Experiencing 7.2 M earthquake: A wonderful memory

Ananta Marahatta
Japan

Japan is well known for having a large number of earthquakes though the largest recorded earthquake in the world was a magnitude of 9.5 in Chile on May 22, 1960. According to the tectonic theory of Geology, earthquakes are most frequent where two or more plates meet. The Japanese islands [archipelago in Geography] too are located in an area where several continental and oceanic plates meet which causes the frequent earthquakes. So the meaning of it can further be clarified by saying “Japan sits on the ‘Rings of Fire’”.

 I have been living in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, Japan since 2007 October. In the “Frontiers of Science” course, I was taught about the “Statistical probability theory to predict the percentage of earthquake occurrence” especially in the Miyagi prefecture. The lecture was concluded by disseminating “99% earthquake probability in Miyagi prefecture”. Till that moment, I did not know about this much percentage of probability of the temblor occurrence in my residing area; I just happened to know that I will be shaken any time. On the same week, I was asked to attend the training/preparatory session organized by the “Disaster unit” of the local government of the mentioned prefecture. From that moment, I was mentally ready to be shaken by the temblor any time.

Camping at Antarctica:Catching up the weather

Patrick Campbell is a PhD Student in the Atmospheric Science Department at the University of Wyoming, WY. Currently, he is studying the Condensation Nuclei (CN) Layer which forms in the mid-stratosphere over Antarctica and is at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica for data collection with other scientists. He will be assisting in the continued (since the 1980's) University of Wyoming measurements of stratospheric ozone, Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs), and aerosols. Here, he shares his experiences living in the most remote and difficult place on the earth.

Well, we survived our Snow Craft I Course (A.K.A. "Happy Camper"), but with no thanks to the weather. We had a blustery night, which dropped our situation to a Severe Weather Condition 2 at about 9:30 p.m., and then we woke up to a Severe Weather Condition 1 (worst case scenario). However, we still managed to work GREAT as a team and were able to finish taking down the whole camp the next morning with an extra 10 minutes to spare. Following this, the weather conditions were at their worst and we needed multiple attempts at meeting our pickup due to white out conditions, -15 degree temperatures, and > 50 knot wind gusts!

 he day and night consisted of outdoor survival training, setting up/down camp, building a snow wall and snow trenches, cooking dinner, melting snow for drinking water, and trying to somehow get some sleep! The good news was that I was able to keep quite warm in my mountain tent accommodations, of course by using the right methods and appropriate gear! I think I even got a couple hours of sleep, woo-hoo! Certainly, camping in Antarctica was a fruitful experience in surviving out in some of the most harsh conditions, while also proving to be quite unforgettable..

T.Be sure to check out all of the pictures on my Picasa Photostream...click here!

Pats blog

Tibet is really beautiful:Tibet in Pictures

Yamdrok Lake

Previous posts on Tibet in Pictures series can be viewed here and here.

Yamdrok Lake (Tibetan: ཡར་འབྲོག་གཡུ་མཚོ་ is one of the three largest sacred lakes in Tibet. It is over 72 km long (621 km² in area). According to local mythology, this lake is the transformation of a goddess. Yamdrok Lake is one of four particularly holy lakes, thought to be divinatory; everyone from the Dalai Lama to local villagers make pilgrimages there. The others such lakes are Lhamo La-tso, Namtso and Manasarovar. Many pilgrims and tourists can be seen walking along the lake's perimeter these days.

Namtso lake

Namtso lake is renowned as one of the most beautiful places in Tibet. Its cave hermitages have for centuries been the destination of Tibetan pilgrims. Some scenes in the 2002 Hong Kong film The Touch were filmed at the lake. Namtso is the highest salt-water lake in the world. Namtso Lake was also featured in the BBC TV series: Himalaya with Michael Palin.

Way to EVEREST

This particular location looks like a resting/base camp for those who set their destination for the summit of Mt. Everest (सगरमाथा in Nepali, ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ in Tibetan). Many camps are seen at the base of the mountain.

Entrance to the Qomolangma (Mt. Everest) conservation area. Colored pieces of cloth hanged on rope are special for Buddhist people.

Thank you for visiting this post. Special thank goes to Dr. Wentao Wang who sent all pics for this blog.

All pics by Wentao Wang.

Beautiful Lhasa-Potala Palace:Tibet in Pictures

 

In previous post Dr. Wentao Wang shared some pictures depicting life around Tibet. For this post he has send some photographs of Potala Palace.  This palace is located in Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region of China. While posting pictures on this blog, I was reading about this palace in wiki. It is very interesting palace. It was a palace until Dalai Lama was there and it is a museum now. It was built in 1645. The building is 400 x 350 m with stone walls averaging 3 m. thick, and 5 m. (more than 16 ft) thick at the base. Thirteen story building contains over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues – soar 117 m. Before the first skyscrapers were built, the Potala Palace was the world's tallest building.

Here are some pics of Potala Palace in Lhasa.

Life in Tibet: Tibet in Pictures

Barkhor Street

Dr. Wentao Wang, a friend of mine traveled to Tibet on first and second week of May from Beijing. His plan was to go to Nepal after Tibet visit. Unfortunately he was not able to make because of the strike, the so called 3rd people's movement, by MAOIST. I suggested him to cancel his trip to Nepal. He spend that time in Tibet. He is still asking me whether he can go to Nepal on July. But I couldn't say anything. This is very unfortunate to Nepalese tourism industry. In this post he likes to share some of the photographs he had taken during his Tibet trip.

The first photograph is of Barkhor Street which is located in old area of Lhasa City and is a very ancient round street surrounding the Jokhang Temple (picture is below) and the Tibetan people are always proud of it. As a symbol of Lhasa, this street is also a must-see place for the tourists.

Yes, I 'm Encircled with Dubious Masculinity (part-2)

MP Kharel, Kathmandu

(Mr. Kharel is author of Pustanter, novel in Nepali.)

 For part-1 of this entry please click here.


"Thanks...sorry I didn't become succeed to invite. I am hopeful you'll not mind" She recently replied. "Its okay Srijana. I don't mind on such menial matter. But REMEMBER! My humanity never dares to dismantle your dream by publicizing our passé relation. Your nominalization me of 'Masculintiless' has also taught me new ideas, new spirit and new vision on my life." I boldly typed this message and made deliver. On this occasion, I felt infinite enterprising and dauntless. Actually, my immeasurable and incalculable venturesome...I realized: "I am as courageous as Hitler, who had aimed and commenced the campaign to be an emperor of this world." 

Someday later, I was in busy to make networking in internet. I was adding many friends through facebook. So long gap months, I had an encounter with a master level classmate. We were going to be indulged in facebook-chat.

"Where do you stay now?" He asked.

"Kirtipur" I replied.

"Still living Kirtipur!" He expressed so amazing.

"Why do you so surprise?" I questioned.

"Gender hasn't been distinguished! Are you androgyny...To be a masculine or feminine, you should leave Kirtipur." Amazingly burst out.

Yes, I 'm Encircled with Dubious Masculinity (part-1)

MP Kharel, Kathmandu

(Mr. Kharel is author of Pustanter, novel in Nepali. Some of his blog articles are here.)

I always wish to be a perfect nature; where I loiter, sojourn, reside; where I inhale or exhale; where I stroll, amble or wander. Being an expected, I was looking for perfect ambiance. A day of the week was in secrecy and bewilderment: Breezy morning for the reason that of last night's heavy raining, twittering birds, jumping calf, scared horses, buzzing flies and fluttering insects and so on. The rainstorms inside my mind in amalgamated and perturbed feeling. 

When I read our English guru Dr. Sanjeev Uprety's article, Definition of Masculinity (Purushwatwa ko Paribhasha), in Kantipur daily I obligated to chew the cud on this subject matter. The reason behind to be a coercive thinker on this topic was: Individually and recurrently, I am censured by effeminacy. Those personae, who point the figure at me, are turned to a blind eye onwards "every individual possesses diversified hobby and curiosity". So I put bona fide approbation on Uprety sir's this reasoning: "However femininity deserves heterogeneous explanation, masculinity also merits sundry and multifarious elucidations (Kantipur: Sept 5, 2009)".

Quandary on Learning English

MP Kharel, Kathmandu

(Mr. Kharel is author of Pustanter, novel in Nepali. Here, he shares his feelings on learning English and becoming writer.)

Sometimes I contemplate for a moment on the current fad of learning English. In his article, The Lure of English, our English guru Abhi Subedi writes the cause of this vogue:" It looks as though English is the only language that can put ideas across the political spectrum of the region and the world(Katmandu Post: Aug, 2oo9)." "The much hyped hobnobbing of Nepali politicians, army elite and diplomats, he further sounds, has become possible only through English." Besides, my many friends, who are studying abroad, suggest making me better English writing and speaking, otherwise my passion of postgraduate and doctorate mission may be an unprofitable and futile in the forthcoming days.

Artificial Intelligence version 0.01

Nabin k Malakar

When we identify the objects we assign them with function. That means our degree of intelligence has to do with its usage. The more efficiently we can make the connections, more intelligent we are pronounced. This explains our dominance in the whole animal kingdom. We can make use of things and think of possible ways of connecting the subjects. We can think! The process of thinking leads us to ability to discover. The tool from Thinking to discovery is exploration. The process of exploration is random, however, we would like to have smart ways to explore.

We are not being able to make objects with artificial intelligence because of the fact that we want to make camera but not associate it with the way our eye works. When we "see" an apple, a lot of logical connections are opened. Camera can take the picture of an apple but it can not associate with its use. When we see a car, we can immediately think of its use. Similarly we can take a picture of an apple. But again, the fact that we have taken picture of an apple will never be reflected in its use by camera. For a robot with camera, apple is an object. Which is not much different than another apple. Just think about an apple, how will you explain it to a robot?

For a record player, one song is no different than another. Yes, you can add the analyzer in terms of currents and voltages and spikes those go up and down and some reference of time in it. But can it sense the melody and harmony of the song? What makes you feel its difference? What makes intelligence to create music?

Similarly, we can have a lot of words in the dictionary. How does dictionary make us understand a word with the help of another word? Without an example of its usage, another word is just as confusing as the first one. During the learning process we start with associating the meanings of words. Association can be with the exact meaning or the nearest neighborhood of the meaning of the subject under construction.

When a robot is given with few objects, it needs to learn their use so that it can learn about the objects. The question here is robot can use the object, but can it learn how to use it? A simple example: Can a robot equipped with first kind of lever go, explore and discover the second or third kind of lever? For this purpose, it needs to associate the functional value of given objects and think of ways to make its usage. The stated example in itself has a lot of complications.

So, I think the next step in Artificial Intelligence is to make connections. Connections that are useful, which can be associated with the functional value, not as objects.


The sustained growth of social network is another example of how connections work. If anything can be identified as having some functional value, its growth is inevitable.

*********
Thinking abilities
Exploration
Discovery
Usage
Discovery
Thinking abilities
cycle et al.


Inspired by the reading of Rota, Feynmann's interview on joys of discovering things and the movie Gods must be crazy and other A.I. related articles.

[Mr. Malakar is a PhD student of Physics. He regularly writes on his own blog Time]

My Culture + Your Culture = Pooja to Party

By Laxmi Giri

The video above is one of the videos for "ExchangesConnect Online Video Contest" by Nepalese youths. Anyone can upload a 3-minute video about what "My Culture + Your Culture" means to you for a chance to win an international exchange program! The contest opened on December 1, 2008 and ends on January 26, 2009.

This contest is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in partnership with Adobe Youth Voices.

Good thing is Nepalese guys are participating on it. They have carefully selected the subject so that they can express the flexibility the Nepalese society to appreciate other cultures. One lady Professor of Culture in Tribhuvan University does Hindu Pooja and one day she participates in Christmas party. This shows harmony among people with different religions in Nepal. In Nepal majority people are Hindu with Muslims, Christians and Buddhists as minors. World is amazing with diverse culture and religions.

My culture plus your culture= understanding and respect to each other.

Nepali scientists able to forecast multiple climate effects

Yogesh Pokhrel

Nepalese scientists and researchers have claimed that they also can forecast climate change and multiple climatic effects in the country with the establishment of Dendro-Lab in the capital.

They said that in order to facilitate and further dendrological works in Nepal, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), in cooperation with Ev-K2-CNR Italy, had set up a Dendro Lab at its premises.

Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the method of scientific dating based on the analysis of tree-ring growth patterns. The technique can date wood to exact calendar years. Tree rings are one important source of what are called proxy-climate indicators or paleeoclimate data.

For this, NAST is organising a training workshop for 18 researchers and university students from a trainer Prof. Dr. Marco Carrer from the University of Padova, Italy.

Dr. Dinesh Bhuju, a senior scientist and training coordinator at the Dendro-Lab Focal Point, said that the tree rings respond to multiple climatic effects such as temperature, moisture and cloudiness, so that various aspects of climate can be studied. "From the analysis of the data obtained from them information can also be acquired about natural disturbance such as hurricane, earthquake, flood, drought, conflagration or erosions," Bhuju said.

He said that analysing the obtained data they could make forecasts about the upcoming disasters and evaluate the previous disasters too.

As an initiative, Dr. Bhuju and Dr. Carrer have established two permanent plots at the tree-line of Sagarmatha National Park in 2007 and collected some 300 tree cores, mainly from Abies and Juniper.

According to Dr. Bhuju, as the tree ring is safe from any human and other manipulations, the prediction made from this method is hundred per cent correct and reliable.

He informed that pine trees like Abies and Juniper, are best for Dendro research. Dr. Bhuju said that they would start their research from the Himalayan region, where the impact of global warming and climate change had been more pronounced.

He, further, said that after the completion of the trial research in the Himalayan region, they would find out the previous climatic change and prediction in the historical palaces, temples, and archeological areas using the same technique.

He said that they would extend their work to each and every climatic and geographical region of the country in the near future so that the concerned authorities in the area would remain alert and could initiate necessary steps to minimise the potential risks and damage.

He said that any environmental activities, favourable or unfavourable, were printed as annual rings of the trees.

Global warming and climate change are of the global concern at the present time. Nepali researchers are now hopeful to make prediction of changing patterns by reconstructing past climatic history through what they call Dendrochronological technique. "We are happy to institutionalize the knowledge and hope to see many researchers using this technique in environmental and archeological studies as well," Bhuju said.

This news article was published on The Rising Nepal. It shows some scientists in Nepal are also doing some research activities where there is no good environment for such activities and hundreds of young science and engineering graduates are leaving the country.

More about Dendrochronoly on wikipedia.

More about NAST

Asian brown cloud danger

The regional haze, known as atmospheric brown clouds, contributes to glacial melting, reduces sunlight, and helps create extreme weather conditions that impact agricultural production, according to the report commissioned by the U.N. Environment Program.

Caused by the burning of fossil fuels, wood and plants, the brown clouds also play a significant role in exacerbating the effects of greenhouse gases in warming up the earth's atmosphere.

more on ABC here.

"iBRAIN: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind,"

Jeff Sherman / Taxi-Getty Images

A leading neuroscientist says processing digital information can rewire your circuits. But is it evolution?

By Jeneen Interlandi | NEWSWEEK

Published Oct 14, 2008

Is technology changing our brains? A new study by UCLA neuroscientist Gary Small adds to a growing body of research that says it is. And according to Small's new book, "iBRAIN: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind," a dramatic shift in how we gather information and communicate with one another has touched off an era of rapid evolution that may ultimately change the human brain as we know it. "Perhaps not since early man first discovered how to use a tool has the human brain been affected so quickly and so dramatically," he writes. "As the brain evolves and shifts its focus towards new technological skills, it drifts away from fundamental social skills."

The impact of technology on our circuitry should not come as a surprise. The brain's plasticity—it's ability to change in response to different stimuli—is well known. Professional musicians have more gray matter in brain regions responsible for planning finger movements. And athletes' brains are bulkier in areas that control hand-eye coordination. That's because the more time you devote to a specific activity, the stronger the neural pathways responsible for executing that activity become. So it makes sense that people who process a constant stream of digital information would have more neurons dedicated to filtering that information. Still, that's not the same thing as evolution.

To see how the Internet might be rewiring us, Small and colleagues monitored the brains of 24 adults as they performed a simulated Web search, and again as they read a page of text. During the Web search, those who reported using the Internet regularly in their everyday lives showed twice as much signaling in brain regions responsible for decision-making and complex reasoning, compared with those who had limited Internet exposure. The findings, to be published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, suggest that Internet use enhances the brain's capacity to be stimulated, and that Internet reading activates more brain regions than printed words. The research adds to previous studies that have shown that the tech-savvy among us possess greater working memory (meaning they can store and retrieve more bits of information in the short term), are more adept at perceptual learning (that is, adjusting their perception of the world in response to changing information), and have better motor skills.Small says these differences are likely to be even more profound across generations, because younger people are exposed to more technology from an earlier age than older people. He refers to this as the brain gap. On one side, what he calls digital natives—those who have never known a world without e-mail and text messaging—use their superior cognitive abilities to make snap decisions and juggle multiple sources of sensory input. On the other side, digital immigrants—those who witnessed the advent of modern technology long after their brains had been hardwired—are better at reading facial expressions than they are at navigating cyberspace. "The typical immigrant's brain was trained in completely different ways of socializing and learning, taking things step-by-step and addressing one task at a time," he says. "Immigrants learn more methodically and tend to execute tasks more precisely."

But whether natural selection will favor one skill set over the other remains to be seen. For starters, there's no reason to believe the two behaviors are mutually exclusive. In fact, a 2005 Kaiser study found that young people who spent the most time engaged with high-technology also spent the most time interacting face-to-face, with friends and family. And as Small himself points out, digital natives and digital immigrants can direct their own neural circuitry—reaping the cognitive benefits of modern technology while preserving traditional social skills—simply by making time for both.

In the meantime, modern technology, and the skills it fosters, is evolving even faster than we are. There's no telling whether future iterations of computer games, online communities and the like will require more or less of the traditional social skills and learning strategies that we've spent so many eons cultivating. "Too many people write about this as if kids are in one country and adults are in another," says James Gee, a linguistics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. What the future brain will look like is still anybody's guess.

बरियताक्रमको अन्तिममा विज्ञान मन्त्रालय

उत्तम बाबु श्रेष्ठ

मलाई थाह छ, पेरिस हिल्टनका ग्लामरस पहिरन र उदण्ड गतिविधीले अमेरीकी समाजमा जति चर्चा र परिचर्चा वटुल्छन् त्यो भन्दा निकै कम मान्छेहरुले चिन्दछन् ३७ वर्षो उमेरमा नोवेल पुरस्कार पाउने डेभिड वाल्टीमोरलाई । कृपया जानकारीको लागि यहाँ भनिदिई हालौं एड्स रोगीहरुको लागि जीवन लम्वाउन वरदान सावित भएको औषधी एन्टीरोट्रो भाइरल डेभिड वाल्टीमोर र उनका साथीहरुको अनुसन्धानको फल हो । भुमण्डलीकरणको यस युगमा अमेरीकी समाजमा जस्तै एउटा झुण्ड काठमाडौंमा पनि जन्मिसकेछ जसले गत साता प्रधानमन्त्रीको

गलामा भिरेको टाई र शीरको टोपीदेखि मन्त्रीहरुका वरियताक्रमसम्मका निरर्थक वहसहरुमा देशलाई डोर्‍याउन खोजे । विडम्वना साथ भन्नु पर्दछ, सरकारका निती र कार्यक्रम, उसका प्राथमिकताका वहसले भन्दा हाम्रा संचार माध्यामहरु सानो-ठुलोको जुँगे झगडाका खबरहरुले भरिन्छन् आजकल ।

कुरो त यहाँ पनि वरियताको नै गर्न लागिएको हो । तर कुनै व्यक्ति विशेषको होइन, मन्त्रालयको वरियताको जसले सरकारको प्राथमिकता, निती, कार्यक्रम र वजेट विनियोजन कतातिर ढल्कदै गइरहेछ भन्ने छनक दिन खोज्दछ । हो सधै झै वातावरण, विज्ञान तथा प्रविधी मन्त्रालय पछाडिबाट गन्दा प्रथम वरियतामा परेछ नयाँ नेपालमा पनि । आफ्ना मातहतमा कुनै विभाग र जिल्लाहरुमा कार्यालयहरु नभएको, सिहंदरवारको दक्षिणपूर्बी कुनामा थन्किएको, शुभलाभका खेलहरु नहुने, यस ‘ग्लामर’ रहित मन्त्रालयमा मन्त्री हुनको लागि पुरानो नेपालमा राजीखुशी कोहि मनुष्य पनि तयार हुँदैन थिए । मन्त्रीको कोटा पुरा गर्नको लागि विज्ञान विषयमा रुची, लगन, दक्षता र क्षमता नभएकाहरु मन्त्रीको सुविधा पाउनको लागि भएपनि यस मन्त्रालयको सर्वोच्व कुर्सीमा वस्न करवलले राजी हुन्थ्ये त्यतिवेला । त्यसो त यस मन्त्रालय सम्हाल्ने मन्त्रीको काम भनेको गोडा एक दुई वर्षामा मुस्किलले एक चोटी हुने वैज्ञानिक सम्मेलन, सेमीनारको उद्घाटन गर्ने, वातावरण दिवस, जैविक विविधता, सिमसार दिवस जस्ता दिवसहरुमा शुभकामना मन्तव्य दिने र कहिलेकहि वृक्षारोपण र स्कुलका विज्ञान प्रदर्सनीमा जस्ता कार्यक्रमा सहभागी भई टोपल्ने वाहेक केहि थिएन भन्दा पनि हुन्छ । लेख लेख्नेक्रममा म विज्ञान मन्त्रालयको साइवार भ्रमणमा पुगेको थिए । देशको प्रविधी मन्त्रालयको साइट र त्यहाँ राखिएका सुचनाहरुले हाम्रो विज्ञान तथा प्रविधी क्षेत्रलाई व्यंय गरिरहेको छ ।

आम नेपालीलाई जस्तै विज्ञान क्षेत्रमा लाग्ने मानिसहरुलाई पनि लागेको थियो पुष्पकमल दाहाल ‘प्रचण्ड’ प्रधानमन्त्री बनेपछि भने उक्त परम्परा पक्कै तोडिनेछ । आर्थिक क्रान्तिको नेतृत्व गर्छु भन्नेले आर्थिक विकासको मेरुदण्ड मानिएको विज्ञान तथा प्रविधीको क्षेत्रलाई पनि आफनो पार्टीको नेतृत्वमा लिएर त्यसमा जीवन भर्छन । किनकी उनले विज्ञान तथा प्रविधीको विकास नगरी देश विकास हुँदैन भनेर वारम्वार भन्ने गरेका थिए । त्यसो त प्रचण्डका उक्त भनाईहरु विज्ञान क्षेत्रकै सवैभन्दा अग्रिणी पत्रिका साइन्सको जुन १३, २००८ को अंकमा छापिएको थियो उहाँको फोटो सहित । नेपालको कुनै एक व्यक्तित्वको खवर साइन्समा आउनु आफैमा एउटा गर्वको विषय थियो । म संझन्छु, साइन्स पत्रिकामा लेखिएको नेपाल सम्वन्धी विवरणहरु देखेर हामीहरु निकै दंग भएका थियौं त्यतिखेर । विदेशमा वसेर यहाँ आर्जन गरेको ज्ञान, शिप, दक्षता र क्षमतालाई कसरी नेपालको विज्ञान र प्रविधी क्षेत्रको विकासमा लगाउने भनेर वहसहरु हुन थालेका थिए हामी बिच।

यसै व्लगमा त्यतिखेर लेखेका मेरा लेखहरुलाई प्रिन्ट गरेर त्रिविवीको किर्तिपुर क्याम्पसका सुचनापाटीहरुमा टाँसिएको कुरा कसैले मलाई इमेलमा लेखेको थियो । रोनाष्टका पुर्ब उपकुलपति दयानन्द वज्राचार्यले पनि हामीले गरेका अनलाईन वहसहरुबाट उत्साहित हुँदै साइन्सको उक्त खबर वारेमा कान्तिपुरमा लेख लेख्नु भएको थियो । समग्रमा भन्दा विज्ञान क्षेत्रमा लागेका मानिसहरु उक्त खबरले निकै आशावादी र उत्साहित थिए । तर नयाँ सरकारले पनि उपेक्षाको परम्परालाई निरन्तरता दिदै विज्ञान क्षेत्रलाई प्राथमिकताको पुछारमा राखेको छ । मेरो मतलव माओवादी कै विज्ञान मन्त्री बन्नुपर्छ भन्ने पनि होइन तर प्राथमिकतामा परेन भन्ने हो । निश्चित रुपमा सरकारको नेतृत्व गरेको दलले उक्त मन्त्रालय लिनुमा फरक अवश्य पनि हुन सक्दथ्यो विशेष गरि निती कार्यक्रम वनाउने र वजेट विनियोजन गर्ने सम्वन्धमा ।

माओवादीहरुले अवधारणापत्रमा विज्ञान र प्रविधी क्षेत्रको विकास र उनीहरुको शब्दको ‘प्रतिभा पलायन’लाई रोक्ने कुराहरु जोडदारले गरिएको छ । यसका नेता कार्यकर्ताहरु मौका परेमा प्रतिभा पलायनका लामै भाषण गर्नुहुन्छ । यसै सर्न्दर्भमा गएको हप्ता क्यानडामा रहनु भएकी मन्त्री हिसीला यमीसँग छोटो कन्फेरेन्स कल गर्ने मौका मिलेको थियो । फोनमा उनको मलाई पहिलो प्रश्न थियो नेपाल फर्कने की नफर्कने ? जरुर फर्कने पढ़ाईसकेपछि मेरो प्रतिउत्तर । नेपाल छाड्ने बेलामा ठुलो संख्यामा विदेश जान लागेका युवा जनशक्तिलाई एयरपोर्टमा देखेको दृश्यले उनलाई निकै नरमाइलो लागेको रहेछ । यसरी युवा र पढेलेखेका मानिसहरु विदेश लागेपछि कसरी देश विकास हुन्छ उनी भन्दै थिइन उनी ।

आजको युगमा विदेश जाने आउने भनेको भईरहन्छ भन्दै मेलै भारतको उदाहरण दिएको थिए । ५, ६ वर्षयता मात्रै अमेरीका विश्वविद्यालय दिक्षित भारतियहरु करीव ५०००० को संख्यामा फर्किएका छन् । काठमाडौंमा वेरोजगार भएको डाक्टरलाई हामी जिल्ला सदरमुकामको हस्पिटलसम्म पुयाउन सक्दैनौं तर विदेशमा संर्घषरत वैज्ञानिकहरुलाई फर्काउने कुरा गरिरहेका छौं । वैज्ञानिक शक्ति फर्काउन सबैभन्दा पहिले उनीहरुले आर्जन गरेको ज्ञान र क्षमतालाई प्रयोग गर्ने अवसर पनि दिनुपर्दछ । त्यसकारण वैज्ञानिक जनशक्तिलाई काम गर्ने वातावरण (प्रयोगशाला, पुस्तकालय जस्ता सामान्य सुविधा) मिलाउनुहोस् तपाईहरुले फर्कनुस नभने पनि धेरै यस क्षेत्रका मानिसहरु फर्कने छन् नेपाल । यहाँ पाएको भन्दा निकै कम तलव पाएपनि मेरो भनाई थियो । हामीहरु जसलाई तपाईहरुले ‘प्रतिभा पलायन’ भनेर भनिरहनु भएको छ । त्यो पलायन नभएर ज्ञान शिप आर्जन हो । अर्थात यो तपाईले मुदति खाताको राखेको पैसा हो । त्यसलाई तपाईहरुले झिक्न सक्नुहुन्छ, प्रयोग गर्न सक्नुहुन्छ तर निश्चित सर्त र समयमा मात्रै मेरो तर्क थियो । अन्त्यमा हामी दुवैले एउटै पुस्तक ‘द ओल्ड इज फ्ल्याट’को नाम लिंदै कुराकानी टुग्याएका थियौं । उहाँसगँको छोटो कुराकानीमा नै के लाग्यो भन्दा उनीहरुले जनताका समस्या बुझेका छन्, देखेका छन् । तर सवाल बुझ्नु भन्दा पनि वदल्नुको हो । कार्लमार्क्स यसै भन्छन् ।

त्यसो त विज्ञान र प्रविधीको विकास नभइकन देशको विकास संभव हुँदैन भन्ने कुरा ओलम्पिक खेलको समापन समारोहको दृष्य हेर्दा प्रधानमन्त्री प्रचण्डले प्रत्यक्ष वुझे । प्रचण्डको ओलम्पिक अनुभवमा यस्तो थियो “कहिले र्स्वर्ग पृथ्वीमा आए जस्तो त कतिखेर पृथ्वी र्स्वर्गमा पुगे जस्तो भयो । चीनको प्रगती हेरेपछि विज्ञान प्रविधी नेतृत्व र जनताको अन्तरसम्वन्धमा भए जे पनि गर्न सकिने पाठ सिकेर आएको छु ।” उहाँले वुझ्नु भएको छ बिकासको लागी विज्ञान र प्रविधीको महत्व । त्यसो त विगतका सरकारहरुले पनि त्यो कुरा नवुझेको कहाँ हो र ? वुझिवुझि वुझ पचाएको मात्रै पो हो त । गणेशमान सिं भन्नु हुन्थ्यो “निदाएको मान्छे भन्दा निदाएको अभिनय गरेर सुतेको मान्छेलाई उठाउन गाह्रो हुन्छ ।” विज्ञान प्रविधीको विकासको मामिलामा माओवादीले पनि निदाएको अभिनय नगरोस् । मन्त्रालय वाँडफाटमा यस मन्त्रालयलाई गरिएको उपेक्षा सरकारको निती र कार्यक्रममा नदोहरीयोस्, चेतना भया ।

Awaited Journey from Nevada, USA to Nepal

Lekh N Adhikari

5/11/08

Now it has been almost two years that I am out from my country. According to my thought, when I had made it before leaving country I planned to go to my home. I thought that as soon as I finish my spring semester I should go. There were couples of reasons for that. One reason was I could get a rest for a while from Chemistry and my research for a while and get relaxed my monotonous mind and other reason was I could meet my parents earlier. That’s why I bought a ticket to Nepal on the same day as my final finishes even though my semester ends officially after 6 days from today. Before going to Nepal I had to go to New York to visit my brother to whom I had not seen for almost two years. It was not only my parents and his desire to meet before going to home but also I was desperately waiting to see him. It was not so easy to get a vacation for a week to go there because I had already asked to my advisor to take off for almost six weeks for my Nepal trip. Finally, I decided to take vacation for my New York trip too before my semester ended and after my teaching finished.

I went to east coast 9 days before I had a flight to Nepal and came back on 6^th of May which was only 3 days before my Nepal journey. Initially I did not think that I would have that much pressure and rush in my final hour but actually it didn’t go with my expectation. In rest 3 days, I had to do all my final setting for my trip and in the mean time I had to take my final exam of my course and I had to give a practice talk in my group about my research what I am doing in lab which I am going to present in a conference in Kathmandu this month. So, I ended up with a lot of works in final hours. In the mean time I had to do some shopping to for my trip even though I had done most of it before 2-3 weeks. I had to collect the gifts and goods from my friends that they wanted to send for their family or relatives. I also wanted to meet all of them before my departure since I will be staying for more than a month and I was going to miss them for that long period. Due to all those reasons I was unable to sleep even in the nights and have my lunch and dinner on time. But finally, whether I finish my all jobs or not I had to be ready for my take off which was on 9th of May. According to my regular schedule I had my final exam on the same day early in the morning. Once I am done with my exam I said goodbye to all my lab mates as well as my friends in the Department and finally to my advisor. I came to home and did my packing. My fight was at 8:35 PM. So, I left the home at around 6:00 PM. Because of a international flight I thought I have to be in airport at least 2 hours prior to the departure. I was with my two other friends who were also travelling with me in the same flight from Reno. Couple of our friend came with us to drop us off. After checking the luggage in, they said goodbye to us. I felt somehow sad at that moment even though I was so excited about my trip.

Our travel started on time from Reno at 8:35 PM. We had an international flight from San Francisco where we had to do some paper works in immigration. We finished all work within an hour. Our next flight was at 1:20 AM from there. On that leisure time I talked to some of my friends on phone which made me easy to pass time. Until there I had not felt any boringness. Once we boarded in, I had a plan to sleep in aircraft so that I could get rid of my sleepiness but it did not work. I could not sleep there. It was very long flight of almost 15 hours that gave me very hard time to kill my time. I was looking on watch in every 10 minutes (sometimes in every 2-3 minutes too). Those 15 hours became like 15 days for me. There was totally dark outside too which would be my friend to pass time if it was daytime. Standing up on the passage, going to bathroom and walking back and forth in the plane from one end to other were the only alternatives for that night. I watched two movies too in the mean time. Finally, the aircraft was about to landing in Hong Kong.

I was so happy but again worried about the 12 hours transit period which I had to spend there. Initially, I thought I would sleep in the lounge in the airport but I could not sleep there too even though my eyes were red and weren’t with proper sight. I thought to use internet which was available there to pass time. I read the news and talked to few friends online that made me the time easy. I also got tired from using computer and then walked around the duty free stores inside the airport. I can’t imagine what would be happened if I was alone and had that much long flight and transit. All three of us me, Nagendra and Beni were sitting next to each other and talking most of the time. That was the one and only one way to forget all the pains except the hope to see my dad, sister and other relatives tonight in Kathmandu.

Ultimately, our 12 hours long waiting period also got over and the announcement to board the flight was made. We boarded in on the aircraft. I saw more than 90 percent of the passengers were Nepali and I was happy when the safety announcement in the plane was made in Nepali to except in English and Chinese. I tried to sleep even it was only about four and half hour flight from Hong Kong to Kathmandu. I became unable to do so and after having a meal I opened my laptop to listen some songs. And then, I thought to write few words to about my journey and experiences. At his point, a flight attendant made an announcement to turn off all the portable electronic devices because flight was about to landing. I am so happy now because I am almost about in Nepal.

खेलौना राष्ट्रपतिहरु

हांक साप्ताहिकका पत्रकार बिमल पोख्रेलको यो लेख बिश्व नेपाली साप्ताहिक प्रकशित यो लेख यहा पनि सान्दर्भिक लागेर राखिएको छ।

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tTsfnLg /fhf 1fg]Gb|n] c;f]h @)%( c;f]h !* sf] k|ltufdL zfxL 3f]if0ffkl5 k|wfgdGqLsf] kbnfO{ o:t} xNsf 9·n] k|:t't ub{} b/vf:t;d]t cfx\jfg u/]sf lyP . b]zsf] k|wfgdGqLh:tf] cToGt} dxTjk"0f{ kbdf /fhfn] b/vf:t cfx\jfg u/]kl5 k|wfgdGqLsf] nflu @$ hgfsf] b/vf:t k/]sf] lyof] . To;} d];f]df Pdfn]sf dxflrj dfwjs'df/ g]kfnn] klg cfkm\gf] ‘bfjL’ k|:t't u/]sf lyP .

;a}nfO{ yfxf ePsf] s'/f xf] ls g]kfnsf gful/s ;dfhsf dfG5]x? gful/s ;dfhsf geO 8n/ ;dfhsf x'g\ . s]xL ckjfbjfx]s pgLx? s'g} :jtGq JolQm g} xf]Ogg\ . /fhg}lts bnx?af6 km\of"lsPsf, /fhgLlts bnsf] cg'zf;gdf a:g g;s]/ cfkm"nfO{ :j3f]lift ‘:jtGq’ atfp"b} lx+8]sf JolQmx? cfh slyt gful/s ;dfhsf g]tf ePsf 5g\ . s]xL gful/s ;dfhsf g]tfx?n] dfcf]jfbL k|:tfjnfO{ tfnL lk6]/ :jfutdfq} u/]sf 5}gg\, ljleGg kqklqsfdf cfkm\gf k|ltlqmof 5kfpgdf Jo:t 5g\ . @)%( c;f]h !* kl5 kf"r /fhgLlts bnsf] cfGbf]ngdf lv;L6\o'/L ug{], To;kl5 )^! ;fnsf] ;ft /fhgLlts bnx?sf] cfGbf]ngdf klg ‘/fhgLlts bnx? k5fl8 / gful/s ;dfh cufl8’ eGb} lx+8]sf lyP .

clxn] gful/s ;dfhsf dfG5]x? sf] s:tf eGg'eGbf klg /fhgLlts bnx?n] s:tf] JolQmnfO{ /fi6«klt agfpnfg\ eGg] k|Zg cToGt} dxTjk"0f{ xf] . ca aGg] /fi6«klt g]kfnsf] Oltxf;df klxnf] /fi6«klt aGg]5 . To;sf] sfd eg]sf] sfo{sf/L geO{ ;+j}wflgs /xg]5 . t/ Tof] /fi6«klt of] jf Tof] aGg'k5{ eg]/ clxn] g} ‘;8s ax;’ ug'{eGbf pRr:t/df /fhgLlts bnx?aLrdf 5nkmn u/L lg0f{odf k'Ug' h?/L 5 . /fi6«klt k"j{ tfgfzfx /fhf 1fg]Gb|n] b/vf:t cfx\jfg u/]/ lgo'Qm ul/g] kb xf]Og . Tof] /fi6«sf] pRr kbdf /xg] ;Ddflgt JolQm xf] .

प्रतिभा पलायन की ज्ञान आर्जन ?

First part of this article is here.

उत्तम बाबु श्रेष्ठ

आज विश्व एक कुनाबाट अर्को कुना नदेखिने गोलो होइन बिचार र ज्ञानको दृष्टीकोणबाट सबै देखिने चेप्टो अर्थात फ्ल्याट हुँदै गइरहेको छ । अबको संसारमा ऐतिहासिक, भौगोलिक र क्षेत्रिय दुरी असान्दर्भिक भएको तर्क गर्छन् द ओर्ल्ड इज फ्ल्याट ए ब्रिफ़ हिस्ट्री अफ दी ट्वान्टी फर्स्ट सेन्चुरी का लेखक थोमस फ्राइडम्यान । आफ्ना कल सेन्टरहरु दक्षिण भारतबाट चलाउने, नुनदेखि सुनसम्म चीन, दक्षिण एशिया र ल्याटीन अमेरीकी मुलुकहरुबाट निर्यात गर्ने अमेरीकी आँखाबाट विश्वलाई हेर्दा देखिएका उक्त भनाईहरु हाम्रो अवस्थामा दुरुस्त लागु नभएतापनि यो कुरा स्पष्ट छ अबको मानिसलाई भुगोलका साना सीमारेखाहरुले बाध्न सकिदैन । त्यसकारण बिकाशील देशबाट श्रम शक्ति र सिर्जनशिल प्रतिभाहरु बिकसित देशतिर रोजगारी वा अवसरको लागि बसाई सर्नु अनौठो होइन ।

२०४६ सालको परिवर्तनले दिएको खुला वातावरण, बिश्व्वब्यापी सूचनाको पहुँच र द्वन्दको कारण ग्रामीण भागबाट हजारौको संख्यामा युवाहरु मात्रै विदेश पलायन भएनन बरु विज्ञान तथा प्रविधीको विकासमा लागेका थुप्रै दक्ष जनशक्तिहरु नाम चलेका शिक्षण संस्था वा अनुसन्धानशालाहरुमा खाईपाई आएको जागिर चटक्क छोडेर, नेपाल वसेर केहि नहुने देखेर बिदेशीए । देशको राजनैतिक अवस्था सप्रेपछि नेपालमा नै रोजगारी पाईन्छ भन्दै सस्तो श्रम गर्न गएका जनशक्ति सजिलै फर्केलान भन्न सकिन्छ तर विज्ञान वा प्रविधीको क्षेत्रमा लागेका दक्ष जनशक्ति जसले अप्रबासी कानून सजिलो भएका युरोप वा अमेरीकी बजारमा आफुलाई संघर्षको माध्यामबाट स्थापित गराउदैछन् उनीहरुलाई फर्काउनको लागि भने देशले निकै ठुलो मेहनत गर्नु पर्ने देखिन्छ । यद्यपी उनीहरुलाई फर्काउनै नसक्ने भने चाँहि होइन । देशमा अनुसन्धानको बाताबरण र उचित रोजगारीको अवस्था सिर्जना गर्ने हो भने देशले आउ नभनेपनि अबसरको खोजीमा हिडेको त्यो समूह आफु र आफ्नो परिवारको लागि भएपनि नेपाल फर्कनेछन् । अहिले भारतले द्रुत आर्थिक वृद्विदर हासिल गर्दै गर्दा सन् २००१ पछिका ५, ७ बर्षमा अमेरीकामा अध्ययन गरेका करीब ४०००० जति दक्ष कम्प्युटर साइन्स र अन्य विषय पढेका भारतियहरु अमेरीकाबाट भारत फर्किएका थिए । उनीहरु भारतलाई माया गरेर ‘मेरा भारत महान’ भन्दै मात्रै पनि फर्किएका होइनन् अमेरीकामा भन्दा भारतमा राम्रो रोजगारी र कमाएको पैसा वचत हुने अवस्था देखेर फर्किएका हुन् । देशमा विज्ञान तथा प्रविधीको राम्रो विकास भएको अवस्थामा दिर्घकालिन रुपमा त्यो अबस्थाको आशा गर्न सकिताएपनि हाललाई उनीहरु जुन अवस्थामा जहाँ छन् त्यँहाबाट उनीहरुले देशको लागि सहयोग गर्न सक्ने अवस्थाको श्रृजना गर्नु र उनीहरुको सहयोग लिनको लागि पहल गर्नु आबश्यक छ ।

आज नेपाली श्रम र पसिना मलेशिया वा अरबको खाडिमा मात्रै बगेको छैन, नेपाली हातहरु अमेरीका, युरोप, कोरिया, जापान, अष्टेलियाका नाम चलेका विश्वविद्यालय र प्रयोगशालासम्म पुगेका छन् । दोहाका सडकहरुमा मात्रै नेपाली पाईलाहरु हिडेका छैनन् नासादेखि जर्मनीको म्याकप्लाँकसम्म नेपाली पाईला पुग्न सफल भएका छन् । विदेशमा उच्च शिक्षा आर्जन गर्न गएका जनशक्तिलाई प्रतिभा पलायनको आँखाले हेरेर युरोप, अमेरीकामा ‘सेटल्ड’ हुने पलायनबादीहरुसँग के गफ गर्ने भन्दै पानी वारावार गरेर होइन उनीहरुले आर्जन गरेको ज्ञान, दक्षता र क्षमतालाई कसरी नेपाल र नेपालीको हितमा प्रयोग गर्ने भन्ने कुरा सोच्नु महत्वपूर्ण हो । विदेश वसेपनि नेपालका बारेमा अध्ययन, अनुसन्धान गर्ने वातावरण उनीहरुलाई बनाईदिए मात्रै पनि नेपालको लागि ठुलो योगदान हुनसक्छ । भौगोलिक रुपमा को कहाँ वस्छ भन्दा पनि कसले कसको हितमा काम गर्दछ भन्ने कुरा महत्वपूर्ण हुँदै गएको छ किनकी आज विश्व चेप्टो र भुगोलका साना सीमारेखाहरु असान्दर्भिक हुँदै गइरहेको छ ।

रेमिट्यान्स भित्राउने वा धनी गैह्रआवासिय नेपालीहरुको पुँजी नेपालमा लगानी गर्ने कुराहरु हुँदा नेपाली यस्ता उन्नत दिमाग वा उनीहरुको सोँचलाई नेपाल भित्राउने कुरासम्म सुनिदैन । जो जहाँ भएपनि उसले आआफनो ठाँउबाट नेपाललाई सहयोग गर्न कुरा हो । धन हुनेले धन दिन्छन्, वल हुनेले वल अनि विचार हुनेले विचार । तर त्यसको लागि संगठित पहल हुन जरुरी छ । आज यो देशमा यति नेपाली छन् उ देशमा उती नेपाली छन् भनेको सुनिन्छ । उनीहरु के गर्दै छन् त्यसको लेखा जोखा कतै भएको छैन । विदेश पढ्न गएकाहरु कति फर्किए कति कहाँ के गर्दौ छन् कुनै तथ्यांक छैन । व्यक्तिगत खर्चमा पढ्न गएकाको त कुरै छाडौं सरकारी खर्चमा विदेश पढ्न गएकाहरु पनि कति फर्किए वा कति कहाँ के गर्दौ छन् कुनै तथ्यांक छैन । व्यक्तिगत सन्जाल र परम्परागत संगठनमा संगठित नेपालीहरुलाई अब वैज्ञानिक फोरमको रुपमा संगठित गर्ने र मुलुकको हितमा लगाउने तीर सोच्न ढिला भईसकेको छ । जे जस्तो भएपनि असंगठित रुपमा भए पनि विगत केहि वर्षयता विकसित देशहरुका वैज्ञानिक अनुसन्धानशालाहरुमा पनि नेपालीहरुको पहुँच विस्तारै बढदै गइरहेको छ । अमेरीकामा हुने बिभिन्न बिधाका वैज्ञानिक सम्मेलनहरुमा नेपाली अनुहारहरु देखिनु र सम्मेलनका पेपरहरुमा नेपाली नाम छापिनु आज अमेरीकामा नेपालीहरुको बदलिँदो परिचय हो ।

भारत र चीनको विकासको पछाडि ती मुलुकहरुबाट ठुलो संख्यामा विदेशमा गएका वैज्ञानिक जगतका मानिसहरु र अध्येताहरुको बौद्विक सहयोग पनि एक हो । अमेरीकी विश्वविद्यालयहरुमा मात्रै आठहजारको हाराहारीमा भारतीय मुलका प्राध्यापकहरु छन् । हजारौको संख्यामा अनुसन्धानकर्ता, इन्जिनियर, डाक्टर आदी छन् । त्यसै गरि चीनीयाँ मुलका प्राध्यापकहरुको संख्या पनि उल्लेख्य संख्या छ । उनीहरुले प्रत्यक्ष वा अप्रत्यक्ष रुपमा आफ्नो आफ्नो मुलुकको अनुसन्धानहरुलाई सहयोग गरेका छन् । अनुसन्धानका विभिन्न दुईदेशिय, अन्तरदेशिय र वहुदेशिय कार्यक्रमहरु सन्चालन गरेका छन्, आफ्नो देशका अनुसन्धानकर्तालाई आफुले काम गरिरहेका विदेशका प्रयोगशालामा काम गर्न वोलाएका छन् । आफ्ना देशका अनुसन्धानशालाहरुलाई आर्थिक र प्रविधीक सहयोग गरेका छन् । त्यसकारण विदेश वसेर नाम र दाम कमाएका नेपालीहरुको एउटा पंक्तिलाई हामीले नेपालको बैज्ञानिक अध्यायन अनुसन्धानको लागि केहि सहयोग गर्न सक्ने वातावरण तयार गर्न तिर पहल हुन आवश्यक छ । गैह्र आवासिय नेपाली व्यापारीहरुसँग नेपालको जलविद्युत, संचार आदीजस्ता नाफामुखी क्षेत्रहरुमा लगानी गर्नको लागि हामी हारगुहार गर्र्छौ तर वैज्ञानिक अध्यायन र अनुसन्धानको लागि सहयोग गर भनेर सरकारी तवरबाट निती निर्माण गर्न किन कन्जुस्याई ?

अन्त्यमा, दुर शिक्षा (distance learning) नेपालका सहरी इलाकाहरुमा पनि ‘पपुलर’ हुँदै गइरहेको अवस्थामा विदेशमा प्राध्यापन गर्ने नेपाली प्राध्यापकले विदेशमा वसेर नेपालको कुनै विश्वविद्यालयमा पढाउन सक्छ भन्ने मान्यतालाई अब स्थापित गर्न आवश्यक छ । त्यसकारण विदेश धन कमाउन गएकाहरुलाई नेपालमा रेमिट्यान्स भित्राउने वा पुँजी लगानी गर्न सक्ने वर्ग भनेर आशाको दृष्टीले हेर्ने तर बुद्वि, ज्ञान र शिप आर्जन गर्न गएकालाई पलायन भएको भनेर हेयको दृष्टीकोणबाट हेर्ने परम्परा र संक्रिण सोचाईलाई तोडेर उनीहरुबाट सक्दो सहयोग लिन प्रयास गरिनु विज्ञान प्रविधीको विकासमा महत्वपूर्ण कदम हुन सक्छ ।
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साइन्स पत्रिकामा नेपाल र विज्ञान प्रविधीको विकास

उत्तम बाबु श्रेष्ठ
बैज्ञानिक अनुसन्धान, समाचार र सुचना प्रकाशनको लागि विश्व कै उत्कृष्ट ‘साइन्स’ पत्रिकाको प्रकाशक तथा अमेरीकाको वैज्ञानिकहरुको सवैभन्दा ठुलो संस्था अमेरीकन एसोसिएसन फर दि एडभान्समेन्ट अफ साइन्सको गत फेव्रुवरी १४ देखि १८ सम्म बोष्टनमा आयोजित बार्षीक सम्मेलनमा भाग लिंदाका अनुभुतिहरु समेटेर यसरी व्लग लेख्नेछु भनेर कल्पनासम्म पनि गरेको थिइन । आफ्ना जीवनका उर्वर समयहरु ‘रोएर मर्ने विज्ञान’ को सानो अंशलाई पढेर विताएको र अझै पनि त्यो क्रम र कोसिस जारी रहेकोले ‘साइन्स’ पत्रिकाको यो साता (जुन १३) को अंकमा छापिएको नेपाल सम्वन्धि समाचार देखेर रोमान्चकताका विच केहि लेख्न मन लाग्यो ।
‘विश्व परिपेक्षमा विज्ञान र प्रविधी’ प्रमुख नारा रहेको उक्त सम्मेलनका अतिथी थिए, विश्व कै गरिब देश मध्येको एक रुवाण्डाका राष्टपति पाउल कगामे । कुनै वेला योवेरी मुसेवेनीको नेसनल रेसिस्टेन्स् आर्मीको तर्फाट गुरील्ला युद्व लडेका तथा रुवाण्डा प्याटि्रयोटिक आर्मीका नेता पाउल कगामेलाई विश्वकै ठुलो मानिने उक्त वैज्ञानिक सम्मेलनमा त्यसै वोलाइएको थिएन । वरु उनको देशमा उनी सत्तासिन भए पश्चात पुननिर्माण र शैक्षिक क्षेत्र विशेष गरि विज्ञान र प्रविधीको क्षेत्रमा उनको नेतृत्वको सरकारले गरेको ठुलो लगानी र प्रतिवद्वतालाई हौसला प्रदान गर्नको लागि वोलाइएको थियो । ६० वर्षलामो गृहयुद्व तथा मानव नरसंहारको पिडा भोगेको रुवाण्डामा युद्वको कारण विज्ञान प्रविधीको क्षेत्रमा लागेका मानिसहरु पलायन भएका वा मारिएकोले दक्ष जनशक्ति निर्माण प्रमुख चुनौति रहेको कुरा उनले उक्त वैज्ञानिक सम्मेलनमा बताएका थिए । अहिले विदेश पलायन भएका जनशक्तिलाई खोजी खोजी स्वदेश ल्याउनु परेको कुराहरु उनको मुखबाट भाषणको क्रम र केहि भलाकुसारीको क्रममा सुन्दा नेपालबाट वर्षैनी ठुलो संख्यामा वैज्ञानिक जनशक्ति पलायन भएर विदेश लागेको र अहिले पनि त्यो क्रम यथावत नै रहेको आफ्नो देशको यर्थाथतालाई संझिएको थिए ।
प्रमुख अतिथीको आसनबाट उनले भाषण गर्दै गर्दा म, साथी पशुपति चौधरी र किरण श्रेष्ठ एक आपसमा फुस्फुसाएका थियौं । “नेपालको नेताहरु पनि एकदिन यसरी नै यति ठुलो वैज्ञानिक सभामा भाषण गर्न आउलान् त ? ” भनेर । हाम्रो उक्त दिनको आशा पुरा होला या नहोला तर उक्त सम्मेलनमा एकदिन स्वंयसेवा गरे वापत पाइएको साइन्सको एकबर्षे निशुल्क अनलाइन संस्करणको जुन १३ को अंकमा हात पर्दा र नेपालको नाम र नेपाल सम्वन्धि समाचार त्यसमा देख्दा पनि यतिखेर मन पुलकित भएको छ । विज्ञान क्षेत्रको अग्रिणी ‘साइन्स’ पत्रिकामा समाचार आउनु आफैमा एउटा गौरव योग्य कुरा हो । त्यसमाथि पनि संविधान सभाले अघिल्लो वर्ष भन्दा विज्ञान तथा प्रविधीको क्षेत्रमा १२ गुणा बढि वजेट विनियोजन गर्न लागेको खवर झनै सुखद छ, हामी विज्ञान तथा प्रविधीमा लागेका मानिसहरुको लागि ।
हो वास्तवमा विज्ञान भनेको आधुनिक संसारलाई चियाउने झ्याल मात्रै होइन यो कुनै पनि देशको आर्थिक विकासको मेरुदण्ड पनि हो । अहिलेको संसारमा आफ्नो देश अनुकुलको विज्ञान र प्रविधीको विकास नगरी आर्थिक विकास मात्रै गर्छु भन्नु कोरा कल्पना मात्रै हो । आज विश्वका विकसित देशहरुको इतिहासलाई हेर्दा विगतमा उनीहरुले गरेको विज्ञान तथा प्रविधीको क्षेत्रमा वृहत लगानीको प्रतिफल हो भनेर ठोकुवा गर्न सकिन्छ । आर्थिक रुपमै विश्वको एक नम्वर तिर लम्किरहेको चीनलाई हेर्ने हो भने पनि त्यो कुरा प्रष्ट हुन्छ । भनिन्छ, १९९० तीर चीनमा साधारण क्याल्कुलस जान्नेहरु पनि औंलामा गन्न सकिने थिए तर आज चाइनिज वैज्ञानिकहरुले विश्वभरि नै आफ्नो साम्राज्य फैलाइरहेका छन् । त्यसकारण हाम्रो देश अविकसित हुनका अनेकौं कारणहरु मध्ये विज्ञान तथा प्रविधीको क्षेत्रलाई सधै उपेक्षा गरीनु र यसको विकासमा कुनै पनि ठोस कदम नचालिनु पनि एक हो । विडम्वना मान्नुपर्छ हाम्रो देशमा विगतमा विज्ञान सधै ‘रोएर नै मरी’ रह्यो ।
यतिखेर हामी नयाँ नेपालको कुरा गरिरहेका छौं । आर्थिक क्रान्ति र समृद्धि कुरा गरिरहेका छौं तर विगतमा झै अब पनि विज्ञान तथा प्रविधीको क्षेत्रलाई अपेक्षाको दृष्टीले हेर्ने हो भने पक्कै पनि आर्थिक विकासको कुरा हावादारी हुनेछ । यद्यपी अहिले सरकारको नेतृत्व गर्न लागेको माओवादीको प्रतिवद्वतापत्रलाई हेर्ने हो भने अन्य दलले भन्दा उनीहरुले यस क्षेत्रको विकासलाई वढि प्रथमिकता दिएको पाइन्छ । त्यसमा भनिएको छ “विज्ञान र प्रविधी को विकास नगरी विकास असंभव छ ।” उनीहरुले त्यँहा विदेश पलायन भएका बैज्ञानिक जनशक्तिलाई समेटने कुराहरु पनि गरेका छन् । सायद यहि भनाईलाई आधार मानेर होला ‘साइन्स’ पत्रिकाले प्रचण्डको फोटो सहितको समाचार छापेको । यस क्षेत्रको विकासको पनि अब के गर्न पर्ला, भनेर बुदागत रुपमा केही कुराहरु राख्न गइरहेको छु । तपाईहरुले पनि आफ्नो बिचारहरु राख्नु होला ।
बैज्ञानिकहरुको सामाजिकीकरण र समाजको बैज्ञानिकीकरणविज्ञान तथा प्रविधीको विकासको कुरा गर्दा सवैभन्दा पहिले विज्ञानिक जगत तथा समाजको वर्तमान सम्वन्धलाई तोडिनु आवश्यक छ । नेपालमा विज्ञान प्रविधीको विकास नहुनुमा समाज र विज्ञान विचको दुरी पनि एक हो । नेपाली समाजमा बैज्ञानिक भनेको अर्कै ग्रहका मानिसहरु जस्तो ठानिन्छ । नेपाली बैज्ञानिकका केहि आविष्कार गरे भने पनि अविश्वास गर्ने वा नेपालमा पनि यस्तो गर्न सक्छन् र भनेर एकातिर मानिसहरु अविश्वास प्रकट गर्छन भने अर्कातिर विज्ञान क्षेत्रमा लागेका मानिसहरुले पनि सामाजिक समस्याको बारेमा अनभिज्ञता प्रकट गर्छन् । जसले गर्दा समाज र विज्ञान र प्रविधीको क्षेत्रमा लागेका मानिसहरु विचको एक किसिमको दुरी पाईएको छ । वैज्ञानिक भनेको वैज्ञानिक जर्नल, सभा र सम्मेलनमा आफ्ना विचार राख्ने र विचारको जगतमा एकछत्र राज गर्ने मानिस मात्र होइन, उ समाजमा भएका विविधता बुझ्ने वुझ्कड र संश्लेषक पनि हो । समाज र विज्ञान विचको सुचनाको पुल पनि हो । वैज्ञानिकहरुले आफुले गरेका अनुसन्धानले जीवन जगतलाई कस्तो प्रभाव पार्दछ भनेर आम मानिसलाई बुझाउन सक्नुपर्दछ । एक अर्थमा उ आविष्कारको कथा सुनाउने कथाकार पनि हो । त्यसैले उसले भनेको कथा समाजले बुझ्ने हुनुपर्दछ अनि मात्र समाज र विज्ञान विचको दुरी कम गर्न सकिन्छ । वैज्ञानिक सभा सम्मेलनमा मन्त्रीको भाषणले जति संचार माध्याममा चर्चा र ठाँउ पाँउछ त्यँहा प्रस्तुत बैज्ञानिक कार्यपत्रहरुलाई ब्यर्थ को ठानिन्छ । अनि आममानिसलाई त्यसवाट प्रसारित सुचनाले वैज्ञानिक सम्मलेनमा मन्त्रीले यसो भन्नु भएछ, उसो भन्नु भएछ, भन्ने कुरा मात्र थाहा हुन्छ । आममानिसले नयाँ आविष्कार र भईरहेका अनुसन्धानका सुचनाहरुको पत्तै पाउदैन । हवाई जहाज बनाउने वा रकेटको प्रोटोटाइप तयार गर्ने दश वा बाह्र कक्षा पढेको भाईवहिनीहरुको कार्य र अर्न्तवार्ताहरुले संचार माध्याममा हलचल ल्याउँछन् तर जिन्दगी भरी अनुसन्धानमा विताएकाहरुलाई कसैले चिनेको हुदैन समाजमा । अब यो बिडम्बना पूर्ण स्थिति बाट पूर्णरुपमा मुक्त हुनपर्दछ । त्यसकारण अनुसन्धानहरुको समाजमुखीकरण गर्नु र वैज्ञानिक जगतको सामाजीकीकरण अत्यन्त आवश्यक छ ।
विज्ञान र राजनिती दोश्रो विश्व युद्वताका अमेरीकाका विश्वविद्यालयहरुले आफ्नो अनुसन्धानहरुलाई सैनिकहरुको वन्दोवस्ती निर्माण, र सैन्य जीतलाई सधाउने किसिमका प्रणाली वा सरसामाग्री निर्माणमा केन्द्रिकृत गरेका थिए । रुसमा वोल्सिभिक क्रान्तिपछि वैज्ञानिकहरुको अनुसन्धान बढि खाद्यान्न उत्पादन तर्फ केन्द्रित थियो । अनि भारत स्वतन्त्र भएपश्चात ६० को दशकमा भारतमा हरित क्रान्तिको शुरुवात गरिएको थियो । त्यसकारण वैज्ञानिक अनुसन्धानहरु देशको राजनिती, रणनिती र योजनाहरुबाट पृथक रहदैन । कसैले मानोस नमानोस यो पनि राजनितीबाट नै निर्देषित हुन्छ । अझ विकशित देशमा त झन वैज्ञानिक जगत पार्टीको घोषणापत्र हेरेर कुनै पार्टीको पक्षमा ‘लविगं’ गर्ने गर्दछन् । तर हाम्रो अवस्था विल्कुल भिन्न छ । वर्तमान संविधान सभाको निर्वाचनको क्रममा समावेशिताको कुरा उठ्दा वैज्ञानिक क्षेत्रबात प्रतिनिधित्व वा यस क्षेत्रको विकाशका कुराहरु उठदै उठेनन भन्दा पनि हुन्छ । अझै पनि ठुलो संख्यामा वैज्ञानिकहरुको संस्थाको भुमिका भनेको गोष्टी, सेमीनार गर्ने, अनुसन्धान प्रस्तावपत्रहरु तयार गर्नमा मात्रै सिमित रहेको छ । त्यसकारण विज्ञान क्षेत्रमा लागेका अगुवाहरुले विज्ञान क्षेत्रको विकासको लागि नितीनिर्माण तहमा दवाव दिनु र यस क्षेत्रको विकाशका लागि ‘लविगं’ गर्नु अत्यावश्यक छ । त्यसको लागी विज्ञान क्षेत्रमा लागेकाहरुले राजनितीलाई वुझन् र राजनितीमा लागेकाहरुले विज्ञानको महत्वलाई वुझ्न आबश्यक छ ।

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The Historic Day arrives: CA polling starts

By Sanjaya Dhakal

Ek Jug Ma Ek Din (One day in an era) - is the much borrowed line from a poem of late poet Gopal Prasad Rimal to describe the Constituent Assembly (CA) election.

And the day has arrived. Polling centers across the country have opened from 7 am Thursday allowing the 17.6 million registered voters to cast their ballot that is expected to shape the destiny of their nation.

The CA election is so historic that it is expected to change the face of the nation - which till date has always been a monarchical one in one form or the other - by voting out the 240-years old Shah dynasty's rule in favour of a federal democratic republic.

Election Commission (File photo)

In fact, the fate of the monarchy was sealed much earlier when the major political parties - who are expected to hold their mandate with this election - had decided that the first meeting of the elected CA will implement their decision to vote out the institution by simple majority.

Apart from deciding on monarchy, the CA will also herald a number of epoch-making events in the history of Nepal.

The CA is expected to write a new constitution whereby the country will choose the path of federal and inclusive regime.

The CA, which was promised to the people of Nepal way back in 1950s, had not been held up until now.

The CA will also formalise the entry of Maoist rebels into the mainstream multiparty democratic dispensation. That will be an icing on the cake of peace process, which started in earnest after the people threw out an autocratic rule through street demonstrations in April of 2006.

But there are still many pitfalls on its path. Apart from the fluid security situation – marked by sudden outburst of violence in Dhading, Surkhet, and Dang districts on the eve of the polling day – there are other risks as well. The first being how credibly the polls are conducted. Given the incidents of intimidation and attacks that continued till the polling day in many parts of the country – particularly by the Maoists and their supporters – it will be an uphill task for the Election Commission (EC) to hold it in 'free, fair and impartial' manner.

The second danger lies in the results – whether the Maoists will wholeheartedly accept the results of the election in case it is not up to their expectations. Conflicting remarks have been made by senior Maoist leaders on this issue with some of them openly arguing that they would lead another revolt if they are defeated 'by conspiracy.'

Narayanhiti palace. (File photo)

Things will not be clear till the results of the elections are firmly established – which the EC has said could take up to three weeks.

Another imponderable is how the monarchy will react if the push actually comes to the shove.

Then, there will be apprehensions and nail-bitings among the two giant neighbours of Nepal – India and China – who will be watching every turn of events carefully.

Festival of Election

For the time being, the whole nation and every Nepalese living in every nook and corner of the world, will be excitedly following the developments.

Voting for the first time in last one decade, the voters, this time, will be casting two ballots each – one under First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) and another under Proportional Representation (PR) categories.

Of the total 601 members of the CA, 240 will be elected in direct elections from 240 constituencies while 335 will be elected from among nationwide votes on PR basis. The remaining 26 will be nominated by the cabinet.

A total of 55 parties are taking part in CA election. 54 parties submitted closed-list for PR election. Of them, only 11 parties have fielded PR candidates in more than 30 percent seats. Only those parties fielding in more than 30 percent need to abide by the rule of reservation for women, Madhesis, Dalits, Janajatis, backward regions and other groups.

PM Koirala (File Photo)

A total of 3970 candidates – 367 women and 3580 men – are in the fray for FPTP election. A total of 5701 candidates including one half of women, nearly two thousand Madhesis, over 600 Dalits, over 2000 Janajatis, and nearly 200 from backward regions and over 1700 from other groups are in the fray for PR election.

The EC has informed that 20.4 million ballot papers of 240 different kinds (for each constituency) for FPTP and 20.8 million ballot papers of single kind for PR will be used for the election.

Likewise, sixty-one different kinds of election materials will be used.

There will be 20,880 polling centers in 9829 different places in this election. Each center will have between 5 and 13 polling staffs. In total, 234,000 polling staffs will be deployed.

There are 17.611 million voters in total – 8.888 million male and 8.73 female. The district with maximum number of polling centers is Syangja-1 with 131 centers. The constituency with maximum number of voters is Gulmi-2 with 104,888 voters. In a polling center in Lali Gurans primary school in Chame VDC of Manang district, there are only 23 voters.

The CA election this time has also attracted an unprecedented number of domestic and international observers. There will be over 80,000 domestic election observers representing 148 different organizations at national and local level. Likewise, 856 international observers will also be deployed across the country.

CPN-Maoist chairman Prachanda (File photo)

In Kathmandu-1 constituency, the EC will for the first time in nation's history, employ Electronic Voting Machines. The constituency includes ward numbers 10, 11, 32 and 34 of the Kathmandu metropolitan city.

The total cost of conducting the election from the announcement of election till declaration of results is expected to be Rs 2.73 billion for EC.

This amount does not include a couple of billions allocated for security purposes.

The Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have been deployed to provide security cover to each of the polling booths. The Nepali Army (NA) and Maoists' army will remain confined in barracks as per the arms agreement.

In each booth, policemen equipped with weapons and communication equipment have been posted. Besides, helicopters have been kept on standby in six different places across the country to provide aerial support should there be any need.

Source: www.nepalnews.com

A memorable trip in US

From left standing): Binod, Mahendra, Mahesh, Bhanu, Nabin, Khadgaman, Nagendra and (sitting): Deep, Damber and Lekh

By Lekh Nath Adhikari,

Mr. Adhikari is a graduate student of chemistry at University of Nevada, Reno. He with his friends had visited many places in the US this winter. I wanted him to share the experience with us and he comitted to write. As a result you are able to read this blog. Enjoy it. By the way this is the first blog by guest blogger in Science to Society.

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It had been one and half year that I was living in Reno, NV. It is my hobby to visit more and more places around the world but, unfortunately, I have not got chances to visit many countries. This is my fourth country that I put my feet. After coming here in US, I visited New York, California, Oregon and Washington in last winter and summer. Some of my friends are living in mid-western and mid-eastern regions and from last year they were asking me to visit them and their places. I was also thinking that if I got chances I would be really happy to visit their places. Finally, we decided to take vacation in the time of Christmas and New Year and we discussed to make our trip. Since it was a time of winter, some of our friends are saying that it’s not a good idea to travel in North but some were saying it wouldn’t be a problem. I and my friend Nagendra from Reno bought a ticket to Nashville, TN and from there to Reno. Finally, we flew from Reno on 25^th of December (Christmas Day). We were in the sky in dark for about 3 hours. The scene in the Nashville ground was so beautiful in most of the places. It was because, the night was the Christmas night. All the buildings and streets were decorated with glorious and bright lights. The plane landed on time in Nashville. My friend Deepak Bhandari from Knoxville, TN was there to pick us up. We had a plan to go to St. Louis, MO early in the morning of next day. We were so tired from our six hours flight. So, we went to the hotel that we had reserved for that night, put our luggage there and went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.

On 26^th of December, we got up early in the morning and after freshening up we headed to St. Louis. From Knoxville, one of Deepak’s friends Key (he is from Vietnam) was also with us. Four of us were in a mini sized van and I was driving. Actually, it was my first time that I was driving a big vehicle. So, I was little bit nervous too. The travel in the vehicle was so exciting and joyful because of the nice sight scenes all the way in sides of freeway. Two of our friends Binod Pandey and Mahesh Poudel were in St. Louis who were eagerly waiting for us with the yummy foods there. Finally, we reached to St. Louis at around noon in their place and had lunch there. After the lunch and rest for a while we decided to head towards Manhattan, Kansas. Weather was not so good there in St. Louis and we were worried about the possibility of snowfall in the way but we left St. Louis. Friends Binod and Mahesh also accompanied us so we were six persons in our trip thereafter. Our other friends Bhanu Bhakta Neupane and Mahendra Thapa were in Manhatan and they were updating the weather for us and preparing dinner for that night. Even the weather was not good (it was raining a lot for like 2-3 hours) we were able to got in Manhattan around 9 PM. Bhanu and Mahendra with other Nepali friends who were there in Manhattan were there to welcome us. That night became so great and excited for us because we felt like we were in Kirtipur (when we were doing our Masters in TU three years back) with most of our friends from Kirtipur. We had some drinks at first and then dinner with all together 20 friends there. It was really great stay there even it was for a short time. 
Next morning we went to the apartments of some other Nepali friends and after that we visited Kansas State University. We did not have enough time to stay there, so, we bought some lunch from subway and headed back to St. Louis having lunch in the van with our two more friends Bhanu and Mahendra. It was like 7 hours drive up to St. Louis so we did not stop anywhere in the way excepts two gas stations to fill up gas in van and use restrooms. Finally, we arrived in St. Louis around 8 PM and due to the tiredness from long travel we could not go to the Downtown that night. We had to prepare dinner ourselves, so it was almost 1:00 AM in the morning when we went to bed.

Next morning, on 28^th of Dec, late morning get up, we left Mahesh there in his apartment and we (7 guys) visited few famous places in St. Louis including Gateway Arch and the museum therein. It was really nice scene there in the side of Mississippi River with big arch in the west of river. After that we headed towards Chicago, IL. We were going all the way north from there and we were thinking that weather was going to be worse in north than in south. But, we did not find that. Actually, the drive was so long and boring but we were not feeling and bore ness and tiredness because our friends were so funny if needed and they were saying jokes and stories in our entire trip. Especially, Binod was one of them. Whenever he would speak something we would not keep our mouth close. He made us laughing almost all the time. Some were saying their love stories, some were saying their tragedies, some were saying their real stories happened in their life, some were saying their future plan like go back to Nepal, getting married, what to do after completion their degrees and stuffs like that. So, we felt like we reached to Chicago within 1-2 hours even that took 7 hours for us. The interesting thing is our Vietnamese friend was also enjoying with us even though we were talking in Nepali at all the time and were playing Nepali music. We approached to our destination in the apartments of our friends where Shankar, Shiva and Suraj were there with plenty of food and different kinds of drinks to welcome us from their hearts. They were our classmates in I. Sc. and B. Sc. That night was one and only one night that I ever had in my life. I did one thing there with them that I had not done before and I have not done after that too because I couldn’t stay without accompanying them. We had long gossips for almost whole night but we could not share all the feelings that we wanted to share. Next day, after late morning wake up, we went to a Nepali restaurant for lunch. Even though, Chicago was very cold at that time we did not feel any coldness due to our best friends and their guidance to visit the places there. Since, they were there for a long time they know everywhere in the city. Therefore it was possible for us to visit more places in a short time. We visited important places there like Sears Tower, Science Museum, Aquarium and some other places all over the day.