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Press Conference of "10th Dabur Special Teej Festival Exhibition"

2011-07-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

Devyani Shiwakoti

13 July 2011

UWTC 4th floor Tripureswor , Kathmandu

“10th Dabur special Teej festival 2011” press conference was held in 13th July at DECC, Tripureswor Kathmandu. The exhibition is going to be held from 28th to 31st July 2011. This exhibition is organized by “Women’s Creation Centre” and it’s main sponsor is Dabur hair oil. The supporter of this event are rahul dairy whitener, NCC bank, United world trade centre, capital FM, Subisu cable net, Chaitanya, ECS media, DECC, yeti holiday, Cahitanya Spa.

WCC is a non- profit organization established in 2054 BS with an aim to work for the development and empowerment of women in Nepal. This exhibition is the platform for women to share their creation and experiences, likewise, visitors also get the opportunity to shop under than one umbrella. 15% of the total fund raised from the exhibition will be allocated for the empowerment of the women.

The festival will feature more than 100 stalls of various products like handicrafts, sarees and kurtha item, jewllery, home appliances, mobiles, and Teej sovineur. Apart from these exhibition stalls there will be more than 10 food stalls.

Press Conference of "10th Dabur Special Teej Festival Exhibition"

2011-07-15T21:36:00.000-07:00

INNOCENT EYES

2011-04-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

-Devyani Shiwakoti
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010
At 11:07pm
When I was child, I, for the first time, heard about Utopian world where there everything is believed to be so good, romantic, greenery and so peacefully in order, there remain no four pillars where people live within boundary with so many rules and regulations i.e. prison.
In its real sense, prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Jails are conventionally institutions which form part of the criminal justice system of a county and house both inmates awaiting trial and convicted misdemeanants.
People take birth with no expectations of their future, they walk hand in hand with their relatives, the environment makes them voracious and for the sake of their own life they do such things which cross the limit of society than they face the dark side of life which is made by rules and regulations, the fearful silence which itself is doomed by many walls and pillars.
Just born, we can not imagine our upcoming days that bring so many things with us. It is sure that death is always prowling behind us like a shadow, mostly invisible. It is no doubt; struggle, hard-work, obstacles, happiness and sadness all are the parts of our life. We are different from each other but most of the people do not know what they are for. We always live in doubt that what we want to be, among these confused people if anyone of them knows what he/she is for; I think that person will be the luckiest one. What I want before the situation of my deathbed is to search myself and my real identity.
I do not know I am lucky or not, but I know what I am here for. I believe I am made for understanding others' problems and try to help them through different mediums. I want to understand different colors of life which are invisible, yet they exist. I once wanted to understand about the dark sides of life, for that I went to a prison in Pokhara where each prisoner had his\her own story. I saw many innocent eyes there in the prison. Perhaps, those eyes were telling me something about themselves. I felt myself invisible of mine identity too. I was so helpless that I wanted to hear their pain but could not tolerate at all.
When we walk there is shadow around of us. We do not know whom to follow either our leg or shadow. Blurred shadow, perhaps, tells us how much time remaining with us in the journey of life.
I saw an angel among all who were there in the prison, a little girl, who was playing here and there on the floor with herself. I moved to touch her, so cute and innocent. Right at the moment I was informed that the little girl had syndromes of HIV aids. My eyes rolled on my cheeks. Still I do not have words that can express what I Felt. I found myself being questioned from within. I thought about the abyss of life of the little angel. It struck me that an angel like little girl will die in the infernal like place. I became so helpless and alone. There was no-one who could help that angel?
"LIFE..." I murmured, "...IS SO UNFAIR"
Later, I got the information about everything from a woman who counted seven years in her fingers of her being in the prison. According to the information, there are two categories of people in the prison. I found one category of people regarding prison as heaven, since, they do not want live in society anymore. It is problematic because no watertight solution appears. It seems it is not so easy to brush those problems off so easily. The problems will not go ashtray building a new prison house in the every corner of the nation. Perhaps, education is the answer, if not education for the prisoners, then education for society as a whole. Most of us, if not all, even do not try to know anyone in the prison. The issue is utter remote to us or we see it as victims looking for punishment.
Hopefully, there is not such things happen where it cross the boundary of being human like beating, rape in the prison etc. According to information, people in prison are living in peace and they share things as consanguinity, different NGOs are helping them like Heartbeat for Fooding and Clothes, Prisoners' Assistance Nepal etc.

A moment to worry for girls: Arrange Marriage

2010-03-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

Weddings in Nepal are momentous occasions which are often planned years in advance of the wedding itself. Traditionally, weddings in Nepal are arranged by the respective families. It is important that arranged marriage and forced marriage in Nepal are not confused.
It is not normal practice for families in Nepal who are arranging marriages to force their offspring to marry someone that they do not wish to marry. The offspring are also consulted and it is important that they consent to the marriage. However the underlying truth is that even the consented marriage are result of deeply rooted social pressure and beliefs that indirectly force young people especially girls to get married at an early age.
A girl just reaches her puberty and people start talking about her marriage. Even growing up as a kid, girls are constantly reminded that they are to be married off someday so they behave in a specific way. This creates a permanent mark in her psyche that she is supposed to leave soon, and it seems people want it to be as soon as possible. The girls in the capital city are afflicted with this social pressure to a shocking extent; we can imagine how grave it is in the rural areas.
Even the educated societies of Nepal still fail to acknowledge the role women play and the contribution they make to their country's development. Religious and social traditions enslave women to be bound into limitations which deprives her from opportunities which could have otherwise led to greater women participation in national developments.
The society may have moved on to educate women allowing them to build a respected career for themselves. Yet they use their educational and professional qualifications as a merit for finding better matches for their daughters. On the surface things look different but the bottom line is still the same; parents and society eagerly wait to get their daughters married off, irrespective of their successful careers.
With most youngsters flying abroad there is this new trend of getting them married before they leave. Some fake marriages have been done for the sake of getting visa. And then there is this ever prevalent fascination of Nepalis to get their daughter married off to guys with a “green card” or jobs abroad.
I witnessed a remarkable decrease in the number of students studying in Bachelors level at a particular college as the year progressed. I previously just saw that students left in middle of session for abroad and the next trend was female students getting married. As I find out, they were promised to be sent to colleges even after marriages but just the household duties and few remarks from society was enough for these girls to chose not to continue their studies anymore. This was tragic.
Women after marriage subside their studies, career and their goals to the duties and responsibilities of a socially idealized role of a wife and daughter in laws. Even if the family she is in is broad minded enough to let her continue with her education the society butts in constantly and that gets to one or the other of the family and disrupts the peaceful coordination.
The Civil code has set legal marriage age for women to sixteen, made polygamy and child marriage illegal, established women's right to divorce and broadened women's capacity to control or inherit property. Although the government has signed a number of laws to assist in improving the lives of women throughout Nepal, the implementation of laws takes time. It requires efforts on behalf of the government and by the people. And the practical implementation is way below average.
In Nepali society, marriage is seen as compulsory for women. This needs to change. When a woman gets married she has many responsibilities in her husband's home. We know what expectations come along with marriage, the duty to beget children for the continuity of lineage. Children add more responsibilities and contribute a great deal in the priority shift at an early stage.
The priority changes after marriage for women. It’s a fact even the most career oriented women will have to acknowledge. Is it really her fault, her weakness that she cannot give desired continuity to the pursuit of her career goals? The deeply rooted traditions in Nepali society and broadly speaking, women psychology to put family over herself seems at blame for the priority shift. These are too complex units to uproot completely for a plausible solution.
A considerable step for all of us would be to be patient enough till the girl is actually self willing to get into a marital commitment. In case of Nepal, as we know marriage is not just personal but a social commitment as well, the girl should have the liberty to decide without external pressure.
Changes are slow and we have to bear with that. But it’s the initial step towards the change that matters a lot. So, let your daughters play on with equal freedom of choice till she is capable to decide for herself.

TWO DIFFERENT WORLD

2010-03-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

The DJ played “Tempted to touch”. All teenage partygoers were moving their bodies in the rhythm of the music. Probably, most were influenced by the lyrics of the song, thus some “touching” was evident. The lights were flickering, glowing shortly and giving way to other colors. Girls with their high heels and revealing skirts, boys in baggy pants; those young adults were tamed by the freedom, unleashing their fantasies. The bar at the party venue was packed by drinkers; some were sipping their vodka with peace, while others gulped down tequila. Girls were imitating the African American dancers of hip-hop videos. While amongst boys, rowdy pushes were starting. This was an attempted description of a real dance floor in Kathmandu where students of a media studies, were having their friendship party.
A few days later, with the hangover of the party still in my mind, I got an opportunity to speak to a street child. With some informal pursuance, I asked him, “How did you end up in this situation?” The common superficial answer was - “My friend brought me to Kathmandu (from a rural area).” However, upon more conversation, he said that he had an evil stepmother; he fled to Kathmandu to escape from her torture. I began to ask him about the manner by which he fulfilled his necessities – food, clothing and shelter. I was amazed to know that money was not a big problem for him. “Selling a water pumping machine to a second hand dealer could get us around 5000 rupees.” He ate, wore clothes and stayed at a lodge if his group had money. If not, then the stereotypical street child, who sleeps on the dirty street corner and who begs for food was his reality.
When I walked back to my home, I began wondering about the differential treatments the teenager street boy of 15 years and a middle class girl like me were getting. It felt like we two were living in two worlds in the same Kathmandu valley. How would it feel to sleep on a naked floor in the cold months of December and January? It was beyond my imagination for a person like me, who sleeps on her own bed with a warm blanket and who still feels cold in those freezing months
I felt lucky and guilty at the same time. A comfortable life with a good educational opportunity with no worries about mere existence is heaven when compared to that child experience of a living hell. After feeling smug about my lifestyle, guilt came in through small cracks of my enclosed walls of life. People like us do not even have time to think about social issues surrounding us. The middle class and upper class teenagers of Kathmandu valley are mostly only concerned about their own trivial issues, for boys it may be raising shocks of their motorcycles and for girls it may be straightening their hair. Besides these matters, nothing substantial exists. For instance, those street children are seen only as much as their stereotypical image lets us see them. Their image is characterized around this circular argument – “Street children are bad and of no use as they live in streets.” Many of us do not have the insight and guts even to see behind the taken- for- granted image, to see the hidden complexities of their life, which forced them to live an undesired “street life”.
Material needs are indeed very important for not letting people to lead that child life. However, materials alone do not provide the essence of humanity; emotions are equally important.

Significance of media research?

2009-09-13T06:05:00.000-07:00

Studying mass media, research, mass media research and significance of mass media research firstly,we need to know what is mean by research.Research can be defined to be search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts. The primary purpose for applied research (as opposed to basic research) is discovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe. Research can use the scientific method, but need not do so.

Scientific research relies on the application of the scientific method, a harnessing of curiosity. This research provides scientific information and theories for the explanation of the nature and the properties of the world around us. It makes practical applications possible. Scientific research is funded by public authorities, by charitable organisations and by private groups, including many companies. Scientific research can be subdivided into different classifications according to their academic and application disciplines.

Research in mass media is used to verify or refute gut feelings or intuition for decision makers. Although common sense is sometimes accurate, media decision makers need additional objective information to evaluate problems, especially when they make decisions that involve large sums of money. Mass media research is not limited only to decision-making situations. It is also widely used in theoretical areas to attempt to describe the media, to analyze media effects on consumers, to understand audience behaviour and so on. Everyday there are references in the media to audience surveys, public opinion polls, growth projections or status reports of one medium or another, or advertising or public relation campaigns

The use of research in different forms are:
Electronic media research studies today fall into two main categories: ratings and non ratings research. The data for ratings surveys are currently gathered by two methods: diaries and electronic meters (commonly called people meters). There are many types of no ratings research used by the electronic media.
Print media: It is used in several forms they are:
Readership the most widely used of all print research procedures including research in areas such as reader profiles, item-selection studies, reader-nonreader studies, editor-reader comparisons, and psychographic and lifestyle segmentation studies.
Circulation research about who reads the newspaper or magazine, how can circulation be increased, and what the readers want to have included in their newspaper or magazine.
Management research concerning goal setting by management, employee job satisfaction, and effects of competition and ownership on newspaper content and quality.
Readability: research on all the elements and their interactions that affect the success of a piece of printed material.
On-line media usage: research concerning the Internet and how it affects newspaper and magazine reading.

Bibliography:

Angelina schorr,communication(2003) Research in media science ,Europe.
Adhikary Nirmala Mani (2006) Understanding mass media research (1st ed.) Prashanti Pustak Bhandar

DEVELOPMENT JOURNALISM

2009-06-21T09:30:00.001-07:00

At the talk program in martin chautari on “Development Journalism: Necessity and Challenges” Laxman Dutta Pant gave in depth analysis over the situation of Development Communication in Nepal. He mentioned “Nepal still lacks in the professionalism of journalist as a whole. Journalism has become a hobby rather than job.” He added people from other profession can join journalism and this practice is creating some hurdles.
He discussed development communication in Nepal, another hotly debated concept in recent years. His analysis of Nepal’s development communication is preceded by brief examination of theories that underline development communication—diffusion of innovation, two-step flow theory, and interpersonal communication. He gave his analysis about development journalism emphasizing national identity, integration, creation of public awareness, promoting people’s participation and rural development. Pant provided a good overview on how effectively development communication can provide a strong base for the development of the 3rd world countries like Nepal. Pant discussed about the present one way traffic of journalists rushing behind the parties and their deeds and in this trend the state of development journalists is directionless. Not only the professionalism but the studying of the development journalism is again another crisis as the course is quiet shaded. He agreed with the concept that the development journalism is a product of 3rd world country but it is not that the 1st world country is not practicing the system. The 1st world countries are taking development journalism into the infrastructural development and in our cases we are more into social development.
Pant further discussed supportive environment is always essential for everything to sustain and this development journalism agenda should be given a separate entity as well. Press violation is always an undignified act which should always be settled aside. Regarding the investment over the development journalism pant pointed the lack of the investors’ interest towards this area. The lack of glamour in development journalism than in any other can be the crucial factor. Talking about the cause of the condition of development journalism sector he criticized the government and conflict with unpredicted the natural disasters.

RADIO NEPAL

2009-06-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

Radio Nepal was established on 1st April 1951. Initially, the transmission covered duration of 4 hours and 30 minutes through a 250 Watt SW transmitter. Over the years, Radio Nepal has strengthened its institutional capacity considerably and diversified itself in terms of programme format, technical efficiency and coverage. Radio Nepal airs programmes on Short Wave, Medium Wave and FM frequencies. Regular broadcasts cover duration of 18 hours everyday which includes about 2 hours of regional broadcasts 09:45 hrs. to 11:00 hrs. in the morning and 18:00 hrs 18:30 hrs in the evening. FM Kathmandu, the first FM-Channel covering Kathmandu valley and adjoining areas was started in 1995 from its premises at Singh Durbar, Kathmandu.

PROGRAMMING

Regional Programme:
Regional programme for audience in different regions is transmitted from regional stations simultaneously from 09:45 hrs to 11:00 hrs and 18:00 hrs to 18:30 hrs every day.
National Programmes:
National programme is Broadcast for a duration of about 16 hours everyday (05:00-23:00 hrs.) excluding the regional programme transmission period. Special entertainment programme goes on air in the day time during 11:00-13:00.
Radio Nepal uses a wide range of formats including features, documentaries, docu-dramas, dramas, talk shows, interviews, music shows, live commentaries etc. Recognizing the citizen's right to be informed under a multi-party democracy, Radio Nepal attempts to provide informative, educational as well as entertainment programmes.
The major programme highlights include:
Educational:
Programmes on religion, literature, science and technology, agriculture, distance learning, women , health and sanitation, public health, children and youth.

Entertainment:
Music: Nepali songs, Hindi songs and Gazals and Western music.
Songs in the different national languages.
Radio dramas and comedy shows.

Information:
» News and Current Affairs.
» Phone-in for Parliamentarians.
» Radio Reports.
» Review of the press.
» Developmental Programmes.

RADIO NEPAL: FM – KATHMANDU

In consonance with the policy of forging ahead in tune with the changing broadcasting scenario, Radio Nepal launched the first FM Channel in Nepal on he 30th of Kartik 2052 B.S.(16th Nov.1995). The FM Channel airs programmes on 100 MHz on the FM band through a 1 KW stereo transmitter installed at Khumaltar, Lalitpur. A fairly well equipped studio with stereo facilities has been established at Singh Durbar. This studio along with the provision of a standby studio has made it possible to broadcast programmes live. Radio Nepal has a policy of leasing out its air time to private parties to broadcast programmes on its FM channel by permitting private operators to use their own staff. These programmes have proved to be very popular among the urban youth of Kathmandu.

NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

Radio Nepal broadcasts news bulletins in at regular intervals (hourly) from 06:00 hrs until the close of the transmission. News bulletins in English are broadcast at 08:00 hrs, 14:00 hrs and 20:00 hrs everyday.In additional to the news in Nepali and English, there are bulletins in other languages at various timings. They are Magar, Gurung, Tamang, Rai Bantawa, Limbu, Newari, Bhojpuri, Hindi, Urdu, Tharu East and Tharu West, Avadhi, Sherpa, Maithili, Sanskrit, Kham Magar and Doteli. Special news bulletins on SAARC related contents (SAARC News) and news for Children (Bal Samachar) have been broadcast as well. Radio Nepal attempts to provide prompt and accurate coverage of all national and international news including political, economic and social highlights in a balanced and objective manner. It attempts to safeguard the basic principle of public interest and the public's right to be informed as the prime public broadcaster of the country. The station has designated stringer reporters in more than 50 districts for coverage of news and information.

COMPUTERIZATION OF THE NEWS ROOM

In its effort to utilize the advances in modern technology and introduce useful changes in its broadcast environment, Radio Nepal has recently launched a project called "Newsroom Computerization Project". The overall concept of the project is to eventually make a paperless newsroom. A special broadcast software, NewsBoss, developed by Desktop technologies, Australia has been initially licensed to seven workstations linked-up within a local area networking system. With the support from UNESCO, Radio Nepal is proud to be among the few radio stations in Asia trying to turn the news system digital. The main features of the system are:
» Text Editing
» Audio Editing
» Auto recording
» Wire Service
» Prompter for the news delivery
» Archiving
It is a pilot project and is implemented in the central newsroom. Upon the satisfactory performance of this system, Radio Nepal has a plan to computerize its regional stations' newsrooms and interconnect them to the central grid.

CHANGUNARAYAN

2009-05-07T05:24:00.000-07:00

The oldest temple in the valley is the Changu Narayan Temple, located 22 km from Kathmandu and a 25-minute drive from Bhaktapur city. The original temple was built in the 4th century during the time of the Lichhavi rulers and is perched on a hill overlooking the nearby city. Much of it was rebuilt in the 18th century.
This temple is known for its beauty, location and age. It is a Vishnu temple. One of the oldest Lichhavi period stone inscriptions is also found here. A Vishnu image with ten heads and ten arms is another fine example of stone carving from the 5th century. The struts of the two-tiered temple depict the ten incarnations in which Narayan destroyed evildoers. A 6th century stone statue shows the cosmic form of Vishnu, while another recalls the dwarf incarnation in which he crushed the evil King Bali. Garuda, the steed of Vishnu, kneels before the temple. The statue of Vishnu astride his steed is a popular favorite.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

2009-05-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

Emotional Intelligence (EI), often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), is a term that describes the ability, capacity, skill or (in the case of the trait EI model) a self-perceived ability, to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self,of other,and of groups.
Emotional Intelligence tests/activities/exercises books - for young people ostensibly, but just as relevant to grown-ups - provide interesting and useful exercises, examples, theory, etc., for presentations and participative experience if you are explaining EQ or teaching a group.
Emotional intelligence is increasingly relevant to organizational development and developing people. Emotional intelligence is an important consideration in human resources planning; job profiling, recruitment interviewing and selection, management development, customer relation and customer service and more.
Emotional intelligence links strongly with concepts of love and spirituality: bringing compassion and humanity to work, and also to multiple intelligence” theory which illustrates and measure the range of capabilities people possess, and the fact that everybody has value.
Emotional intelligence has two aspects
Understanding yourself, your goals, intentions, responses, behavior and all.
Understanding others, and their feelings.
Recent studies indicate that emotional intelligence influences behavior in a wide range of domains including school, community, and the workplace. At the individual level, it has been said to relate to academic achievement, work performance, our ability to communicate effectively, solve everyday problems, build meaningful interpersonal relationships, and even our ability to make moral decisions. Given that EI has the potential to increase our understanding of how individuals behave and adapt to their social environment, it is an important topic for study.
Emotional intelligence five 'domains' of EQ as:
• Knowing your emotions.
• Managing your own emotions.
• Motivating yourself.
• Recognizing and understanding other people's emotions.
• Managing relationships, i.e., managing the emotions of others.
. By developing our Emotional Intelligence in these areas and the five EQ domains we can become more productive and successful at what we do, and help others to be more productive and successful too. The process and outcomes of Emotional Intelligence development also contain many elements known to reduce stress for individuals and organizations, by decreasing conflict, improving relationships and understanding, and increasing stability, continuity and harmony.

Emotional Competence
Emotional Competence is a learned capability based on emotional intelligence
that results in outstanding performance at work. Our emotional intelligence
determines our potential for learning the practical skills that are based on its five
elements: self-awareness, motivation, self-regulation, empathy, and adeptness in
relationships. Our emotional competence, on the other hand, shows how much of
that potential we have translated into on-the-job capabilities. For instance, being
good at serving customers is an emotional competence based on empathy.
Likewise, trustworthiness is a competence based on self-regulation, or handling
impulses and emotions well. Both customer service and trustworthiness are
competencies that can make people outstanding in their work. Simply being high
in emotional intelligence does not guarantee a person will have learned the
emotional competencies that matter for work; it means only that they have
excellent potential to learn them.

The emotional competence frame work
Personal competence-self awareness, self regulation, self-motivation

1) Self-awareness
(a)emotional awareness: Recognizing one’s emotions and their effects.
(b) Accurate self-assessment: knowing one’s strengths and limits.
(c) Self-confidence: sureness about one’s self-worth and capabilities.

2) Self-regulation
(a) Self-control: managing disruptive emotions and impulses.
(b) Trust worthiness: maintaining standards of honesty and integrity.
(c) conscientiousness-taking responsibility for personal performance.
(d)adaptability-flexibility in handling change.
(e) innovativeness-being comfortable with and open to novel ideas and new information.

(3) Self-motivation
Achievement drive-striving to improve or meet a standard of excellence.
(a)commitment-aligning with the goals of the group organization.
(b) Initiative: readiness to act on opportunities.
(c) optimism-persistence in pursuing goals despite obstacles and setbacks.
Social awareness
empathy- sensing others feelings and perspectives, and taking an active interest concerns
Service orientations: anticipating,recognizing,and meeting customer’s needs.
Developing others:sensing what others need in order to develop,and bolstering their abilities.
Leveraging diversity: cultivating opportunities through diverse people.
Political awareness:reading a group’s emotional currents and power relationships.

Social skills
(a)Influence:wielding effective tactics for persuasion.
(b)Communication:sending clear and conciving messages.
(c ) Leadership:inspiring and guiding groups and people.
(d)Change catalyst: intiating or managing change.

Example of emotional Intelligence
Here’s a cautionary tale about two students, Penn and Matt. Penn was a brilliant
and creative student, an exemplar of the best Yale had to offer. The trouble with
Penn was he knew he was exceptional – and so was, as one professor put it,
“unbelievably arrogant.” Even so, he looked spectacular on paper. When he
graduated, Penn was highly sought after. He got a lot of invitations for job
interviews. But Penn’s arrogance came across all too clearly; he ended up with
only one job offer from a second-tier outfit. Matt, on the other hand, wasn’t as
academically brilliant. But he was adept interpersonally. Everyone who worked
with him liked him. Matt ended up with seven job offers out of eight interviews
and went on to success in his field, while Penn was let go after two years at his
first job. Penn lacked – and Matt had – emotional intelligence.

.
References
• Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books
• Bradberry, Travis and Greaves, Jean. (2005). The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book. New York:
• Bar-On, R. (1997). The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i): a test of emotional intelligence.
• Kluemper, D. H. (2008) Trait emotional intelligence
• Petrides, K. V., Pita, R., Kokkinaki, F. (2007). The location of trait emotional intelligence.
• Petrides, K. V. & Furnham, A. (2000a). On the dimensional structure of emotional intelligence. Personality

Conspiracy journalism

2009-05-01T22:58:00.001-07:00

Conspiracy journalism represents a genre of journalism that has elements of advocacy journalism and investigation journalism. It typically intends to exposure or reveals a plan plot or conspiracy towards a group of innocents’ .Conspiracy journalism usually exists in the lesser known sections of media and may have significant political or religious overtones.
Conspiracy journalism has grown significantly since the proliferation of the internet. Previously, it existed in published traits. Conspiracy journalism uses the elements of propaganda to faster interest and gain readers.
Examples of conspiracy journalism
Most recently, the growth of the 9/11 truth movement has been fueled by its own conspiracy journalism. This is the publication and reporting of issues, information, opionion and data related to their specific cause. Thousands of pages of documents, stories and articles have been generated by this organization in it’s quest to validate it’s stated position. During the controversy in 2000 presidential election, main steam media organization the Florida recount. It was only later that a comprehensive review by the New York Times revealed no conspiracy existed.

Why are journalism and democracy considered inter-dependent? Disscuss with suitable examples.

2009-04-08T02:19:00.000-07:00

Journalist act as the bridge between authority and people. Press need to deal with the government for two reasons
(1) due to it’s watchdog function
(2) bridging function
Journalist play the vital role of “watchdog” over the government looking out for instances of malfunction and corruption. The public would have far less control over the affairs of the government without the probing questions of investigative reporters. Democracy of journalism means freedom of press which gives right to publish without prior restraint and freedom from despotic control by the government.
It provides an independent channel of communication between groups in society.
It also provides a forum of public debate about the issues of the day, it articulates public opinion arising from this debate and it forces governments to take account of what people think. Journalism is thus the agency through which private citizens are reconstituted as a public body exercising informal supervision of the state.

Democracy and journalism are deeply inter-dependent because it assume that human beings are rational and are capable of making their own decisions and the government exists to serve the individual. We also know the meaning of freedom of the journalism which assumes that journalism will not overlook the poor and powerless. Actually journalism is the voice of voiceless people.
The principle and purpose of journalism are defined by something more basic the function news plays in the lives of the people. For all that the face of journalism may change but its purpose remain remarkably constant, since the notion of the journalism first evolved . the central purpose of journalism is to tell the truth so that people will have the information that they need to sovereign.
Democracy means people power and Journalism is to bring messages from the government to the people and vice versa for transparency (trust) and accuracy in order for the people to have clear images of whom they want to be their leaders.

Democracy is the system of government where people control the government through election and it is well known fact that only a well-informed citizen can take better decisions. Journalism is that sole medium through which people become informed about the governmental activities because journalism plays the active role of watchdog. Media is the main source of information for public. So when public are given diversified in formations, they take their own decisions. In a way, we can say, media is not the power house itself but it enjoys the power through the public support. So media indirectly control the government.
A lot of countries now have a trend toward democracy and this is the journalism's essensial duty really to help those people who are in need when they need somebody to explain them that they have their own rights to choose the government who can ensure their needs.
On the other side, journalism by definition always sticks to the key word “news”. Also journalism is more tilted towards social service and less towards business, so authentic and fact news distributed before wide audience by journalism are certain to serve and make people aware of governmental activities, changing trend in the society and also the ups and down of the whole world.
There are countries where the vast majority of people don't have access to basic life necessities such as food, running water, electricity, medical care, etc. It's very unlikely that those people would know much about democracy let alone fight for it. Roman republic contributed into different aspects of democracy such as Laws, it never became a democracy. The Romans had elections for choosing representatives, but again women, slaves, and the large foreign population were excluded. So the public opinion is formed by media through the public feedbacks and responses which is a must for democracy. Even in our own country Nepal, the exclusion of Janajatis, Madhesis and other marginalized groups of Nepali inhabitants from the main-stream media and also the main-stream politics became the greatest reason for Maoist decade long civil war and also the biggest threat for democratic government leaded by Nepali Congress Party. So democracy and media are two sides of the same coin and incomplete without one another’s being.
For example the ‘independent’ press and the fight for democracy in Zimbabwe: A critical analysis of the banned Daily News

The closure of The Daily News, Zimbabwe’s only ‘independent’ newspaper in 2003 attracted both local and worldwide condemnation as the height of the Zimbabwe government’s intolerance of diverse viewpoints. This paper critically analyses the circumstances surrounding the closure of The Daily News and argues that to a great degree, and in various ways, the paper contributed to its own closure, not least because of the hidden motives and ineptitude of its management. Despite immense contribution to opening up the democratic space in Zimbabwe, The Daily News had, right from the beginning, inherent problems that conspired with the political environment leading to its closure in 2003. The paper also argues that foreign ownership and foreign funding of media in developing countries can lead to the erosion of the necessary legitimacy that these media need to compete on the local market. It argues that while the independent press has undoubtedly played a crucial role in the democratization process, they have failed to temper their new found freedom with responsibility. It has become widely accepted that the media are central to modern democracy as primary sources of information. This is because democracy as a political system requires an informed citizenry that is capable of participating effectively in public debate and in the overall political process where they have to make informed decisions.

LEARNING PHOTOGRAPHY

2008-12-30T19:39:00.000-08:00

MOTION PHOTOGRAPHY
NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

LIFE STYLE OF KATHMANDU

MIMAMSA

2008-12-30T09:19:00.000-08:00

DEFINATION ON MIMAMSA
It is difficult to say how the sacrificial system of worship grew in the Brâhmanas. This system once set up gradually began to develop into a net-work of elaborate rituals, the details of which were probably taken note of by the priests. As some generations passed and the sacrifices spread over larger tracts of India and grew up into more and more elaborate details, the old rules and regulations began to be collected probably as tradition had it, and this it seems gave rise to the smrti literature. Discussions and doubts became more common about the many intricacies of the sacrificial rituals, and regular rational enquiries into them were begun in different circles by different scholars and priests. These represent the beginnings of Mîmâmsâ (lit. attempts at rational enquiry), and it is probable that there were different schools of this thought. That Jaimini's _Mîmâmsâ sûtras_ (which are with us the foundations of Mîmâmsâ) are only a comprehensive and systematic compilation of one school is evident from the references he gives to the views in different matters of other preceding writers who dealt with the subject. These works are not available now, and we cannot say how much of what Jaimini has written is his original work and how much of it borrowed. But it may be said with some degree of confidence that it was deemed so masterly a work at least of one school that it has survived all other attempts that were made before him.

Mîmâmsâ as philosophy and Mîmâmsâ as ritualism.
From what we have said before it will be easy to see that Mîmâmsâ agrees in the main with Vais'esika about the existence of the categories of things such as the five elements, the qualities, rûpa, rasa, etc. Kumârila's differences on the points of jâti, samavâya, etc. and Prabhâkara's peculiarities have also been mentioned before. On some of these points it appears that Kumârila was influenced by Sâmkhya thought rather than by Nyâya. Sâmkhya and Vais'esika are the only Hindu systems which have tried to construct a physics as a part of their metaphysics; other systems have generally followed them or have differed from them only on minor matters. The physics of Prabhâkara and Kumârila have thus but little importance, as they agree in general with the Vais'esika view. In fact they were justified in not laying any special stress on this part, because for the performance of sacrifices the common-sense view of Nyâya-Vais'esika about the world was most suitable.
The main difference of Mîmâmsâ with Nyâya consists of the theory of knowledge. The former was required to prove that the Veda was self-valid and that it did not derive its validity from God, and also that it was not necessary to test its validity by any other means. To do this it began by trying to establish the self-validity of all knowledge. This would secure for the Veda the advantage that as soon as its orders or injunctions were communicated to us they would appear to us as valid knowledge, and there being nothing to contradict them later on there would be nothing in the world which could render the Vedic injunctions invalid. The other pramânas such as perception, inference, etc. were described, firstly to indicate that they could not show to us how dharma could be acquired, for dharma was not an existing thing which could be perceived by the other pramânas, but a thing which could only be produced by acting according to the injunctions of the Vedas. For the knowledge of dharma and adharma therefore the s'abdapramâna of the Veda was our only source. Secondly it was necessary that we should have a knowledge of the different means of cognition, as without them it would be difficult to discuss and verify the meanings of debatable Vedic sentences. The doctrine of creation and dissolution which is recognized by all other Hindu systems could not be acknowledged by the Mîmâmsâ as it would have endangered the eternality of the Vedas. Even God had to be dispensed with on that account.
The Veda is defined as the collection of Mantras and Brâhmanas (also called the _vidhis_ or injunctive sentences). There are three classes of injunctions
(1) apûrva-vidhi,
(2) niyama-vidhi, and
(3) parisankhyâ-vidhi. Apûrva-vidhi
Is an order which enjoins something not otherwise known, e.g. the grains should be washed (we could not know that this part of the duty was necessary for the sacrifice except by the above injunction). Niyama-vidhi is that where when a thing could have been done in a number of ways, an order is made by the Veda which restricts us to following some definite alternative (e.g. though the chaff from the corn could be separated even by the nails, the order that "corn should be threshed" restricts us to the alternative of threshing as the only course acceptable for the sacrifice). In the niyama-vidhi that which is ordered is already known as possible but only as an alternative, and the vidhi insists upon one of these methods as the only one. In apûrva-vidhi the thing to be done would have remained undone and unknown had it not been for the vidhi. In parisankhyâ-vidhi all that is enjoined is already known but not necessarily as possible alternatives. A certain mantra "I take up the rein" (_imâm agrbhnâm ras'anâm_) which could be used in a number of cases should not however be used at the time of holding the reins of an ass.
There are three main principles of interpreting the Vedic sentences. (1) When some sentences are such that connectively they yield a meaning but not individually
Taken together connectively as a whole. (2) If the separate sentences can however yield meanings separately by themselves they should not be connected together. (3) In the case of certain sentences which are incomplete suitable words from the context of immediately preceding sentences are to be supplied.
The vidhis properly interpreted are the main source of dharma. The mantras which are generally hymns in praise of some deities or powers are to be taken as being for the specification of the deity to whom the libation is to be offered. It should be remembered that as dharma can only be acquired by following the injunctions of the Vedas they should all be interpreted as giving us injunctions. Anything therefore found in the Vedas which cannot be connected with the injunctive orders as forming part of them is to be regarded as untrustworthy or at best inexpressive. Thus it is that those sentences in the Vedas which describe existing things merely or praise some deed of injunction (called the _arthavâdas_) should be interpreted as forming part of a vidhi-vâkya (injunction) or be rejected altogether. Even those expressions which give reasons for the performance of certain actions are to be treated as mere arthavâdas and interpreted as praising injunctions. For Vedas have value only as mandates by the performance of which dharma may be acquired.
When a sacrifice is performed according to the injunctions of the Vedas, a capacity which did not exist before and whose existence is proved by the authority of the scriptures is generated either in the action or in the agent. This capacity or positive force called _apûrva_ produces in time the beneficent results of the sacrifice (e.g. leads the performer to Heaven).

The Mîmâmsâ philosophy asserts that all knowledge excepting the action of remembering (_smrti_) or memory is valid in itself, for it itself certifies its own truth, and neither depends on any other extraneous condition nor on any other knowledge for its validity. But Nyâya holds that this self-validity of knowledge is a question which requires an explanation. It is true that under certain conditions a piece of knowledge is produced in us, but what is meant by saying that this knowledge is a proof of its own truth? When we perceive anything as blue, it is the direct result of visual contact, and this visual contact cannot certify that the knowledge generated is true, as the visual contact is not in any touch with the knowledge

There is a story that Kumârila, not being able to convert Prabhâkara, his own pupil, to his views, attempted a trick and pretended that he was dead. His disciples then asked Prabhâkara whether his burial rites should be performed according to Kumârila's views or Prabhâkara's. Prabhâkara said that his own views were erroneous, but these were held by him only to rouse up Kumârila's pointed attacks, whereas Kumârila's views were the right ones. Kumârila then rose up and said that Prabhâkara was defeated, but the latter said he was not defeated so long as he was alive. But this has of course no historic value.

Moreover, knowledge is a mental affair and how can it certify the objective truth of its representation? In other words, how can my perception "a blue thing" guarantee that what is subjectively perceived as blue is really so objectively as well? After my perception of anything as blue we do not have any such perception that what I have perceived as blue is really so. So this so-called self-validity of knowledge cannot be testified or justified by any perception. We can only be certain that knowledge has been produced by the perceptual act, but there is nothing in this knowledge or its revelation of its object from which we can infer that the perception is also objectively valid or true. If the production of any knowledge should certify its validity then there would be no invalidity, no illusory knowledge, and following our perception of even a mirage we should never come to grief. But we are disappointed often in our perceptions, and this proves that when we practically follow the directions of our perception we are undecided as to its validity, which can only be ascertained by the correspondence of the perception with what we find later on in practical experience. Again, every piece of knowledge is the result of certain causal collocations, and as such depends upon them for its production, and hence cannot be said to rise without depending on anything else. It is meaningless to speak of the validity of knowledge, for validity always refers to objective realization of our desires and attempts proceeding in accordance with our knowledge. People only declare their knowledge invalid when proceeding practically in accordance with it they are disappointed. The perception of a mirage is called invalid when proceeding in accordance with our perception we do not find anything that can serve the purposes of water (e.g. drinking, bathing). The validity or truth of knowledge is thus the attainment by practical experience of the object and the fulfilment of all our purposes from it (_arthakriyâjñâna_ or _phalajñâna_) just as perception or knowledge represented them to the perceiver. There is thus no self-validity of knowledge (_svatah-prâmânya_), but validity is ascertained by _samvâda_ or agreement with the objective facts of experience [Footnote ref l].
It is easy to see that this Nyâya objection is based on the supposition that knowledge is generated by certain objective collocations of conditions, and that knowledge so produced can only be tested by its agreement with objective facts. But this theory of knowledge is merely an hypothesis; for it can never be experienced that knowledge is the product of any collocations; we have a perception and immediately we become aware of certain objective things; knowledge reveals to us the facts of the objective world and this is experienced by us always. But that the objective world generates knowledge in us is only an hypothesis which can hardly be demonstrated by experience. It is the supreme prerogative of knowledge that it reveals all other things. It is not a phenomenon like any other phenomenon of the world. When we say that knowledge has been produced in us by the external collocations, we just take a perverse point of view which is unwarranted by experience; knowledge only photographs the objective phenomena for us; but there is nothing to show that knowledge has been generated by these phenomena. This is only a theory which applies the ordinary conceptions of causation to knowledge and this is evidently unwarrantable. Knowledge is not like any other phenomena for it stands above them and interprets or illumines them all. There can be no validity in things, for truth applies to knowledge and knowledge alone. What we call agreement with facts by practical experience is but the agreement of previous knowledge with later knowledge; for objective facts never come to us directly, they are always taken on the evidence of knowledge, and they have no other certainty than what is bestowed on them by knowledge. There arise indeed different kinds of knowledge revealing different things, but these latter do not on that account generate the former, for this is never experienced; we are never aware of any objective fact before it is revealed by knowledge. Why knowledge makes different kinds of revelations is indeed more than we can say, for experience only shows that knowledge reveals objective facts and not why it does so. The rise of knowledge is never perceived by us to be dependent on any objective fact, for all objective facts are dependent on it for its revelation or illumination. This is what is said to be the self-validity (_svatah-prâmâya_) of knowledge in its production (_utpatti_). As soon as knowledge is produced, objects are revealed to us; there is no intermediate link between the rise of knowledge and the revelation of objects on which knowledge depends for producing its action of revealing or illuminating them. Thus knowledge is not only independent of anything else in its own rise but in its own action as well (_svakâryakarane svatah prâmânyam jñânasya_). Whenever there is any knowledge it carries with it the impression that it is certain and valid, and we are naturally thus prompted to work (_pravrtti_} according to its direction. There is no indecision in our mind at the time of the rise of knowledge as to the correctness of knowledge; but just as knowledge rises, it carries with it the certainty of its revelation, presence, or action. But in cases of illusory perception other perceptions or cognitions dawn which carry with them the notion that our original knowledge was not valid. Thus though the invalidity of any knowledge may appear to us by later experience, and in accordance with which we reject our former knowledge, yet when the knowledge first revealed itself to us it carried with it the conviction of certainty which goaded us on to work according to its indication. Whenever a man works according to his knowledge, he does so with the conviction that his knowledge is valid, and not in a passive or uncertain temper of mind. This is what Mîmâmsa means when it says that the validity of knowledge appears immediately with its rise, though its invalidity may be derived from later experience or some other data (_jñânasya prâmânyam svatah aprâmânyam paratah_). Knowledge attained is proved invalid when later on a contradictory experience (_bâdhakajñâna_) comes in or when our organs etc. are known to be faulty and defective (_karanadosajñâna). It is from these that knowledge appearing as valid is invalidated; when we take all necessary care to look for these and yet find them not, we must think that they do not exist. Thus the validity of knowledge certified at the moment of its production need not be doubted unnecessarily when even after enquiry we do not find any defect in sense or any contradiction in later experience. All knowledge except memory is thus regarded as valid independently by itself as a general rule, unless it is invalidated later on. Memory is excluded because the phenomenon of memory depends upon a previous experience, and its existing latent impressions, and cannot thus be regarded as arising independently by itself

KITE RUNNER

2008-12-30T07:31:00.000-08:00

Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini, is a story of betrayal, love, and redemption set in modern Afghanistan. Amir, son of a wealthy Afghan businessman, is best friends with Hassan, the son of the household servant. Amir lacks the courage to defend his friend from the brutality of local bullies; this action and the resulting guilt and shame changes the destiny of both families.

The Kite runner spans over three decades of great upheaval in Afghanistan. We in the West knew so little about this country until the events of September 11th propelled the US to invade and oust the fundamentalist Taliban. There was a monarchy, then a democracy, the Soviets invaded, then they were expelled, the Northern Alliance and infighting among Afghan tribes brought destruction to Kabul, the Taliban - punitive, oppressive order. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion. Most travelled first to Pakistan. Those who could, including in this novel Amir and his father, came to the U.S, where the immigrant story is so familiar - former generals and surgeons working gas pumps to stay alive. All hope is placed on the younger generation to succeed.

Although The Kite Runner is set in this true background of social upheaval, the magic of the novel is in its characters and storytelling. There is great psychological insight and complexity and the arc of the story returns us to its beginning, where Amir must face his past and make amends.

Apparently The Kite Runner is Khaled Hosseini's first novel, and the first Afghan novel written originally in English. It is an extraordinary accomplishment.

One thing that continued to strike me throughout the story was how I personally wanted to shake some sense into Amir to do the right thing. He is so humanly flawed, when we want him to step up to heroism. That he would even consider leaving Hassan's son in the care of American aid workers, rather than taking full responsibility for him, is beyond me. But as I mentioned, the book is about redemption, and ultimately Amir recovers his soul and does the right thing. What remains to be seen is whether the boy can recover.

2008-10-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

EXTRIMISM

2008-09-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

How monotonous it would be

if all the flowers

in the garden were roses?

No daffodils, Bagen- Belia

How would the nature survive,

If all the animals were herbivores

OR carnivores?

Food crisis alone

would devour the creatures

What would happen,

if all the people take up the same doctrine?

No war of words and beliefs

No competitions

No jealousy

No piercing editorials

Just imagine

what shall it would look like?

If Left or Right did not exist…..

EXTREMISM

Equality and Inequality Of Oppurtunities

2008-09-30T05:13:00.002-07:00

A few days ago, I happened to witness a pitiful event. Just outside a local momo shop at Jawalakhel, a bald gentleman was mercilessly beating a boy of 12 – 14 years of age. After a casual investigation, it was known that the boy was a child labour working at the momo shop and the thrasher was his boss. Blood inside me was boiling, tempting me to strike the abuser but I was no match to him in fight (the way he was beating the boy assured me of it).

After what seemed like ages to me, two brave members of the mass intervened and at lest the horrible drama was over for the time being. While I walked back home, I was anxious whether the poor boy got beating inside the shop.

In no time, I was thinking about all those many children who are living a life where their rights are appallingly violated. The ones who don’t have a home to stay in, who live in streets or work at local momo shops, who carry a large bundle of plastic bags from rubbish or carry a school bag for their masters’ children. These children are like roses. If a magnificent rose plant is thrown off in a desert with no water, scorching sun and heated sand, sooner or later, it will perish. If not so, its beauty will simply be crumpled.

According to CWIN, there are thousands of these crumpled roses in Nepal. CWIN reports that out of 100 children in Nepal, 80 are admitted to school, but only 51 complete primary level education. There are at least 5000 children who are working and living on the streets and 40,000 children who are bonded laborers. Approximately, 2.6 million Children (5-14 years' age group) in Nepal are child labors. It further reports that about12, 000 children are trafficked every year from Nepal. ILO states that 127,000 children in Nepal are forced to work in "worst forms of child labor".

In the much feared armed insurgency, CWIN reports 465 children to have died; more than 8000 children were orphaned. Bomb explosions directly affected 32 schools. Thousands of children have been displaced.

And without doubt, the living conditions of these disadvantaged children are not only inadequate but also very hazardous for their overall development. A high majority of these children live without the love of parents. They don’t have hygienic food, let alone education. Even if some of them are fortunate enough to go to a school, they are given no time to study. Considerable numbers of them are physically and sexually abused by inhuman bosses. These children’s physical wounds, if they have any, may be cured but the wounds in their psychology are set to remain for a long time. Under these unimaginably torturous conditions, how can they prepare adequately for their future lives and will these children be left out in the so called “new Nepal”?

It has often been stated that today’s era is the age of meritocracy; where everyone is judged and rewarded according to their merits or qualities. And, meritocracy is always accompanied by the phrase – ‘equality of opportunities’. But when certain issues like that of disadvantaged children are noticed, it seems that there exists meritocracy but only for the privileged ones. Personally, it feels as if the underprivileged children are ignored by the state, they are not provided with the chance to widen their qualities or merits. So, if a well fed tiger and an under nourished one are to race, doubtlessly, the well fed one will be the winner.

Though Nepal has already ratified the Convention of Child Rights (CRC) and ILO convention number 138, as of now, they are partly ‘invisible’ to the state despite the fact that many politicians may have seen them in a street corner from their glossy imported vehicles.

Whatever happened in the past, it can’t be changed but it can be redressed. We are in the threshold of making a new constitution. This upcoming constitution should materialize what the state had promised to do in the international conventions like CRC. In doing so, it must make education free and a compulsion for all children in Nepal. It should provide shelter for the homeless children and health services preferably at no cost. Only when these modern basic requisites for the overall development of a child are fulfilled, then only shall people be assessed and rewarded as per their caliber. A single child is a universe of possibilities. If he/she is provided with proper opportunities, they can also turn themselves into a Girija Prasad Koirala, a Baburam Bhattarai, a Sanduk Ruit, a sister Nirmala or a Rajesh Hamal. Let the roses be watered and matured in fertile soil and we will witness countless rose gardens in our nation.