Here’s a preview of what I hope is going to be a permanent feature of this forum.

Note: To view/listen to these clips, you will need the RealOne player or above, preferably RealPlayer 10. Make sure your connection settings are correct. Go to Tools => Preferences… Select the “Connection” category and then click “Test Connection…”. Press “Perform Test” in the window that pops up. If your current settings for internet connection speed is correct, just press Next, otherwise press the “Update” buttton. Then press OK to close the Preferences window.

The first test candidate is plain vanilla, with no whistles and bells.
What else but the all-time hit “Wari Jamuna, Pari Jamuna”.

Encoded at 64kbps single stream stereo audio, it should sound nearly as good as most 128kbps mp3 streams available on the net.

Test clip # 2 is also 64kbps single stream stereo audio, but it comes with extra goodies. The audio is sychronized with the lyrics, which scroll up the main window as the music progresses. Be patient, the lyrics appear exactly 24 seconds after the clip starts playing. On the context sensitive window on the right, online information about the current clip including cover art, if available, is displayed. The information has live links that you can follow to get more information about the song, the artist, or the album.

As there is no online database of Nepali songs, we will need to build our own database as we add songs to the catalogue.

The third and last example is set up like a playlist. In this particular example, the playlist comprises four Bob Marley songs encoded at 44kbps stereo. As the first clip plays, the associated cover art is displayed in the main window while the lyrics are loaded in the context window on the right. You will need to manually scroll the lyrics window. The second clip starts playing automatically after the first one and the related cover art and lyrics will also load simultaneously. And then the third and the fourth clip in that order.

However, at any time, you can skip to the next clip by pressing the >| button. Alternatively, you can press “Now Playing” and select or edit your playlist from the window that pops up.
Enjoy the music and send us your comments and feedback as usual.

Thanks a lot

Admin

As the debate over the issue of disarming the Maoist rebels heats up, Maoist atrocities against the civilian population across the country are once again on the rise. In fact, the Maoists never gave up their terror tactics even after Prachand and Baburam finally came out of the hiding. However, if one were to make an inference from the recent upsurge in atrocities committed by the Maoists, one would be inclined to conclude that Prachand has ordered his militia to hold the civilian population hostage in order to drive a hard bargain with the SPA. So, abduction, torture and brutal killings of defenceless Nepalis have become the order of the day for the Maoists. The Maoists are determined to show that they are in control and so bands of heavily armed rebels are seen “patrolling” the streets across the nation.

If the government appears to be in breach of the code of conduct, Maoist leaders from Mechi to Mahakali hold rallies to take the government to task and threaten to take up arms again, but when their own cadres commit heinous crimes against unarmed civilians, they keep quiet. Perhaps only the government is expected to honor the code of conduct to the letter and the Maoists have granted themselves sufficient leeway to do whatever it takes to turn the situation in their favour.

Killing unarmed civilians is in your code of conduct?

Seriously injured Mitthu Gyawali: The Maoists killed her husband Sushil Gyawali, who was an active member of Nepali Congress and injured her seriously. According to local residents, the Maoists despatched Sushil fearing he would expose their timber smuggling racket.
Photo: Janak Nepal via TKP

Torturing 12-year-old girl in accordance with the Geneva Convention?

Mamata Dawadi, 12, who managed to escape from Maoist captivity bursts into tears as she tells the story of her torture at the hands of the Maoists, Friday.
PHOTO: DAMODAR NEUPANE via TKP

Is this called arms management?

Armed Maoist militia “patrol” the East-West Highway at Chandranigahapur in Rautahat, Friday.
PHOTO : SHIVA PURI via TKP

The Maoists also took the CDO of Bara district along with some security personnel, engineers and media persons under control for about two and a half hours. According to journalists, the rebels misbehaved with them, snatching their cameras, money and diaries but returned them later on.

Suman Pradhan

Matrika Prasad Yadav, 49, is a senior Maoist leader, chairman of the Tarai Mukti Morcha and president of their Tarai Autonomous Region. I interviewed him on a recent morning in Kathmandu, in a small spartan flat at Satdobato. The room was bare with no furniture, and only a pile of old newspapers in a corner. We sat down on the floor to discuss Madheshi issues. Here is the excerpts. (An abridged version of the interview was published in the Nepali Times, issue # 310)

Q. Goit is fighting for secession in the Tarai and harassing Pahadiyas. How do you see this?

A. We deplore the harassment of Pahadiya community by Goit and his group. We are not in favour of secession. Madheshi people don’t want secession. We want a democratic republican state based on federal autonomy and proportional representation. But when these rightful demands are not addressed, then the country will break up on its own. Read the rest of this entry »

Suman Pradhan

The Tarai is catching fire, and none of the mainstream parties are paying attention. Major portions of the Nepal Tarai, where 48 percent of the nation’s population lives, is slowly descending into chaos. Over the past year, Jaya Krishna Goit’s Tarai Janatantrik Mukti Morcha (TJMM), which has been battling Maoists since late 2004, has also been hounding the “Pahadiya” community, mainly in Saptari and Siraha districts but also in adjoining areas. Madheshi sources say that Pahadiya families are rushing to sell off their houses and land and migrate to the safer environs of the hills.

“This trend has picked up recently,” says former Nepali Congress minister Jayprakash Prasad Gupta ‘Anand’, who is now general secretary of the Madhesee (sic) Janaadhikar Forum, an organization active in 16 of the Tarai’s 20 districts. “Many of my own friends from Rajbiraj have resettled here in Kathmandu. They fear going back.” Read the rest of this entry »