Dec 102016
 

The European Commission has adopted an Action Plan setting out concrete measures to improve the security of travel documents on Thursday. The Action Plan provides clear recommendations for Member States to tackle the phenomenon of travel document fraud and outlines a comprehensive set of actions for the Commission to take. Travel document security is an important factor in the fight against terrorism and organised crime and contributes to improving border protection and migration management.

passport-copyThe Action Plan is targeted at travel documents issued by EU Member States to EU citizens and third-country nationals which are used for identification and border crossing.

In full respect of fundamental rights and data protection rules and division of competences between Member States and the Commission, the Action Plan outlines measures in four key areas: Continue reading »

 Posted by at 6:41 pm
Nov 142016
 

Emerging writers living abroad have expressed the need to document the history of Nepali literature which is simply impossible without a joint effort.

Dr. Binaya Shrestha, a non-resident nepali in Switzerland actively working to promote Nepali community work and literature, pointed out the need for documentation of diasporic literature by Nepali writers in the west. “There is a dire need to maintain the records of Nepali literature as many precious and priceless pieces written in the past years have been either vanished or forgotten,” said Dr. Shrestha.

The photo is taken from 'The International Nepali Literature Conference' organised in Kathmandu in 2015 under the joint coordination of Nepal Academy and the Non-Resident Nepalis Association (NRNA)

The photo is taken from ‘The International Nepali Literature Conference’ organised in Kathmandu in 2015 under the joint coordination of Nepal Academy and the Non-Resident Nepalis Association (NRNA)

If due importance is given to deserving litterateurs then many talented people would be encouraged to come up with good literature. As many get involved in writing the literature gets more and more developed and blossom. Historical analysis of literature is essential to encourage talents and discourage malpractices in this field. However, this can be possible only through collective effort and mutual partnership. Continue reading »

Oct 272016
 

Belgian political leaders have reached a consensus on Thursday in support of the CETA trade deal between the EU and Canada, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said. Belgium is the last of the 28 member bloc that approves the trade deal.

A signing ceremony on Thursday was cancelled after the French-speaking region of Belgium, Wallonia, hold up the deal.

ceta-dealPrime Minister Michel said they had agreed on an addendum to the deal which addressed regional concerns over the rights of farmers and governments.

There was a lot of talk and debate about Walloon regional government’s concerns about trade dispute settlement courts and safeguards for farmers.

Talks between the federal government and representatives of the devolved governments resumed today and an accord was reached on the final objections.”When this happens Belgium can sign the treaty” PM Michel told a news conference. Continue reading »

 Posted by at 7:48 pm
Oct 152016
 

A new European border and coast guard force has been officially launched last week at a checkpoint on the bloc’s external border with Turkey in Bulgaria.

eu-boarder-and-coast-guardThe new European Border and Coast Guard Agency will closely monitor the EU’s external borders and work together with Member States to quickly identify and address any potential security threats to the Schengen area. The Schengen area without internal borders is only sustainable if the external borders are effectively secured and protected. EU countries will establish a pool of 1,500 guards and technical equipment to rapidly deploy to countries facing heavy migration flows. Continue reading »

 Posted by at 11:23 am  Tagged with:
Sep 302016
 

All or nearly all pupils at primary level in 2014 attended foreign language classes in Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta (all 100.0%), Croatia, Italy and Austria (all 99.9%), Spain (99.5%), as well as in France (99.0%) and Poland (97.7%),according to a study published on Friday by Eurostat on the occasion of the European Day of Languages, celebrated on September 26 of each year.

hands-up-in-class-schoolAt EU level, this share stood at 83.7%. In some Member States, young pupils were studying two or more foreign languages, particularly in Luxembourg (83.5%), followed at a distance by Estonia (32.6%) and Greece (28.7%). In contrast, less than half of primary school pupils were studying a foreign language in 2014 in Portugal (36.2%), Belgium (37.0%) and Slovenia (48.4%).

English is the most common foreign language studied at primary level in every EU Member State, except Belgium and Luxembourg, both multilingual countries. The second most common foreign language gives a more varied picture. German, which is the most learnt foreign language in Luxembourg, was the second main foreign language studied by primary school pupils in eight other Member States, with the highest shares of learners recorded in Hungary (20.1%) and Croatia (20.0%). Continue reading »

 Posted by at 12:08 pm
Sep 302016
 

nepathyaNepathya, popular Nepali folk rock band, performed to a packed audience at the Manhattan Center in New York on Saturday, with vocalist and lyricist Amrit Gurung singing his most popular songs and the show ended with the closing number for the night – Rato Ra Chandra Surya, Jangi Nishana Hamro.

The audience of about 1,500 New Yorkers were mostly Nepalese origin people. The head of the Nepali delegate to the UN General Assembly Foreign Minister  Prakash Saran Mahat and Nepal’s Ambassador to the US Arjun Karki also attended the show. Continue reading »

Sep 272016
 

My wife has been studying like crazy for the past few weeks. She is a masters degree student at TU. Whenever she has to prepare for her exams, she has many major panic attacks. Yes, there are folks like her who suffer from ailments during exam time while people like me go to the exam center fully expecting to ace the exam even though deep inside we know that we have not even covered half the textbook.

exam-preparationYes, you can call me an optimist. My wife worries more about how she might fail rather than just doing her best no matter what. I’m the kind of person who buys the door prize tickets at a party and expects to win free air tickets to Dubai for two. I will still have high hopes of bagging the main prize until the announcer walks up the stage. But after that, I won’t be the lucky winner but will still go home happy dreaming about what could have been had I won the prize.

I tell my wife not to worry and just study and to do her best. But my wife doesn’t listen to me. Well, she never listens to me. I think she thinks that it is a wife’s job to act like you are listening to your husband but then you do your own thing. But if I don’t listen to her and do what she tells me to do in less than sixty seconds, then she is on fire and you know that forest fire will take more than a day or two to be extinguished. Continue reading »

 Posted by at 1:31 pm
Sep 252016
 
  • Anjana Koirala
anjana

Anjana Koirala

Last few years, diasporic literature ie write ups based on immigrant’s life has florished alot. The struggle an immigrant faces, psychology, lonliness, self dignity and memories of own homeland in new world are the major subject of diaspora. A novel by Pancham Adhikari “Pathik Pravasan“ is a simillar diasporic work where the story revolves around a boy who is in Europe for study during the period of maoist insurgency in Nepal. It potrays the psychology of immigrant Nepalese in Europe.

cover_pathik1The story is entangled in dreams of Nepali youth regarding going abroad. The writer has raised lots of issues which are relevant with dream of youth to go abroad for higher studies, dreadful status of Nepal under Maoist insurgency, the struggle youth faces in abroad, the changes with income activity fun, racism, potray of open european society and  lifestyle. The beginning of this romantic novel is very strong and intense. The story moves ahead with struggles in Europe, particularly in Brussels, and is widespread amongst various issues. Towards the end of the story, ie at its climax, Pathik who is drowned in European materialism and romanticism, brust mentally.

Annually in order to pursue higher education, lots of Nepali youth swarm abroad mainly to the West. Those youths lured into abroad do not get to walk an easy and convenient road. This novel “Pathik Pravasan“ is a novel which centers around the struggle faced by Nepalese when they reach Australia, Europe and USA like western civilization. Continue reading »