Democracy For Nepal: nepal earthquake 2015

Showing posts with label nepal earthquake 2015. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Racism?

English: Indian actor Salman Khan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been following the #GoHomeIndianMedia Twitter trend. So far I have seen only one video clip that was called offensive, for the sole reason that the reporter called Thamel "Mini India." I responded here.

लोग कह रहे हैं चीन से तो नहीं आए मीडिया वाले। जैसे कि वो कोइ अच्छी बात है। अरे चीन मीडिया न आने के कारण हैं: (१) चीन में प्रेस फ्रीडम नहीं है (२) चीन के लिए अगर तिब्बत दुर है तो नेपाल तो बहुत दुर हुवा न (३) नेपाल को मदत करने सबसे पहले भारत पहुँचा, चीन नहीं।

It is possible some Indian journalists asked some questions that might have come across as insensitive. But, like I said, I have seen only one video clip, and that did not pass the test.

It is the job of the journalists to ask the wh questions: who, why, how, where, when, what.

But I have seen a ton of evidence of blatant racism. A guttural hatred of Indians defines the chief ideology of the power elite in Kathmandu. Indians have a hard time facing that fact. Just go to this Facebook page and see for yourself.

One example. There were online rumors that Salman Khan had donated crores of rupees and a few helicopters to Nepal. Salman did the right thing: he put out a statement saying that rumor is not true.

A whole bunch of Nepalis have been jumping up and down the street on that one. Who does Salman think he is? वो अपने आप को क्या समझता है? People have been calling him names. And he is a movie star. So if people can talk hate upon Salman Khan, don't try to justify their talking hatred upon some young Indian TV journalists.

The word Madhesi does not exist in Delhi. Or in Patna, or Lucknow, or Kolkata. मोदी से ले के जितने आते हैं पशुपति के दर्शन कर के चले जाते हैं। सबको लगता है अपनी ही बिरादरी के हैं। भारत तो १९४७ में आजाद हो गया लेकिन मधेस अभी भी गुलाम है। इस बात पर दिल्ली में कोइ हमदर्दी नहीं। चलो सोशल मीडिया के जरिए वो hatred तो सबके सामने आ रही है।

पहले था Go Home Indian Media, अब वही लोग Go Home Indians, Go Home Indian Army पर उतर आए हैं।

Twitter ने सबको एक एक मेगाफोन दे दिया है। लोग तो बोलेंगे ही। तरह तरह के विचार आएंगे। लेकिन ये गाड़ी free speech के पटरी से उतर के hate speech तक पहुँच गयी है। जो hatred नेपाल के मधेसी रोज भुगतते हैं वो आज सलमान को भी भुगतना पर रहा है।

यमन के दौरान युरोप के कइ देशों ने मोदी को धन्यवाद बोला ---- नेपाल वाले कब बोलेंगे? काठमांडु वालों को चाहिए कि Twitter पर #NepalthanksModi #ThankYouModi को ट्रेंडिंग करो।

Monday, May 04, 2015

The Earthquake And Federalism

सदभावना पार्टी ले रामेछाप मा वितरण गर्न लगेको चामल CDO ले गैर कानुनी रुपले जफत गर्ने ----- तर प्रचण्डले भने बेरोकटोक सिंधु मा चामल वितरण गर्न पाउने? यस्तो राष्ट्रिय विपदको अवस्था मा पनि पर्वते कर्मचारी हरुको racism ले ब्रेक नलिने देखियो।

An Appeal for Decentralization: Nepal’s Earthquake Politics

nothing can really prepare a nation for a disaster of this magnitude. ...... The earthquake gives a whole new meaning to what state restructuring will entail. ...... Nepal has been struggling with what Heather Hindman has termed “long-term provisionality” due to the lack of national political progress and regular turn-over of governments. There have not been local elections since 1997, leaving villages and towns at the mercy of the whims of appointed bureaucrats and, for a time between 2008 and 2012, their local political leaders through “All Party Mechanisms.” Development and resource allocation from the center to the local level has been inconsistent and citizens have few means of accountability. ........ The government plays a minimal role in many people’s lives. Consistent shortages of electricity, water, and fuel have forced communities and families to be creative in building their private infrastructure just to get on with daily life. Many of the Kathmandu valley’s new wells come from communities boring for much needed water and a number of villages have learned if they want a road, they must build it. ....... The largest oversight in the government’s disaster preparedness is the lack of robust, empowered local governance. ....... Nepal’s constituent assembly government needs to stand true to the promises of the 2006 People’s Movement. The underpinning logic for federalism was to devolve power from the center, Kathmandu, and relegate it to the provinces in order to create more regional autonomy. The ongoing debates over the federal state structure and nomenclature have focused on ethnicity and identity-based rights. These issues are central to addressing the many histories of marginalization and healing the wounds of a decade of civil war. However, these disputes obscure the fact that

there is little political will among Nepal’s politicians to decentralize power
. All of the parties are stuck in the centralized, top-down mode of governing .....

Imagine if robust local and regional governance had existed when this earthquake hit? Then the relief efforts would not be mimicking the ad hoc approach the central government has taken to governing and state restructuring over the last seven years.

ठमेल: Mini India?

ठमेल लाई Indian हरुले Mini India भन्ने गरेको हुन सक्छ ------ भारतीय पर्यटक बढ़ी त्यहाँ बस्ने गरेकोले ---- अमेरिका को प्रत्येक ठुलो शहरमा एउटा एउटा Chinatown छ --- न्यू यॉर्क मा त अझ Mini Brazil, Koreatown, Little India के के छ के के ----- Globalization को जमानामा काठमाण्डु को कुनै भाग को नाम Mini India हुन पुग्छ भने त्यो गर्वको विषय हो --- Kathmandu has become a cosmopolitan city, it has arrived भन्नु पर्ने हुन्छ।

#GoHomeIndianMedia
भारतको रोल, चीनको रोल, नेपालको आफ्नो रोल

In The News (2)

Was Nepal a Soft Power Victory for China?

The earthquake in Nepal did not arouse a wave of public sympathy in China, unlike the mass support and concern conveyed in India, where there have been public vigils in multiple Indian cities..... China remains a distant and alien culture and society for most Nepalis. But it is China’s distance and remoteness that has earned it a positive, even awe-inspired image among its southern neighbors. ...... Nepalese often view Indians, with whom they have close historical, cultural, religious, and linguistic ties, as big brothers. It’s a complex relationship that has elements of intimacy and mutual respect and at the same time contains a significant amount of suspicion and tension. Many talk about this in terms of a somewhat insensitive big brother dealing with a significantly weaker younger brother.

Remote Village Receives Quake Assistance More Than One Week On

Information Minister Minendra Rijal said the major rescue work in Kathmandu and surrounding areas has been completed and that the remaining operations can be handled by local workers. ....... Since the April 25 earthquake, 4,050 rescue workers from 34 different nations have flown to Nepal to help in rescue operations, provide emergency medical care and distribute food and other necessities.

About 100 bodies found in Nepal trekking village
Nepal’s Bureaucracy Is Blamed as Earthquake Relief Supplies Pile Up

Relief supplies for earthquake victims have been piling up at the airport and in warehouses here because of bureaucratic interference by Nepalese authorities who insist that standard customs inspections and other procedures be followed, even in an emergency ....... “The bottleneck was the fact that the bureaucratic procedures were just so heavy” ..... “So many layers of government and so many departments involved, so many different line ministries involved. We don’t need goods sitting in Kathmandu warehouses. We don’t need goods sitting at the airport. We need them up in the affected areas.” ...... Early complaints said the government had all but disappeared, a criticism that even top officials here acknowledge was fair. ........ “Everyone was panicked, everything was closed, and we all tried to save our own lives,” Purna Bahadur Khadka, joint general secretary of the governing Nepali Congress, said in an interview at the prime minister’s official residence. “And some critics can say there was no proper coordination for the first two days.” ...... And that is when, Western aid officials say, government officials began insisting that a list of rules must be followed, even for emergency relief supplies. ..... it was a problem that the United States intended to help fix, as a huge C-17 transport plane unloaded a UH-17 helicopter and, separately, four Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft flew into Nepal on Sunday to help carry supplies from Kathmandu to devastated rural areas. ....... But even that help had been delayed .... “We’ve been sitting on a ramp in Okinawa for the last 72 hours,” waiting for permission to land at Kathmandu ...... “The accusations are false,” Mr. Rijal said in a telephone interview. “It would be better if the U.N. involved itself more in its duties rather than engaging in criticizing the government.” ...........

delays were occurring not only at the Kathmandu airport but at border crossings with India and even at district headquarters across the country
, and Nepalese journalists have quoted customs officials at the Indian border crossings as affirming that relief supplies needed to “go through strict inspections.” ......... “Planting season is six weeks away, and if you miss that you’ll need to deliver food aid for another three months,” he said. “The monsoon is coming in eight weeks. So it’s very precarious.” ...... Anil Kumar Thakur, the chief district officer of Bhaktapur District, said bureaucratic requirements had prevented most distributions of cash under a plan to compensate families who suffered deaths. ..... “Although we have already started to distribute cash relief, it is not going well,” Mr. Thakur added. “It requires verification letters from police and other documents that establishes relations with the deceased one.” ...... The bureaucracy and political machinery in Nepal are unusually independent of each other

Earthquake-Devastated Nepal Toll to Climb 'Much Higher'

the toll will jump once teams reached far-flung villages feared flattened in the worst quake to hit the impoverished Himalayan nation in more than 80 years. ...... In the hardest-hit districts of Gorkha and Sindhupalchowk, almost 90 percent of the mostly stone and mud homes have been destroyed .... the tonnes of foreign aid pouring into Nepal was being held up by red tape. ...... numerous reports of many getting stuck at Kathmandu's small international airport, and customs officials stopping trucks filled with aid from crossing into the country from neighbouring India. ...... The Red Cross has warned of "total devastation" in far-flung places, where whole villages have been destroyed and survivors are sleeping in the open..... The UN's situation report says teams that have arrived in Gorkha have discovered a "dire need for shelter, particularly tents and blankets".

Runway damage hits Nepal aid plan
Survivors feel abandoned at dark heart of Nepal quake

"The ground still shakes a little every day. We don't know when we are alive, when we are dead," Gopal Gurung told AFP in the village of Laprak as an Indian helicopter delivered supplies. .... "We are not protected, it is raining all the time, (we don't) know what can happen. Scared, people scared now," he said in broken English.

Treacherous journey to epicenter of deadly Nepal earthquake

At a local grocery store, we meet a group from a village further up the mountain. They've been walking down to the road every day since the quake hit to try to get assistance, but so far none has arrived. ...... The little aid we do see is generated by the community. We encounter 10 friends who say they have driven 100 km (62 miles) on their motorbikes to distribute supplies. ...... Ninety-five percent of the homes here are destroyed -- those that survived are made of brick and concrete, as opposed to the stone and timber construction that predominates. ...... Even here, at the earthquake's epicenter, aid has been frustratingly slow in arriving.

One of the few signs of assistance is an Indian army medical team, treating the infected head wound of an injured girl, who cries as they insert stitches.

How India’s Media Reported #GoHomeIndianMedia
#GoHomeIndianMedia: Here's why Nepalis are mad as hell at the Indian press
#GoHomeIndianMedia: When Indian smugness meets Nepal's thin-skinned nationalism
A Nepali's Angry Letter Shows Why #GoHomeIndianMedia became Top Twitter Trend
Nitish Kumar prays at Buddhist temple for quake victims
Janata Dal (United) to Raise Centre's Advisory to Nitish Kumar Not to Go to Nepal, in Parliament

Our faith in authority is fading as we start to rebuild Nepal ourselves

This day, 25 April 2015, would be the dark day our generation would talk about for the rest of our lives, like my grandparents did about 1934. ...... the ripple effects of not having elected local representatives in village and district councils are already being felt by those who were spared death but not destruction in the earthquake. Many families are returning empty-handed from local authorities’ offices ..... Last week, I met several families in Sindhupalchok – one of the worst-hit districts, about 43 miles (70km) east of Kathmandu – who were all agitated by the state’s negligence. A local schoolteacher demanded to know why they had still not received a single tarpaulin sheet, despite the money and relief materials pouring in from all over the world. ...... These sentiments aren’t surprising given how little faith we now have in the state. Whether it was the landslide in Sindhupalchok last year, or the 2013 flood in Darchula in western Nepal, we have seen the government’s inability to help the victims live a dignified life in the aftermath of a disaster. And even now it is the communities in these districts who have been fending for themselves. ....... As I walk past the potholed roads of my neighbourhood, with some sections exposing the underground rusty pipes always being tinkered with by some department or other, I am reminded of how last week’s earthquake will accentuate already existing problems – water supply, power shortage, health services, hygiene, sanitation and security. A nearby bridge, damaged by the monsoon in 2008, was only rebuilt last year. If this rebuilding process is marred like several others in the past, the communities already living on the fringes of the society will be pushed further to the margins in the aftermath of the disaster. ........ Despite the despair, we Nepalis have shown remarkable resilience and kindness. In Sindhupalchok, I interviewed an 87-year-old lady who had survived the big quake of 1934 and now lives under a tarpaulin sheet after her house was completely razed. Saying farewell, she offered me money and something to eat on my way back home. ....... For Nepalis of my generation, adolescence was marked by the decade-long armed conflict and then by the subsequent years of prolonged political transition. Last week’s devastating earthquake, and the government’s faltering relief distribution, has angered many of us. However, as grim as their own situation might be, many young Nepalis have come together to support those who are most in need. ....... Whether it is accumulating the data about those most in need or ferrying whatever little supply they can in their two-wheelers across the windy roads of Sindhupalchok and Dhading, the social media-savvy generation of Nepalis have stepped in to fill some of the gaps in our disaster relief mechanism on the ground.

Why is Indian media facing a backlash in Nepal?

India is leading the search-and-rescue efforts with 704 personnel on the ground, followed by China (168), Bangladesh (140) and the US (120). ..... "The shrillness, jingoism, exaggerations, boorishness and sometimes mistakes in coverage have rankled the host community," Kanak Mani Dixit, editor of the highly respected Himal magazine, tells me. ..... So when hordes of young Indian journalists from hundreds of news TV channels are flung into covering a big news event in the neighbourhood, the deficiencies show. For many, says a senior Kathmandu-based editor, the first stop is the Indian embassy to pick up the cues that often end up colouring the coverage. ..... Also, many say, Indian media's overdependence on access-based journalism means that a disproportionate amount of coverage often ends up on eulogising how their government and its agencies handle crises - there was similar criticism of the media's coverage by flood-affected people in the Kashmir Valley last year. Some channels also pretty openly identify themselves with the ruling government and the bias is amply reflected in the coverage. ...... Prannoy Roy, chief of India's leading NDTV news channel worries, "Why is India becoming 'no country for honest journalism'?"

The latest in Nepal: Canadian aid flights to Nepal resume; Centenarian pulled from quake rubble

Questions over the ability to land Globemasters, which can carry 75 tonnes of troops and equipment, threatened to throw a major wrench into a relief mission already struggling to operate across massive distances. Using the Globemasters, Canada expected to need 48 hours to complete a single one-way flight from Canada to Kathmandu. The alternative was to fly C-130 Hercules that are smaller and slower with less cargo capacity....... Canadians on the ground have been moving toward Sindhupalchok, one of the most heavily-affected regions int he quake. “We’re pushing an initial medical capability out there,” said Lt.-Cmdr. Kelly Williamson, spokeswoman for the Nepal mission. Troops have worked alongside NGOs like the World Food Programme and Save The Children. ....... Canada has purchased five Globemasters since 2007, the most recent bought for $415-million, to bolster its strategic airlift capacity. ...... Nepal is urging foreign rescuers to return home or go to rural areas saying most of the rescue work is over and the remaining operation can be handled by local workers. ...... Since the April 25 earthquake, 4,050 rescue workers from 34 different nations have flown to Nepal to help in rescue operations, provide emergency medical care and distribute food and other necessities. At least 7,276 people were killed and 14,267 injured in the quake.

Nepal Asks Foreign Rescuers to Leave as Hopes Fade

“We have already asked them to go home,” Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, a Home Ministry spokesman, said on Monday, adding that roughly half of the 4,000 foreign rescuers had already left. “I think all the rescuers will go to their respective countries by Friday.” ...... Some of the teams, however, said they had no intention of leaving immediately. ...... The leader of a large Spanish team, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he had not been authorized by his embassy to speak publicly, said that Nepal’s government would soon divide Kathmandu, the capital, into sectors so that various teams would have responsibility for specific parts of the city. In the early days of the rescue effort, teams often ended up searching the same sites because of a lack of coordination. ...... “We have the technology for surveying under the rubble; we have dogs that sniff people out,” the team leader said. “And we have other kinds of techniques.” ..... Dr. Ian Norton, head of the World Health Organization’s program of foreign medical teams, praised the government’s announcement, which he said would free up airport and other resources. ....... “More is not better at this point,” Dr. Norton said. “If you’re not contributing, you need to make way for those who are.” ..... about 50 foreign medical teams comprising nearly 10,000 people had saved hundreds of lives and even more limbs. ....... “I’m not saying rescue teams are bad, but there needs to be a balance,” Dr. Norton said. “This announcement by the Nepali government is completely appropriate.” .....Mr. Dhakal explained that many of the rescue teams refused to take part in the dreary and sickening task of recovering dead bodies from the still-towering piles of rubble in some parts of Kathmandu, “so their relevance is now over.”

Chinese Security Force to Repair Damaged Nepal Highway

Why Is The Kathmandu Airport Blacktop, Why Not Concrete?

Sunday, May 03, 2015

Time For The People To Revolt Against Corruption

माफी माग अनि फिर्ता लैजाऊ भारतीय सेना !

नेपालमा मन्त्रीपरिषदको बैठक बसेर कुन राष्ट्रबाट सहयोग लिने र कुनबाट नलिने भन्नेबारे निर्णय लिन समेत नपाउँदै भारतीय प्रधानमन्त्रीको निर्देशनमा ‘उद्धार गर्छौं र राहत पुर्‍याउँछौं’ भन्दै एकाएक भारतीय सेना नेपाल भित्रनु अनि कुनै पनि राजनीतिक दलले त्यसको प्रतिवाद नगर्नु आफैंमा उदेकलाग्दो विडम्बना भएको छ ।

विदेशी उद्दार टोलीलाई फिर्ता पठाउने सरकारको निर्णय

गृहमन्त्रालयका प्रवक्ता लक्ष्मीप्रसाद ढकालले बाँकी खोज तथा उद्दारको काम नेपाली जनशक्तिले नै गर्ने पनि जनाएका छन् । गत शनिबार आएको महाभूकम्पपछि ३४ देशबाट ४ हजार ५० जनाको खोज तथा उद्दार टोली नेपाल आएका छन् ।

Some people are offended India was the first to arrive on the scene!

Relief work has not even started yet in most parts of the country, and they are asking the relief workers to pack their bags!

A Corrupt Elite Rattled By The Earthquake

भारतले विमानस्थल ‘होल्ड’ गरेको अमेरिकी गुनासो, ४ अमेरिकी विमान काठमाडौं अोर्लिए

नेपाल सरकारको निकम्मापन र गैर जिम्मेवारीपन कदम कदम मा देखिएको छ।

यथार्थ: सचिव श्रेष्ठले १९६ टनभन्दा बढी तौलको सामान बोकेर त्रिभुवन विमानस्थलमा विमान अवतरण गर्न नमिल्ने भएकाले राहत बोकेका केही विमानलाई फर्काइएको प्रधानमन्त्री कार्यालयलाई जवाफ दिएका छन् ।

भनिएको: भारतले विमानस्थल ‘होल्ड’ गरेको अमेरिकी गुनासो

यथार्थ: नेपालमा रहेका १४ वटा भारतीय हेलिकोप्टर ..... ‘यी हेलिकोप्टर सधैंका लागि आएका हुन् कि जस्तो गरी बसेका छन्, हामीले खटाएको ठाउँमा जाँदैनन्, नखटाएको ठाउँमा आफूखुशी जान्छन्, विमानस्थलमा ट्राफिक जाम यिनैले गराएका हुन् ।’ ..... भारतबाट ल्याइएका १४ मध्ये ६ वटा काठमाडौंमा छन् भने पोखरा विमानस्थलमा ८ वटा हेृलिकोप्टर छन् । तर, गोरखामा समेत उद्दार गर्ने भनेर पोखरा लगिएका ती भारतीय हेलिकोप्टरहरुले गोरखाको निशेषधित गणेश हिमाल एरियामा जानुबाहेक जिल्ला प्रशासनको संयोजनमा कुनै काम गरेका छैनन् । ........... सरकारका एक उच्च अधिकारीले अनलाइनखबरलाई दिएको जानकारी अनुसार ८ वटा हेलिकोप्टर लिएर पोखरामा बसेका भारतीयहरु प्रमुख जिल्ला अधिकारीसँग समन्वय गर्नु त के उनीहरुलाई सोधीखोजी सम्म गर्दैनन् । ........ नेपालसँग निजी क्षेत्रका ६ र सरकारी ६ गरी १२ वटा हेलिकोप्टर छन् । ...... नेपालमा भूकम्प आएपछि १४ वटा हेलिकोप्टरमा मात्रै होइन, महेन्द्रनगर, भैरहवा लगायतका नाकाबाटसमेत भारतीय सीमा सुरक्षा बलका जवानहरु दर्जनौं बसहरु लिएर छिरेका छन् । तर, उनीहरुको गतिविधिबारे स्थानीय प्रशासनसँग कुनै समन्वय र सूचना नभएको स्थानीय अधिकारीले प्रधानमन्त्री कार्यालयमा गुनासो गरेको ..... स्थानीय प्रशासनलाई हेप्दै निषेधित क्षेत्रमा प्रवेश गरेर उनीहरुले सूचना लिने काम गरिरहेका छन् ...... चीनबाट भोलि विहान हेलिकोप्टर आउने ...... नेपाल सरकारले जिल्ला जिल्लामा गएर स्थानीय प्रशासनसँग समन्वय गरी नेपाल सरकारले खाएको ठाउँमा काम नगर्ने विदेशी टोलीलाई स्वदेश फर्कन आग्रह गरेको छ । ..... ‘विभिन्न १७० वटा आइएनजीओहरुले नेपालमा काम गर्न खोजे पनि उनीहरुले आफ्नै तालमा काम गर्न खोजेको देखियो,’ समाज कल्याण मन्त्रालय स्रोत भन्छ- केही आइएनजीओहरुले यही मौकामा नेपालमा अड्डा जमाउने र क्रिश्चियन धर्म प्रचारमा काम गर्ने योजना बनाएको समेत बुझियो ।’

If this were not having impact, I would have dismissed it saying you can't be paying attention to tabloids. But this is not tabloid sentiment. This attitude is having a huge impact.

The rulers of Nepal don't just have problems with Indians, they are eager to kick out hundreds of people who have come from all over the world to help.

These are people who are frustrated that if the help goes directly to the people, there is not going to be much room for corruption. If you are an Indian, or an American, or if you are a Non Resident Nepali in America, should this not be your first priority to confront these people? This attitude is hampering relief and reconstruction work more than anything else. This attitude is the real earthquake to have hit Nepal.

Nepal has 12 helicopters. Indian sent in 14. That is help. There is rejoicing on China sending in one. That feels disproportionate. China wanted to send four or six helicopters on day two, Bamdev refused. How do you explain that?

Confronting these people has got to be top priority.

#GoHomeIndianMedia

#GoHomeIndianMedia http://t.co/QowmPSqfDB @DrunkVinodMehta @kishorenepal @gunaraj @KanakManiDixit @PriyankaKarky @ibnlive @dhume
— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) May 3, 2015

#GoHomeIndianMedia http://t.co/QowmPSqfDB @thekiranbedi @UjjwalAcharya
— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) May 3, 2015

#DoNotComeBackIndianMedia

Apparently these two hashtags started trending on Twitter. The Indian media apparently was disliked in both Nepal and India.

I do not know what exactly is being talked about. What particular coverage, what article. I have yet to come across any article in the Indian newspapers I would disapprove of. So the reference must be to TV. What footage? I have not seen anyone elaborate.

Two snippets I caught. (1) A TV journalist stands next to a survivor and asks, "How are you feeling?" (2) An Indian journalist confronts a Nepali policeman at the Pokhara airport saying, "Who are you to stop me?"

India has bee the first and the largest donor. Modi was the first to respond. The Indian government has been doing exemplary work. The Indian corporate houses have been stepping in. State governments have been stepping in. Bollywood stars have stepped in. Ordinary Indians across the country have been generously donating.

Media coverage is what makes all this possible. And TV is the most powerful medium. The help that comes from the Indian government is paid for by the Indian taxpayers. The Indian taxpayers have a right to know where their money is going. And the media helps communicate.

My worry has been some idiot will blow up some cafe somewhere and the global media will rapidly lose attention in Nepal and the donations will slow down. Happened in Haiti. The world was very interested for a few days, and, as always happens, the media got fascinated by something else.

So don't be ungrateful. Thank the Indian media that they keep covering Nepal. You should pray they don't stop. Because relief work has not even begun. Reconstruction is far away.

That Pokhara airport incident: I have a feeling the police officer might have talked to the Indian journalist the way he might have talked to a Madhesi before. India is a vibrant democracy. The media there takes pride in challenging authority. Also, the state might have been trying to prevent Indian journalists from getting to parts where relief work has not reached yet. That cover up is not something a media person would be interested in. But then I don't know the particular details.

This knee-jerk xenophobia is by people whose houses are still standing and who subscribe to the Bamdev brand of "nationalism" where as long as you can badmouth India, you can be corrupt, you can be in bed with the mafia, and nobody cares.

An appropriate hashtag to trend in Nepal would be #ThankYouModi -- another would be #NepalthanksModi --- European countries thanked him for Yemen. It is not beneath Nepal to thank Modi, currently the most popular politician in the world.

After his second Nepal visit Modi said, "ट्रस्ट डेफिसिट जितना कम होगा, काम उतना जल्दी जल्दी होगा।" The guy feels it. After all, look at where he rose from. He was selling tea as a young boy. He was trying to do so much for Nepal, and people like Bame kept getting in his way. He is the busiest person on the planet. He doesn't have time to handhold you while you are busy nursing your xenophobia.

बुद्ध ले मोक्ष प्राप्ति गरेको गया मा --- गया पर्छ बिहारमा ---- बिहार पर्छ भारतमा ---- बुद्ध भारतको होइन भनेर कस्ले भन्न सक्छ? बुद्ध जन्मेको बेला नेपाल भन्ने देश थिएन। बुद्ध काठमाण्डुमा जन्मेको होइन। त्यति बेलाको नेपाल भनेको काठमाण्डु होइन? बुद्ध मधेसी। बुद्ध लाई आफ्नो भन्न चाहने ले मधेसी समावेशी राज्य (state) को निर्माण मा खुट्टा घिसारन सुहाउँछ? तिब्बती शरणार्थी लाई बुटले कुलचनेले बुद्ध लाई आफ्नो नभन्ने।

काशी लाई नेपाली ले सधैं आफ्नै भनेको छ --- पशुपति लाई भारत ले आफ्नो भन्यो, के बिगार गर्यो?

एक एक हप्ता सम्म तामांग को बस्तीमा आफुले राहत पनि नपुर्याउने अर्काले पुर्याउन खोजे रोकने हरुको hashtag हो यो Indian Go Home भन्ने hastag.

Use The Delhi, Patna, Lucknow And Calcutta Airports

Why only use the Kathmandu airport? Why not also make use of the much better airports in Delhi, Patna, Lucknow and Calcutta? Then get the stuff into the country by train and trucks. You could haul more stuff that way.

Saturday, May 02, 2015

Outlines Of A 100% Online Transparency Bill

(Subject to a wide review and discussion)

100% Online Transparency For The 2015 Earthquake Relief And Reconstruction Act

All funds and materials sent in, mobilized and earmarked for relief and reconstruction work by any and all actors including the Nepal government and the foreign governments will be subject to 100% online transparency through a website managed by a large number of Nepali volunteers globally.
All pledges will be accounted for. The date of the pledge and the date when the funds were actually made available will be noted. The funds will be managed by the respective actors - governments and NGOs - but they will be subject to the 100% online transparency rules as a matter of law.
Organizations that spend 5% or less on administrative work will be highlighted at the site and will be displayed on social media channels for further fundraising.
Organizations that can connect individual donors globally to individuals families that are directly benefiting from that particular donation, complete with pictures and video clips shared on social media, will be displayed prominently on social media channels for further fundraising.
Just like with the crowd sourced map of the on ground damage, relief and reconstruction work will be displayed on a rich multimedia map for the world to see. Every participating organization - governments and NGOs - must participate to tell the world what they did, where, and at what expense, in as real a time as possible, but always within a week.
The IT volunteers managing the website should have a coordination committee of at least 51 people with a representative from each of the 51 largest donors, of which only half maybe government donors. Another 50 IT volunteers maybe added to that from among Nepalis across the world. This coordination committee will try and build a large army of social media enthusiasts who will help spread the word on relief and reconstruction work by widely sharing pictures and video clips of work as it gets done.
This act has been passed by the parliament of Nepal in an emergency session called for this very purpose.