7th April marks day 1 of the Knowledge sharing workshop in Asia. The third among three different workshops being organised back to back with foci ranging from capturing stories, writing them and sharing , this one focused on the sharing Read more…
I was at the international training school on Atmospheric brown clouds (ABC) held in Kathmandu yesterday. The international school held every two years, by internationally prominent atmospheric scientists, provide a theoretical background and an overview of current knowledge on various Read more…
Holi began with a rather lazy start of a day with breakfast in bed, mildly irritated by the loud music blaring off speakers in the neighbourhood, as I surfed the internet in bed. Yes, I have lights on Saturday and Sunday for a few hours. Thank you NEA!
Post lunch, Dhungel phoned to say that he was on his way to pick me up to “do something this Holi with the home boys”. Repulsed at the idea of having to duck my way onto the pickup point with rooftops festering with kids and exuberant adults, who’d be more than happy to tip a bucket of fetid water over or hurl plastic bag projectiles at passersby, I left the sanctity of my bed. 🙁 (more…)
This is my first post for 2011! This year, the reasons (read excuses) have been numerous.
Amidst merry making in view of Bhatte’s upcoming marriage, the camp fire in front of Mone’s living quarters also served as venue where an interesting discourse on development and environment took place. The only environmental science graduate among civil engineers, Read more…
With bhattey on his FZR
Mona’s invitation to come spend a weekend at his living quarters inside Kule Khani III project, in Nibuwatar was long overdue. Amidst last minute changes, we decided to take up on his offer and packed our bags with bare essentials and loads of hors d’oeuvres for the night. There were four of us who agreed on the commute – Dhungel, Gauri, Bhatte (a soon to be groom) and myself, amongst two motorbikes – an almost bedridden Pulsar 180 DTSi and a relatively newer Yamaha FZR.
About 60 kilometres from Kathmandu, lay Nibuwatar via the Pharphing -Indra Sarowar –Kule Khani route. From Kathmandu via Kirtipur to Pharphing and after taking the fork upper right from Pharphing, onwards to Nibuwatar we went. The road snaked uphill with potholes in the decades old bitumen road. From Lama Gaun onwards, about 11 kilometres of dusty jolting roads punctuated the total length. As we ascended towards Indra Sarowar (the reservoir for Kule Khani Hydro-power), the wind chill factor grew and I considered myself fortunate to have remembered to bring along my woollen cap; Gauri on the other hand, made do with his North Face hoodie. (more…)
Ice breaking introduction at the pre-conference workshop
Govind Singh, DelhiGreens.org and I were among 71 youth participants from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Germany, Spain, United States of America, Sri Lanka among others, who came together on a pre-conference workshop at the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) campus in Ahmedabad. This workshop was held to strategise youth involvement at the 3 day conference (Ethical Framework for a sustainable world) that followed. Participants comprised of students enrolled in different undergraduate and graduate programmes. Both Govind and I, were invited to the conference (also referred to as the Earth Charter plus 10 celebrations) as SAYEN mentors through South Asia Youth Environment Network (SAYEN). (more…)
http://bit.ly/icimodyouth
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development – ICIMOD‘s Asia Pacific Mountain Network (APMN) is just out with its winter issue. This special issue on ‘Youth and Climate Change’ has been compiled to underscore the International Year of Youth (IYY) 2010-2011; COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico; and the increasing interest of young people in taking part in activities related to climate change issues. It contains the views of young people, information about various opportunities, an APMN youth activity review, and other features. This issue was formally launched by Mr. Daan Boom, APMN Coordinator and Integrated Knowledge Management Programme Manager, ICIMOD, coinciding with COP 16 meeting later today.
Annexed below is my review of ‘Climate Change – Youth Guide to Action’ published in the very same. (more…)
I received an email from an associate from LAP Lambert Academic Publishing some time back, stating that they found my thesis entitled “Application of GIS in the study of land cover distribution, geomorphometry, terrain and water quality in Asi Khola Subwatershed” in the library at Kathmandu University and wanted to publish it in the form of a book. Furthermore, they would do all this for free!
I do have a few friends and colleagues who were quite elated to have been approached by an genuine European publisher. One of my friend’s book is now available on Amazon for a whopping $70. Back then, I said good for you and shelved the idea. However, this time around when I was approached with a similar proposition, I did find it rather odd. I immediately Googled the publisher in question, and came up with quite a number of chilling references in different forums and blogs that indicated that this was a very sophisticated scam. After I updated my close knit circle of friends of the same, one even made a joke that this was probably done by a Nigerian stationed in Germany. (more…)
Courtesy Black Friday, and Canon’s incentive to do away with their stock (wink wink), Canon is running a $200 rebate when the camera is bought with the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens and a $150 rebate on Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras when bundled with its range of DSLRs.
I finally settled for the Canon EOS Rebel T1i (also known as Canon 500D) with kit lens (EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens) should be a reasonable buy for an entry level DSLR enthusiast like me. The rebate programme that Canon is running bowled me over.