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May 29, 2013

जुजुमानका साहसिक कार्यहरु - भाग ८ (दुई चिडियाखानाहरु )


अर्थशार्त्री केन स्कुल्ल्यान्डद्वारा लिखित, नेपाली भाषा सहित गरेर विश्वका ४७ भाषामा अनुवाद भैसकेको "दि एड्भेन्चरस अफ जनाथन गलिबल : अ फ्री मार्केट ओडीसी" नामक पुस्तकको नेपाली अनुवादको पोड्कास्ट्को यस आठौं भागमा जुजुमान हिडदै जाँदा दुई वटा चिडियाखाना भएको ठाउँ मा पुग्छन । ति दुई चिडियाखाना मध्य एउटा मा संसार भरिका जनावरहरु राखिएका छन भने अर्को मा चै मानिस हरु लाई राखिएको छ । 

ति मानिसहरुलाई किन  जनावरहरु लाई जस्तै चिडिया खाना भित्र रखिएको होला ? जान्नको लागि तलको पोड्कास्ट सुन्नुहोला ।  सुनेर प्रतिकृया पनि  दिनुहोला ।

पोड्कास्ट सुन्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोस ।



पोड्कास्ट डाउनलोड गर्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)- Episode 8

यस पोड्कास्टका अरु अङ्क सुन्नको लागि तल क्लिक गर्नु होला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)

May 28, 2013

जुजुमानका साहसिक कार्यहरु - भाग ७ (शासक का योजनाहरु )


अर्थशार्त्री केन स्कुल्ल्यान्डद्वारा लिखित, नेपाली भाषा सहित गरेर विश्वका ४७ भाषामा अनुवाद भैसकेको "दि एड्भेन्चरस अफ जनाथन गलिबल : अ फ्री मार्केट ओडीसी" नामक पुस्तकको नेपाली अनुवादको पोड्कास्ट्को यस सातौं भागमा जुजुमान घुम्दै जाँदा एउटा सुन्दर घर केहि मानिस हरुले भात्काइराखेको देख्छन । एउटी भद्र महिला भने क्रुद्ध मुद्रा मा घर भात्काएको हेरिराखेको उनले पाँउछन ।

ती मानिस हरुले किन त्यो घर भात्काउदै रहेछन र किन ति महिला क्रोधित रहिछन ? यो जान्न्को लागि तलको पोड्कास्ट सुन्नुहोला । सुनेर प्रतिकृया पनि  दिनुहोला ।

पोड्कास्ट सुन्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोस ।



पोड्कास्ट डाउनलोड गर्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)- Episode 7

यस पोड्कास्टका अरु अङ्क सुन्नको लागि तल क्लिक गर्नु होला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)

May 15, 2013

जुजुमानका साहसिक कार्यहरु - भाग ६ (घुँडाले हिंड्ने मानिस)


अर्थशार्त्री केन स्कुल्ल्यान्डद्वारा लिखित, नेपाली भाषा सहित गरेर विश्वका ४७ भाषामा अनुवाद भैसकेको "दि एड्भेन्चरस अफ जनाथन गलिबल : अ फ्री मार्केट ओडीसी" नामक पुस्तकको नेपाली अनुवादको पोड्कास्ट्को यस छैठौ भागमा जुजुमानले एउटा अग्लो मानिस घुँडाले टेकेर हिडिरहेको देख्छन । उक्त व्यक्ती सँग गफ गर्दैगर्दा अर्को एक जना आइमाई घस्रेर हिडिरहेको देख्छन । यी मानिस हरु किन त्यसरी हिडिराखेका छन होला ?

जान्नको लागि आजको पोड्कास्ट सुन्नुहोला । पोड्कास्ट हरेक हप्ता बुधवार / विहिबार  प्रकाशित हुन्छ । सुनेर प्रतिकृया पनि  दिनुहोला ।

पोड्कास्ट सुन्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोस ।




पोड्कास्ट डाउनलोड गर्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)- Episode 6

यस पोड्कास्टका अरु अङ्क सुन्नको लागि तल क्लिक गर्नु होला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)

May 12, 2013

20 most popular news portals of Nepal


I had compiled a list of 10 most popular blogs of Nepal last February which was well received. This time, I have compiled a list of 20 most popular news portals of Nepal.

As the world is increasingly relying on internet for its dose of news and information, online news sites are slowly but steadily snatching the share of readership from traditional media sources like newspapers and magazines. Nepal already has a abundance of online news sites. But what are the most popular ones and what does the overall scenario tell us?

Here are the top 20 most popular news portals of Nepal (based on Alexa.com's rankings):

1. Online Khabar
Rank among Nepali Websites: 7
Overall Rank in Alexa: 9357



 2.Ekantipur
Rank among Nepali Websites: 10
Overall Rank in Alexa: 8338



3. Nagarik News
Rank among Nepali Websites: 13
Overall Rank in Alexa: 12,886


4. Seto Pati
Rank among Nepali Websites: 22
Overall Rank in Alexa: 170,573



5. The Himalayan Times
Rank among Nepali Websites: 25
Overall Rank in Alexa: 39,546

6. Ujyaalo Online
Rank among Nepali Websites: 35
Overall Rank in Alexa: 67,500


7. MyRepublica
Rank among Nepali Websites: 36
Overall Rank in Alexa: 58,551


 8. Hamra Kura
Rank among Nepali Websites: 42
Overall Rank in Alexa: 113, 545



9. Nepalnews
Rank among Nepali Websites: 76
Overall Rank in Alexa: 68,230


10. Nepali Headlines
Rank among Nepali Websites: 81
Overall Rank in Alexa:101,430


11. Weekly Nepal
Rank among Nepali Websites: 112
Overall Rank in Alexa: 300,913

12. Khabar Chautari
Rank among Nepali Websites: 114
Overall Rank in Alexa: 113,473

13. Top Nepal News
Rank among Nepali Websites: 162
Overall Rank in Alexa: 314,978

14. Karobar National Economic Daily
Rank among Nepali Websites: 165
Overall Rank in Alexa: 193,739

15. Real Khabar
Rank among Nepali Websites: 167
Overall Rank in Alexa: 224,625

16. Sourya Daily
Rank among Nepali Websites: 168
Overall Rank in Alexa: 243,117

17. Rajdhani Daily
Rank among Nepali Websites: 182
Overall Rank in Alexa: 531,724

18. Tokyo Nepal
Rank among Nepali Websites:191
Overall Rank in Alexa:151,515

19. Nepal Samachar
Rank among Nepali Websites: 205
Overall Rank in Alexa:105,460

20. Gorkhapatra
Rank among Nepali Websites: 213
Overall Rank in Alexa:350,903

Some Key findings:
  • News sites make up around 10 percent of the 100 most popular websites of Nepal.
  • Ekantipur.com is the most popular Nepali website in the world whereas Onlinekhabar.com is the most popular Nepali website within Nepal.
  • 11 out of the top 20 news portals have only online versions which suggests a growing popularity and importance of online based news mediums. It also suggests that traditional media houses of Nepal have areas to improve their online presence.
  • Among the diaspora community of Nepalese, communities in South Korea are the most active community with regards to their presence in online media followed by that in Japan.
  • Setopati.com is the most rapidly growing news portal of Nepal currently.
Do you think online media will replace traditional media in Nepal? Do share your views in the comments below!

May 9, 2013

जुजुमानका साहसिक कार्यहरु - भाग ५ ( मैनबत्ती र कोटहरु )


अर्थशार्त्री केन स्कुल्ल्यान्डद्वारा लिखित, नेपाली भाषा सहित गरेर विश्वका ४७ भाषामा अनुवाद भैसकेको "दि एड्भेन्चरस अफ जनाथन गलिबल : अ फ्री मार्केट ओडीसी" नामक पुस्तकको नेपाली अनुवादको पोड्कास्ट्कोयस पाँचौ भागमा  जुजुमान स्टुल्टा भन्ने एउटा अचम्मको शहरमा पुग्छन जुन शहरमा बस्तु तथा सेवाहरुलाई प्रवेश गर्न बाट रोक लगाइएको छ तर त्यस शहर बाट बस्तु तथा सेवाहरु निर्यात गर्न चै अत्यन्त सजिलो छ । त्यहाँ उनले एक जना आइमाई भेटछन जो शासक हरुसँग आफ्नो उद्ध्योगलाई प्रतिस्पर्धा बाट बचाउन माग गरिराखेकी छन ।

यस भागमा हामी संरक्षणवादी आर्थीक नितीका बारेमा सिक्दछौं ।

पोड्कास्ट हरेक हप्ता बुधवार / विहिबार  प्रकाशित हुन्छ । सुनेर प्रतिकृया दिनुहोला ।

पोड्कास्ट सुन्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।



पोड्कास्ट डाउनलोड गर्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)- Episode 5

यस पोड्कास्टका अरु अङ्क सुन्नको लागि तल क्लिक गर्नु होला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)

May 6, 2013

Why blame private schools?


Like an annual customary event, public grievances against private educational institutions in Nepal are currently making headlines once again as the new academic session has begun. Private schools have been accused of charging exorbitant fees, selling stationery and uniforms within the school premises to make profit and not providing adequate infrastructure. This has led to the public asking for more government regulations and some political parties have even demanded that new registration of private schools be ceased. The controversy is even being wielded as a weapon to denounce the liberalisation of the education sector itself and advocate for outright nationalisation of education. Amidst the heated debate, a few things are being ignored in the discourse that might have grave implications for the educational scenario of Nepal.

Value variables

The advent of democracy in 1990 was a crucial moment in the history of education in Nepal. Primary education was to be provided freely by the government while move towards open economy helped proliferation of private educational institutions. As a result, the education sector in Nepal has come a long way since then. According to the Ministry of Education and Sports, there were 33,160 primary, lower secondary and secondary schools, 3,067 higher secondary schools and five universities in Nepal as of 2011. Some 15 per cent of the institutions are run by the private sector. However, more than a quarter of the total students of Nepal attend these institutions.

Despite the availability of free public schools and the accusations of exorbitant fees charged by private educational institutions, more and more people are flocking to these institutions to educate their children. The phenomenon provides an inkling of the dire state of public education in Nepal. Moreover, it also suggests that the general public values the importance of education more than policymakers and education officials who supposedly are in charge of educating Nepal think they do.

This is also highlighted by the fact that education is among the top four expenditure areas for households receiving remittance. On an average, 3.5 per cent of amount received from remittance is being spent on education. From this scenario, it can be surmised that parents value education enough to spend a considerable amount of their earning for education.

Regulation restraints

When there is a free alternative available and parents are free to choose where to send their children, it is hard to find reasonable criteria for the government to dictate price controls for these institutions. Parents being the

direct stakeholders have a higher incentive and at the same time a responsibility to find out if schools are milking them exorbitantly.

Similarly, the fee structure of a handful of elite private educational institutions neither reflect nor represent the overall private educational scenario of Nepal. The wide spectrum of private schools ranging from low-budget schools such as Samata Sikshaya Niketan to high-end elite private schools like Shuvatara is lost during the debate regarding private educational scenario in Nepal. The call for more regulation fails to acknowledge the fact that same set of regulations cannot accommodate wide spectrum of private schools. Regulation through price control might not hurt low-budget schools but will affect high-end schools, forcing them to compromise on quality. Alternatively, regulation through standard setting might not hurt high-end private schools but will force low-budget schools to either operate illegally or raise their costs.

In fact, more regulations might end up making private education more inaccessible to the poorer segment of the population. The proposal to prevent registration of new private schools is one of them. Basic law of demand and supply dictates that whenever the supply of a good or service is restricted, prices escalate.The proposal which was tacitly endorsed by the existent associations of private schools will not only restrict the supply of new private schools but also allow existing schools to charge premium prices owing to the increasing demand for education. It will also give leeway for crony capitalism and syndication of private schools as the number of players in the market gets limited, making quality education further inaccessible for the poor.

Quality quotient

In this scenario, if our policymakers and concerned stakeholders really want to make quality education accessible to a higher number of people and drive down prices, they should promote more competition in the sector by making it accessible for more entrepreneurs to invest in the sector. The presence of more competitive and cheaper schools will be more of a check to the private schools charging premium prices than the government agencies will ever be.

Similarly, actions of political parties, media and social activists envisioning equality in education would be more effective if they focused more on improving the quality of public schools rather than criticizing the private sector. If the public sector could provide better education for their students at a lower cost, there is no reason to assume that parents will continue flocking to private educational institutions with their hard-earned money.

--Surath Giri

(Published in The Himalayan Times- Perspectives of 5th May, 2013)

May 4, 2013

Top 10 quotes from The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress


I am not much into reading science fiction but I just finished reading Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. Considered one of the greatest modern science fiction and a libertarian classic, the book is  about a lunar colony's revolt against oppressive rule from Earth.The book is said to have popularized the phrase "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" (TANSTAAFL) and inspired countless readers to become libertarians.

Below are the quotes from the book that I liked most. (In no particular order)

1. “There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.” 

2. "Must be a yearning deep in human heart to stop other people from doing as they please. Rules, laws — always for other fellow. A murky part of us, something we had before we came down out of trees, and failed to shuck when we stood up. Because not one of those people said: "Please pass this so that I won't be able to do something I know I should stop." Nyet, tovarishchee, was always something they hated to see neighbors doing. Stop them "for their own good" — not because speaker claimed to be harmed by it.”

3. “Nothing uses up alcohol faster than political argument.”

4. “I will accept any rules that you feel necessary to your freedom. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” 

5. "Revolution is an art that I pursue rather than a goal I expect to achieve. Nor is this a source of dismay; a lost cause can be as spiritually satisfying as a victory."

6. "More than six people cannot agree on anything, three is better — and one is perfect for a job that one can do. This is why parliamentary bodies all through history, when they accomplished anything, owed it to a few strong men who dominated the rest."

7.  "In terms of morals, there is no such thing as 'state.' Just men. Individuals. Each responsible for his own acts."

8. "The chronic sickness of representative government, the disgruntled minority which feels — correctly! — that it has been disenfranchised."

9. "Seems to be a deep instinct in human beings for making everything compulsory that isn't forbidden."

10. "Limiting the freedom of news 'just a little bit' is in the same category with the classic example 'a little bit pregnant."

And this one too (lol),

11.  “Don't explain computers to laymen. Simpler to explain sex to a virgin.”

What are yours? Share in the comments below.

May 2, 2013

जुजुमानका साहसिक कार्यहरु - भाग ४ ( खाध्य प्रहरी )


अर्थशार्त्री केन स्कुल्ल्यान्डद्वारा लिखित, नेपाली भाषा सहित गरेर विश्वका ४७ भाषामा अनुवाद भैसकेको "दि एड्भेन्चरस अफ जनाथन गलिबल : अ फ्री मार्केट ओडीसी" नामक पुस्तकको नेपाली अनुवादको पोड्कास्ट्को यसचौथो भागमा जनाथन गलिबल (जुजुमान )को उक्त टापूमा खाध्य प्रहरीसँग भेट हुन्छ । खाध्य प्रहरीहरुको काम धेरै मात्रामा खाध्यान्न उत्पादन गरेर खाध्यान्नको मुल्य घटाउने किसानहरुलाई कारवाही गर्ने हो ।

यस भागमा मुल्य नियन्त्रण गर्न प्रयोग गरिने निती हरु कस्तो तुक हिन हुन्छन भन्ने कुरा सिक्छौं ।

पोड्कास्ट हरेक हप्ता बुधवार प्रकाशित हुन्छ । सुनेर प्रतिकृया दिनुहोला ।

पोड्कास्ट सुन्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।



पोड्कास्ट डाउनलोड गर्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)- Episode 4

यस पोड्कास्टका अरु अङ्क सुन्नको लागि तल क्लिक गर्नु होला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)