusion however; why would the students oppose the Ph. D program introduced by the nobles (committee of professors) of Tribhuvan University? The reasons students are opposing are that, TU has not deeply learnt the situation in this department. There is not even a single full time faculty teacher; all the M. Sc courses are being taught by either part timers or the senior students who are preparing for their thesis. There are only few (three or four) lecturers under whose supervision thesis can be done. This department is on rent in the physics department building using just seven rooms (three for practical, two for administration, two for regular classes) out of which three semesters study at a time. The program which is in so many disputes constitutes the criteria that, even those students who have not studied computer science or even science are eligible; prerequisites are not clarified. This contradicts the fact that computer science is purely under IOST (Institute of Science and Technology). All the department well wishers (ex-students, teachers and students) think it will demolish the department. Even M. Sc in computer science requires a student to have passed I. Sc physical group or +2 science physical group and B. Sc major in computer science. Students think such a program will relinquish their hopes of getting good education and a valuable certificate. In an interaction program however, even the science faculty dean accepted there were lapses in the program. Students now blame the head of department Dr. Tanka Nath Dhamala of introducing such an immature and underprepared program and are protesting for his resignation. They blame him of being in favour of some who are desperate to get some kind of Ph. D certificate from Tribhuvan University and selling the certificate from computer science department. What would be the consequence of such a disaster? It is not only now that the HOD has been in dispute. Previously, his PGDCS (Post Graduate degree in Computer Science) program and MIT (Masters in Information Technology) program proposals were stopped. They were also stopped because, there was no infrastructure in the department and they too were proposed without homework. Next, he tried to admit extra students, those who were filtered off in the entrance exams. It was stopped as well due to strong commitment of the students to make this department a center of excellence. But there is no hope to end the padlock. The semester of six months has been stopped for over a month now. Students protested peacefully recently studying at the gate of dean office. They organized a press meet for a way out, but TU students’ body and the TU administration are lingering with the issue which is sure to hamper the future of IT in Nepal. Now, should there be a physical protest which would certainly not be of any good for the reputation of university? Why is a peaceful voice towards the betterment of education not heard? Is it always necessary to be on the bad side of the news to awake the administration? Why is it that the students suffer due to some ill done by the university?
Sandeep Aryal M. Sc. Computer Science (2nd Semester) Central Department of Computer Science and Information Technology

Why aren't Nepali films preferred over foreign films at large?

Nepal film industry, a small market oriented industry, fails to deliver the request of viewers. The fragile condition of Nepali films stands because, the directors and actors are infected by the habit of imitating foreign films. Moreover, small capital investment, unskilled manpower and decade old technological tools make the movie-making miserable. Thus, the poor implementation is felt inevitable. Among the inadequacies, infrastructures and tools may have been lacking, however, the essential entity seen much missing is skilled manpower. Manpower is an integral part of films. The co-ordination and the orchestral organization of humans compose a good film. Skilled ones compose a great piece while unskilled ones produce disasters — the typical story of so called Nepali sci-fi thrillers. On the contrary, foreign films deliver all the anticipations of viewers. Foreign films specially Hindi, English — these days Korean too— has had so much effect on Nepali people that the preference of Nepali films over foreign films falls short by far too long. The movie-making industry in Hollywood or Bollywood are so sophisticated that the cost in terms of money, technology and manpower become very high. Recently released Avatar by James Cameroon is rumored to cover up the cost of all Nepali movies ever made and ever to be made for as long as 100 years! However, films like Prem Pinda, Lahure and Acharya have proved that the available resources can be more than enough to provide Nepali people with good recipes. They all reflected the typical Nepali society. Their works have been greatly appreciated and hence their success. Thus, in conclusion, Nepali film industry when making movies should always study the psyche of its audience before going into the movie-making venture. All Nepali people know that Nepali movie industry does not have enough capital. They keep this fact in their minds and they expect the best from the available resources. To address this expectation no sci-fi thriller is needed but what is needed is a typical Nepal oriented recipe. Good movies need no capital or cutting edge technology; they need proper execution of a good story.

 I. Report Summary Rule of law is the fundamental part of democracy. (the participation of people is law making process is the main feature.) Although with the end of autocratic regime, the initiation of rule of law system started along with the democratic revolution in Nepal, the participation of people in the process of law making is still not found. Taking this into consideration, SS Nepal with help from Asia Foundation completed the Youth and Women Focused Legislative Town Hall Meeting in 15 districts namely, Accham, Doti, Dadeldhura and Baitadi in Far Western region, Bardiya, Surkhet, Dailekh, Kalikot, Jumla, Dang, Salyan and Rolpa in Mid western region and Sindhupalchowk, Kavrepalanchowk and Nuwakot in Central development region. The programme had a discussion on the drafts made on the provision of the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and household conflicts (guilt and punishment) Act 2066, where the main purpose of the programme was to make interactions among the youths and women, i.e., the local concerned people,, on the drafts presented in the parliament, get their views and suggestions to provide them to the concerned authority. In the programme, there were 276 women, 140 aborigins, 62 minorities, some blind disabled and some third sex participants. 32 lawyers, 98 media people, 11 women cell and community police and 256 people from social welfare organizations were represented under the programme. Geographically, this programme covered 15 districts, 766 VDCs and 12 metropolitan with the total area of about 28,367 sq. km. and demographically, it included the residential area of 4608423 people. This programme also had the coverage of the areas such as Accham, where during the insurgency most heavy casualties in the Nepal Army side occurred due to attack by Maoists, where most HIV/AIDS infected people live and where the rape of Suntali Dhami occurred, Kavrepalanchowk district, where the illegal murder of Maina Sunar was carried out, Dang, which has its ill reputation for violence against women, Rolpa, where the armed revolution started and with its name for the murder of most number of people, Bardiya, where missing of most number of people is reported. II. Background The present scenario cannot be governed with social and religious norms, values and laws. Thus, if is the main task of the government to provide with proper law and order structure and framework within which every citizen gets the opportunity of living freely along with the changes in time. It can be considered as attempts for developing the society and government with rule of law from 1910 B.S when, the then King Surendra Shah introduced the Muluki Ain, then after the legal constitution of Nepal Government in 2004 B.S., the interim constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 2007, the formation of interim constitution in 2063 B.S. were introduced sequentially. But the voices that rose about the active participation of people in law making were felt during 2007 B.S which ultimately was realized in 2062/063 B.S. after the demand rose strongly in the People's Revolution which led to the formation of the Constitutional Assembly. Additionally, it is essential that the views and suggestions be incorporated in the laws and constitution overall which is above all the laws in the country. Everybody should abide by law and violation of law should not be tolerated. Therefore, it is only possible to pass a draft after the draft has undergone through various interactions, views, suggestions, public polls with the question whether the necessity of few people does or does not represent the necessity of the whole community. Out of 182 drafts presented in the parliament after the People's Revolution 062/063, 109 drafts have been passed as law, 40 of which are withheld for further discussion and are in the constitutional committee. There has been no single example where the draft presented in the parliament has undergone through public discussion. Human rights condition in the country is very poor. The lack of investigation and justice against those involved in serious crimes during the 10 years insurgency has resulted in the formation of more than hundred armed groups in the Terai region. Day by day incidents of murder and kidnapping are rising in the society while within households, due to traditional norms and thoughts, violence is flourishing. Out of 153 writs filed in the women commission in 2065/066, 96 are for home violence whereas in 066/067 most out of 136 are for the same. There has not been a solution for when and from where the justice for those handicapped, made missing, murdered during insurgency till this day. The formation of the TRC which is one of the points stated in the 12 points pact between the government and the then Maoist rebels, in the detailed peace agreement in 2063 Mangshir 5 and in the Interim Constitution is being overshadowed today. The draft prepared by the government is still in withheld condition in the constitutional committee of the parliament which is there from 2nd of Baishakh 2067. Only governmental effort is not adequate to end impunity. There is a necessity of making discussions and arguments about developing awareness on the legal process about punishment against the guilty and the justice for the victim which is complementary to each other. Taking these facts into consideration, SS Nepal has/had selected 15 districts as its area of work among the country's geographic, economic, social, cultural and educational diversities. According to the statistics from the selected districts, 35 percent of the conflict affected people of the whole nation lie in these regions whereas, the selected region covers 35 percent of the conflict affected women in the whole nation. III. Overview of Key Program Achievement. Illustrate on how the program impacted on achieving the objectives set forth SS has always been very much devoted on the impact of the “Youth and Women Focused Town Hall meeting” programme since it runs continuously for three years. Since, it was of great care that failing or even degrading any of the discussions with respect to the subject matter, presentation part or the overall management of the programme would affect future programmes in the days to come, the programme that was completed was of great success, much more than it was thought to be. It is a great success that the programme was held with the participation of member of the constituent assembly from the district, president of the Federation of the Nepali Journalists, executives from the appellate and district courts, chief district officers, the president and members from the women cell, officers from the women development along with 98 media person and 256 workers from social organizations out of which 32 professional lawyers and 11 women cell and community police. In the programme the discussion of the subject selected among the representatives from Nepal bar Association, Federation of Nepali Journalists, women cell, local women group, saving and credit co-operative, local development committee, community police welfare centre is itself a great achievement whereas the event overshadowing all the news events in local newspapers and radio can again be taken as a success. A half an hour interview was broadcast by Rapti F.M of Salyan district, the audio clip of which is attached herewith. It is also proved that the programme did cover and incorporated the concerned people, for, the programme adequately constituted the people affected with domestic violence and those who were victims from the armed conflict. To cover 15 districts, 766 VDCs and 12 metropolitans with a total area of 28367 sq. km geographically and 4608423 peoples’ residential area demographically, 35 percent conflict affected people and violence affected women and the district with the most Nepal Army casualty during the Maoist attack in the insurgency, with the most HIV/AIDS infected people and the rape of Suntali Dhami, Accham; the district Kavrepalanchowk where illegal murder of Maina Sunar occurred; Dang district which is ranked top on violence against women, the place where the armed revolution started from, Rolpa and the district with the most people missing, Bardiys is the achievement of the programme. With the completion of the programme, an NGO named Khoj Nepal in Dang in coordination with the VDCs and metropolitans in the districts is organizing the same programme in all VDCs of the district, which can be taken as the impact of the programme. Te participants of the programme conducted in Banepa of Kavre were shocked and broke down to tears when a woman victim of the conflict expressed her misery and they had their eyes wet when Balram Dhungana of Accham district told about the death of 3 of his family members and 5 handicapped members who are still in care of him due to a bomb that detonated in his ground. It is thus, a success of the programme too to have provided a place for the victim to express their woes and alert the concerned authority about the same. IV. Narrative Activity Descriptions. Describe in detail about the activities, questions raised, information on the legislations given The three community based organizations, SS, R.C.D.C.C and Women Act together with unified help from USAID/NDI/TAF completed the task of selecting the venues where the discussion on the laws centered on youth and women would be held in among 45 different cities to help realize the inadequate arguments and discussions in law making process in the country. In this process, SS kept the Far-western districts Baitadi, Dadeldhura, Doti and Accham, Mid-western districts Bardiya, Surkhet, Dailekh, Dang, Rolpa, Salyan, Kalikot and Jumla and Central regional districts Sindhupalchowk, Kavrepalanchowk and Nuwakot in priority and moved ahead. The whole region of work was divided into 6 parts. Due to geographical difficulty, it was felt that different facilitators be put in Kalikot and Jumla. So, one area was marked for four districts of Far-western region, one for Dang, Salyan and Rolpa and one for 3 districts of Central region so that the whole regions constituted 6 parts for division of work. Likewise, in the third phase, the selection of the facilitators to conduct the programme was completed. The selection of the six facilitators was done after thorough study of their collected bio-data, telephone interview and on the basis of the acquaintanship of all legal experts with them keeping in priority the subject matters. Shivaraj Joshi, the then treasures of district Bar and chief advocate of the Khaptad National Conservation area, central region, and the former facilitator of the “Constitutional Discussion Concerning Youth” programme was selected as facilitator for the four districts in Far-western region. Former chief advocate of Bardiya district Bar, Bir Bahadur at Bardiya, Surkhet and Dailekh, Padam Bahadur Shahi at Jumla, Narayan Prasad Bhattarai at Kalikot, advocate Prem Bahadur Chaudhari at Dang, Salyan and Rolpa and former chief advocate of Kavre Bar at Sindhupalchowk, Kavrepalanchowk and Nuwakot were selected for the facilitators respectively. A training which was fixed in 12th and 13th Poush(28-29 Dec 2010), on the subject matter of the programme and the process of conducting the programme at local level was provided to the selected facilitators by organizing a two day TOT in CCD at UNDP. The consultant of the programme Dinesh Tripathi clarified the subject matter while the president of SS Tara Bahadur Bhandari took a class on the process of the conduction of the programme. A time table on the programme that were to be conducted at local level was prepared by all the participant facilitators and members of the organization in 29th December evening after the facilitator’s training. The requirements of the programme such as banners, the study material preparation for participation, note copy prints, the participation invitation letters etc were prepared and after which from 3rd January 2011 (Poush 19) to 28 January 2011, all programmes were completed. Correspondence were done a day before for the conduction of programme with help from local youths. Usually, the programme at local level started at 7:30 to 8 in the morning and lasted for about four hous. Because, almost all programmes were conducted in the headquarters of the districts, participants were found to be inclusive of diversity. As stated in the TOR, the initiation of programme was done by inviting the participants to the programme venue, welcoming them, shedding lights on the purpose of the programme, introducing the sponsors and helping organizations, introducing all the participants, noting their knowledge about the subject matter point wise and pasting them later to places where all could see, preparing the code of conduct, selecting as evaluators a man and a women in an inclusive manner, dividing into four 1,2,3,4 groups, the participants, the supporters then would transfer the floor to the facilitators who would initiate their presentations. The collection of the minute, metacard, recording done by digital camera, presentations done after group discussion, evaluation forms, the reactions and suggestions made by the evaluators from the evaluations on the matters that were raised on the group discussion after the subject matter presentation of the facilitators was made. The preamble and definition of domestic violence, the place to give writ and its deadline, the person eligible for the writ and punishment were the main focus of the programme while the discussion about the provision of the clause for the formation of the TRC constituting its preamble, definition, the proposed recommended committee, age and number, the region of the cork for the commission, the provision of reconciliation, provision of filing a case etc was done and the reviews afterwards was taken. The participants sid that it was first of its kind programme in the district. The professional lawyers in the district expressed their lack of knowledge about this matter. The participants were inquisitive about the answers to the questions such as whether Chhaupadi system lied under domestic violence or not, how many districts were there containing service centres, whether the informer who files the writ could intentionally cause quarrel in home, what the difference was between domestic violence and violence against women and presented a shadow of doubt on the possibility of formation of the TRC under the clause of the provision for the establishment of the TRC, and would again question about the unbiased work of the commission after establishment, whether the commission would also collapse like the Mallik Commission after its establishment, and whether the establishment of the commission would destroy the peace agreement. V. Lesson learned and Looking Ahead Primary challenges and possible solution/or how did your individual organization combat the challenges. It was not easy to complete the programme in rural districts such as Jumla and Kalikot of mid western region of Karnali and the Far western region, with limited resources. Since, the selection of programme venues for 15 places in 15 districts were fixed, each district had the coverage of the programme but, the expense of time, travel and other expenses was high because, only one programme was conducted in a place. The facilitators who were of local community also had financial and time problems during their travel after a completion of a programme at one site to another. Only one side travel expense was possible with the amounts provided for the co-ordinators when they were sent to check for the impact and the credibility of the programme. Two times the allocated budget had to be spent for additional minute taker and for the management of resources in Doti because of one night stay at Attaria due to closure of Kailali while going towards Doti after the completion of programme at Surkhet. In the mountainous districts, the invitation for youth participants was a bit difficult because of campus holiday whereas, too many participants made it difficult to manage the programme in districts in Terai .During the process of preparation for the programme at Salyan, a delayed receiving of letter by the Federation of NGOs caused a misunderstanding. The news of the programme’s fixture was broadcast by Rapti F.M before the receiving of the dispatched letter by the Federation of NGOs, which made them feel bad and made them decide on disallowing any further such programmes organized by any organization without their consent which consequently had produced difficulty. The issue of providing allowance was raised when inviting people and some youngsters tried to disturb the programme by raising irrelevant questions with bad intentions in Dailekh district. It can be said that the preparations made befor the programme were fundamental for its success. The unprecedented success of the programme is due to the understanding of the subject matter, and the availability of skilled and experienced facilitators selection, minute taker sent from the centre, stationary items (notepad, dot pen, metacard, newsprint etc.), study materials (photocopies of the related drafts). SS has tried to follow the policy of organizing programme in different places since the impact is found to be greater when programmes are done with adequate co-ordination and co-work with local organizations and done in different cities of the district rather than at one place because of the diversities of participants and newer reactions availability.