parliament system of gov- Madhes parties for 10 provinces,

With less than three months to go for the Constituent Assembly elections slated for November 19, Madhes-centric parties have started zeroing in on the federal model and form of governance the country should adopt.

The parties are also for a parliamentary system of governance, where the prime minister would be elected from the legislature. However, the Upendra Yadav-led Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Nepal is in favour of a directly-elected president who will exercise executive powers.

Almost all Madhes parties are pitching for two autonomous provinces in the plains, basing them on the majority report of the State Restructuring Commission that has proposed 10 provinces with  two of them in the Madhes.

According to the General Secretary of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik, Jitendra Dev, his party supports an improved form of the parliamentary system. On the federal set-up, Dev, who also heads the manifesto-writing committee of the party, said they are for 10 provinces, along the lines suggested by the SRC. 'Our bottom line is that there should be two autonomous provinces in the Madhes--Madhes province and Tharuhat province,' he said.

He added that his party's manifesto demands that elections for provinces be held within one year of the promulgation of the constitution.The party which split from the MJF-N in July 2009, will be contesting the CA polls for the first time.

Sadhbhawana Party has also pitched for 10 provinces. According to leader Laxman Lal Karna, who heads the manifesto writing committee of the party, the two provinces in the Madhes would be named after consultations with the Tharu community. 'As for the forms of governance, we are for a parliamentary system with executive powers vested on the prime minister,' he said.

The Rastriya Madhes Samajbadi Party, which split from the MJF-L in September last year, also said it favours the parliamentary system, where the prime minister, elected through a parliament, has the executive powers. 'Though our position is for a single province, we could go for two,' said party spokesperson
The Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party led by Mahanta Thakur said it has a similar take on both these issues.

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High-level Political Committee agrees, in principle, to hold round-table meet

Not knowing what the Cumnist Party in Nepal (CPN)-Maoist exactly wants, the High-level Political Committee(HLPC ) on Thursday agreed ‘in principle’ to hold a round-table conference/all-party meeting if that helps the party in joining the November 19 elections.

According to leaders, the High-level Political Committee agreed to hold the round-table after the Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist gave a ‘positive signal.’

The fate of such a conference, however, largely depends on the CPN-M’s commitment to the polls, which is often “seen wavering.”

Cross-party leaders said they will hold informal talks with CPN-Maoist leaders on Thursday and Friday and find out what exactly the party wants from the round-table. However, if the CPN-Maoist wants to settle all the issues in the roundtable conference and postpone the elections, such a meeting may not take place at all, the leaders said.

High-level Political Committee leaders said a roundtable conference can only discuss contentious issues of the new constitution, while the final call will be taken by the Constituent Assembly.

The High-level Political Committee had earlier said that it is ready to postpone the elections if the poll-opposing parties make a commitment to contest the elections later. Cross-party leaders privy to the developments say there are reasons for them giving the CPN-Maoist such leeway. The first reason is that they want to test the CPN-Maoist’s honesty in being part of the CA election process, while another is to give the party a message that the High-level Political Committee tried its best to bring the party on board. Yet another reason the leaders said was to ‘expose’ the CPN-Maoist’s ‘intention of not wanting the election to take place.’ “The CPN-Maoist, which is demanding cancellation of the election process, changed its mind in the talks  with the High-level Political Committee , saying it is ready to join the election process,' said High-level Political Committee leader Bharat Bimal Yadav. “We agreed on a round-table conference as they were positive about the polls.' High-level Political Committee members—UCPN Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, CPN-UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, Nepali Congress Vice-chairman Ram Chandra Poudel and Madhesi Janadhikar Forum Nepal-Democratic Chairman Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar—are of the view that Baidya will not join the election, and as such, it should not be postponed.

However, NC President Sushil Koirala, UML leader Madhav K. Nepal and UCPN leader Narayan K.Shrestha are of the view that holding the polls will be difficult without the CPN-Maoist’s participation.

CPN-Maoist leaders, on the other hand, said they have not agreed to join the Mangser 4 election.

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Birth of new star captured by Chilean observatory - video

Birth of new star captured by Chilean observatory - video


Images of the birth of a star around 1,400 light years away from Earth is captured by scientists at the European Southern Observatory, Chile. The pictures show the moments the star ejects material into space at speeds of up to 1 million km per hour. The shots show never-before-seen detail of jets of gas as they stream from the new star

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A teacher accused of having sex with 15-y-o male student

Kalee Warnick, a 22-year-old English teacher at Wall High School, was arrested Tuesday on charges of aggravated criminal sexual contact and having a sexual relationship with a minor. Her attorney said she will plead not guilty.

An English teacher in Wall, N.J., has been accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.

Kalee Warnick, 22, was arrested Tuesday on charges of third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact and second-degree having a sexual relationship with a minor, according to the Asbury Park Press.

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A perspective on principles for Internet surveillance

Technology is often double-edged. On the one hand, innovations in communication technologies have increased the possibilities for individuals to share information and ideas beyond borders, access educational material and discover other cultures. On the other hand, the very same tools have also generated opportunities for State surveillance of users' personal exchanges. Such actions not only threaten privacy and the free flow of information, but they can also generate chilling effects on the Internet architecture and undermine the trust that users have in the network as a global, interoperable and resilient platform of communication

In recent weeks we have seen an emerging debate on government surveillance activities and their impact on users' fundamental rights to privacy and freedom of expression. Part of this global debate focused on principles and guidelines that should govern these activities. Whether new principles and guidelines emerge or whether existing ones are being seen with fresh eyes, we observe an increasing interest in exploring ways to provide additional safeguards when it comes to the surveillance of online activities.
 Last week, the Internet Society Board of Trustees took the opportunity at its meeting on the margins of the IETF meeting, in Berlin, to release a statement calling for "the global Internet community to stand together to support open Internet access, freedom and privacy". This statement re-emphasises the concerns of the Internet Society regarding the recently exposed information about government Internet surveillance programs, which risk threatening both the fundamental freedoms of Internet users, as well as the openness of the Internet as a whole.

In the past few weeks, many voices in the Internet community have made the point that security should not be sought at the expense of individual rights, challenging the notion that achieving security by necessity has to be the product of a trade-off with freedom of expression, privacy or social development.

Robert Hinden, Chair of the Board of Trustees, used the setting of Berlin to remind us that human progress and technological innovation are not based on building walls, and that such surveillance activities, including those carried by countries who have traditionally advocated for an open Internet, threaten the trust and confidence that are so important for the Internet ecosystem and the relation between different stakeholders.

The ISOC Board of Trustees endorsed in its statement the initiative by some civil society organizations to promote "International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance." These principles, developed over the past year by a set of civil society organisations, are intended to explain how existing human rights standards, international law, and jurisprudence should apply in the context of new capabilities and risks of digital surveillance.

In societies marked by increasing cross-border interactions, adapting the application of existing laws and rights to the online environment, while preserving the Internet's sustainability and openness, seems to be a key challenge. These international principles on communication surveillance offer guidelines and safeguards so that laws are applied to the online environment in a way that is respectful of individual rights.

Released at the April 2013 session of the Human Rights Council - before the revelations about sweeping surveillance by security services made the news worldwide - the latest report of the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression also offers a timely focus on the implications of States’ surveillance of communications on the exercise of the human rights to privacy and to freedom of opinion and expression.

The report underlines the need to further study new modalities of surveillance and calls for a revision of national laws regulating these practices in line with human rights standards.
"Generally, legislation has not kept pace with the changes in technology. In most States, legal standards are either non-existent or inadequate to deal with the modern communications surveillance environment. As a result, States are increasingly seeking to justify the use of new technologies within the ambits of old legal frameworks, without recognizing that the expanded capabilities they now possess go far beyond what such frameworks envisaged"
The report also contends that changes in technology have been paralleled by changes in attitudes towards communications surveillance. The example that is given is the practice of official wiretapping in the U.S., which was first conducted on a restricted basis and only reluctantly sanctioned by the courts given its serious impact on privacy. The report goes on to argue that declining costs of technology and data storage have now eradicated financial or practical disincentives to conducting surveillance, which as a result is more invasive and on a greater scale than ever before. Hence, the report's call for additional safeguards.

While government plays an important role in protecting its citizens, and acknowledging the fact that national security sometimes involves secretive actions, real security can only be realized within a broader context of trust and the respect of fundamental rights, such as privacy
As the Internet Society stated before, large scale surveillance activities underscore the importance of an open and inclusive global dialogue regarding online privacy in the realm of national security and the need for all stakeholders to abide by the norms and principles outlined in international agreements on data protection and other fundamental rights. Cooperation among stakeholders is indeed essential to reach efficient and legitimate solutions in an ecosystem marked by cross-border interactions and dependencies.

A trust-enabled infrastructure, fostering trusted interactions in cyberspace, is critical not only for the future of the global interoperability and openness of the Internet, but also for continued innovation, economic and political progress and a vibrant global community.

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Garima Panta- Nepali Actress/Model/Celebrity Photo Gallery

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Keki Adhikari- Nepali Actress/Model Photo Gallery

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