Grow-up Nepal Government !(borrowed from a Facebook page against internet ban).
In response to the criticism, the Nepali government has updated the internet ban list by removing ‘non-explicit’ sites and adding some more sites in the list.
Removed from the previous list are huffingtonpost.com, sites of music band Sex Pistol, Healthguru, Springer, Mahalo and other sex awareness sites.
In the updated list, Playboy is among the other sites added. There were only 53 sites in the previous list and the new list features 56 sites. Here is the full list:
A consumer advocate group has asked the government to investigate the involvement of actor Rajesh Hamal, actress Karishma Manandhar, sportsperson Dipak Bista, and businessman Min Bahadur Gurung for appearing in the advertisements of the controversial drink Real Juice.
It was told that Rajesh Hamal received a whooping Rs. 1.2million to be featured in the ad. That is, 3-4 times the amount he receives for acting in a full movie. Others should have received a smaller but considerable sum to act for the ads.
It was much easier in the olden days when the Government controlled everything. The equation has changed drastically with the recent advancement in communication and electronics. The phone, newspapers, radio, movies, television, post letters were much easier to control. In this internet-age, although all of these services can now be embraced in a single device, a computer; it is much more difficult to control.
There are always problem when government seeks control on one of these communication media. Countries like US and China are effectively controlling these media but, when it comes to the poor countries, like Nepal, it is not that easy.
The recent attempt of the Nepali government to control internet can be seen as one of the desperate attempts to control communication of its citizen. The only, and the most palatable front to start internet control was "public decency and courtesy" issue. They know, society can digest the argument and there will be less resistance on such control. The idea however is not original, and was widely practiced during the 1980s feminists and conservatives’ attempt to raise the issues of morality and public safety. Their argument, hard-core erotica promotes sexual violence against women, was proved to be flawed! In a paper (download pdf) presented at Stanford Law School, Clemson University economist, Todd Kendall, suggest that p0rn sites help potential rapists to relieve their sexual urges and do less crimes. Meaning, such sites actually decreases sexual violence.
Nepali movie "Angalo yo Mayako" features the third Indian Idol, Prashant Tamang, in the lead. Prashant’s another movie ‘Gorkha Paltan’ is going to release soon in Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal.
Angalo yo Mayako is produced by Kishor Dungmali Rai, directed by Vinod Sereng. The movie features model cum actress Harshika Shrestra opposite to Prashant.
There is a single candidate who won’t win and won’t give-up the election. The top leader of Nepali Congress, Ram Chandra Poudel, was defeated for the 14th time in an election held at the parliament on Friday.
Poudel is alone in the race for the post of Prime Minister. Ram Chandra Poudel was left alone in the race when Maoist Chairman, Puspa Kamal Dahal, withdrew his candidacy after realizing the infinite loop the election has fallen into. Poudel is trying to cash in the ‘opportunity’ by not-giving-up the race, that he
is never going to win. In the election vote for Poudel were 96 and 2 were casted against him. Next election will be held after three days.
It is everybody’s guess that the shameful bargaining tactics being practiced by the leaders will have a long-term impact on their political character.
The ISPs in Nepal have blocked 60 different sites in Nepal, as per the instruction of the government. The decision was taken in a meeting held at the Home Ministry. Present at the meeting were the representatives of Home Ministry, Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA), and representative of Nepal Internet Service Providers (NISP).
Nagariknews reports that the ISPs affiliated with NISP have already banned the sites identified as p0rn sites. Others will have to follow when NTA orders them to do so.
In a latest news, the Home Ministry (HM) has decided to work with the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) to ban p0rn sites in Nepal.
It was in August the government decided to ban such sites in Nepal. After a week or so, the government announced the ban of such sites and a "fine of Rs. 100,000 and/or 5 years in prison" for the violators. The ISPs were told to use filters and ban such sites. The public started crying foul-play when the ISPs started banning websites randomly.
Laxman Tharu, the chairman of Federal Democratic National Forum (FDNF), was arrested when the police raided Shree Ganesh Guest House at Bagbazaar and found him sleeping with a prostitute.
The raid was part of a surprise raid carried out by a special task force of Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka in an effort to curb prostitution and other illegal activities in Kathmandu. The police have also Parbati Puri (34), the owner of the guest house and the 20-year-old prostitute, the employee of the guest house.
Tharu was active as a Maoist during the people’s war until the party decided to start peaceful politics.
Taking advantage of the current political instability, the royal family is still in the process to get back it’s previous status. They have tried to use the only person in the family without much good or bad public information, Himani Shah, to create sympathy towards monarchy. Another reason of using the previous princess, in the mission, might be her innocent looking face and beauty.
Now, she has decided to conduct the work in a more organized way, by registering a non-government organization named Himani Trust. The Trust is going to be inaugurated today (October 8, 2010) in Soltae Crown Plaza hotel in Kathmandu.
Nepali Film – Hasi Deu Ek Phera, Director – Shiva Regmi Music – Suresh adhikari Lyrics – Dr Krishna Hari Baral Producer -Â Ramesh Twayana and Rajesh Swangamikha Artist – Hari Bansha Acharya, Madan Krishna Shrestha, Raj Ballav koirala, Sweta Khadka, Mithila Sharma, Shushil Kshetri, Shusil Pokhrel, Kiran KC, Raja Ram Paudel, Keshab Bhattarai, Uttam KC, Bishnu Sapkota, and Siru Bista.
Nepal government has instructed Cyber Cafes in Nepal to check personal identification of every customer before they are allowed to surf the internet. This new requirement is the latest in a series of ‘desperate’ steps taken by the government to control ‘cyber crime’.
It is not a bad idea to keep a log of everybody who uses internet in a public place. That would certainly help investigators to track criminals. A law-abiding citizen wouldn’t mind a little hassle of showing his IDs in Cyber Cafe.
But, the big questions are – will it be implemented properly ?Is there a proper monitoring body, effective enough to monitor the requirement ?
And, past experience shows immatureness in decision taking. They have taken decision in hurry and later realize the decision can’t be implemented at all.
