Nepal 143th in least corrupted country better than Russia in terms of corruption !

Nepal ranked 143rd least corrupt country in world better than the G8 member Russia

Lawless Somalia and war-torn Afghanistan have topped a blacklist of the world's most corrupt countries drawn up by the anti-graft watchdog Transparency International.
Nepal  ranked as the 143rd  most honest of 180 countries, according to the annual study from transparency international.
New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland were the top five least corrupt countries.
Corruption Perceptions Index Map
TI's corruption index showed how countries devastated by conflict have become overrun by graft, with Iraq, Sudan and Myanmar accounting for the three other states in the bottom five of the chart.
The Berlin-based organisation said that countries whose infrastructure had been "torn apart" by conflict needed help from outside to prevent a culture of corruption taking root.
The list
"The international community must find efficient ways to help war-torn countries to develop and sustain their own institutions," said TI's head Huguette Labelle.
Overall, the 2009 corruption list is "of great concern", the organisation said, with the majority of countries scoring under five in the ranking, which ranges from zero, highly corrupt, and 10, which is very clean.
Six years after the US-led invasion and the chaos that followed, Iraq was perceived to be slightly cleaner, with its score rising to 1.5 points from 1.3 points. It also climbed two places in the list.
But Afghanistan slid from 1.5 points in 2008 to 1.3 in 2009, giving further ammunition to critics of President Hamid Karzai who has just been re-elected after a vote marred by rampant fraud.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Karzai this week that future financial support from Washington would be linked to steps to tackle graft and said that a culture of "impunity for those who are corrupt" had to end.
The Afghan government announced on Monday it had formed a major crime unit to tackle corruption, in a move designed to assuage Western concerns about Karzai who is due to be inaugurated for a second term later this week.
The most corrupt nation on Earth remained Somalia, the impoverished and war-torn Horn of Africa state that has been without a functioning government for two decades, notching up a score of 1.1 points.
African countries accounted for half of those in the bottom 20 of the list, including Angola which is now the continent's top oil exporter after emerging from a 27-year civil war.
But it was not just countries riven by conflict that saw their ratings slide. Italy, a member of the Group of Seven rich countries came in at 63rd on the list, from 55th last year.
Fellow EU member Greece fared even worse, at 71st, slipping from 57th.
Seemingly winning the fight against corruption were Liberia - whose score improved from 2.4 points to 3.1 points, shooting up 41 places on the list to 97th - and Gambia, which went from 158 on the list to 106.
Other significant improvements were registered by Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Montenegro and Malawi.
The United States inched up from 7.3 points to 7.5, but dropped one place in the rankings to 19th. China's rating was stable at 3.6 points but also fall seven places to 79th.
Russia continued to be very low down in the list, coming in at 146th place, although its score edged higher to 2.2 points from 2.1 points.
The five countries seen as least afflicted by corruption were New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland - the Alpine country seen as a bastion of bank secrecy.
New Zealand scored 9.4 points whereas Somalia scored 1.1 points.
The score is based on perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts.

Rank	Country/Territory	CPI 2009 Score	Surveys Used	Confidence Range
1	New Zealand	9.4	6	9.1 - 9.5
2	Denmark	9.3	6	9.1 - 9.5
3	Singapore	9.2	9	9.0 - 9.4
3	Sweden	9.2	6	9.0 - 9.3
5	Switzerland	9.0	6	8.9 - 9.1
6	Finland	8.9	6	8.4 - 9.4
6	Netherlands	8.9	6	8.7 - 9.0
8	Australia	8.7	8	8.3 - 9.0
8	Canada	8.7	6	8.5 - 9.0
8	Iceland	8.7	4	7.5 - 9.4
11	Norway	8.6	6	8.2 - 9.1
12	Hong Kong	8.2	8	7.9 - 8.5
12	Luxembourg	8.2	6	7.6 - 8.8
14	Germany	8.0	6	7.7 - 8.3
14	Ireland	8.0	6	7.8 - 8.4
16	Austria	7.9	6	7.4 - 8.3
17	Japan	7.7	8	7.4 - 8.0
17	United Kingdom	7.7	6	7.3 - 8.2
19	United States	7.5	8	6.9 - 8.0
20	Barbados	7.4	4	6.6 - 8.2
21	Belgium	7.1	6	6.9 - 7.3
22	Qatar	7.0	6	5.8 - 8.1
22	Saint Lucia	7.0	3	6.7 - 7.5
24	France	6.9	6	6.5 - 7.3
25	Chile	6.7	7	6.5 - 6.9
25	Uruguay	6.7	5	6.4 - 7.1
27	Cyprus	6.6	4	6.1 - 7.1
27	Estonia	6.6	8	6.1 - 6.9
27	Slovenia	6.6	8	6.3 - 6.9
30	United Arab Emirates	6.5	5	5.5 - 7.5
31	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	6.4	3	4.9 - 7.5
32	Israel	6.1	6	5.4 - 6.7
32	Spain	6.1	6	5.5 - 6.6
34	Dominica	5.9	3	4.9 - 6.7
35	Portugal	5.8	6	5.5 - 6.2
35	Puerto Rico	5.8	4	5.2 - 6.3
37	Botswana	5.6	6	5.1 - 6.3
37	Taiwan	5.6	9	5.4 - 5.9
39	Brunei Darussalam	5.5	4	4.7 - 6.4
39	Oman	5.5	5	4.4 - 6.5
39	Korea (South)	5.5	9	5.3 - 5.7
42	Mauritius	5.4	6	5.0 - 5.9
43	Costa Rica	5.3	5	4.7 - 5.9
43	Macau	5.3	3	3.3 - 6.9
45	Malta	5.2	4	4.0 - 6.2
46	Bahrain	5.1	5	4.2 - 5.8
46	Cape Verde	5.1	3	3.3 - 7.0
46	Hungary	5.1	8	4.6 - 5.7
49	Bhutan	5.0	4	4.3 - 5.6
49	Jordan	5.0	7	3.9 - 6.1
49	Poland	5.0	8	4.5 - 5.5
52	Czech Republic	4.9	8	4.3 - 5.6
52	Lithuania	4.9	8	4.4 - 5.4
54	Seychelles	4.8	3	3.0 - 6.7
55	South Africa	4.7	8	4.3 - 4.9
56	Latvia	4.5	6	4.1 - 4.9
56	Malaysia	4.5	9	4.0 - 5.1
56	Namibia	4.5	6	3.9 - 5.1
56	Samoa	4.5	3	3.3 - 5.3
56	Slovakia	4.5	8	4.1 - 4.9
61	Cuba	4.4	3	3.5 - 5.1
61	Turkey	4.4	7	3.9 - 4.9
63	Italy	4.3	6	3.8 - 4.9
63	Saudi Arabia	4.3	5	3.1 - 5.3
65	Tunisia	4.2	6	3.0 - 5.5
66	Croatia	4.1	8	3.7 - 4.5
66	Georgia	4.1	7	3.4 - 4.7
66	Kuwait	4.1	5	3.2 - 5.1
69	Ghana	3.9	7	3.2 - 4.6
69	Montenegro	3.9	5	3.5 - 4.4
71	Bulgaria	3.8	8	3.2 - 4.5
71	FYR Macedonia	3.8	6	3.4 - 4.2
71	Greece	3.8	6	3.2 - 4.3
71	Romania	3.8	8	3.2 - 4.3
75	Brazil	3.7	7	3.3 - 4.3
75	Colombia	3.7	7	3.1 - 4.3
75	Peru	3.7	7	3.4 - 4.1
75	Suriname	3.7	3	3.0 - 4.7
79	Burkina Faso	3.6	7	2.8 - 4.4
79	China	3.6	9	3.0 - 4.2
79	Swaziland	3.6	3	3.0 - 4.7
79	Trinidad and Tobago	3.6	4	3.0 - 4.3
83	Serbia	3.5	6	3.3 - 3.9
84	El Salvador	3.4	5	3.0 - 3.8
84	Guatemala	3.4	5	3.0 - 3.9
84	India	3.4	10	3.2 - 3.6
84	Panama	3.4	5	3.1 - 3.7
84	Thailand	3.4	9	3.0 - 3.8
89	Lesotho	3.3	6	2.8 - 3.8
89	Malawi	3.3	7	2.7 - 3.9
89	Mexico	3.3	7	3.2 - 3.5
89	Moldova	3.3	6	2.7 - 4.0
89	Morocco	3.3	6	2.8 - 3.9
89	Rwanda	3.3	4	2.9 - 3.7
95	Albania	3.2	6	3.0 - 3.3
95	Vanuatu	3.2	3	2.3 - 4.7
97	Liberia	3.1	3	1.9 - 3.8
97	Sri Lanka	3.1	7	2.8 - 3.4
99	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3.0	7	2.6 - 3.4
99	Dominican Republic	3.0	5	2.9 - 3.2
99	Jamaica	3.0	5	2.8 - 3.3
99	Madagascar	3.0	7	2.8 - 3.2
99	Senegal	3.0	7	2.5 - 3.6
99	Tonga	3.0	3	2.6 - 3.3
99	Zambia	3.0	7	2.8 - 3.2
106	Argentina	2.9	7	2.6 - 3.1
106	Benin	2.9	6	2.3 - 3.4
106	Gabon	2.9	3	2.6 - 3.1
106	Gambia	2.9	5	1.6 - 4.0
106	Niger	2.9	5	2.7 - 3.0
111	Algeria	2.8	6	2.5 - 3.1
111	Djibouti	2.8	4	2.3 - 3.2
111	Egypt	2.8	6	2.6 - 3.1
111	Indonesia	2.8	9	2.4 - 3.2
111	Kiribati	2.8	3	2.3 - 3.3
111	Mali	2.8	6	2.4 - 3.2
111	Sao Tome and Principe	2.8	3	2.4 - 3.3
111	Solomon Islands	2.8	3	2.3 - 3.3
111	Togo	2.8	5	1.9 - 3.9
120	Armenia	2.7	7	2.6 - 2.8
120	Bolivia	2.7	6	2.4 - 3.1
120	Ethiopia	2.7	7	2.4 - 2.9
120	Kazakhstan	2.7	7	2.1 - 3.3
120	Mongolia	2.7	7	2.4 - 3.0
120	Vietnam	2.7	9	2.4 - 3.1
126	Eritrea	2.6	4	1.6 - 3.8
126	Guyana	2.6	4	2.5 - 2.7
126	Syria	2.6	5	2.2 - 2.9
126	Tanzania	2.6	7	2.4 - 2.9
130	Honduras	2.5	6	2.2 - 2.8
130	Lebanon	2.5	3	1.9 - 3.1
130	Libya	2.5	6	2.2 - 2.8
130	Maldives	2.5	4	1.8 - 3.2
130	Mauritania	2.5	7	2.0 - 3.3
130	Mozambique	2.5	7	2.3 - 2.8
130	Nicaragua	2.5	6	2.3 - 2.7
130	Nigeria	2.5	7	2.2 - 2.7
130	Uganda	2.5	7	2.1 - 2.8
139	Bangladesh	2.4	7	2.0 - 2.8
139	Belarus	2.4	4	2.0 - 2.8
139	Pakistan	2.4	7	2.1 - 2.7
139	Philippines	2.4	9	2.1 - 2.7
143	Azerbaijan	2.3	7	2.0 - 2.6
143	Comoros	2.3	3	1.6 - 3.3
143	Nepal	2.3	6	2.0 - 2.6
146	Cameroon	2.2	7	1.9 - 2.6
146	Ecuador	2.2	5	2.0 - 2.5
146	Kenya	2.2	7	1.9 - 2.5
146	Russia	2.2	8	1.9 - 2.4
146	Sierra Leone	2.2	5	1.9 - 2.4
146	Timor-Leste	2.2	5	1.8 - 2.6
146	Ukraine	2.2	8	2.0 - 2.6
146	Zimbabwe	2.2	7	1.7 - 2.8
154	Côte d´Ivoire	2.1	7	1.8 - 2.4
154	Papua New Guinea	2.1	5	1.7 - 2.5
154	Paraguay	2.1	5	1.7 - 2.5
154	Yemen	2.1	4	1.6 - 2.5
158	Cambodia	2.0	8	1.8 - 2.2
158	Central African Republic	2.0	4	1.9 - 2.2
158	Laos	2.0	4	1.6 - 2.6
158	Tajikistan	2.0	8	1.6 - 2.5
162	Angola	1.9	5	1.8 - 1.9
162	Congo Brazzaville	1.9	5	1.6 - 2.1
162	Democratic Republic of Congo	1.9	5	1.7 - 2.1
162	Guinea-Bissau	1.9	3	1.8 - 2.0
162	Kyrgyzstan	1.9	7	1.8 - 2.1
162	Venezuela	1.9	7	1.8 - 2.0
168	Burundi	1.8	6	1.6 - 2.0
168	Equatorial Guinea	1.8	3	1.6 - 1.9
168	Guinea	1.8	5	1.7 - 1.8
168	Haiti	1.8	3	1.4 - 2.3
168	Iran	1.8	3	1.7 - 1.9
168	Turkmenistan	1.8	4	1.7 - 1.9
174	Uzbekistan	1.7	6	1.5 - 1.8
175	Chad	1.6	6	1.5 - 1.7
176	Iraq	1.5	3	1.2 - 1.8
176	Sudan	1.5	5	1.4 - 1.7
178	Myanmar	1.4	3	0.9 - 1.8
179	Afghanistan	1.3	4	1.0 - 1.5
180	Somalia	1.1	3	0.9 - 1.4

Bonjovi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68Te8piQH70

Nepal Journalist Rishi Dhamala Slapped by New Delhi Police

TGW

Nepal’s flamboyant journalist, Rishi Dhamala, who accompanied Mr. Upendra Yadav, the chairman of Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum (MJF) and Mr. Jhal Nath Khanal, the chairman of the United Marxist Leninists, to New Delhi in their week long New Delhi pilgrimage has been misbehaved by the Indian security personnel.

Reports further claim that Mr. Dhamala who has of late become the heartthrob of India’s low grade leadership of the likes of Sita Ram Yechuri and D.P. Tripathi, had left for New Delhi two days ahead of the two top politicos of Nepal landed in the Indian capital, Delhi-the Mecca of Nepali politics since early 1990s.

The Indian security personnel slapped Mr. Dhamala seven times while he accompanied Mr. Upendra Yadav to Bigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, November 5, 2009. So sad!

“While Mr. Dhamala tried to enter the premises along with Mr. Upendra Yadav, he was first stopped by the Indian security personnel and demanded that he identified himself but  Dhamala refusing to present his identity card and further insisting to let him in, the  attending security personnel pounced upon Dhamala mercilessly”, say eyewitness report.

However, it is not yet in our knowledge as to how many slaps-two or seven-Dhamala had received.

Some even say that Dhamala lost his senses after the non-ending slaps that consumed some good minutes that he was awarded by the naughty Indian police personnel.

The question is not how many slaps Dhamala endured in his virgin soft cheek, the question is why this Nepali journalist was misbehaved?

Sources claim that Dhamala was the guest of the Indian foreign ministry. Why the Nepali journalist instead of being accorded a red carpet welcome was slapped by the Indian security men remains yet a mystery?

Is this the way to behave with the State guest, analysts here question.

Hopefully, Dhamala upon his return home will narrate the entire story as to how he was manhandled (RAM DHULAI) by the security agencies of a regime with whom he enjoys “my dear” relations since 1996. We feel disheartened by this ghastly incident.

2009-11-06 19:18:41

Climate worries to send Nepal cabinet to Everest base

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's cabinet plans to meet at the base camp of Mount Everest this month to highlight the impact of global warming on the Himalayas ahead of next month's U.N. negotiations on climate change, a minister said on Monday.

The base camp is located about 5,300 meters (17,400 feet) up the 8,850 meter (29,035 feet) mountain and is the point from where climbers to the Everest summit begin their ascent.

"The cabinet meeting is meant to draw the attention to the adverse impact of climate change to the Himalayas including Sagarmatha," Forest Minister Deepak Bohara told Reuters, using the Nepali name of the mountain.

The Maldives held the world's first underwater cabinet meeting last month, in a symbolic cry for help over rising sea levels that threaten the Indian Ocean archipelago's existence.

Bohara said Nepal would also send some of its renowned Everest climbers to Copenhagen next month to highlight the problems of glacier melting, erratic rains and unprecedented forest fires.

Negotiations for a new global accord to fight global warming are scheduled to conclude at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in the Danish capital in December.

Bohara also appealed to Everest climbers from around the world to gather in their climbing gear in Copenhagen on International Mountain Day on December 11 to draw the attention of the delegates to the risks of climate change in the Himalayas.

Experts say mountainous Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 tallest peaks, including Mount Everest, is vulnerable to climate change despite being responsible for only 0.025 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, among the world's lowest.

Thousands of glaciers in the Himalayas that are the source of water for 10 major Asian rivers, whose basins are home to a sixth of humanity, could go dry in the next five decades because of the global warming, they say.

Global temperatures rose by an average of 0.74 degrees Celsius over the past 100 years, according to the Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). It says the warming in the Himalayas has been much greater than the global average.

"We want to put across our point to the world that the Himalayas are melting and draw the attention of the international community through the rally to save them," Bohara told reporters.

Mount Everest has been climbed by more than 3,600 people since it was first scaled by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953.

(Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Alex Richardson)

Holy Craps

I was just going through The comedy series "Everybody Loves Raymond". I love Frank's Character in it saying "holy crap".
So some of the holy craps:

“US Wireless Users Send 4.1 billion Texts Daily"

"Average broadband speed and cost in US is 4.8mbps and $3.33 per 1mbps. Japan is 61mbps & $0.27 per 1mpbs."

"The first ATMs were installed in NYC in 1977 at Citibank branches."

“New Mexico boasts the largest concentration of Ph.D. scientists per capita in the United States."

"US consumers spent $66.54 per person on Halloween in 2008, a number that’s expected to drop this year."

"Collective net worth of The Forbes 400: $1.27 trillion"

"Youngest member of The Forbes 400: Mark Zuckerberg, 25 Net Worth: $2 billion"

"Farthest you can get from a McDonald’s in the USA: 107 miles as the crow flies, 145 miles by car."

Wal-Mart has “revenues that exceed those of Target, Home Depot, Sears, Kmart, Safeway, and Kroger — combined.”

"The Washington Post loses $1.10 per copy."

"The IKEA Catalog is the 3rd most printed publication in the world after the Bible and Harry Potter."

"Switching to LED lighting for signage will save Holiday Inn an estimated $4.4 Million a year."

“Men buy an average of 3.4 pairs of underwear in a year.”

“The bikini got it’s name from the oooh and awe resulting from a nuclear test at Bikini Atoll.”

"Octopus blood is pale blue."

"If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side."

"Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying."

"The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night."

"It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it"

"Most soccer players run 7 miles in a game."

"Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair"

"If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural cause."

International Domains : The Pros and Cons

ICANN OKs International Domains: The Pros and Cons
Paul Suarez
Nov 1, 2009 10:53 am
ICANN's approval of non-Latin character domains undoubtedly is a game-changing decision in the history of the World Wide Web. With

Illustration: Jeffrey Pelo
scheduled to start popping up in the middle of next year, many people are debating if this digital support for more distinctly international sites balances with potential security threats and fragmentation of the Internet.
Here are a few pros and cons to consider as we move away from the traditional ASCII based-Web.

Pro: World Wide Web Supporting World Wide Language
Let's face it; millions of Internet users speak languages that aren't written using Roman characters. Allowing Web sites to have domains that use other characters will make Web addresses more recognizable to some and make the Web more accessible to millions of new users.

The transition will begin on November 16 when countries can apply for country codes in their own unique character sets.

"The first countries that participate will not only be providing valuable information of the operation of IDNs in the domain name system, they are also going to help to bring the first of billions more people online -- people who never use Roman characters in their daily lives," ICANN CEO and President Rod Beckstrom said in a statement.

Con: Country Codes are Only the Beginning
Generic domains such as .com, .org and .net aren't open to international characters yet, but could be in the next couple of years.

If ICANN decides to open generic domains without extending rights to existing URL holders, international companies and brands might find themselves purchasing URLs in multiple languages to protect the use of their name, points out PC World Tech Inciter writer Tech Inciter David Coursey.

Pro: Country Codes are Only the Beginning
If done properly, opening generic domains to international characters could be a good thing. If International corporations were granted rights to the .com URLs they already possess it could spell an end to selecting a region before entering the site. For instance, going to intel.com could lead to the English version of the site, while using a Japanese, Russian, or Korean suffix would take you to a version of the site with that language. It would also open doors for smaller Web sites that are just interested in serving a particular language group.

Con: A lesson from 1337 h4ck3r$
Expanding beyond Roman characters also increases potential for site rip-offs that use homoglyphs, characters with identical or indistinguishable shapes. This already occurs to some degree (for instance pointing your browser to google.com takes you to a different site than go0gle.com) but different languages might have characters that are identical to characters in other languages.

Con and Pro: No Latin Base Emphasis
Apparently homoglyphs are drawing some attention at ICANN. Languages that use accented Latin characters aren't being supported at this time, The CBC Reports. They attribute the lack of support to security concerns that accented characters could lead to phishing scams because, "internet users might not at first see the difference between, for example, 'google.com' and 'goógle.com.'"

This is bad news for French, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese speakers -- all four languages use accented characters.

But, if ICANN is aware of security concerns that would arise from including these languages, maybe they have some sort of anti-homoglyph trick up their sleeve for other languages, (here's looking at you, Cyrillic.)

Con: Keyboards and Restrictive Access
Adding support for 100,000 international characters would make traditional keyboards insufficient input devices for accessing the entire Internet. As fellow PC World writer Jacqueline Emigh pointed out, it would be next to impossible to produce a keyboard that could support characters from every language under the sun. Virtual keyboards and language packs could possibly help alleviate the problem for some people, but there wouldn't be an easy fix.

ICANN released this video with its announcement, hoping to encapsulate the potential for opening up international character domains.

Windows 7

Windows 7 has been released. And the student upgrade version is available for $29.99. Though My laptop is upgradable hope I will get mine Windows 7 upgrader and will Let know how it feels using much hyped windows 7 than this crap Vista.
Also Microsoft announced that they will provide the Windows 7 to the Nepalese Students for free source : http://www.nagariknews.com/economy/consumer/6535-2009-10-31-02-23-44.html