INDICATIONS MONSOON HAS ENDED

INDICATIONS MONSOON HAS ENDED

Kathmandu, 2 Oct.: There are indications the year’s monsoon
has retreated over the Valley although an official announcement of annual rain hasn’t been announced.
The capital experienced two days light, short shower accompanied by sunshine--- a sign of the end of rain--the last two days Friday
and Saturday.
BBC reported Sunday the last monsoon shower retreated from neighbouring India in the south.
Nnnn

SUNDAY IS FIFTH DAY OF DASAIN

Kathmandu, 2 Oct.: Devotees flocked Bhagwati temples Sunday
on the fifth day of Dasain Sunday.
Tika is on Thursday.
Nnnn

PM BAHATTARAI VISITING INDIA 21 OCT.

Kathmandu, 2 Oct. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai is visiting India from 21 October, Chief Political Advisor Debendra Paudel said.
A 1950 and 1965 agreements between the two countries will be
discussed, Paudel said.
Preparations are afoot to announce commitment to protest foreign investment.
Following the India visit, discussions will be held whether to invite the Chinese prime minister Hu Jintao to Nepal or if Bhattarai should visit Beijing.
Bhattarai has just completed one month in office and returned
from his maiden foreign visit; he addressed the annual session of the UN general assembly.
nnnn

LOAD-SHEDDING TO BE RESTRICTED TO FIVE HOURS IN WINTER

Kathmandu, 2 Oct. Load-shedding in coming winter will be
restricted five hours a day even by importing 200mw electricity from India where he’ll discuss power import, Prime Minister Baburam
Bhattarai said Saturday.
He ruled out establishment of thermal plants to meet perennial energy shortage during the peak winter dry season from December to April.
The premier said he’ll discuss power import during his forthcoming India visit.
Power cuts peaked to 18 hours every day in winter last year.
Nnnn

MADESHI LEADERS DON’T KNOW OF MADESHI STRENGTH IN NA



Kathmandu, 2 Oct.: Much has been written about low presence of people from the Madhesi community in the Nepal Army (NA), which is frequently bashed publicly, especially by Madhes-based parties, for defying the call for inclusiveness in the new Nepal, Shreejana Shrestha reports.

Making NA inclusive was also one of the major points in the deal reached between the Maoists and Madhes-based parties for lining up the latter´s support behind the current coalition.
But what is the actual number of Madhesis currently serving in the national army? And by extension, is the problem of exclusion in NA as serious as it is made out to be?

When Republica contacted top leaders of Madhes-based parties to learn about their take on the issue, their information was found to be greatly at variance with the real state of representation of Madhesis in NA.

Chairman of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Republican (MPRF-R) J.P. Gupta was taken aback when Republica asked him about Madhesi representation in the army.

“The numerical strength of the army is 93,000, but the presence of Madhesi is just around 800. So how can we call this institution inclusive?” asked Gupta, who has always made it a point to call for more inclusiveness.

He even accused NA of being the most un-inclusive institution in the country.

“It will take more than 20 years to significantly increase the presence of Madhesis in the army if the current reservations policy is continued. Of all the state institutions, the army is the least inclusive,” he argued.

But data from the army suggests otherwise. There are 6,544 personnel of Madhesi origin in the army. “Ours is an inclusive institution, though we have always striven to make it more inclusive still,” said NA Spokesperson Ramindra Chhetri.

So why this discrepancy? It seems the Madhesi leaders are only talking about a battalion called Naya Sabuj Gan, which was formed for Madhesi recruits. This separate battalion, set up like other battalions for specific ethnic groups, currently has 850 personnel.

The argument of Minister for Physical Planning and Works and Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party leader Hridayesh Tripathi, who has been vociferously demanding mass recruitment of Madhesis into the army, also showed poor knowlede of Madhesi representation in NA.

“There are only 854 Madhesi in NA. It is necessary to increase that number to 10,000 to give it a national character,” he said.

Similar was the argument of Upendra Yadav, chairman of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (MPRF). “The presence of the Madhesis is nominal. It must be 500 to 700,” he said.

NA has four battalions with personnel from specific ethnic groups: Naya Sabuj Battalion for Madhesis, Kali Bahadur Battalion for Gurungs, Purano Gorakh Battalion for Magars and Ripumardan Battalion for Rais.

“Over 90 percent of personnel in these battalions are from the respective ethnic groups. These ethic groups also have representation at headquarters, and in different battalions, companies and other units,” said NA Spokesperson Chhetri.

Rameshowor Raya Yadav, Senior Vice-chairman of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D), argued that the Madhesis are in technical positions and should not be counted as soldiers.

But the total numerical strength of the army, which is 92,753, includes both technical and regular personal.

According to data, of the 6,544 Madhesi personnel, 6,142 serve as regular soldiers, 127 as technicians and 275 as recruits.

Of 36 Madhesis serving at officer level, one is a brigadier general, two are colonels, two lieutenant colonels, seven majors, two acting majors, eight captains, four acting captains, nine lieutenants and one second lieutenant.

After the government introduced an inclusion policy through the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, NA has recruited 1,758 personnel.

As per the new policy, 55 percent were recruited under free competition, and 45 were allocated for inclusion quotas.

Under the inclusion quotas, 32 percent are allocated for various ethnicities, 28 percent for Madhesis, 20 percent for women, 15 percent for Dalits and the remaining 5 percent for backward groups.

During the fist phase of recruitment in April 19, 2010 after introduction of the quota system, 898 were recruited into NA: 289 females, 385 from various ethnic groups, 84 Madhesis, 120 Dalits and 20 from backward regions.

Similarly, under the second phase, the total number of vacancies announced under the Madhesi quota in various categories was 438. The total number of applicants was 1,136 and of these, 73 managed to pass the exams, according to data from the Directorate of Public Relations

Army officials argue that the number of applicants under the reserved quota is very low and the applicants also fail to qualify.

They argue that it would take another five decades to bring the number of Madhesis in the army to 10,000, given the low numbers of applicants and candidates who qualify.
Nnnn

NUCLEAR REPLACING JOINT FAMILY
Kathmandu, 2 Oct.:2: Nuclear families are rapidly emerging in Nepali society like never before, signaling an end to a glorious era of joint families, Om Astha Rai reports in Republica.

If the recent preliminary report of the census-2011 is anything to go by, joint families, one of unique characteristics of oriental society, are breaking down in Nepal, resulting in the rise of nuclear families.
“The long-cherished culture of joint families is clearly on the verge of collapse,” says Dr Padam Khatiwada, a demographer. “The last decade has witnessed a rise of nuclear families.”

Shrinking family sizes

The new census report puts Nepal´s average household size at 4.70. In simple terms, every Nepali family has an average of 4-5 members. In urban area, the average household size has further shrunk to 4.05.

Ten years ago, Nepal´s average household size was 5.44. This is the first time that Nepal´s average household size has declined below five. For the four consecutive decades, from 1971 to 2001, Nepal had maintained an average household size of more than 5.3.

More interestingly, Kathmandu, the only metropolitan city of Nepal, has an average household size of just 3.71. This clearly shows that the Kathmandu society consists of more nuclear families than elsewhere in the country.

“If you look at a particular household size of Kathmandu, you can observe the emergence of a new trend here,” says Dr Rudra Suwal, director, Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

“Until a decade ago, Kathmandu had a significant number of joint families. Today, there are only father, mother and two children in most of families in this city.”

Unlike in Kathmandu, several districts in Nepal´s Tarai, mostly inhabited by Muslim communities, which are averse to family planning despite growing awareness, still have high average household sizes. Districts like Rautahat, Bara and Kapilvastu have average household sizes of over six. Rautahat has the largest household size of 6.33.

This clearly reasserts the fact that the trend of nuclear families has a lot to do with individualism. “The level of individualism, which is an intrinsic characteristic of developed societies, is higher in Kathmandu than anywhere else in the country,” says Dr Khatiwada, adding, “This is why Kathmandu has the strikingly lowest average household size.”

Over the last 10 years, the number of households has increased to 5.6 million in Nepal. In the previous census-2011, the number of households was just 4.4 million. The past decade has witnessed an increment of almost 23 per cent in the number of Nepal´s households.

The decadal change in the number of households appears much faster in comparison to the decadal growth rate of Nepal´s population. In the last 10 years, Nepal´s population has increased only by 14.99 percent.

Driving factors

Dr Krishna Bhattachan, one of Nepal´s outspoken sociologists, does not really believe in the statistics of the CBS. “I have always termed the CBS report as unreliable,” says Dr Bhattachan. “The CBS has further lost its credibility this time around. Enumerators mobilized by the CBS did not count many people. They did not come to my house.”

In spite of not fully trusting the CBS report, Dr Bhattachan does not disagree with the rising phenomenon of nuclear families in Nepal. “I have closely observed that joint families are fast disintegrating. The rise of nuclear families is the order of the day,” Dr Bhattachan says.

So, what really led to the rise of nuclear families? What really turned the concept of joint families into a myth? Dr Bhattachan says, “Several factors like urbanization, migration, education, imitation of western values and declining fertility rates have led to this new trend.”

As per the recent report of National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS)-2011, every Nepali woman gives birth to an average of just 2.6 babies, today. And, almost two million people have migrated to foreign countries. These two factors have clearly shrunk family sizes.

“Those who have migrated to foreign countries, especially to the west, have learned western values of individualism and freedom,” Dr Bhattachan says. “They love to live in smaller families. Therefore, the ages-old concept of an extended family, which consists of grandfathers, grandmothers, uncles, aunts and nieces, is now in peril.”

According to Dr Bhattachan, Nepali society started flirting with the idea of nuclear families after 1950 when Nepal opened up to the western world. The end of a dark political era in 1990 further exposed Nepali people to western values of financial independence, free-wheeling life and individualism. The new census report, regarding household size, is nothing but a manifestation of Nepali society´s affairs with the concept of nuclear families.
nnnn



________________________________________







________________________________________








________________________________________