वुद्ध जन्मस्थल प्रसंग: कोरियामा खुलेको ढोका र यस्को निरन्तरताको अपरिहार्यता

लुम्बिनी-कपिलवस्तु दिवस अभियानका बिस्व संयोजक रामकुमार श्रेष्ठद्धारा केही समय अघि पार्टीका नेताहरु, कुटनितिक नियोग तथा बिभिन्न क्षेत्रका ब्यक्तिहरु गरी करीब २,००० ब्यक्ति बीच पुग्ने गरी लेख्नु भएको ईमेलको पूर्ण अंश सान्दर्भिक भएकोले यहाँ राखिएको छ जस्लाई केही पत्रिकाहरुले समेत प्रकाशित गरेका थिए:

श्रद्धेय मान्यजन एबं मित्रहरु,

सादर नमस्ते!

नोट: केही ठूला ठूला ग्रुप मेलहरु समेत भएको कारण यो मेल करीब दुई हजार जतिको बीचमा जानेछ । लुम्बिनी-कपिलवस्तु दिवस (पहिला कपिलवस्तु दिवस) अभियान शुरु भएपस्चात बुद्ध जन्मस्थलबारे सिर्जित बिस्वब्यापी दिग्भ्रम निस्तेज पार्ने क्रममा प्राप्त उल्लेख्य उपलब्धी भएका छन । बिशेषत: तात्कालिन प्रधानमन्त्री माधव कुमार नेपाललाई अभियानका तर्फबाट अभियानका केन्द्रिय सल्लाहकारहरु डा आरजु देउवा राणा, पूर्व मन्त्री राजेन्द्र श्रेष्ठ, पूर्व मन्त्री दीप कुमार उपाध्याय, डा कबिताराम श्रेष्ठ लगायतको टिमले बुझाएको ज्ञापनपत्रमा जोड दिइएको एउटा बुँदा बिभिन्न देशको पाठ्य पुस्तकमा नै बुद्ध जन्मस्थलबारे गलत जानकारी राखिएकोले कुटनितिक नियोग मार्फत यो समस्या समाधानको लागि नेपाल सरकारद्धारा पहल गरिनु पर्ने भन्ने थियो र गत अक्टोबर २४  को कान्तिपुर दैनिकमा ‘बुद्धबारे भ्रम’ सम्बन्धी समाचारमा समेत सोही कुरामा जोड दिइएको समाचार पढेपछि गत डिसेम्बर १९ मा कोरियाका लागि तत्कालीन नेपाली राजदूत महामहिम कमलप्रसाद कोइरालाले त्यहाँका राष्ट्रपति ली म्यङ बाकलाई बुद्ध सम्बन्धी भ्रमहरु पाठ्यपुस्तकहरुमा सच्याई दिन आग्रह गर्दै चार पृष्ठ लामो पत्र लेख्नु भएपछि त्यहाँको सरकारले त्यहाँको पाठ्य पुस्तकमा भएको बुद्ध जन्मस्थलबारे भएको गलत जानकारी सच्याउने निर्णय गरेको छ र वास्तबमा अभियानको लागि यो कोषे ढुङ्गा नै हो र यस्लाई अन्य देशमा समेत निरन्तरता दिन सकिनु नै यो विस्वब्यापी समस्या समाधानको लागि सबैभन्दा प्रभाबकारी उपाय हो । यसैले सबै कुटनीतिक नियोग, बिभिन्न पार्टीका बरिस्ठ नेताहरुलाई समेत समाबेश गरिएको यो मेल छलफलभन्दा पनि बढी जानकारीको लागि लेखिएकोले “Reply all” नगरिदिनु हुन बिशेष अनुरोध बरु आ-आफ्ना साथी र ग्रुपलाई “Forward” गर्नु उपयुक्त हुन सक्छ । अर्को रंगमा अण्डरलाइन गरिएकाहरु लिंकको रुपमा रहेकाले त्यहाँ क्लिक गरी सम्बन्धित समाचारमा जान सकिन्छ ।

वुद्ध जन्मस्थल प्रसंग: कोरियामा खुलेको ढोका र यस्को निरन्तरताको अपरिहार्यता

निर्माणाधिन नक्कली लुम्बिनी र कपिलबस्तु जस्तो ठूलो परियोजना नै करीब करीब संपन्न हुने अवस्थामा पुगिसक्ता समेत यस्तो संबेदनशील बिषयमा पनि बुद्धको वास्तबिक जन्मस्थल नेपालको तर्फबाट देखिएको एक किसिमको सर्ब पक्षीय मौनताका कारण बिभिन्न देशमा छरिएर रहेका नेपालीहरुले ईतिहासमा पहिलो पटक १ डिसेम्बर २००९ लाई “कपिलवस्तु दिवस विस्व दिवस” को रुपमा मनाए । गौतम बुद्ध लुम्बिनीमा जन्मेका हुन भन्ने सबभन्दा राम्रो प्रमाण अशोक स्तम्भलाई बिस्व सामू १ डिसेम्बर १८९६ मा जर्मन पुरातत्वबिद अण्टोन फुहररले ल्याएको दिनलाई महत्व दिनु उपयुक्त र सान्दर्भिक हुने ठहर गरी यो दिनलाई कपिलवस्तु दिवसको रुपमा मनाइएको थियो । अन्तराष्ट्रिय रुपमा बिभिन्न देशमा बिभिन्न कार्यक्रम र बिशेष गरी अन्तराष्ट्रिय सामाजिक सन्जाल मार्फत इण्टरनेटबाट मनाइएको यस दिवसलाई निरन्तरता दिने अभिप्रायले २०१० को मै ११ र सेप्टेम्बर १६ गरी दुई चरणमा २१ सदस्यीय विस्व कार्य समिति गठन गरियो । जस्मा तीन ठूला पार्टीको प्रतिनिधित्व समेत हुने गरी दुई जना बिदेशीलाई समेत समाबेश गराएर आठ सदस्यीय सल्लाहकार मण्डल पनि गठन गरियो । तेश्रो दिवस मनाउनु अघिस्पेन, बेल्जियम, वेलायत, क्यानडा, न्यूजिल्याण्ड, ताईवान, डेनमार्क, नेपाल र अस्ट्रेलिया गरी नौ देशमा राष्ट्रिय समिति गठन गरिए ।

Where Is the Best Place to Be Born in 2013?

By Patrick Boehler

ARND WIEGMANN / REUTERS
A cow stands on the Klausenpass mountain pass road in

Of course, it’s the country with most bunkers per capita, whose people eat more chocolate, ride more trains and commit more suicides with guns than anyone else: Switzerland.

Using a set of parameters ranging from the number of seats in parliament held by women, to life expectancy, divorce rates and average rainfall, the Economist Intelligence Unit released its yearly ranking of countries which offer the best opportunities for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for children born in the coming year.

Switzerland, a land-locked, multilingual country of eight million at the heart of Europe but outside the European Union, leads the ranking, followed by Australia and Norway. Five of the top ten countries are in Europe. Canada ranks 9th. The business hubs Singapore and Hong Kong are leading in Asia.

(PHOTOS: LIFE in Postwar St. Moritz – Cold Comfort for High Rollers)

The United States ties with Germany at 16, behind Ireland — a country that almost defaulted over its debt during the financial crisis — and Taiwan. A quarter a century ago, the U.S. led the global ranking and all other ten leading nations were European with the exception of Japan, then ranked 6th. But 25 years of heavy debt and slow economic growth has pulled Japan, still the world’s third-largest economy, down to 25th place, behind sleepy Cyprus and Chile.

The United Arab Emirates, home to the economic hub Dubai, is the first place in the Middle East to make the list, coming in at 18. Israel places 20th. (The Palestinian Territories are not included in the survey, but considering an unemployment rate three times higher and per capita income almost thirty times lower than it’s neighbor’s, it would arguably rank much lower.)

Battle of the internet giants: Survival of the biggest

Concern about the clout of the internet giants is growing. But antitrust watchdogs should tread carefully

THE four giants of the internet age—Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon—are extraordinary creatures. Never before has the world seen firms grow so fast or spread their tentacles so widely. Apple has become a colossus of capitalism, accounting for 4.3% of the value of the S&P 500 and 1.1% of the global equity market. Some 425m people now use its iTunes online store, whose virtual shelves are packed to the gills with music and other digital content. Google, meanwhile, is the undisputed global leader in search and online advertising. Its Android software powers three-quarters of the smartphones being shipped. Amazon dominates the online-retail and e-book markets in many countries; less well known is its behind-the-scenes power in cloud computing. As for Facebook, if the social network’s one billion users were a country, it would be the world’s third largest.

The digital revolution these giants have helped foment has brought huge benefits to consumers and businesses, and promoted free speech and the spread of democracy along the way. Yet they provoke fear as well as wonder. Their size and speed can, if left unchecked, be used to choke off competition. That is why they are attracting close scrutiny from regulators.

Palestinian UN Recognition Vote Passes By Majority

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly has voted by a more than two-thirds majority to recognize the state of Palestine.

The resolution upgrading the Palestinians’ status to a nonmember observer state at the United Nations was approved by the 193-member world body late Thursday by a vote of 138-9 with 41 abstentions.

Addressing the General Assembly Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the historic vote was the last chance to save the two-state solution. He also told the meeting that it “is being asked today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the parties to renew their commitment to negotiating peace deal.

However the US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said the UN’s vote on the Palestinians’ status places further obstacles in the path of peace.

The Palestinian bid to join the global body as a full member state failed in 2011 due to lack of support at the UN Security Council. To get the “non-member observer state” status, the Palestinians only needed a simple majority at the 193-member General Assembly, such status is already held by the Vatican.

चौथो लुम्बिनी-कपिलवस्तु दिवसको लागि पोस्टिङ् गर्न उपयुक्त केही सामग्रीहरु

वुद्धको विस्वब्यापी महत्वका कारण त्यसबाट लालायितद्धारा सत्यका पर्यायबाची वुद्धको उन्कै नामको दुरुपयोग गरी असत्यको खेती गर्दै वुद्ध जन्मस्थल बिषयलाई संपूर्ण विस्व मान्यता बिपरीत सीमित स्वार्थका कारण बिभिन्न तवरबाट सिर्जना गरिएको अनाबस्यक दिग्भ्रम आ-आफ्नै किसिमको ब्यस्त जीवन र सीमित श्रोत र साधनका बाबजुद जे जसरी सकिन्छ निस्तेज गर्ने भन्ने अभिप्रायले शुरु भएको लुम्बिनी-कपिलवस्तु दिवस (पहिला कपिलवस्तु दिवस) अभियान यही डिसेम्बर १ मा चौथो बर्षमा प्रबेश गर्दैछ र यस उपलक्षमा बिभिन्न देशहरुमा बिभिन्न किसिमले कार्यक्रमहरु गरिंदैछ । यस सन्दर्भमा कसैले पनि अनपेक्षित लज्जाबोध गर्न पनि नपरोस र समयनुकूल मिलेको खण्डमा बिभिन्न देशहरुमा सहभागी हुन चाहनेहरुले बिभिन्न ठाउँमा सहभागी हुन पनि सकोस भन्नाका खातिर यो जानकारी उपलब्ध गराइेएको छ:

१ बिशेष अनुरोध: १ डिसेम्बरमा अन लाइन बिशेष गरी Facebook मार्फत धेरैले बिभिन्न किसिमबाट सहभागिता जनाउने छन र पोस्टिङ्का लागि सान्दर्भिक सामग्री अभियानको ब्लगमा राखिनेछन । सो दिन कि त सान्दर्भिक पोस्टिङ् गर्ने वा गर्नेलाई सहयोग गर्ने अन्यथा मौन बसिदिनु हुन अनुरोध छ । सबै अधिकार र सुबिधामुखी हुने तर कर्तब्यमुखी कोही नहुने र बारंबारको भारतको बिभिन्न किसिम र स्तरको बल मिच्याइंपूर्ण गतिबिधिबाट वाक्क हुन पर्दा समेत देखिन नहुने किसिमको बहु पक्षीय मौनताबाट आजित हुनेहरुको आक्रोसित ठुलो समूहले जस्लाई पनि कुनै पनि किसिमले जे पनि  लेखिदिन सक्ने संभाबनालाई ध्यानमा राखी सो दिन अनाबस्यक पोस्टिङ् नगरिदिनु हुन अभियानको तर्फबाट बिशेष अनुरोध यध्यपि सबै कुराको बिस्लेषण गरी अधिकाधिकलाई समेटन् सरल र सहज होस भन्ने अभिप्रायले अभियान मध्यमार्गी बाटो अबलम्बन गर्दैछ । धेरै पहिला मेरा नजिकका एकजनाले एउटा संबेदनशील बिषयमा हल्का किसिमबाट केही लेख्ने बित्तिक्कै र आफूलाई अनुसन्धानबिद एबं लेखकको रुपमा चिनाउनु हुनेले गरेको एउटा असान्दर्भिक पोस्टिङ्पस्चात देखा परेका जथाभावी आक्रोसपूर्ण गाली गलौजलाई यहाँ स्मरण गराउन चाहन्छु ।     

Britney Spears House: Singer Buys Multi-Million Dollar Home In Thousand Oaks, Calif. (PHOTOS)

Life is good for Britney Spears. The award-winning global superstar and judge on “The X Factor” has just bought a multi-million dollar home in Thousand Oaks, Calif. — and it’s gorgeous.

Located in the exclusive Sherwood Country Club gated community, the Mediterranean-style property was built in 2010 and spans 8,456 square feet of living space. The home has five bedroom and seven bathrooms (plenty of space for fiance Jason Trawick and her two young sons) and features an infinity pool, library, home theater and a walk-in wine room.

House GOP Committee Chair Recommendations: All White… All Male

WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced who will chair all of the major House committees in the next Congress. And it turns out they all have something in common besides party affiliation: they’re all white men.

There isn’t a single woman or minority included in the mix of 19 House committee chairs announced Tuesday — a stark reality for a party desperate to appeal to women and minorities after both groups overwhelmingly rejected Republicans just weeks ago in the presidential election. The one female committee chair that House Republicans currently have, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), is stepping down because her term is up. While there are still two lower-tier House committees awaiting a chair assignment — the Ethics Committee and House Administration — neither committee has any women or minority members.

At least one Senate Democrat was quick to point out that something is missing from the Republican lineup.

“Disappointed to see House committee chairmanships in the 113th Congress will not include a single woman. -PM,” tweeted Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who included a link to Boehner’s press release announcing the chair posts.

A House Republican leadership aide declined to comment on the lack of diversity in the party’s committee leadership. The aide noted, though, that GOP leaders just put four women in party leadership. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash) is the new House Republican Conference Chair, Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kansas) is conference vice chair, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) is conference secretary, and Rep.-elect Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) will represent freshman members in party leadership.

To be fair, House committee chairs are typically chosen based on their seniority on the committee, and most committees don’t have Republican women or minorities at senior levels. In addition, there just aren’t that many House Republican women and minorities to go around. In the 113th Congress, which kicks off in January, House Republicans will have 20 women in their camp, compared to 61 House Democratic women. You can count on two hands the number of House Republicans who are minorities. By contrast, in the new Congress, the House Democratic Caucus will have a majority of women and minorities for the first time in history.

CEO Council Demands Cuts To Poor, Elderly While Reaping Billions In Government Contracts, Tax Breaks

Comment: Equality is not possible practically even though many are campaigning and struggling for this. All are equal, but some are more equal always exists in both societies: capitalism and socialist

WASHINGTON — The corporate CEOs who have made a high-profile foray into deficit negotiations have themselves been substantially responsible for the size of the deficit they now want closed.

The companies represented by executives working with the Campaign To Fix The Debt have received trillions in federal war contracts, subsidies and bailouts, as well as specialized tax breaks and loopholes that virtually eliminate the companies’ tax bills.

‘Gangnam Style’ YouTube Views: Psy’s Viral Hit Beats Bieber To Become Most-Viewed YouTube Video Ever

Korean pop star Psy, who horse-danced his way to Internet fame with his viral hit song “Gangnam Style,” now officially owns the most-watched video in the history of YouTube. “Gangnam Style” passed Justin Bieber’s “Baby” as the video with the most views on the site, Psy announced on Saturday.

As of this writing, “Gangnam Style” has 806.3 million views, approximately 2.4 million more than the Canadian singer’s 2010 hit. Psy’s video, first posted on YouTube in July, had already received the distinction for being the most “liked” YouTube video ever in September.

2012 UN Climate Talks In Doha, Qatar Face Multiple Challenges

AP  |  By KARL RITTER

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — As nearly 200 countries meet in oil-and-gas-rich Qatar for annual talks starting Monday on slowing global warming, one of the main challenges will be raising climate aid for poor countries at a time when budgets are strained by financial turmoil.

Rich countries have delivered nearly $30 billion in grants and loans promised in 2009, but those commitments expire this year. And a Green Climate Fund designed to channel up to $100 billion annually to poor countries has yet to begin operating.

Borrowing a buzzword from the U.S. budget debate, Tim Gore of the British charity Oxfam said developing countries, including island nations for whom rising sea levels pose a threat to their existence, stand before a “climate fiscal cliff.”

“So what we need for those countries in the next two weeks are firm commitments from rich countries to keep giving money to help them to adapt to climate change,” he told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Loitering in the land of Buddha

By Sanjib Chaudhary

After reading the article “Tilaurakot Excavations (2023 – 2029 V.S.)” by Tara Nanda Mishra and the book “The Great Sons of the Tharus: Sakyamuni Buddha and Emperor Asoka the Great” by Subodh Kumar Singh, I was dying to visit Tilaurakot, the place where Lord Buddha spent his 29 years.

Tilaurakot – the citadel in shambles

Finally, I got the chance to visit Taulihawa. I was excited – the reason – Tilaurakot and Jagadishpur Lake being in the vicinity. As we crossed the Bhikchhu Chowk, the roundabout that leads the way to Tilaurakot, the sign board was misleading. While one showed the way to Tilaurakot, another had a two headed arrow which was pointing towards two opposite directions. However, the problem was solved within minutes as the locals told us to head northward.

On the way to the Tilaurakot complex is a museum that houses the archaeological findings that were excavated from the complex. We wanted to see the site of King Suddhodana’s palace first, so we skipped the visit to the museum.

Not a single visitor in the complex

Reaching the complex, I had thought that crowds of people will be competing for a glimpse of the ancient kingdom. However, the expectation was shattered within seconds. I could see not a single visitor in the surrounding.

Anybody can enter the complex and surprisingly you don’t need to pay for the entrance. Entering the citadel was like travelling back into the days of Buddha. I could sense the ambience – tranquil and heavenly.

Grand defence of ancient times

At the entrance of the Western Gate, the remnants of 10 feet wide defence wall were astonishing. You can imagine how well protected the citadel was – apart from the defence wall, there used to be a 22 feet wide moat with crocodiles. It was simply impossible for the enemies to enter the city.

The excavations carried out on the western end of the ruins at Tilaurakot, roughly in the central position of the western wall brought to light three different phases of defence walls. Among them, the first wall was made of clay, possibly digging the nearest outside area, and the ditch had been simultaneously converted into a moat. The first mud wall can be dated to 7th-6th Century BC. The second phase of defence wall had also been made of yellowish clay, and had been built during 200 BC. The third wall was erected just over the basement and outer toe of the second phase wall. It was made of bricks and brick-bats in yellowish mud mortar. It can be dated to 150 BC. The walls were surrounded by a deep moat, which was probably fed by water from the Banaganga River.

One of my colleagues tried to step on the wall out of curiosity but was admonished by a staffer wearing an orange tee shirt with the Lumbini Development Trust logo. However, he was himself sleeping on the wall!

Pit Bull Saves Nayeli Garzon-Jimenez’s Baby From Kidnappers During Indiana Burglary (VIDEO)

An Indianapolis family says their pet dog fended off would-be kidnappers who tried to steal their baby.

On Tuesday morning, a man and a woman tried to enter Nayeli Garzon-Jimenez’s home while she was talking to her husband on the phone, according to WISH TV.

When she told him what was happening, Adolfo Angeles-Morales told his wife to check the door and identify the intruders.

“In the same second, I hear the noise over my phone and she started screaming and crying, and said, someone just stuck their hand in the door,” Angeles-Morales told the station.

The pair got inside and demanded money from the frightened mother, the New York Daily News reported. Although she doesn’t speak English, she understood the request for cash — but didn’t have any to give.

Buddha Born in Nepal – Nepali Documentary Trailer

 

EINSTEIN’S OFFICE: GENIUS IN THE DETAILS

Einstein’s office at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, photographed on the day of his death, April 18, 1955.

The death of a public figure of Albert Einstein’s stature is the sort of event that, literally and figuratively, stops the presses. No scientist has been more famous, no antiwar activist ever argued his case with more conviction, no exemplar of genius has ever been as frequently invoked (albeit in language often dripping with sarcasm: “Nice going, Einstein!”) than the German-born father of modern physics. So when word came on a Monday morning in April 1955 that Einstein had died, at age 76, at New Jersey’s Princeton Hospital, the victim of an aortic aneurysm, the scramble was on to recount the story of his life and, as urgently, his death.

[MORE: See the gallery, “The Day Einstein Died: A Photographer’s Story.”]

LIFE photographer Ralph Morse was among scores of journalists who descended on Princeton, hoping to find and report on something, anything, that might offer insight into what Einstein’s passing meant to his friends, family and peers, as well as to countless strangers around the world who, for myriad reasons, felt a kinship with the man.

No one but Morse, however, finagled his way into Einstein’s office that day. No one but Morse came away with a photograph that, six decades later, serves as a haunting reflection of both the man and his life’s work: a seemingly simple picture of Einstein’s desk, cluttered with notebooks, journals, a pipe, a tobacco tin; behind the desk a blackboard covered with equations and formulas that, to the untrained eye, possess an almost runic power.

WATCH: After Sex, She Eats His Face

By Jacqueline Howard

If you thought the sex scenes in the popular erotic novel “Fifty Shades of Grey” were wild, you should have a look at praying mantises going at it. Sex for these little creatures is not only kinky, but also gruesome.

Believe it or not, sexual cannibalism (when one partner kills and eats the other during copulation) is common among spiders as well as mantises. Need to see it to believe it? Just check out the first episode of biologist Dr. Carin Bondar‘s new web series titled “Wild Sex.”

“We hit topics hard, and not just for the quirk factor, but because there is a lot of cool science behind so many strange mating rituals,” Bondar told Scientific Americanabout the new show.