A three year old child, Atithi KC, has released an album titled ‘Atithi’ in a program organized in Kathmandu. The album was released by the hand of the top musician of Nepal, Ambar Gurung.
In the program organized by Arbit Publication, Ambar Gurung told that he was impressed by the songs of the little girl. Atithi’s father and the owner of Arbit Publication, told that it is the first time such a small child has released an album in the world. He is planning to apply for a Guinness World Record.
A book of haiku poems, measuring three inch in length and 2.5 inch in width (3"x2.5") is probably the smallest book ever published in Nepal. The book named ‘Dahi Chiure’ is written by Iran Rai ‘Sweak’ and is of 67 pages long. The price of the book is set to be Rs. 10.
In the photo above, Baburam Dahal of Rajdhani Daily is posing for photograph while holding the tiny book in between his fingers. (Photo credits – Umash Sherpa, from Facebook)
Indian Rupee has got its own symbol. Similar to Dollar ($), Pound Sterling (£) and Japanese Yen (Â¥), and Euro (€), Indian Rupees has got a symbol. The new symbol is designed to look like a Hindi alphabet ‘RA‘ (र) and part of a English alphabet ‘R’. Indian currency has become the fifth currency to have its own graphical symbol.
The new symbol is also meant to differentiate the Indian Rupee from the rupee of Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Rupiah of Indonesia.
The symbol was designed by D Udaya Kumar, a graduate from IIT Bombay. The design got selected from 3,000 designs entered for the competition announced by the RBI. Udaya Kumar is awarded Rs. 2.5 lakh as a prize money.
It is planned that the symbol will be adopted in India within six months and all over the world within a year. The symbol however won’t be printed in the currency notes.
It was not only the youngest, Jordan Romero, on the top and Himalayan Tiger, Apa’s 20th summit, there is yet another climber to remember who scaled the top of the world. The world traveler on bicycle, Puskar Shah, hoisted the flags of 192 countries he visited on May 17, 2010.
It was not only the flags he carried to the top of the world but also the front wheel of his bicycle. He also sang a popular Nepali song “Resham Firiri†and remembered his mother during his 45 minutes stay at the peak of the 8,848m mountain.
Puskar said, “When I embarked on the world tour in 1998, I had a goal of hoisting the flags of all the nations for peace.â€
The 42-year-old, Shah said he has accomplished his mission and he is very happy that his world tour for peace has been a success.
In an event held at the Hotel Radisson on April 18, VOW (Voice of Women) magazine announced the results of the VOW Top 10 College Women Competition.
The Most Outstanding Student award for this year was awarded to Tika Ratna Malla from Chelsea International Academy. The ten winners were selected from the 195 applicants from Kathmandu, Pokhara, Dharan, Biratnagar, Butwal, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj.
The VOW Top 10 College Women for the year 2010 were:
The India born, London based, Turner Prize-winning artist Anish Kapoor’s design ArcelorMittalOrbit is chosen by the authorities as a monument to mark the London Olympics in 2012. The tower, when built, will be the Britain’s biggest piece of public art.
It doesn’t look aesthetically pleasant, at least, not to my untrained eyes. But it sure is unique and one in the world.
The proposed tower is 375 feet high will be built as the monument to mark the London Olympics in 2012. The 1,400 ton steel structure designed by a India born is expected to cost around $30 million. It is expected that the steel will be supplied by another India born, London based businessman, Lakshmi Mittal.
About 700 visitors an hour will be able to visit the site next to the 193 feet high Olympic stadium. The tower will have a viewing platform and an outdoor walkway.
The Burj Dubai (Burj Khalifa) tower officially opened its doors on January 4, 2010, six years after the commencement of construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The tower previously known as Burj Dubai was renamed Burj Khalifa in honor of the current President of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa.
Some of the records made by the $4.1 billion, half-mile-high skyscraper are:
Tallest skyscraper to top of spire: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previous record: Taipei 101 – 509.2 m (1,671 ft))
Tallest structure ever built: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previous record: Warsaw radio mast – 646.38 m (2,121 ft))
Tallest extant structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previous record: KVLY-TV mast – 628.8 m (2,063 ft))
Tallest freestanding structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previous record: CN Tower – 553.3 m (1,815 ft))
Building with most floors: 160 (previous record: both 1 and 2 World Trade Center – 110)
World’s highest elevator installation
World’s fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) or 18 m/s (59 ft/s) (previous record: Taipei 101 – 16.83 m/s)
Highest vertical concrete pumping (for a building): 606 m (1,988 ft) (previous record: Taipei 101 – 449.2 m (1,474 ft))
Highest vertical concrete pumping (for any construction): 606 m (1,988 ft) (previous record: Riva del Garda Hydroelectric Power Plant – 532 m (1,745 ft))
The first world’s tallest structure in history to include residential space
Highest outdoor observation deck in the world
World’s highest mosque (located on the 158th floor)
Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world
Tallest service elevator in the world
World’s highest installation of an aluminum and glass façade, at a height of 512 m (1,680 ft)
A child singer, Smita Pradhan, has released a musical album named “Smita†for Nepali children. Her effort is appreciable in the Nepalese music industry that is mostly targeted to the adult audiance . The album contains six tracks.
Musician Chetan Sapkota has composed the music in the songs written by Arati Thapa Shrestha, Navaraj Basnet, Tara and Chetan himself.
On February this year, another 12-year-old child singer, Nirajan KC, organized a musical program in Kathmandu to show his talent and announce the formation of a Fund to collect funds for the education of unprivileged children. He handed over Rs. 15,000, collected from the concert for the education of 10 children.
These kids are the future of the country! All the best with their musical journey! (Source: The Himalayan Times daily and filmykhabar)
Two Nepali students came in first place in a watercraft race in the 15th International competition for Science, Mathematics, Astronomy and Computer Science (QUANTA 2009) held in Lucknow (India) from 14th to 17th November 2009.
Rishav Khanal and Nagendra Ghimire, O-Level students of Budhanilkantha School came in first place in a watercraft race with their "Missile Boat".
The competition is a unique race designed to test the ingenuity, assembly skills, and understanding of practical problems of the participants. The participants had to bring a working model of a battery powered craft, 12 inches by 8 inches, designed to cross 25 m length of water in the competition.
The 16 year-old, Kusal KC, who made headline last week by constructing a solar car, all by himself, is being congratulated and is provided with an insurance by General Insurance Co. Ltd. Nepal.
In Nepal, a 16 year old kid is not authorized to get a driving license. One has to be at least 18 years old to drive a vehicle. I don’t know what the Rs. 600,000 car insurance and Rs. 200,000 accident insurance means to Kushal when he can’t drive (source – nayapatrika).
It is good to know that talent is being appreciated by people. He collected Rs. 15,000 during the car show last week. The District Development Committee has decided to give Rs. 50,000 to Kusal. All these helps will go to pay the loan he took while constructing the car. I hope more organizations and individuals will come forward to help and encourage the whizz kid.
With skyrocketing gas price, global warming, pollution; solar is the best alternative to fuel the future vehicles.
A 16-year-old, 10 grader, with no formal trainings, surprised everybody in Baglung, Western Nepal, with the successful trial run of a self-made solar vehicle, “Kushal Solar Carâ€Â.
Kushal KC of Amrit Adarsha Higher Secondary School built a 3 seat solar car in 42 days. The car has six 20-watt panels in the front, rear and roof of the vehicle to power it while driving. In the absence of sunlight, 20 batteries (18 Amp) power the vehicle. The vehicle can run at a maximum speed of up to 60kmph.
Bhabindra Kunwar, a graduate student in Physics in Nepal, claimed that the good old Archimedes’ principle, that almost all kids learn at school, is not true.
Any object, wholly or partially immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. (Archimedes’ principle)
Kunwar’s test however show that the weight of the displaced liquid can be more or less or equal to the immersed object. For example, a paper glass with 100 gram water can easily be buoyed by another glass containing 25 gram water. The displaced water in this case would be less than 25 gram to uplift 100 gram object.
Whenever somebody claims that they have discovered something – the first question that comes in my mind is – how could the simple fact be overlooked for such a long time.
I am still with Archimedes but would be the happiest person if Kunwar could prove his inventions in the international arena. All the best Bhabindra! (Read more in Nepali nayapatrika (the article is no longer available)
UPDATE: In 2017, this guy is still making news in media. Although nobody in scientific community acknowledge the existence of Bhabindra Kunwar, he somehow convinces the news media to talk about him.
Working in the field of Physics for about a decade, claiming all sort of discoveries and questioning many well established theories, claiming to have published big books – and still being a nobody is really exceptional!!
Go on Bhabendra — may be some day you get lucky and actually invent something! I truly believe you can do that!
A news clip from Gorkhapatra:
There is a Twitter profile by the name Bhabindra Kunwar with the bio like:
I’m an author: like literature, physics, math, philosophy & music. 7+books, 15+ papers, 4+invention & have given dozens+ speeches as a main speaker in Physics.
But, there is no website or link to any of his books or the papers.
Roma Neupane from Ithari, Nepal lived with “double discrimination; first, as woman and second, as a handicapped person". Now, she has learned to stand on her own foot (a single foot), dance on it, and fight against discrimination. Yes, one leg is enough for Roma these days.
Roma lost her left leg at the age of 8 on a road accident. Dancing was her passion and the lost leg couldn’t stop her. She practiced and took training (1 month long) and danced in many stage programs on her single leg.
That is not all – she learned knitting, sewing and computing (here is the proof). She has established a NGO dedicated for the disabled, she is interested in politics and wants to be a successful leader.
Some five years back in August of 2004 an Israeli ambassador Dan Ben- Eliezer who was impressed by Roma’s dance helped Roma to visit Israel and have an artificial leg.
I wrote about Narsingh Bhandari Magar a few days back. One leg is enough for Narsingh too. He didn’t go to school, didn’t take dance lessons, he doesn’t have a website, but he also dances, supports his family and entertain his fellow villagers. Narsingh and Roma, both handicapped with one missing leg, are successful in their own ways. One has excelled in his village life and other has learned and prepared herself to live in an urban area.
We at blog.xnepali.com have started to accept guest articles to be published in the blog. Best 2 articles selected from every 10 published articles will be awarded gift certificates.
Article Contest Rules
Articles should be sent to this email address:
Articles should reach us by September 30 October 31, 2009.
Two winners will be selected from the first 10 (ten) published articles. If more than 10 articles are received remaining articles will compete in the next cycle of selection.
First prize – a gift certificate equivalent of NRs 1000 Second prize – a gift certificate equivalent of NRs 500.
For authors living in foreign countries, winning prize can be sent by either of the following two methods:
Equivalent amounts sent through PayPal.
Or gift certificate sent to the relative or friends in Nepal
Article:
Article can be any non-fiction topic that informs, teaches or amuses the reader.
The topic should be related to Nepal. It can be any of essay, investigative article, human interest article, personal experiences, travel article etc.
Length – maximum of 1000 words with no minimum words limit
The article should be original and unpublished.
The article should be written either in English or Nepali language.
Text can be written in any text editors but should be sent in format that can be read in text editors like Notepad.
Please use photos and illustrations as required. The photos and illustration should be the authors own creation or should hold written permission from the original creator.
Photos and illustration should be sent in JPG format. Other format picture will be converted in JPG format for publication. Sizes and resolution could be changed before publication.
One author can participate with more than one article – but only one article from an author can be considered for competition at one time.
Articles can refer other websites but in-line links can not be more than one external link. If links to other websites are absolutely necessary, reference list can be provided at the bottom of the article.
Advertising products or services and self promoting articles will not be accepted
Rights on article:
The articles will be published in the xnepali.com or its sister websites. Other than that, the author shall hold all the rights on the article and illustrations. We might consider publishing the articles in paper form in later stage. We however will seek permission from the author if we decide to do so.
Selection Procedure:
The article will be initially evaluated by the Article Evaluation Committee (AEC) to decide on which of the four categories the article falls in:
Good for publication
Good for publication after minor editing
Good for publication after major editing
Not good for publication
An email will be sent to every article authors stating the decision made by the AEC. Further instruction will be attached if further editing or alteration is required on the article. The article falling in the category 4 will be returned to the author..
Initial evaluation will be made within one week of receiving the application. Publication however might take some time depending on publication queue.
Depending on the number of articles received, a maximum of 1 (one) article will be published on a week.
AEC is responsible for selection of article for publication (not for the selection of winners). Article Selection Committee (ASC) will be formed to select the winners.
The decision of the AEC and ASC will be final and it couldn’t be debated upon.
The winners will be selected based on the evaluation criteria developed by the ASC.
Each published articles will have ‘vote’ buttons to vote for and against the article. Visitor vote might be one of the evaluation criteria with a certain weightage.
Evaluation criteria and weightage:
Originality (25%)
Organization of information (25%)
Presentation (25%)
Number of votes received from site visitors (25%)
Article Evaluation Committee (AEC) members
Editor, blog.xnepali.com – Anand Sharma
Administrators forum.xnepali.in
Article Selection Committee (ASC) members will consist of AEC members and some guest bloggers to be announced after the publication of 10 guest articles and before the start of the winner selection process.
Winners will be announced after one month of the publication of the 10th guest article. Remaining articles will be eligible for the next competition and the contest will continue as long as we receive guest articles for publication.
I was talking about one more addition to the 863 species of birds found in Nepal in my previous post. Recently WWF released a news about 350 more species of living things found in the Eastern Himalayas in the past decade in which 93 of them were found in Nepal. Among the 93 species 40 were plants, 36 mammals, 6 fishes, 2 frogs, 9 reptiles. Not all, but 10 were given a Nepali name ‘nepalenses’.
In Nepal we don’t do much research (don’t have resources) on these things so I suspect it is only a part of a bigger story. Much of the higher Himalaya is highly inaccessible and they should hold much of the unidentified species. As an example, never finding a giant Yeti can suffice on our ability to find all the unspotted species.
Well, that was the discovery of a group formed by WWF.
The group found that almost three-quarters of the discoveries between 1998 and 2008 were plants, including 21 new orchid species. But it also listed 16 amphibians, 16 reptiles, 14 fish, two birds, two mammals and at least 60 new invertebrates. Most of the discoveries have already been reported in peer-reviewed, scientific journals.
If you are interested in reading the full document it can be downloaded in pdf format from panda.org website.
