THE HIMALAYAN UNIVERSE

On Tuesday, June 24 afternoon a child of 2.5 years age fell into the crevices of Seti River in Pokhara, valley famous for its Annapurna Range of Himalayas and the Lakes. Despite all efforts by different specialized rescue teams, including Nepal Army and Police squads, the child could not be brought out from the death trap. The crevice was simply too narrow and it was not possible for big guys to adventure any further from 20 ft. The child was believed to have rested at 65 feet from the surface outside. So, Kamal Nepali, 12 years old school boy, who liked gymnastics in his school, agreed to go down to take the child, up on his brother's request. Kamal's brother told him - that there is a child like our own sister, who needs help. After the rescue team's briefing on him and preparations with a bag, walki-talkie and torch, the boy descended, negotiated the narrow hole, reached the child, lifted her, put her in the bag, signalled the team he was ready and was pulled up. The b...

The following paragraphs have some more info on the context of Decentralization Support Programme in Nepal, taken from this link . Region: Asia Thematic Focus: Constitutional Reform, Popular Participation Country: Nepal Context UNDP has been supporting the process of decentralization in Nepal since 1982, initially supporting the formulation of the Decentralization Act. In 1989, UNDP project entitled "Strengthening Decentralization Planning" assisted the government in preparing the currently existing local government laws and national policies related to decentralization, rural development, and NGOs, including the District Development Act, Village Development Act, and the Municipal Act. The "Supporting Decentralization in Nepal" project, funded by UNDP and executed by the government through its national planning commission secretariat, was approved in January 1993 and is now completed. The "Supporting Decentralization in Nepal" project was formulated to add...

The following email note is publicly available. Here is a good discussion on the definition of governance. The information is taken from this link . From::::: paul.lundberg@un.org.pk To::::: magnet@undp.org Date::::: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 21:20:42 PKT Subject :: Re: Food for Thought - A Definition of Governance Dear Magnet, Some of our colleagues have argued, vociferously in one case, that defining governance is an academic exercise that should not concern us practitioners. I disagree with that view. I believe that it is essential that we understand what we are talking about and agree among ourselves about the nature of our subject. To start my comment, I would like to submit an alternate definition of governance. This definition was created by Dr. Elinor Ostrom, a professor of political science and a lifelong student of common property resource management issues. She defines governance quite simply as the "regularized ways of ordering human societies at all levels of organization...

The following number of articles have some insights in Decentralization. The link is here . Commune Councils By Molly Ball The Cambodia Daily The Feb 3 commune council elections were widely hailed as a major step toward grassroots democracy in Cambodia. But that goal won't happen overnight. "If people really think they're going to get 100 percent of local governments functioning right away that's never happened anywhere," said Scott Leiper, a UN adviser to the government on decentralization. The massive amount of work that must be done to get 1,621 commune councils up and running will be complicated by the fact that many details of how the councils will proceed are still unclear. "On election day, Cambodians went to vote for a system of government that has yet to be fully defined," said Eric Kessler of the National Democratic Institute. Critics say this uncertainty is ripe for exploitation by the central government. Participants in the process say the go...

Here is an interesting interview with Paul Lundberg on Decentralization published in the Cambodia Daily. The link to the article is here . People in Power Translating the Commune Council's New Powers from Paper By Molly Ball The Cambodia Daily Ang Leng, 42, shows off the ink-blackened finger that proves he voted in the Feb 3 commune elections at Toul Tumpong Pagoda in Phnom Penh. While many Cambodians voted enthusiastically for the promises of their local candidates, it is still not clear what the newly elected councils will actually be empowered to do. Decentralization has become a fashionable political reform around the world, and Cambodia's efforts to move power and authority to the local level make it the next country to join the movement. But in some ways, Cambodia's program is unique. Paul Lundberg, an expert on local government who has worked in Asia for 20 years, said he has never before seen a governmental structure like Cambodia's, where the national and loca...

This is the second article on decentralization by Paul Lundberg. This is taken from www.sudanjem.com and the article link is here . Decentralized Governance and a Human Rights-based Approach to Development (10) 16.09.07 - 07:33:57 By Paul Lundberg Independent Consultant The issue of human rights has not figured prominently in the ongoing discussion on decentralization. In part, this is because human rights advocates have focused their attention on getting central governments to accept the basic HR principles. Human rights advocates have only recently begun to consider the effects of decentralizing decision-making power to lower levels of government. As they begin to focus on this growing political phenomenon, they are increasingly recognizing that such process creates new opportunities to promote HR as well as threats to protection. Indeed, issues of justice, accountability, poverty reduction, employment/livelihood, environment, women and children are fundamental concerns of local deve...

Paul Lundberg had a lot of discussions over the concepts of Human Rights-based Approach to Development in a number of articles. Since Paul was involved in Nepal in developing the concept of bringing government closer to people in the form of several decentralization projects, we thought these concepts are very timely and relevant for developing the New Nepal Development Framework for any one. These articles are simpe and fun to read. Concept of decentralized local governance was introduced in Nepal actually after the restoration of democracy in 1990 by "Jana Andolan I". The first project was Strengthening Decentralized Planning, which got drastic face change in its second incarnation "Decentralization Support Project". This project was transformed into a "Participatory District Development Programme" in 1995. It was during the Decentralization Support Project (1992-1995) that an innovative GIS was also developed that first time demonstrated the utility of ...

The news below is from The Hindu (daily) from India about the pest control on Moringa Oliefera Tree. The original source of the article is given here . Control of leaf eating caterpillar in Moringa Moringa oleifera is famous as a vegetable used in southern Indian dishes due to its unique taste and medicinal properties and it is also a highly renumerative commercial crop for farmers. Serious pest A specific pest called leaf eating caterpillar Noorda blitealis earlier considered as a minor pest usually infests the crops during during December-January over south India, and is causing serious problems because of its high population buildup. Females lay creamy, oval eggs on leaves, which hatch in 2-3days. Larvae feed on leaflets in a thin silken web on the lower surface. Dried leaves The leaves appear papery and get dried. If left untreated, the whole tree is defoliated. Grown-up larvae pupate in the soil. An adults emerge in 6-9 days and life cycle continues. Severe infestation occurs on n...