नेपालमा ज्वालामुखी विस्फोटको सम्भावना छैन-"ज्वालामुखीको हल्ला: आगलागी मात्रै भएको हो– नेपाली सेना, "सक्दो सेयर गरि सबै साथी हरुलाई जानकारी दिलाउ"

नेपाल र चीनको तिब्बत सीमाको लाङटाङ हिमाल फेदीमा आज विहानदेखि धुवांको मुस्लो देखिएपछि नेपाली सेनाले सो क्षेत्रको हवाई निरीक्षण गरी जंगलमा आगलागी भएको जनाएको छ । रसुवाको लाङटाङ क्षेत्रको टिमुरेबाट घोडा तबेला जाने बाटोको रिदिम गाउँ विकास समितिमा धुँवाको मुस्लो देखिएकोमा हवाई निरीक्षणमा गएको नेपाली सेनाको टोलीले आगलागी भएको ठहर गरेको हो । आज विहान १० बजेतिर धुंवाको मुस्लो देखिएपछि लामटाङ राष्ट्रिय निकुञ्जको सुरक्षामा खटिएको सेनाको गणले ज्वालामुखी हुनसक्ने शंका गर्दै सैनिक मुख्यालयमा खबर गरेका थिए।

Credit: Nepal Army (http://www.nepalarmy.mil.np/)

National Workshop Held for Linkages between Stake Holders of Development in Nepal

On July 17-18, Research Center for Applied Science and Technology ( RECAST), Tribhuvan University hosted national workshop where delegates from Nepal, India, Australia and Laos participated to discuss linkages and partnership opportunities among Enterprises, R&D Institutions and Academia/Universities in Nepal.This two day long National workshop on " Linkages and partnerships among Enterprises, R&D Institutions and Academcia/Universities to Foster Innovation and Transfer to Technology" was held on Hotel Grand, Tahachal,Kathmandu.

During the program, the resource persons from Australia, Nepal, India and South Korea presented their views on how we can achieve the goal of linkages between such entities in developing nations. Also, the presenters presented the current scenario of Nepal where we really lacked linkages between academia and industries. The was probably the  first attempt to hold such discussion in Nepal so far. The event had good impact to the audience who were the representatives from Industries as well as Academia including students.

The program was organised by Asian and Pacific Center for Transfer of Technology ( APCTT) of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific ( ESCAP), New Delhi, India and Science and Technology Policy Institute ( STEPI), Seoul, Republic of Korea in co-operation with RECAST. The program was sponsored by Ministry of Science and Technology, Nepal; Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; APCTT-ESCAP; UNDP; Lotus Holdings P. Ltd; University Grand Commission Nepal and Himalayan Distillery P.Ltd. Nepal.

Breaking News: Conflicts occurs as The International Claimed to be Unfair in Nepal

International Karate and Kickboxing Tournament started from May 25 on Pokhara has raised quewstion on the referee as teh participants claimed there was no fair game!! The players attacked the referees and now they are in POlic Costody. Around 1,400 players from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka will compete in the four-day tournament The tournament — to be at the Nepal Table Tennis Training Centre — offers 40 gold medals .The High School Central Committee of the Nepal Karate Federation and Shito-ryu Karate-do is organising the event.

SGAC-Nepal announces call for the application to Team-Nepal to take part in the Find an Asteroid Competition 2012!

SGAC-Nepal announces call for the application for Team-Nepal in the Find An Asteroid Competition which is one  of the SGAC  project. The team will comprise 5 people from Nepal. So if you want to take part  in this competition and find an asteroid which our team can be proud of in coming days, please send me your application ( Latest CV and letter of Motivation) to join Team-Nepal to this great competition by Tuesday, May 29, 2012.

The Search Campaign will last for five weeks (14 August - 18 September, 2012). Make sure that during that time frame you have enough free time to participate in the search and you will need a reliable high speed internet access.

Before the campaign you will have the opportunity to practice the whole process, so do not worry if you think you are not ready yet.

After the Search Campaign you will be asked to provide a short report and present your experience with the search campaign at your local school.

Requirement to apply for the team member for Team-Nepal:

1. Must be SGAC member ( if you know some people who are interested on it but have not registered to SGAC yet please ask them to join SGAC through  http://spacegeneration.org/index.php/get-involved/become-a-member . To become a member you must of at least 18 years old and must not be older than 35 yrs by January 2013.
2. You should have good internet as fast as possible ( you may encounter problems while using UTL and Sky CDMA for internet- ADSL of 128 Kbps or broadband connection is recommended ) connection during the Campaign Dates ( 14 August- 18 September 2012)
3. Should be able to spend at least 1.5 per week for image processing to hunt the asteroid.

Once again, please note that last date for the submission of your application for Team-Nepal is Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Applications received after the deadline will not be entertained. Successful candidates will be notified of of their selection through email.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me at any time.

With best regards,

Suresh Bhattarai,

National Point of Contact (NPoC) for Nepal, 

Space Generation Advisory Council ( SGAC)

Follow-up consultative meeting on Pyramid Workshop 2012 –Nepal held in Kathmandu

A one day programme was organized at held at Women Development Training Center (WDTC), Jawalakhel, Lalitpur, Nepal to set up the strategic framework for implementing Pyramid-2012 Workshop Outcomes which was at CNAS, Kirtipur on April 8, 2012. The programme was organised by Hoste Haise in association with Department of Rural Development of Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus, Jagriti Child and Youth Concern Nepal (JCYCN), Volunteer Aid Nepal and Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC)-Nepal.

The five hours programme was moderated by Dr. Rishi Shah, Academician at Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and Advisor at Hoste Hainse. The programme was divided to three sections: Introduction cum brainstorming, discussion and conclusion/remarks. Sharmila Ranabhat, Head of Department of Rural Development at Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus put light on the outcomes and the importance of such programmes to utilize the potential of youth in our country.  Dr. Shah brainstormed the participants of the meeting to empower them for the constructive outcomes of the meeting. For the second session, the participants were divided into two groups and assign the area of work as agriculture and education which was decided after an hour long brainstorming by Dr. Shah.  The Framework of each working group was presented to the participants and invited experts.  The Agriculture working groups formulated their strategic framework for the goat-farming in Nepal while the education working group worked out their contribution to implement the Children and Zone of Peace (CZOP) Policy formulated few years back by the government of Nepal.

 Prof. Riddhi Bir Singh of Tribhuvan University put his valuable comments and suggestions to the outlines frameworks from the working groups. The groups committed to go ahead with the frameworks and constructive advice from the reviewers from Department of Rural Development-TU, RECAST, and NAST. The need of such programmes in coming days to keep the spirit up of youths of Nepal was felt among the participants and the invited guests.

The programme was facilitated by Mr. Phadindra Dahal of Hoste Hainse, Ms. Pritisha Sthrestha of Association for Protection of Environment and Culture (APEC), Mr. Vidya Sagar Pandey and Mr. Tillotam Paudel and Mr. Suresh Bhattarai. 

Find An Asteroid Search Campaign & Move An Asteroid 2012 Competitions of SGAC

The Near Earth Object Working Group ( NEO-WG) of Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) has announced two important competitions.

1. Find An Asteroid Search Campaign in collaboration with IASC (http://iasc.hsutx.edu). It has slots for 10 - 15 teams, with 3 - 5 individuals each, to participate in an Asteroid Search Campaign. No previous knowledge is required and participants have the chance to discover an asteroid! Application deadline June 1.

While teams can be made up by individuals from around the world, SGAC would also like to see some regional or national teams, (e.g. Team Kiwi, Team UK, Team Latinamerica, etc.). That is where you come in! As you can imagine, this is a great outreach opportunity in your country, try to make the best of it. While doing so, please don't forget to spread the word about our other competition as well: 2. Move An Asteroid 2012 Technical Paper Competition - for the 5th year in a row, SGAC is looking for novel ideas with regard to asteroid detection, safe deflection, or a global warning system. The winner will receive a funded trip to Naples, Italy to present his/her winning idea at the Space Generation Congress (SGC) and International Astronautical Congress (IAC). Due date is July 15.

You can find more info on both competitions on the NEO WG page: www.spacegeneration.org/asteroid SGAC would like to ask you to spread the word about these two opportunities in your region or country to encourage students and young professionals to apply. If you are not sure who to contact in your country, Contact Alex Karl, NEO-WG project co-lead (alex [at] spacegeneration.org), he can give you some ideas. For updates, please feel free to visit SGAC official website www.spacegeneration.org. To know more about these projects of SGAC, please click here

All the best to all of you who are taking part on these competitions :)

Meeting at ICIMOD for Rio+20 in Brazil in June and WCC in S. Korea in September 2012!

AS I have been with the several interaction programmes on NNC-IUCN Nepal and it's participation in nature conservation, I was invited to attend the special meeting at ICIMOD along with other NNC-IUCN members to discuss about the mountain initiatives and Nepal's agendas on Rio+20 in Brazil this June.

Mr. Tek Jung Mahat, who is actively working on the mountain agendas of ICIMOD which will be presented during RIO+20 during June in Brazil, brief about the initiatives and the progress on the youth preparation for the programme. He explained that there are two active youth groups facilitaed by ICIMOD who will have some youth agendas from their sides in the RIO+20.

All the best to all the Nepalese delegates who're planning for this great conference! lets make our earth sustainable! Sustainability for better world!!!

Interaction programme on LEAD IN PAINT in Kathmandu!

April 30, Center for Public health and Environmental Development (CEPHED)in support of SSNC Sweden organised a half day interaction programme on Lead in paint at SAP-Falcha, Babarmahal, Kathmandu. The programme was inaugurated by Hon. Hem Raj Tater, Minister of Environment of Nepal. He briefed status of different laws and policies that government of Nepal going to implement for the green Nepal. The first section of the programme was intended to update the audience about the status of colour market in Nepal and how things are going, how lead comes in the paint, etc. The speakers of the section includes people from NAST, Ministry, National Lab, National and International Paint Industries. The interaction section began with the short presentation on Lead in Paint by Ram Charitra Shah, executive director and environment scientist at CEPHED. The hardwork to get all the stake holders under the same roof by the CEPHED remained praiseworthy. The interaction remained very fruitful with some recommendations. The participants from all the concern bodies, ministry,NAST, Paint industries, regulating body, workers, teachers, medical doctors, laywers, engineers and scientists had almost same voice for the effort to go on public with some information. For this, different approaches had been discussed. I wish CEPHED all the best for its upcoming work! Lets not keep our child dull!! STAY LEAD FREE, STAY SAFE!

Photokipa 2012 in Nepal

The first Saturday of the new year and my interest in photography led me to the Photokipa which is announced as the first ever photography and digital imaging expo 2012 in Kathmandu. During my four hours visit to the each and every stall, I felt that there are a lot to do with the expo and everything looked planned for last minutes! The most attractive section of the expo to me remained the Museum, History of Photography in Nepal and Legends of Nepal in photography. Besides I enjoyed the consultation session where I came to learn on how to express the story in the photo:) I was sad as I could not dealt with him with my photo as I had to leave the session due to important call :( I the organisers is reading blog then I would like to request them to put more details on the items rather than randomly. My special focus goes to Camera Museum where I hardly knew which camera of which date despite the information on their specifications!!! Also, I would like to address that the website ( http://www.photokipa.com/) of the event is not working!!! All the best for better management next time! Clear skies:)

talk about Landscape Astrophotography to Interns at Internship Nepal!

It was a new year eve, many of my friends were planning for the party but i decided to interact with some intern at Intership Nepal as i was invited for the interaction on landscape astrophotography. The moment I had to decide between the eve celebration with friends and with the intern remained very stressful that time. Finally i decided to go for interns as it have some product while interacting with them. I still recall those days when I first attended the workshop on landscape astrophotography in Delhi during October 2008 with two of my friends from Nepal. Later, I had many friends from India, Iran, Germany and USA. This is the first time when I met Babak Tafreshi whom I met second time in Paris and third in Nepal during 2009. During the one hour interaction programme, I presented them how important is the Landscape astrophotography to engage people with astronomy and to motivate them. I presented some of the best works of TWAN team and EurAstro while visiting Nepal in November 2011. I hope, the intern will be able to send their photos to GAM Astrophoto Contest this Month :) Clear skies :)

Galileo Teacher Training Programme 2012 ( GTTP-2012) in Nepal

The Global Hands On Universe(GHOU) Chapter for Nepal has announced the Galileo Teacher Training programme on March 31, 2012. The application for the participation has now open and closes on March 14, 2012. The programme is a partnership between GHOU Nepal Chapter, Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) and Espro Foundation, Nepal.

If you are teaching science in school or doing science with public in Nepal, do not wait to apply for the event. This training is the unique platform for all science teacher where they will be taught astronomy and space science so that they can give these knowledge back to their students at schools.

As the deadline is less than two weeks away ( Wednusday,March 14, 2012), Spread news to those whom you think to be interested to this programme.

All the best for those who have already applied and those planning for.

Hope to see you all in Kathmandu!

Clear skies!!

5th International Meeting of Astronomy and Astronautics, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 19-21, 2012

Louis Cruls Astronomy Club has announced the fifth version of the international meeting. The 5th International Meeting of Astronomy and Astronautics will be held in Reo de Janeiro, Brazil during April 19-21, 2012.

If you wish to participate, then start planning for it. For Nepalese you have to apply VISA from New Delhi so it takes some time. So, don't wait, start now if you want to meet some of the world's best known personalities in Brazil this April.

Please visit the conference website for more details on the event http://meeting.passeiopeloceu.org/

Louis Cruls Astronomy Club is now co-orporate member of EurAstro Association. At this moment, I would like to congratulate my friend Prof. Marcelo de Oliveira Souza
President of the Organizing Committee of the 5th International Meeting of Astronomy and Astronautics.

Um fraterno abraço :)

Waxing Crescent Moon besides Swayambhu Temple

Dear valued readers,

I am presenting you the work of Sajani Manandhar who has started doing photography for last couple of months and getting towards professionalism. Here I present her work and her quotes for the moments. I am very thankful to her for taking this blog for reaching the world with her creative and innovative work. I found it as one of precious piece of landscape astrophotography done in Nepal by such female photographer.



She writes "It’s not that we always get lucky. When the moon is just besides the great Swayambhu Nath Temple, there might be no light and when there is light, the moon might not be in the right place. But, last Sunday, 26th February 2012, I got very lucky. Actually I always wanted to caputre the moon and Swayambhu Nath Temple together. That day I waited for around one hour in the cold weather for the moon to travel all way round towards temple. I am an amateur photographer, I have not decided on my genre yet. I click whatever I feel like clicking but being Buddhist myself I had a desire to catch this mesmerizing view in my camera. When I got this image, I was very happy but then I felt like I don’t know much about the moon. These days I am busy learning more about planets and satellites."

Congratulations Sajani for this wonderful work. Looking forward to get more work in coming days.

All the best with your landscape astrophotography in Nepal :)

Edinburgh Global Development Academy Master's Scholarship

The University of Edinburgh will offer 2 Master's scholarships covering the overseas rate of fee for students from less developed countries and 2 Master's scholarships covering the "home" rate of tuition fee for UK/EU students for eligible Master's programmes offered by the University.

Scholarships will be available for students pursuing one of the following Global Development Academy programmes:
MSc Africa and International Development
MSc Environment and Development
MSc International Development
MSc Science, Technology and International Development
MSc South Asia and International Development

Each scholarship for students from less developed countries will cover the overseas rate of tuition fee, while a further two scholarships will cover the UK/EU rate of tuition fee only.

If you are citizens of any countries listed below ( Least Developed Countries as defined by United Nation), you are eligible to apply for the programme.
Afghanistan
Angola
Bangladesh
Benin
Bhutan
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gambia
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
Haiti
Kribati
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Mozambique
Myanmar
Nepal
Niger
Rwanda
Samoa
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands
Somalia
Sudan
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Republic of Tanzania
Vanuatu
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

The deadline for the application is April 2, 2012.

For more information, please visit the offical website of university:http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/student-funding/postgraduate/international/global/development

Thanks for being updated with me :) All the best for your applications!

Nepali Movie “Challenge” : Young Inputs to the Kollywood!

For years now, Nepali movies have been continuously bashed for being low quality Bollywood copies lacking soul and identity. New movie Challenge is getting positive reviews, it seems once in a while Kollywood does manage to break the mould and present something news and refreshing. The promo embedded here looks interesting, and I must admit unlike any other Nepali movie I have seen.



For more information the movie Challenge, visit their Facebook page. You can send them mail at challenge@nepalmax.com.

We can say our movies are getting better :)

Chinese forest minister, Japanese deputy minister now in Nepal

China's Minister of State Forestry Administration, Jia Zhibang and Japanese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Koro Bessho Wednesday arrived in Kathmandu.

Talking to reporters at Tribhuvan International Airport upon his arrival, the Chinese minister said that his Nepal visit would be fruitful to strengthen cooperation between China and Nepal for forest and wildlife conservation. He also said that China would extend assistance for forest and wildlife conservation in the northern part of Nepal bordering China.

During his four day stay, he will also visit Shivapuri National Park located in the northern part of valley.

Similary, Japanese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Koro Bessho said that his visit would help enhance relationship between Japan and Nepal.

Chinese forest minister, Japanese deputy minister now in Nepal

China's Minister of State Forestry Administration, Jia Zhibang and Japanese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Koro Bessho Wednesday arrived in Kathmandu.

Talking to reporters at Tribhuvan International Airport upon his arrival, the Chinese minister said that his Nepal visit would be fruitful to strengthen cooperation between China and Nepal for forest and wildlife conservation. He also said that China would extend assistance for forest and wildlife conservation in the northern part of Nepal bordering China.

During his four day stay, he will also visit Shivapuri National Park located in the northern part of valley.

Similary, Japanese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Koro Bessho said that his visit would help enhance relationship between Japan and Nepal.