Kaphlesansar: Films: Bollywood

Kaphlesansar: Films: Bollywood: Bollywood              

Beautiful Thought

‎"Coins Always Make Sound" But The Currency Notes Are Always Silent! “So When Your Value Increases Keep Yourself Calm & Silent

Maoist leaders busy amassing property: Oli

KATHMANDU, MAR 04 - CPN-UML leader KP Sharma Oli accused the UCPN (Maoist) of amassing property although they claimed to be working for the liberation of the people. “People who have worked for decades have not been able to buy a motorcycle. But the Maoist comrades, participating in the so-called People’s War travel in expensive vehicles and have been able to build skyscrapers in the Capital” said Oli, speaking at the UML National Representatives Council organised at Khullamnach in Capital on Sunday. Oli remarked that Maoists are dreaming to capture the state power by clinging on to the power. “It is a futile dream to capture the state power,” he said. Furthermore, he added that new-Nepal would is impossible under the leadership of the extremist Maoists. Oli claimed that new-Nepal should be progressive and peaceful rather than an extremist. Oli claimed that a constitution that ensures the end of violence in the nation is the need of the country at present. Oli further stresses that the Baburam Bhattrai-led government cannot complete the task of peace process and constitution drafting process. He also focused on the need to establish a national consensus government. Moreover, Oli claimed that the Maoist have been trying to disrupt the UML conference. “The Bus heading from Shindhuli was attacked in Chitwan; these sorts of incident could not hinder the commitment of UML towards building a better country,” Oli claimed.

Only UML can save democracy: Khanal

KATHMANDU, MAR 04 - CPN-UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal claimed that his party has maintained its position as the No 1 among the people and that the nation would prosper only by following its vision. “This gathering has shown that the UML remains top in the heart of the people regardless of the reason why it was ranked third in the Constituent Assembly elections,” said Khanal, addressing the party’s National Representatives’ Council assembly that kicked off at Khullamanch in the Capital on Sunday. He made the crowd laugh saying that the Khullamanch was getting smaller. “This is getting smaller.” Khanal further remarked that the other two big parties—UCPN (Maoist) and Nepali Congress (NC)—have failed protect democracy. He remarked that Maoists have the ego of being the largest party and Congress has the illusion of being the messiah of democracy. “But, in fact, democracy can only be saved by the CPN-UML,” he said. “If anyone has raised the flag high for democracy, it is the UML.” The UML chairman said that the government has resorted to forceful eviction of landless squatters instead of finding alternative solution to the problem. “The government has been treading on the path of authoritarian. This government is against the people,” said Khanal. He claimed that the government which cannot provide relief to the people has no right to remain at the helm even for minute. He claimed that the Madhesi parties have been staging drama by forgetting the issue of Madhes. He remarked that the Madhesi parties remain indifferent even when the people of Kanchapur could not use the water of Mahakali and during the transgression of Nepali territory at Susta. Saying that there is no situation to fight against India though, Khanal announced to act as defence cover when it comes to the issue of nationality. :ekantipur report

Tackling Nepal's unemployment problem

The exact unemployment rate in Nepal has always been debatable. Some agencies report it to be around 20 percent while others report it to be around 40 percent. So, the unemployment rate of Nepal depends on who you ask. What is not debatable is the fact that solutions that have been tried have always been a blanketed approach to reduce unemployment throughout the nation. What our policymakers have to realize is the fact that blanketed approaches don’t usually work. 

There are three kinds of unemployment: structural, frictional, and cyclical. Frictional unemployment occurs when people move from one place to another or when they quit one job to find another. Cyclical unemployment occurs when people lose their jobs due to business-cycle fluctuations. It increases when an economy is in a decline. Structural unemployment occurs when the labor force lacks the necessary skills and training to make itself useful in the new way of doing things. 

In Nepal, people from low-opportunity areas have always moved to areas where jobs are aplenty. Also, a dearth of jobs means quitting one to find another has not been a luxury available to Nepali workers. So, frictional unemployment isn’t really a big issue for us. Also, the Nepali economy has been growing steadily at around 3 percent a year. We are not in a recession, and thus, we should not worry too much about cyclical unemployment. 

Financial sector, however, has been flying high in Nepal. Despite what we believe, private education in Nepal has become an industry in itself and has been growing rapidly all over the country. The construction sector is also booming. But, manufacturing industry is in the dumps, and agricultural production is also in decline. This has resulted in an increase in net unemployment because the declining effects far outweigh the positive effects. Manufacturing and agricultural labor force in Nepal lacks the necessary training and skills to succeed in construction, education or financial sectors. This lack of transferable skills among the labor from different sectors has resulted in growing structural unemployment in Nepal. 

Growth in financial and banking sector has resulted in lots of jobs. Education and housing industry boom has given jobs to thousands. Manufacturing industry, which depends on huge amounts of energy for production, has been severely handicapped due to load-shedding and lack of alternative energy options. Competition from other countries along with lower returns has, all but, destroyed the agricultural industry which, according to the latest National Labor Force Survey, still employs around 51 percent of the labor force. In comparison, the construction and financial industries, which are booming, each employ only about 1 percent of the entire labor force.

The solution, currently in use and promoted by our government, has been to send these low-skilled laborers abroad for jobs. While remittance money from overseas workers has been helping us in the short-run to fulfill our consumption desires, it is not a viable option in the long-run. Studies in many nations that faces employment migration have shown, repeatedly, that remittance does not create jobs and has no contribution in reducing inequality. Our policymakers seem oblivious to this fact, seeing how they have been going about their business of signing agreements with other nations to send our labor force overseas for jobs.

What, then, is the solution? We know that agriculture can no longer remain our number one industry. As in all other nations that have developed before us, other sectors are bound to surpass agriculture as our leading contributor to GDP. However, we should not give up on agriculture right away because it still employs the largest share of our labor force. We should design programs to reform agriculture; provide technical support to farmers; provide healthcare; improve irrigation facilities; introduce scientific farming techniques, for example, drip irrigation; and provide storage facilities to farmers. Agriculture in Nepal cannot sustain itself without government intervention and reforms As this industry is too huge to sustain itself via individual efforts from farmers.

More importantly, youth unemployment in Nepal is at an all-time high. We are losing a large chunk of our labor force, during its prime and most productive years, to some other country due to lack of a better opportunity here at home which is a big shame. Most youths going overseas for jobs are rural youths involved in agriculture. These youths leave Nepal because they lack the necessary skills and education to become employed in other sectors in Nepal. The best and the easiest way to stop this mass exodus is to initiate a nationwide program to educate the youth who will be able to seek employment in sectors other than agriculture. 

Therefore, we should encourage our youths to finish school, and go to college. If they cannot afford to do so, the government needs to step-up and provide then with benefits, subsidies and, if need be, free education all the way until they finish college. Only then can we have educated youths capable of finding employment within the nation’s boundaries. 

It is a wonder why our government mimics failed European tax policies, but not their successful and free college education policies? Our leaders, time and again, claim to turn Nepal into Singapore. Here’s my response to these leaders: if you can get our education system to mimic that of Sri Lanka, I’ll never ask you for a Singapore. 

Along with education subsidies for youths, providing businesses with incentives, such as tax breaks and subsidies, to relocate them will help balance the unemployment figures nationally. Despite what we see in Kathmandu, where people from all over the country are flowing in for jobs, most of Nepal’s labor force is uncomfortable when it comes to moving and relocating for jobs. The government, via designed programs, should encourage the jobless to relocate to where the jobs are. People with little or no education should be provided with vocational training. 

Finally, since most of the youths who go overseas for jobs, are engaged in construction jobs, we should provide such jobs at home while ensuring, at the same time, that we are also sending more of them to schools and colleges. Our roads and highways are crumbling and are also in need of widening; bridges are falling apart; and there aren’t enough roads and bridges to smoothen the trade flow. So, the best way to tackle Nepali unemployment is to engage in a highway construction effort in a scale that this country has never seen before. We have the necessary labor to do the job. All we need is the necessary capital which I am sure our friends at International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, India and China will be happy to help out. 

Writer is an Economist at the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS)

The federalist controversy

Despite much acrimony, there is ample ground for negotiation and compromise between the views of the two SRC factions THE two reports released by the State Restructuring Commission (SRC) are expressions of two visions for Nepal’s future. The first report, which envisages 11 provinces and was voted for by a majority of SRC members, is driven by the urge to provide political power to groups that have been historically underrepresented by the state. As such, it seeks to accord as much power as possible to the provinces. The second report, which envisages six provinces and was voted for by a minority in the SRC, is concerned about the erosion of central power. There has been much controversy over the two reports. In particular, the proponents of the latter have strongly criticised the former for being against democratic values and attempting to instigate conflict between various groups. A closer look at the disputed provisions reveals, however, that the chasm between the two sides need not be as deep as it is at the moment; that there is in fact much ground for compromise between the two sides. First, whereas both of the reports envisage a three-tier federal structure, the majority report states that the third (local) tier of governance should fall under the control of the provincial administration. The majority SRC faction wants this provision, as it is fearful of central interference in the affairs of the state. The minority report is reluctant to make this qualification and simply states that there will be three tiers of governance in the country. It has criticised the majority for seeking to establish a “dictatorship” of sorts of the provincial administration over the local bodies. And it seems to envisage a situation where local bodies are run through directions and funds given from the centre; where local bodies will have the right to appeal to the central government over the heads of those in the provincial administration. In reality, both of these sides are pursuing extreme claims. Local government cannot remain the preserve of either the central or provincial governments. Given the fact that provinces will continue to a great extent to be dependent on transfers from the centre, their local bodies will of necessity be receptive to central influence. It also makes sense for a central body to devise broad policies for local bodies. On the other hand, it is also absurd for local bodies to be controlled directly from the centre. The provincial administration will be closer to them and will understand their needs better. It is clear from the reports of the SRC that the division of powers between the centre and provinces when it comes to local bodies has not been considered in adequate detail. Second, the minority group of he SRC has criticised the majority group for allowing for priority rights (agradhikar) in the provinces. This, the minority claims, is against the rights of certain communities. What has gone unmentioned, however, is that the majority proposal in fact represents a significant compromise from what the Maoists and Madhesi parties had been demanding earlier. The CA State Restructuring Committee, under the influence of these parties, had envisaged a situation where the dominant community in each region would have the right to rule for two terms. The majority faction desires no such thing at the provincial level. It envisages “prior rights” to rule only at the level of special areas (regions of subautonomy within provinces for particularly marginalised groups), and that too for only a single term. This is considerably less threatening to the nationally dominant communities. Further, to dismiss this provision as “a threat to democracy” is simplistic. All across South Asia, g ov e r nments have realised the need to protect group rights as well as those of individuals. Reservations are a policy mechanism through which group rights are protected, and agradhikar too is such a policy measure. Moreover, reservations are now here to stay. The provision for agradhikar as envisaged in the SRC report is so weak that it unlikely to become entrenched. Third, the majority report states that each province will have the right to selfdetermination. The proponents of the minority faction remain staunchly against this, claiming that this will lead to the fragmentation of the country. In the popular press, the right to self-determination has been interpreted as the right of provinces to secede. But the reports of the SRC, as well as the previous CA State Restructuring Committee, do not mean this at all. The right to selfdetermination is interpreted in these reports as the right of Madhesi, Janajati and Dalit groups to work with and develop their own languages and cultures, to enjoy rights over the natural resources in the regions. While some such provisions are necessary to empower these communities, it clearly will not do to give dominant groups within provinces the right to monopolise the resources of their province. The precise nature of these rights remains to be negotiated. There is however little cause to fear that something as drastic as secession will arise as a result of this provision. Fourth, the most controversial decision of the majority faction of the SRC has been its model of 11 states. In particular, there has been an outcry against the provision in the majority report for two adjacent states in the Tarai that run from the east of the country to the west, thus possessing a monopoly over access to India. This provision is indeed problematic. Access to India is extremely important to Nepal. To allow only two provinces access to it means to allow them to hold the centre or the rest of the country hostage to their whims when they desire it by, for example, not allowing good to be transported through their regions. This is a recipe for conflict. On the other hand, the six state proposal of the minority factions is also problematic. Despite paying lip service to the notion that provinces will be formed according to identity and capacity, the map it has proposed distinctly reveals an attempt to undermine the role of identity. As has been said many times before, the assertion of identity by previously marginalised groups has been central to the demands of federalism. The task is to negotiate identity demands in a way that accords them recognition while seeking to minimise the possibility of future conflict between province and state, between different identity groups. It is absurd to seek to do away with identity demands altogether. There is little cause to fear that something as drastic as secession will arise as a result of the right to self-determination

Unbeaten Nepal move to semis

UNBEATEN Nepal cruised to the semi-final of the ACC U-19 Women’s Championship as toppers of group A with their four wickets triumph over Thailand at KOC Hubara, Kuwait, on Monday. Chasing a target of 87 runs Indu Varma stroked 40 runs as the defending champions accomplished the target in 22.3 overs with the loss of six wickets. Nepal who have eight points from four matches will now take on Bhutan in the semi-final on Thursday. Nepal’s batting which had looked solid in the last three matches was exposed by accurate bowling and sharp fielding by Thailand. The Himalayan nation lost three wickets inside five overs and were in a vulnerable position until Varma came in to rescue the team. Anuradha Chaudhary was the first to return back to the seats. Having run for the first run in no haste both the openers Shilu Rijal and Anuradha found themselves on the same end thus brining Anuradha’s innings to an early end with 10/1 in the third over. Rijal followed suit in the in the same over when she was trapped leg before by Nattakan Chantam and Nepal were 12 for the loss of two wickets. Another run out in the same over had Thailand on top as the new batter Kavita Gautam who had yet to open her score was run-out to fold Nepal to 13/3. Captain Rubina Chhetry and Indu Varma put on 28 runs together before Chhetry was bowled by Areeya in the 12th over. Varma remained calm at the other end and single handedly sailed Nepal home with two overs to spare. Earlier, sent in to field, bowlers did an excellent job for Nepal folding the hard hitting Thai batters for just 86 runs. An unbeaten 34 runs from Saengsakaorat helped Thailand put on 86 for the loss of four wickets in the allotted 25 overs. Chhetry, Santoshi Chaudhary, Sangeeta Gauchan and Varma shared a wicket each for Nepal. Nepal’s coach Nabin Singh said losing three wickets early on had Nepal on panic but an unfazed knock for Varma did the job for his team

Forget the tears, change the team

EIGHT years ago, after India nudged Steve Waugh towards the precipice in his farewell Test before settling for a draw, the inimitable Matthew Engel wrote in The Guardian: “There are bright new stars twinkling in cricket. A remarkable constellation of them can be seen with the naked eye in the Indian middle order-Rahul Dravid, man of the series, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly. It seems now they might be lighting Test cricket for years to come.” They did too, taking India to the pinnacle of the game over the course of the decade. But when they returned to the land of the Southern Cross this winter for one last attempt to storm the ramparts, a nation watched in shock and dismay. A reconstituted and vibrant Australian side extinguished the lights. There’s a school of thought that says the Indian adoration of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman verges on the mawkish. But while sentiment no doubt colours perceptions of their decline, what is undeniable is the impact they’ve had on the fortunes of a team that had never enjoyed anything more than sporadic success. Consider this: Before Laxman made his debut in November 1996, India had played 299 Tests, winning 55 and losing as many as 98. In the years since, 163 games have produced 57 wins and 49 defeats, numbers that would have been much more impressive, but for the disintegration in England and Australia. In the Tests that they played together, the trinity hit 67 centuries, most of them central to victories in a decade when Indian cricket went a long way towards shedding the hapless- tourists tag. Worryingly now, those days are upon us again, with a crumbling batting line-up showing all the frailties once associated with Indian cricket on the road. Where do we go from here? Establishing a succession plan is crucial to the renewal process. Regardless of when Tendulkar, Dravid or Laxman bow out, the replacements need to be identified and given enough time to feel that they belong. With M.S. Dhoni’s Test captaincy credentials now being questioned by expert and layman alike, it’s equally important to assess the leadership qualities of others. Vice-Captain Virender Sehwag is being mentioned in some circles, but it makes little sense to give the job to someone who, at 33, is three years older than the current incumbent. Sehwag has also done little in recent months to suggest that he should be entrusted with the responsibility in the five-day game. A few months ago, the obvious choice would have been Gautam Gambhir, 30, but a poor run of form, allied with recent churlish comments about home advantage, hasn’t advanced his cause. With Virat Kohli, 23, who led the Under-19 side with distinction, just establishing himself in the side though, Gambhir would be the best alternative if change was mooted. Whatever happens, a change at the top of the order is inevitable. Gambhir and Sehwag have been anything but productive in the past 12 months, and Sehwag has expressed the desire to move to the middle order once a slot opens up. At number six, against a softer old ball, he has the potential to be as devastating as he has been against the new one. It shouldn’t be forgotten that his century on debut, at Blœmfontein, South Africa, in 2001, came at number six. There are several candidates to partner Gambhir. Mumbai opener Ajinkya Rahane, 23, is one, and a first-class average of 68.47 suggests that he can make a mark. When tried in the limited-overs side in England, he unveiled a few eye-catching cameos, though those who have watched his progress attest to the fact that his strength is the long form of the game. The middle order is a team’s heart, and it stopped beating in Australia. Each spot demands special skills and players must be given the opportunities. The modern-day number three is one who can be the fulcrum of an innings, while also being able to score rapidly. Kohli has done the job quite well in one-day cricket and coming off a strong finish to the Tests in Australia, he would fancy his chances of making the role his own. Whœver replaces Tendulkar at number four in the long run needs to have exceptional stroke-making skills. It isn’t just Ian Chappell who thinks Mumbai’s Rohit Sharma, 24, is the most talented young Indian batsman around. The ability has never been doubted. The commitment to excel has, and it cost him a World Cup place last year. Since then, however, he has seized every chance that’s come his way in one-day cricket. Delaying his entry into the Test side will only set Indian cricket back. The other pivotal position is number six, from where Laxman launched many an epic rearguard action. Batting with the lower order is one of the most difficult skills to master. On the one hand, you need to shield them from ferocious spells of bowling. On the other, you need to give them the confidence to play their own game, as Laxman did so well with Ishant Sharma, 23, at Mohali in October 2010. Performing this role requires composure, and Saurashtra middleorder batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, 24, showed that in his debut Test against Australia 15 months ago. At number five, you ideally want another left-hander. If Yuvraj Singh recovers in time for the start of the next Indian season, he should be given a final opportunity to make the spot his own. If not, Uttar Pradesh lefthand batsman Suresh Raina, 25, is more than eager to redeem himself. Raina’s wœs against the short ball have been extensively documented, but better players than him have had to surmount such hurdles in the past. Raina adds much to India’s fielding effort and no one has ever questioned his capacity for hard work. Another interesting option is Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund, 22. Exposed badly in English conditions, he’s another player with an outstanding domestic record. A couple of series in conditions that he’s familiar with could well be the making of him. One of the few consolations apart from Kohli during the Australian debacle was the wicketkeeping of Wriddhiman Saha, 27. In a difficult situation, he showed that he could handle a bat as well. Should Dhoni take a break at some point in the future, there’s little doubt that Saha should be the man entrusted with the big gloves. Even as Harbhajan Singh bides his time for a comeback, the selectors need to persist with right-arm offbreak bowler R. Ashwin, 25. His figures in Australia-nine wickets at 62.77-don’t make for happy reading, but you only need to see how the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka struggled there (12 wickets in five Tests at 75.41) to realise what a difficult tour it can be for an off-spinner. In favourable conditions at home, Ashwin deserves the chance to show that he can lead India’s spin attack. Things are a lot more fluid when it comes to pace bowling. Zaheer Khan, made it through the Test leg in Australia for the first time, but he is another with few miles left on the clock. Ishant Sharma hasn’t progressed as hoped, while Umesh Yadav, 24, came out of the Australian misadventure with a little credit. He and Varun Aaron, 22, need to be told to focus on bowling fast, with Praveen Kumar, 25, or Irfan Pathan, 27, providing a swingbowling option when required. Most of all, though, expectations need to be toned down. There are likely to be more blips before things get better and turning down young hopefuls will get Indian cricket nowhere. It took Laxman as many as 20 games to find his feet in Test cricket. Those who succeed him need the same kind of indulgence.                                                                                                       by  Dileep Premachandran, who is editor-in-chief,Wisden India

Beauty of Mathematics

Here are some funny math interesting facts. All the below tricks are based around the sequential manipulation of the numbers being used for input and output.


Sequential Inputs of numbers with 8
1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321


Sequential 1's with 9
1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10 = 1111111111


Sequential 8's with 9
9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888


Numeric Palindrome with 1's
1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321


Without 8
12345679 x 9 = 111111111
12345679 x 18 = 222222222
12345679 x 27 = 333333333
12345679 x 36 = 444444444
12345679 x 45 = 555555555
12345679 x 54 = 666666666
12345679 x 63 = 777777777
12345679 x 72 = 888888888
12345679 x 81 = 999999999


Sequential Inputs of 9
9 x 9 = 81
99 x 99 = 9801
999 x 999 = 998001
9999 x 9999 = 99980001
99999 x 99999 = 9999800001
999999 x 999999 = 999998000001
9999999 x 9999999 = 99999980000001
99999999 x 99999999 = 9999999800000001
999999999 x 999999999 = 999999998000000001
......................................


Sequential Inputs of 6
6 x 7 = 42
66 x 67 = 4422
666 x 667 = 444222
6666 x 6667 = 44442222
66666 x 66667 = 4444422222
666666 x 666667 = 444444222222
6666666 x 6666667 = 44444442222222
66666666 x 66666667 = 4444444422222222
666666666 x 666666667 = 444444444222222222

Intresting Facts About Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a genius scientist and humanist and was responsible for the development of theory of relativity, photoelectric effect and Brownian motion. As a child Einstein was however considered to be a slow learner.


Albert Einstein once said, "The important thing is to not stop questioning". It was this curiosity and questioning attitude that perhaps earned him the ultimate recognition in the form of a Nobel Prize. Albert Einstein is credited with the development of the theory of relativity and physical theory of gravity among other things.


Facts about Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was born on 14th March, 1879 in Ulm, Germany. When Albert Einstein was a child his mother actually thought he was deformed because he had rather large head. As a child Einstein spoke very little till the age of nine. Albert Einstein had a younger sister named Maja who he became good friends with in the later years of his life.


When Einstein was five years old his father gave him a pocket compass. It was this compass that sparked Einstein’s interest in science. The fact that the compass pointed in the same direction no matter how it was turned made him curious about understanding the force behind it.


In 1895 when Albert Einstein appeared for the University Entrance Exam he could only manage to pass in the math and science sections and failed in the rest of the subjects.


Albert Einstein published papers on theory of Special Relativity, Brownian motion and Photoelectric Effect in the year 1905. His paper on general relativity was published in the year 1916.


Albert Einstein could not find work after he graduated from the college and initially had to work as a technical assistant with the Swiss Patent Office. Between the year 1911 and 1912 he taught at a German speaking University in the city of Prague after which he returned to Zurich. In the year 1914 he started working as a professor at the University of Berlin and was also made the director in the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics.


Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize for his work in the area of Photoelectric Effect in the year 1921. Einstein was not present to receive his Nobel Prize in December 1922 because he was on a trip to Japan.


In the year 1933 he started teaching at the Princeton University. In the year 1939 he wrote to President Roosevelt and pointed out the possibility of construction of a powerful bomb using atomic chain reactions in Uranium and he also suggested that Germany might be working on such a creation.


Einstein was offered the Presidency of Israel in 1952 but declined it. An element named einsteinium was discovered in 1952 and named in his honor.


Albert Einstein had an illegitimate child with Mileva Maric who was one of his former students. His daughter was named Lieserl and was born in 1902 and not much is known about his daughter. Some accounts indicate that his daughter was mentally challenged and lived with her mother’s family. Einstein eventually married Mileva and he had two sons Hans Albert and Eduard. However his relationship with his wife was largely strained. His relationship with his elder son Hans Albert was also quite rocky. Eventually Einstein divorced Mileva and married his cousin Elsa Lowenthal. He had numerous affairs with many women during his lifetime.


Albert Einstein was also not particularly concerned about being well dressed. He also stopped wearing socks because he found his big toe would make a hole in the sock. His favorite past time was sailing. Einstein also loved going for walks around the town and that was one of his favorite activities. He also loved music and used to play the violin.


After Albert Einstein’s death in 1955 his brain was removed without approval from his family and an autopsy was conducted. Thomas Harvey conducted this autopsy and eventually it was discovered that Einstein’s brain had large portion of glial cells in the region that synthesizes information. Other studies also indicated that Einstein’s brain did not have a particular kind of wrinkle and this allowed the neurons to communicate better with each other. At the time of his death, Albert Einstein’s final words died with him as they were in German and his nurse did not understand German.

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking is the former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and author of A Brief History of Time which was an international bestseller. Now Director of Research at the Institute for Theoretical Cosmology
at Cambridge, his other books for the general reader include A Briefer History of Time, the essay collection Black Holes and Baby Universe and The Universe in a Nutshell.

In 1963, Hawking contracted motor neurone disease and was given two years to live. Yet he went on to Cambridge to become a brilliant researcher and Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. Since 1979 he has held the post of Lucasian Professor at Cambridge, the chair held by Isaac Newton in 1663. Professor Hawking has over a dozen honorary degrees and was awarded the CBE in 1982. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Science. Stephen Hawking is regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Einstein.

SUCCESS

Success is not an accident. It is the result of our attitude and our attitude is a choice.
Hence success is a matter of choice and not chance.
Most crackpots keep waiting for a jackpot. But can that bring success?
A priest was driving by and saw an exceptionally beautiful farm. He stopped his car to
appreciate the bountiful crop. The farmer was riding on his tractor and saw the priest at
the corner. He drove towards the Priest and when he got there the priest said, "God has
blessed you with a beautiful farm. You should be grateful for it. The farmer replied, "Yes,
God has blessed me with a beautiful farm and I am grateful for it, but you should have
seen this farm when God had the whole farm to himself!"
How come one person moves forward with one success after another, and yet some are
still getting ready?
How come one man goes through life crossing one hurdle after another, accomplishing
his goals while another struggles and gets nowhere?
If the answer to these two questions can become part of the curriculum, it could
revolutionize the educational system. The uncommon man seeks opportunity, whereas
the common man seeks security. We need to keep our minds on what we want, not on
what we don't want.

WHAT IS SUCCESS?

A lot of research has gone into the subject of success and failure. All that we need to do
is learn our lessons from history. When we study the life histories of successful people,
we find that they have certain qualities in common no matter which period of history they
lived in. Success leaves clues and if we identify and adopt the qualities of successful
people, we shall be successful. Similarly, there are characteristics common in all failures.
If we avoid those characteristics, then we shall not be failures. Success is no mystery,
but simply the result of consistently applying some basic principles. The reverse is just as
true: Failure is simply a result of making a few mistakes repeatedly. All of this might
sound too simplistic, but the fact is that most truths are very simple. I'm not saying they
are easy, but they certainly are simple.
To laugh often and love much;
To win the respect of intelligent persons
and the affection of children;
To earn the approval of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends ;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give off one's self without the
slightest thought of return;
To have accomplished a task, whether
by a healthy child, a rescued soul, a
garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with
Enthusiasm and sung with exaltation;
To know that even one life has breathed
easier because you have lived;
This is to have succeeded.

HOW DO WE DEFINE SUCCESS?
What makes a person successful? How do we recognize success?
To some people, success might mean wealth. To others, it is recognition, good health,
good family, happiness, satisfaction, and peace of mind. What this really tells us is that
success is subjective. It can mean different things to different people. The definition that I
feel summarizes "success" well is:
Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal.
Earl Nightingale
Let's look at these definitions carefully.
"Progressive" means that success is a journey, not a destination. We never arrive. After
we reach one goal, we go on to the next and the next and the next.
"Realization" means it is an experience. Outside forces cannot make me feel successful.
I have to feel it within myself. It is internal not external.
"Worthy" refers to our value system. Which way are we heading? Positive or negative?
Worthiness determines the quality of the journey. That is what gives meaning and
fulfillment. Success without fulfillment is empty.
Why? "Goals" are important. Because they give us a sense of direction.
Success does not mean being accepted by everyone. There are some groups I would not
want to be accepted by, out of choice. I would rather be criticized by fools than
appreciated by unsavory characters.
I define success as a manifestation of good luck that results from inspiration, aspiration,
desperation and perspiration; generally in that sequence.
Success and happiness go hand in hand. Success is getting what you want and
happiness is wanting what you get!
Existence alone is not success! It is a lot more!
Do more than exist -- live
Do more than touch -- feel
Do more than look -- observe
Do more than read -- absorb
Do more than hear -- listen
Do more than listen -- understand


John H. Rho

International Conference on Astrophysics and Cosmology,Nepal

We announce an international conference on Astrophysics and Cosmology here in Kathmandu, Nepal during 19-21 march 2012. This conference will be organized by the Central Department of Physics, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal and supported/co-organized by Ministry of S&T (MOST), National Academy of S&T (NAST), B.P. Koirala Memorial Planetarium, Observatory and Science Museum Board,Nepal Physical Society (NPS) and Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Group (ACRG).

There will be 6 invited talks covering following six areas:

(a) Exoplanet searches (including Astrochemistry & Astrobiology)

Dr. John Black (Chalmers University Onsala, Sweden)*

(b) Sun and Solar System (Solar neutrinos, Solar oscillations: Helioseimology, Solar flares: origin, detection, imaging)

Prof. Ken Libbrecht (Caltech)*

(c) Primordial gravity waves from Inflation, Gravitational waves detection/binary mergers and collisions (advanced LIGO, LISA etc.)

Prof. Eanna Flanagan (Cornell)*

(d) Stellar evolution (leaving to SN/BH formation)

Prof. Chris Fryer (Los Alamos)*

(e) Details of accretion process/origin, acceleration and collimation of outflows (similarities/dissimilarities between YSOs and jets in compact systems, etc.)

Prof. Sandip Kumar Chakrabarti (SNBose, India)

(f) Gamma Ray bursts (origin/association with SN/spectral evolution, afterglows, population etc.)

Prof. Jonathan Granot (University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK)

*: Yet to be confirm.

There will be 5-8 special talks that will be finalized soon.

The purpose of this conference is to bring together experienced as well as young scientists who are interested in working actively on various aspects of astrophysics & cosmology, to exchange their research findings and to expose young minds in the field of astrophysics & cosmology from Nepal. The lectures will address major theoretical issues and current observational successes in the field. The lectures will be arranged in such a way that the young researchers will have ample scope of interaction with the speakers who are both nationally and internationally leading experts in their respective field of research. The conference will consists of two main sessions. Theme session and Technical session. In the Theme session, a set of lectures will be delivered from the distinguished invited professors about the current issues and research findings in their relevant field. Researchers and students would have an ample opportunity to present their research findings in the Technical session.

If you wish to participate in the conference, please fill this form and reply to .

Scientific Organizing Committee:

Binil Aryal (Tribhuvan Univ., Nepal)

Guy Pelletier (LAOG, Grenoble, France)

Jerome Rodriguez (CEA/SAp, France)

Joan M. Centrella (NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, USA)

Jonathan Granot (Hertfordshire Univ., UK)

Kailash Sahu (STSCI, Baltimore, USA)

Luigi Stella (INAF/OAR, Roma, Italy)

Luis C. Ho (Carnegie, Pasadena, USA)

Melania Del Santo (INAF/IASF, Roma, Italy)

Qaisar Shafi (Delware Univ., USA)

Ranjeev Misra (IUCAA, India)

Sandip Kumar Chakrabarti (SNBose, India)

Udayaraj Khanal (chair, Tribhuvan Univ., Nepal)

Walter Saurer (Innsbruck Univ., Austria)

Local Organizing Committee:

Amrit Kaphle

Binil Aryal (chair)

Chandani Rajbahak

Dhananjay K. Yadav

Dipesh Kumar Kafle

Dilli Ram Dhakal

Nabin Rijal

Raj KiranKoju

Riwaj Pokhrel

Tek Prasad Adhikari

Upendra Mani Adhikari

Utsab Raj Shrestha

IMPORTANT DATES

Last date for registration: Feb 15, 2012

Last date of abstract submission: Feb 26, 2012

Author notification about abstract: Mar 04, 2012

REGISTRATION

Those interested in attending the conference are requested to fill up the registration form. Please visit for online registration.

Registration Fee

Nepalese Participants: Rs. 2000/-

International participants: $150

SAARC countries : $ 75

The registration fee includes a conference T-shirt, book of abstracts, conference materials, lunch and coffee breaks.

Mode of payment

For international and SAARC participants, payment of registration fee is to be done at the registration desk. For Nepalese participants, it should be done before 1 March 2012.

Accommodation

LOC can help to book accommodation for the participants in hotels or guest house on request and early payment. Detail information will be provided after the registration.

CALL FOR PAPERS:

Intended participants are invited to submit abstracts not exceeding 200 words in the following format.

Paper: A4 size with 2.54 cm spacing on all sides.

Title of the abstract: Times New Roman, Title case, Font size 14, Centered. Leave one space. Author/s: Times New Roman, Font size 12, Italics, centered.

Leave one space.

Abstract text: Times New Roman, Font size 12, Justified.

Please provide Address, Fax-number and e-mail of the corresponding author at the end of the abstract. Kindly send the abstract in doc format. All the abstracts will be reviewed by the scientific organizing committee. The papers presented in the international conference will be published.

For more information: go to the webpage and / Official e-mail: &

CONTACT

Dr. Binil Aryal,

Associate Professor,

Central Department of Physics

Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, NEPAL

E-mails: and

Tel. +97714912801 & +9779803221911

IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

There was a man who made a living selling balloons at a fair. He had all colors of balloons, including red, yellow, blue, and green. Whenever business was slow, he would release a helium-filled balloon into the air and when the children saw it go up, they all wanted to buy one. They would come up to him, buy a balloon, and his sales would go up again. He continued this process all day. One day, he felt someone tugging at his jacket. He turned around and saw a little boy who asked, "If you release a black balloon, would that also fly?" Moved by the boy's concern, the man replied with empathy, "Son, it is not the color of the balloon, it is what is inside that makes it go up." The same thing applies to our lives. It is what is inside that counts. The thing inside of us that makes us go up is our attitude. Have you ever wondered why some individuals, organizations, or countries are more successful than others? It is not a secret. These people simply think and act more effectively. They have learned how to do so by investing in the most valuable asset--people. I believe that the success of an individual, organization or country, depends on the quality of their people. I have spoken to executives in major corporations all over the world and asked one question: "If you had a magic wand and there was one thing you would want changed, that would give you a cutting edge in the marketplace resulting in increased productivity and profits, what would that be?" The answer was unanimous. They all said that if people had better attitudes, they'd be better team players, and it'd cut down waste, improve loyalty and, in general, make their company a great place to work. William James of Harvard University said, "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind." Experience has shown that human resources is the most valuable asset of any business. It is more valuable than capital or equipment. Unfortunately, it is also the most wasted. People can be your biggest asset or your biggest liability.

Are we Martians?

Mars and the Earth have very similar rotation periods and axial tilts. Since the notorius ‘discovery’ of canals, Mars and its inhabitants have been a popular subject in science fiction stories. Later observations revealed a very thin atmosphere and low temperature, which make Mars a rather hostile place. Finally, the Viking landers showed a marred planet. Yet the possibility of some simple life forms cannot be excluded. In 1984 a meteorite was found in the Allan Hills region in Antarctica and labelled as ALH 84001 (Fig. 20.4). The piece of rock was estimated to be 3.9 Ga old. Chemistry of the meteorite shows that it had originated on Mars; an impact had thrown it to an orbit that brought it to the Earth. In 1996 a group of NASA scientists announced that the meteorite contained structures resembling fossilized microbes and compounds that could be products of living organisms, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (or PAH) and magnetite. However, they can be produced by other processes, too. Not surprisingly, the results and the implications of Martian life caused a lot of skepticism. Only further Mars expeditions and possible in situ experiments can decide whether there has been life on Mars. In case there has really been life on Mars, there are several possibilities: Life originated independently on the Earth and Mars. Life originated only on the Earth and was then transported to Mars. Life originated only on Mars and was transported to the Earth. It seems that life on the Earth emerged almost as soon as the conditions became favourable. It has been argued that the life appeared even too quickly. This problem would be solved if life originated on Mars. The surface of the more distant and smaller Mars had cooled down faster to become habitable before the Earth. Thus life would have had more time to evolve on Mars, and was transferred to the Earth when conditions here became suitable. Thus our earliest ancestors could be Martian bacteria. Presently such considerations are, however, just speculations. The idea of life spreading from one celestial body to another is known as panspermia. The idea dates back to the antiquity, but its first serious advocate was the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius, who published a book on the subject in 1908. Of the later proponents, Sir Fred Hoyle was the most famous. Panspermia fit well to his cosmology: the universe had no beginning, neither did life, but had always existed. Thus the tough problem of the origin of life was neatly avoided. Now panspermia, in a certain more limited sense, begins to seem a little more possible theory. Primitive life forms can survive inside meteorites in the coldness and lethal radiation of the interplanetary space long enought to travel from one planet to another. Interstellar distances, though, are too long, and the probability of a meteoroid from one planetary system hitting another system is too low. It seems obvious that our life has originated here in our own solar system.

Astrobiology

Is there life elsewhere in the universe? And if there is, are there any intelligent beings? How did life emerge on the Earth, and, as a matter of fact, how do we define life and intelligence? These are probably the most interesting unsolved questions in science. During the last few decades a whole new field of astrobiology has evolved around these problems. What is life? There have been several science fiction tv-series showing extraterrestrial life forms. Usually the sentient beings have appeared quite humanlike, except of some appendices or other rather trivial features that try to make them unattractive. They may even have sex with humans. However, if the foreign life forms have evolved independently, interbreeding would be totally impossible. The chemistry of foreign beings could be totally different from ours. Could we even understand that they are living beings? In fact, what is life? It seems that life is an elusive concept, difficult to define in terms of just a few properties.We have only one example of life, and therefore it is difficult to make general conclusions of its properties. However, we can assume that certain properties of the known life forms may be generalised also to foreign life. Common features of all terrestrial life forms are reproduction and evolution. If living beings produced exact replicas of themselves, there would be no evolution and no adaptation to changing environments. Thus the reproduction process must be slightly imperfect leading to a variety of descendants. This will give material for the natural selection, ‘survival of the fittest’. Natural selection is a fairly general principle, working in some sense also outside of biology. Are there any other general principles related to the evolution of life? If we could find even one example of life that evolved independently of ours, this would vastly improve our knowledge. Energy consumption is also characteristic of life. Life requires increasing order, i.e. decreasing entropy. Local decrease of entropy is not against thermodynamics: it only means that a living being must be able to take energy in some form and utilize it for reproduction, growth, motion or other purposes. To produce similar offsprings a living being must have the ability to store information and pass it to its descendants. All terrestrial life forms use DNA or RNA molecules composed of nucleotides for storing information (see next section). Carbon can combine to form very complex molecules. Silicon can also form large molecules but they are not as stable as carbon compounds, and silicon cannot form rings like carbon. Maybe some simple life forms could be based on silicon, or on something quite different that we have not even thought of. Also a liquid solvent is needed. Our own life would not be possible without water. It remains liquid in a much wider temperature range than most other substances, which makes it a good solvent. Yet in the astronomical sense the temperature range is rather limited. In a colder environment, methane or ammonium might act as the solvent. The basic building block of all terrestrial life forms is the cell. It has a membrane surrounding liquid cytoplasm. The cell membrane is semipermeable and functions as a two-way filter that lets certain molecules go in and others come out; this selective transport is mediated via specific proteinaceous channels. There are two kinds of cells, simpler prokaryotic cells and more complex eukaryotic cells. In eukaryotic cells the genetic material, in the form of DNA molecules, is inside a nucleus, surrounded by a nuclear membrane. In the prokaryotic cells there is no separate nucleus, and the DNA floats coiled in the cytoplasm. Terrestrial life is divided into three domains, Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya. Both Bacteria and Archaea contain usually a single prokaryotic cell. Eukarya contains all more complex beings, like animals and plants. Origin of life: One way to try to understand the origin of the terrestrial life is to start with the available atoms and molecules and see if they could produce life. During the last decades there has been considerable progress, but the process is very complicated and not yet well understood. Here we can only outline briefly how it might have happened. In a famous experiment in 1953 Harold Urey and StanleyMiller sent energy in the form of electric sparks through a gas mixture supposed to be similar to the early atmosphere of the Earth, containing methane, ammonia, hydrogen and water vapour. After a few days the solution contained several organic compounds, including some amino acids. At that time it was assumed that the early atmosphere was reducing. More recent studies suggest that this is not quite true, and the earliest atmosphere was rather neutral, containing mostly CO2, CO,N2, H2O and maybe some H2. Such an atmosphere would have produced organic compounds much slowlier, if at all. Some amino acids have been found in meteorites. Thus they seem to have been already present in the nebula from which the planetary system condensed. Complex organic molecules have been found also in interstellar molecule clouds (Sect. 15.3). There have even been claims of detecting the simplest amino acid, glycine, but the results are controversial. The next step, putting the basic blocks together to form DNA or RNA molecules, is much more difficult. This looks like the chicken and egg paradox: the information contained in the DNA is needed to make proteins, and proteins are needed to catalyse the production of the nucleotides, which are the building blocks of the nucleic acids. So which came first? In the 1980’s Sidney Altman and Thomas Cech found that some RNA molecules can act as catalysts. Since RNA resembles DNA, it can store genetic material to some extent. Thus there is no need for the DNA and proteins. Even RNA fragments cannot be synthesized easily, but as they act as enzymes and can replicate, it is assumed that the initial chemical evolution first led to short and relatively simple RNA molecules. Eventually some of then combined to more complex ones, some of which were better adapted to the environment either by replicating faster or by being more durable. Thus the natural selection started to produce more complex molecules; this chemical evolutionwasworking already before actual life emerged. The first cell-like structures could evolve from asymmetric molecules or lipids, one end of which attracts water and the other end repels water. In water such molecules tend to form bi-layered membranes where the hydrophilic or water-attracting end points outwards and hydrophobic or water-repelling end inwards. Further on, such membranes form spontaneously spherical vesicles. If RNA happened to get inside such a membrane, it may have been protected from the environment, and could have been contained within its own chemical environment. In some cases this could have improved its replication, and thus led to further increase its concentration within the vesicle. It is currently assumed that the first primitive life forms were RNA life. RNA has, however, some drawbacks. It is not as stable as DNA, and its replication is not as accurate as the protein mediated replication of DNA. Evolution of RNA led finally to the appearance of DNA molecules. Since DNA is superior to RNA due to its stability, it soon took over the role of information carrier. Currently the energy of sunlight is utilized by plants and some bacteria in photosynthesis, which produces carbohydrates from water and carbon dioxide. There are also organisms that do not need sunlight but can use chemical energy to produce organic matter in a process called chemosynthesis. Such organisms have been found e.g. near hydrothermal vents on mid-ocean ridges (Fig. 20.2). These vents eject hot mineral-rich water to the ocean. Even though the temperature can be as high as 400 ◦C, the high pressure prevents the water from boiling. Although this is too hot for life, there are regions around the vents where the temperature is suitable for such thermophiles. They could have been the first life forms, in which case life did not emerge in a Darwinian warm pond but in a hot pressure kettle. This kind of bottom-up approach tries to build life from the simple constituents already available in the interstellar space. Another approach, the top-down method, tries to trace life back in time as far as possible. The oldest sediment rocks on the Earth, found in Isua in western Greenland, are 3.8 Ga old. Since they contain sediments, deposited by water, and pillow lavas, formed in water, the temperature at that time could not have a value very different from the current one. The solar luminosity was then lower than nowadays, but the difference was compensated by a higher amount of decaying radioactive materials and remanent heat of the recently born Earth. Oldest signs of life are almost as old. These signs are, however, just isotope ratios that can be inter- preted as results of bacterial life. The carbon isotope 12C is about 100 times as abundant as the heavier isotope 13C. The lighter isotope is somewhat more reactive and tends to be enriched in living organisms. In the Isua rocks there are sediments with a small excess of 12C, which might indicate some kind of life. In the Warrawoona Group in Australia there are 3.5 Ga old formations that look like stromatolites, mounds consisting of layers of microbial cells and calcium carbonate. If they are real stromatolites, they may have been formed by cyanobacteria, but this is still a matter of debate. In the early times, at least for a billion years, photosynthesis was non-oxygenic. Cyanobacteria were possibly the first organisms capable of oxygenic photosynthesis. They started to produce oxygen, but initially it was dissolved in water and consumed in different oxidation reactions. Eventually also the amount of atmospheric oxygen started to rise, and 2.2 Ga ago it reached 10% of the current value, i.e. about 2% of the total abundance in the atmosphere. First eukaryotes appeared in the fossil record 2.1Ga ago and multicellular organisms 1.5 Ga ago. The fossil evidence becomes much clearer towards the end of the Proterozoic era. The Ediacara fauna, which is about 600 million years old, contains the oldest fossils of big and complex animals. These were softbodied animals. At the end of the Cambrian period 543 million years ago traces of the Ediacara fauna disappear and are replaced by a huge variety of new animals, many with protecting shields. This increase in the variety of life forms is called the Cambrian explosion. All life forms use similar genetic codes, which indicates that they have the same origin. This forefather of all life is called LUCA, the Last Universal Common Ancestor. Relationships of living beings can be studied by comparing their DNA or RNA. The more the molecules of two species differ, the more distant the species are in the evolutionary sense. These distances can be plotted as a map, called the phylogenetic tree. The phylogenetic tree, as we now know it, has three branches, the domains of Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya. The organisms closest to the root are thermophiles that live close to hydrothermal vents or in hot water. Obviously, the LUCA lived in such a hot environment. However,RNAmolecules do not remain intact in such hot environments. If the earliest life was RNA life, it would have evolved in a cooler environment. Currently we do not know the real birthplace of life. Although the phylogenetic tree points to a common origin, there may have been other starts, too, but natural selection has eliminated the other ones that were less competitive.

Calendars

Our calendar is a result of long evolution. The main problem it must contend with is the incommensurability of the basic units, day, month and year: the numbers of days and months in a year are not integers. This makes it rather complicated to develop a calendar that takes correctly into account the alternation of seasons, day and night, and perhaps also the lunar phases. Our calendar has its origin in the Roman calendar, which, in its earliest form, was based on the phases of the Moon. From around 700 B.C. on, the length of the year has followed the apparent motion of the Sun; thus originated the division of the year into twelve months. One month, however, still had a length roughly equal to the lunar cycle. Hence one year was only 354 days long. To keep the year synchronised with the seasons, a leap month had to be added to every other year. Eventually the Roman calendar got mixed up. The mess was cleared by Julius Caesar in about 46 B.C., when the Julian calendar was developed upon his orders. The year had 365 days and a leap day was added to every fourth year. In the Julian calendar, the average length of one year is 365 d 6 h, but the tropical year is 11 min 14 s shorter. After 128 years, the Julian year begins almost one day too late. The difference was already 10 days in 1582, when a calendar reform was carried out by Pope Gregory XIII. In the Gregorian calendar, every fourth year is a leap year, the years divisible by 100 being exceptions. Of these, only the years divisible by 400 are leap years. Thus 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was. The Gregorian calendar was adopted slowly, at different times in different countries. The transition period did not end before the 20th century. Even the Gregorian calendar is not perfect. The differences from the tropical year will accumulate to one day in about 3300 years. Since years and months of variable length make it difficult to compute time differences, especially astronomers have employed various methods to give each day a running number. The most widely used numbers are the Julian dates. In spite of their name, they are not related to the Julian calendar. The only connection is the length of a Julian century of 36,525 days, a quantity appearing in many formulas involving Julian dates. The Julian day number 0 dawned about 4700 B.C. The day number changes always at 12 : 00 UT. For example, the Julian day 2,451,545 began at noon in January 1, 2000. The Julian date can be computed using the formulas given in *Julian Date (p. 41). Julian dates are uncomfortably big numbers, and therefore modified Julian dates are often used. The zero point can be e. g. January 1, 2000. Sometimes 0.5 is subtracted from the date to make it to coincide with the date corresponding to the UTC. When using such dates, the zero point should always be mentioned.

The Role of Astronomy

On a dark, cloudless night, at a distant location far away from the city lights, the starry sky can be seen in all its splendour (Fig. 1.1). It is easy to understand how these thousands of lights in the sky have affected people throughout the ages. After the Sun, necessary to all life, the Moon, governing the night sky and continuously changing its phases, is the most conspicuous object in the sky. The stars seem to stay fixed. Only some relatively bright objects, the planets, move with respect to the stars. The phenomena of the sky aroused people’s interest a long time ago. The Cro Magnon people made bone engravings 30,000 years ago, which may depict the phases of the Moon. These calendars are the oldest astronomical documents, 25,000 years older than writing. Agriculture required a good knowledge of the seasons. Religious rituals and prognostication were based on the locations of the celestial bodies. Thus time reckoning became more and more accurate, and people learned to calculate the movements of celestial bodies in advance. During the rapid development of seafaring, when voyages extended farther and farther from home ports, position determination presented a problem for which astronomy offered a practical solution. Solving these problems of navigation were the most important tasks of astronomy in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the first precise tables on the movements of the planets and on other celestial phenomena were published. The basis for these developments was the discovery of the laws governing the motions of the planets by Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galilei and Newton. Although space probes and satellites have gathered remarkable new information, a great majority of astronomical observations is still Earthbased. The most important observatories are usually located at high altitudes far from densely populated areas. One such observatory is on Mt Paranal in Chile, which houses the European VLT telescopes. Astronomical research has changed man’s view of the world from geocentric, anthropocentric conceptions to the modern viewof a vast universe where man and the Earth play an insignificant role. Astronomy has taught us the real scale of the nature surrounding us. Modern astronomy is fundamental science, motivated mainly by man’s curiosity, his wish to know more about Nature and the Universe. Astronomy has a central role in forming a scientific view of the world. “A scientific view of the world” means a model of the universe based on observations, thoroughly tested theories and logical reasoning. Observations are always the ultimate test of a model: if the model does not fit the observations, it has to be changed, and this process must not be limited by any philosophical, political or religious conceptions or beliefs.

Heaven in earth: Tansen, Palpa

Tansen is a small ancient hill town situated 4300 meters above sea level. It is located on the way from Pokhara to Lumbini. Major attractions here are the ancient culture, excellent mountain views, serene atmosphere and friendly people. The weather here makes it a pleasant place to visit in any season. On clear days Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Manaslu, Gauri Shankar and other peaks can be seen. Dhaka - the most popular hand woven cloth of Nepal comes from this region. The Nepali topi (national cap) is made of Dhaka and You can see the weavers at work on their looms or see a bazaar of Dhakas in Tanseen. It is believed that the migrant from Kathmandu valley, specially the Newars played an important role in enriching the architecture and culture of Tansen, and this can be seen today in Tansen. About the word Palpa : Palpa is a district of Nepal. It is one of the district of the Lumbini Zone. Tansen is the head quarter of Palpa district and hence, many people commonly refer Tansen as Palpa. Butwal, Bhairahawa and Lumbini are other three important cities that are part of the Lumbini Zone. In the center of the town lies a 64 room Palace, a representation of arts and crafts of the ancient Palpa. On the saddest morning of 31st of January 2006, Nepal's Maoist Rebels launched attacks in Tansen with no apparent reasons. They fought with local authorities and bombarded many ancient buildings including the Palace which had housed government offices. Many historical buildings including the Tansen palace was destroyed. Tansen Palace has a good reputation and popularity. In fact, it's importance falls right after the Singha Durbar of Kathmandu (The place where, Nepal's most top ministers stay and work inside this secure compound, and also where the Nepal's Parliament office is located) The Tansen Palace is the heart of Palpa, attracting International as well as Domestic tourists to this beautiful hill. Many buildings which were destroyed by the Maoists are in the process of Historic re-construction, and without a doubt, Nepali Maoists will live forever with sorrows in their hearts for attempting to destroy a part of the beauty and history of Nepal.

Tourism in Nepal

Nepal is the country where Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak in the world, is located. Mountaineering and other types of adventure tourism and ecotourism are important attractions for visitors. The world heritage Lumbini, birth place of Gautama Buddha, is located in southern Nepal, and there are other important religious pilgrimage sites throughout the country. The government of Nepal has declared 2011 to be Nepal Tourism Year, and hopes to attract one million foreign tourists to the country during that year. The tourist industry is seen as a way to alleviate poverty and achieve greater social equity in the country. The major religion in Nepal is Buddhism, and the Lumbini, which is located in Kapilvastu, attracts many pilgrims and tourists. Other Hindu pilgrimage site include the temple complex in Swargadwari located in the Pyuthan district, lake Gosainkunda near Dhunche, the temples at Devghat, Manakamana temple in the Gorkha District, and Pathibhara near Phungling. Buddhism is the largest minority religion. The World Heritage site Lumbini, which is traditionally considered to be the birthplace of Gautama Buddha, is an important pilgrimage site. Another prominent Buddhist site is Swayambhunath, the Monkey Temple, in Kathmandu. Muktinath is a sacred place for Hindus as well as Buddhists. The site is located in Muktinath Valley, Mustang district. According to Nepal's Ministry of Tourism, major tourist activities include wilderness and adventure activities such as rock climbing and mountain climbing, trekking, bird watching, flights, paragliding and hot air ballooning over the mountains of Himalaya, exploring the waterways by raft, kayak or canoe, mountain biking and jungle safaris especially in the Terai region.

The receeding melodies of folk

The proliferation of pop, jazz, soul, blues, reggae and other genres of western music in the Nepali market is a reflection of how our own musical heritage has been sidelined in recent decades. Most of the country’s youngsters have hardly any knowledge on folk instruments, and seem to be in no hurry to start getting acquainted with their musical heritage. The rather desolate looking National Folk Music Instrument Museum (NFMIM) located at Tripureshwor is veritable proof of it. The rare visits that the NFMIM receives are a reflection of how ignored this precious heritage really is. “Lok Music is, in many ways, an aesthetic expression of our Nepali culture, and proof of our rich heritage,” says Ram Prasad Kadel, the Founding Director of NFMIM. “These indigenous instruments are part of our identity,” he adds. According to experts, ‘Lok’ music has its roots in the Sama Veda, and Nepal is a country which celebrates its cultural and historical link to the Vedas. The sculptures and monuments of Gods and Goddesses (often depicted with one or another musical instrument) that adorn temples here reflect this significant cultural fact.Kadel has been collecting musical instruments—many of which are on the verge of extinction—for many years now. He founded the NFMIM in 1997. The proprietor of a handicrafts business, Kadel has shelled out his own pockets in procuring the 250 rare instruments the museum now boasts of. The folk music enthusiast and collector, who is an expert on the subject himself, claims that there are more than 60 thousand melodies, over 1,000 musical instruments and around three thousand dance-forms indigenous to Nepal. “Every ethnic group in the country has a folk instrument to represent itself. Instruments like the Phunga, Mehalli, Sarangi, Murali and Narsingha signify and characterise the various ethnic groups of Nepal,” he says. “There is something about music that pervades nature itself,” he adds. “The murmur of running water, the whisper of the evening breeze, the roar of thunder storms, the distant hum of chirping birds and crying animals, all contain a thread of music in them,” he says. KP Poudel, a member of the NFMIM and an expert on folk dance expresses how the country’s youth need to be made more aware of their cultural heritage. “These integral components of our heritage need to be recognised before they are lost to us forever,” he says. Founding Director Kadel shares similar views as well.

Public at wits’ end as fuel shortage worsens

As the shortage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) worsens, the level of frustration and anger among consumers seem to have reached an all time high. The frustration of the price hike in petroleum products coupled with the scarcity of fuel has led the commoners to take matter into their own hands. Local people took control of three vehicles loaded with Himal Gas cylinders at Sallaghari, Bhaktapur, on Wednesday. People stood in the middle of the road risking their lives to block the vehicles. However, they did not take any of the LPG cylinders free of cost. They paid Rs 1,415 per cylinder. Some of them bought new gas cylinders. The vehicle staff said some gas cylinders have been lost in the ensuing chaos. Around 350 cooking gas cylinders were exchanged after the owner agreed to sell them to the agitating mass. Durlav Thapa, who led the group that took over the vehicle, said acute shortage of LPG forced them to take the matter into their own hands. Some 80-85 LPG loaded trucks were heading towards Kathmandu from the morning, he added. “All the things happened when a truck carrying Himal Gas cylinders was requested to provide cooking gas to two needy families—one suffering from a serious health problem and the other pregnant woman,” Thapa said. “They have not been able to cook anything for the last three days.” When one of the three cooking gas-loaded trucks of the Himal Gas agreed to provide the requested cylinders, people started exchanging their cylinders. They also stopped a vehicle carrying Sagar Gas that was heading to Kathmandu from Banepa. “Police then intervened, assuring the mass that the administration would distribute cooking gas,” Thapa said. The Metropolitan Police Range, Bhaktapur took hold of 174 cylinders belonging to Sagar Gas being supplied to Jadibuti and Satdobato gas depots. There was anger aimed at whoever worked in the supply chain of the cooking gas, said Dev Lal Manandhar, owner of Devlal Kailash Store, Jadibuti. Consumer rights groups blamed the government for utter neglect. Consumer rights activist Prem Lal Maharjan said the government is responsible for ensuring regular supply of essential commodities to its citizens. He accused the government of aiding black marketing. Gas Dealers’ Federation criticised the government for maintaining silence over the aggravating crisis. Chandra Thapa, vice-president of Gas Dealers’ Federation, Nepal attributes the current crisis to inadequate import of LPG in the month of December. LPG shortage has affected life across the country since early January. The shortage is likely to last until February as supplies of LPG have been at the level of 11,000 tonnes in January, fifty percent of the requirement, traders said. The Nepal Oil Corporation said LPG import has been increased by 800 tonnes per day from Monday. The country requires 20,000 tonnes LPG monthly and the demand reaches 25,000 tonnes in winter. Minister for Commerce and Supplies Lekh Raj Bhatta appears hapless to mitigate the crisis. “I alone can do nothing,” Bhatta said, arguing that increasing gas prices is essential to generate around 5 billion rupees required to import LPG in required quantity. “Finance Ministry has shown no interest in resolving the crisis,” Bhatta passed the bucks.

Power generation

Modern day life is unpredictable without electricity since we have so much dependent on it. It seems, virtually, impossible to think if we can ever live without it. We are so dependable on electricity that even an hour or so of load-shedding, especially on a hot summer day, can make us impatient and we start cursing the whole system. The whole life would come to a grinding halt, forcing all of us to experience the dull, dark, boring and uneventful period of the stone-age. Necessity is the mother of all invention, so when modern day man becomes so dependent on electricity and appliances run on electricity, there we realize its importance, when power fails or when there is erratic supply of it. Whenever there is power failure, it disrupts normal life. The whole life comes in standstill when there are frequent power cuts. Everything stops, but there is need to feel powerless. However modern day men need not to be worried as they can generate your own electricity when you have a power generator. Diesel generator is ultimate choice of the modern industrial world as well as for homes. Before selecting diesel generator as your crucial choice of alternate power or power back up, the basic thing that you need to know about is that the basic concept of this item is that it is solution to portable power. This means that you will have power wherever you may go, and it happens due to the engine within the generator. The diesel engine is exactly the same of engine that we have under the hood of car. In diesel engine instead of turning a crank shaft to drive the wheels, has an internal dynamo which produces electrics once you start it up, and all you need to do is to put some diesel fuel in it These diesel fuel operated power generators are your best friends when you go out camping and when you are at the great outdoors. When you go outdoor for recreation there is nothing like carrying music system or cooker. The other best thing about generator is that when your car goes stuck in the ditch and in such circumstances you can jump starts your car. This is one of the problems that people actually experience when it comes to this, and having a diesel generator to take you out is something that is quite desirable.

CMBR( Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation)

In cosmology, cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation (also CMBR, CBR, MBR, and relic radiation) is a form of electromagnetic radiation filling the universe. With a traditional optical telescope, the space between stars and galaxies (the background) is pitch black. But with a radio telescope, there is a faint background glow, almost exactly the same in all directions, that is not associated with any star, galaxy, or other object. This glow is strongest in the microwave region of the radio spectrum, hence the name cosmic microwave background radiation. The CMB's discovery in 1964 by American radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson was the culmination of work initiated in the 1940s, and earned them the 1978 Nobel Prize.

The CMBR is well explained as radiation left over from an early stage in the development of the universe, and its discovery is considered a landmark test of the Big Bang model of the universe. When the universe was young, before the formation of stars and planets, it was smaller, much hotter, and filled with a uniform glow from its white-hot fog of hydrogen plasma. As the universe expanded, both the plasma and the radiation filling it, grew cooler. When the universe cooled enough, stable atoms could form. These atoms could no longer absorb the thermal radiation, and the universe became transparent instead of being an opaque fog. The photons that existed at that time have been propagating ever since, though growing fainter and less energetic, since the exact same photons fill a larger and larger universe. This is the source for the term relic radiation, another name for the CMBR.

Precise measurements of cosmic background radiation are critical to cosmology, since any proposed model of the universe must explain this radiation. The CMBR has a thermal black body spectrum at a temperature of 2.725 K, thus the spectrum peaks in the microwave range frequency of 160.2 GHz, corresponding to a 1.9 mm wavelength.[nb 1] The glow is almost but not quite uniform in all directions, and shows a very specific pattern equal to that expected if a fairly uniformly distributed red-hot gas is expanded to the current size of the universe. In particular, the spatial power spectrum (how much difference is observed versus how far apart the regions are on the sky) contains small anisotropies, or irregularities, which vary with the size of the region examined. They have been measured in detail, and match what would be expected if small thermal variations, generated by quantum fluctuations of matter in a very tiny space, had expanded to the size of the observable universe we see today. This is still a very active field of study, with scientists seeking both better data (for example, the Planck spacecraft ) and better interpretations of the initial conditions of expansion.

Black hole

A black hole is a region of space from which nothing, not even light, can escape. It is the result of the deformation of spacetime caused by a very compact mass. Around a black hole there is an undetectable surface which marks the point of no return, called an event horizon. It is called "black" because it absorbs all the light that hits it, reflecting nothing, just like a perfect black body in thermodynamics. Quantum mechanics predicts that black holes also emit radiation like a black body with a finite temperature. This temperature decreases with the mass of the black hole, making it unlikely to observe this radiation for black holes of stellar mass.

Despite its invisible interior, a black hole can be observed through its interaction with other matter. A black hole can be inferred by tracking the movement of a group of stars that orbit a region in space. Alternatively, when gas falls into a stellar black hole from a companion star, the gas spirals inward, heating to very high temperatures and emitting large amounts of radiation that can be detected from earthbound and Earth-orbiting telescopes.

Astronomers have identified numerous stellar black hole candidates, and have also found evidence of supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies. In 1998, astronomers found compelling evidence that a supermassive black hole of more than 2 million solar masses is located near the Sagittarius A* region in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and more recent results using additional data find evidence that the supermassive black hole is more than 4 million solar masses.