Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Links for July 19, 2011
Police personnel in jail for the Sudan scam post their bails---Nepalnews
I do not know how much a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) gets paid. But, apparently, a bank trusts him enough to give a bank guarantee worth Rs 7 million to post bail. The Inspector General of Police (IGP)is still in jail for not being able to post a Rs 50 million in bail. The Assistant-IGP, though, is out of jail after posting a Rs 10 million in bail. Here's a trick question: who is the richest among the three?
Unions already against Finance Minister's "deceptive" pay hike proposal---Nepalnews
The Finance Minister (FM) announced in the budget speech a few days ago that senior level employees would receive a pay raise of 31% and junior level employees will receive a pay raise of 42%. But, employee unions smell a rat in those numbers. They accuse the FM of trying to do away with "dearness allowance" (essentially an inflation allowance). They claim that once the dearness allowance is done away with, the pay raise for junior employees will only be 25%, thus much lower than what the FM is lying to the public with (the 42% figure).
National Planning Commission urges the government to promote biodiesel---Kantipur
NPC suggests that farmers should be given subsidy to plant Jatropha plants whose seeds can produce oil that can be used as a substitute for diesel. I don't agree with the NPC because they are looking at the very short term impact. The United States did the same thing to promote bio-diesel years ago. They gave subsidies to farmers to generate biodiesel from corn (maize). The result was that, yes, the bio-diesel met some demand but it hurt the overall food supply. The same thing will happen in Nepal. In hopes of high return, farmers will stop planting essential crops and start planting Jatropha. This will hurt the already food-deficit country of ours. So, NPC is being short-sighted in this suggestion of theirs. We are a very small country. Trying to solve the petroleum supply problem is not our advantage.
195 toilets for girls built in Baglung schools---Republica
I have read reports that suggested that one of the main reasons girls did not attend schools in poor and developing countries is the lack of toilets for girls in the schools. And, that is understandable. So, it is a good thing that the Ministry of Education and District Education Office of Baglung are doing. They are building toilets for girls in the public schools of Baglung. Good for them, and good for the girls.
Nepal's 2011 Census records "third gender" but with some problems---The New Republic
The article is written by a Fulbright scholar pursuing his research in the LGBTI communities of Nepal. It has anecdotes and highlights some of the problems regarding recording the "third gender" in the census forms. Apparently, the census has two forms, and third genders are recorded only in the first, and not in the second form. This makes the data collection almost useless, almost.
Finally, the pie chart below shows the DFID assistance to Nepal for the 2009/10 period. It is clear that most of it goes to programs that support the issues of governance and growth.
I do not know how much a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) gets paid. But, apparently, a bank trusts him enough to give a bank guarantee worth Rs 7 million to post bail. The Inspector General of Police (IGP)is still in jail for not being able to post a Rs 50 million in bail. The Assistant-IGP, though, is out of jail after posting a Rs 10 million in bail. Here's a trick question: who is the richest among the three?
Unions already against Finance Minister's "deceptive" pay hike proposal---Nepalnews
The Finance Minister (FM) announced in the budget speech a few days ago that senior level employees would receive a pay raise of 31% and junior level employees will receive a pay raise of 42%. But, employee unions smell a rat in those numbers. They accuse the FM of trying to do away with "dearness allowance" (essentially an inflation allowance). They claim that once the dearness allowance is done away with, the pay raise for junior employees will only be 25%, thus much lower than what the FM is lying to the public with (the 42% figure).
National Planning Commission urges the government to promote biodiesel---Kantipur
NPC suggests that farmers should be given subsidy to plant Jatropha plants whose seeds can produce oil that can be used as a substitute for diesel. I don't agree with the NPC because they are looking at the very short term impact. The United States did the same thing to promote bio-diesel years ago. They gave subsidies to farmers to generate biodiesel from corn (maize). The result was that, yes, the bio-diesel met some demand but it hurt the overall food supply. The same thing will happen in Nepal. In hopes of high return, farmers will stop planting essential crops and start planting Jatropha. This will hurt the already food-deficit country of ours. So, NPC is being short-sighted in this suggestion of theirs. We are a very small country. Trying to solve the petroleum supply problem is not our advantage.
195 toilets for girls built in Baglung schools---Republica
I have read reports that suggested that one of the main reasons girls did not attend schools in poor and developing countries is the lack of toilets for girls in the schools. And, that is understandable. So, it is a good thing that the Ministry of Education and District Education Office of Baglung are doing. They are building toilets for girls in the public schools of Baglung. Good for them, and good for the girls.
Nepal's 2011 Census records "third gender" but with some problems---The New Republic
The article is written by a Fulbright scholar pursuing his research in the LGBTI communities of Nepal. It has anecdotes and highlights some of the problems regarding recording the "third gender" in the census forms. Apparently, the census has two forms, and third genders are recorded only in the first, and not in the second form. This makes the data collection almost useless, almost.
Finally, the pie chart below shows the DFID assistance to Nepal for the 2009/10 period. It is clear that most of it goes to programs that support the issues of governance and growth.
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