Appendix 1 Nepal Calendar—Western Calendar

184 Pages·2014·9.44 MB·English

Appendix 1
Nepal Calendar—Western Calendar
1.1 Nepal Calendar: Bikram Sambat1
BikramSambat,(Devanagri: ,abbreviated‘‘B.S.’’)isthecalendar
establishedbyIndianemperorVikramaditya.ItisapopularlyusedcalendarinIndia
and the official calendar of Nepal. In addition to Bikram Samwat, the Gregorian
calendarandtheoriginalNepalesecalendar,NepalSambat,arealsousedinNepal.
Nepal Sambat was officially used in Nepal till the era of Chandra Shamsher
(*1929),butduetoitslimitedusethesedays,itisnotfocusedoninthisstudy.
TheBikramSambatwasfoundedbytheTuarRajputemperorVikramadityaof
UjjainfollowinghisvictoryovertheSakasin56B.C.Itisasolarcalendar2based
on ancient Hindu tradition. The Bikram Sambat calendar is 56.7 years ahead in
count of the numbers of year of the solar Gregorian calendar. For example, the
year 2068 BS began in middle of April 2011 and will end in middle of April in
2012. The calendar starts with the first day of the month Baisakh, which usually
falls on the 13th or 14th of April in the Gregorian calendar.
1.2 Western Calendar: Gregorian Calendar3
‘‘The Gregorian Calendar has become the internationally accepted civil
calendar’’..4 It was first proposed by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius, and
decreedbyPopeGregoryXIII,afterwhomitwasnamed,on24February1582by
thepapalbullIntergravissimas.ItisareformoftheJuliancalendarandcontinues
1 Bikram Sambat information is taken mostly from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikram_
Samwat(accessedJuly20,2012).
2 AsolarcalendarisbasedontheprogressionthroughtheseasonsastheEarthrevolvesaround
thesun.
3 Gregoriancalendarinformationistakenfrom:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar
(accessedJuly20,2012).
4 From: http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/astronomical-information-
center/calendars(accessedNovember,2011,onJuly20,2012notavailableanymore).
A.Zahnd,TheRoleofRenewableEnergyTechnologyinHolistic 411
CommunityDevelopment,SpringerTheses,DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-03989-3,
(cid:2)SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2013
412 Appendix1:NepalCalendar—WesternCalendar
TableA1.1 ComparisonoftheNepaliBikramSabatandthewesternGregoriancalendar
Gregoriancalendarmonth Nepali—BikramSambatcalendarmonth
No. Nameof Numbers Nepalinamein Colloquial Gregorianmonths Numbers
month ofdays Devanagri Nepaliname equivalent ofdays
1 January 31 Maagh MidJanuarytomid 29/30
February
2 February 28or29 Falgun MidFebruaryto 29/30
midMarch
3 March 31 Chaitra MidMarchtomid 30/31
April
4 April 30 Baisakh MidApriltomid 30/31
May
5 May 31 Jesth MidMaytomid 31/32
June
6 June 30 Asadh MidJunetomid 31/32
July
7 July 31 Srawan/Saun MidJulytomid 31/32
August
8 August 31 Bhadau/ MidAugusttomid 31/32
Bhadra September
9 September 30 Aswin MidSeptemberto 30/31
midOctober
10 October 31 Kartik MidOctobertomid 29/30
November
11 November 30 Mangsir MidNovemberto 29/30
midDecember
12 December 31 Poush MidDecemberto 29/30
midJanuary
the year numbering system of the Julian calendar, counting years from the
traditional Incarnation of Jesus. Years after this date are given the designation
‘‘AnnoDomini’’(AD),or‘‘CommonEra’’(CE);yearsbeforethisdatearelabeled
‘‘BeforeChrist’’(BC),or‘‘BeforetheCommonEra’’(BCE).AGregorianandthe
NepaliBikramSambatyearareeachdividedintotwelvemonths,eachofirregular
Appendix1:NepalCalendar—WesternCalendar 413
length. The following Table A1.1 shows how the two calendars relate to each
other.
The basic rule of thumb for conversion, though this method provides only
accuracywithin1–3 daysandthusissuggestedonlyforageneralindicationofthe
date, is as follows:
• Nepali Bikram Sabat to English Gregorian date: Subtract -56 Years -
8 Months - 15 Days.
• English Gregorian to Nepali Bikram Sabat date: Add + 56 years +
8 Months + 15 Days.
Or, for an even easier and quicker rough calculation for the year, the Nepali
calendaris57 yearsaheadoftheWesterncalendar,witheachNepaliyearstarting
around the middle of April. All official and festival dates (including most of the
marriage dates) in Nepal are determined by this calendar.
Appendix 2
Exchange Rates (Nepali Rupees
per US Dollar)
In order to better understand the national, and to some extent as well, the local,
economy of Nepal in relationship to the wider world better, it is important to
understand the relationship between its own currency, the Nepali Rupee, or in
short NRs, and the main foreign exchange currency, the USD. This provides an
understandingofthepurchasingpowerofanationontheinternationalmarket,for
businesses dealing with foreign companies.
TheUSDhasbeenandstillis,despiteitsweaknessdemonstratedsincearound
2005, the leading international currency for trade, business and contract related
international projects. Nepal, being a major receiving country of multiple
international government and donor agencies is particularly dependent on the
USD’svalue,trendandfluctuations.Thusthecostofimportedgoodsandservices
ishighlydependentontheUSD’sinternationallevelandthelocallymanufactured
goods and markets are dependant on the USD’s fluctuations.
One ofthefactorswhich hasoftennotbeen given enough attention,becauseit
isnotsodependentontheUSD’scurrencyrate,isthesalaryscalesandpurchasing
power, ofthe nationalpeople.Thus, inorder tounderstandthe directand indirect
reasons for the increasing struggles of the local people to make a decent living
from their daily labour, it is also important to have an understanding of how the
USD currency has related over the years to the local currency, the Nepali Rupee
(NRs).
In view of the HCD concept and philosophy developed and presented
throughoutthethesis,itisclear,thatdevelopmentdoesnotchangeovernight,but
rather over the course of years or even decades. Thus, in order to understand the
full extent of the possible impact the USD currency, and its changes, on the lives
and struggles of the local people, it is important that a more long-term time scale
of the changes of the USD versus the NRs currency exchange rate is considered.
Thus a 26 year time span is chosen, representing approximately two
generations of the present Nepali society. This allows us to demonstrate and
‘‘feel’’ the influence the USD currency exchange rate changes had on the local
society.
In the following Table A2.1 and graphs the Nepali Rupee’s (NRs) Exchange
rate to the USD from 1986–2011 is provided.
A.Zahnd,TheRoleofRenewableEnergyTechnologyinHolistic 415
CommunityDevelopment,SpringerTheses,DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-03989-3,
(cid:2)SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2013
416 Appendix2:ExchangeRates(NepaliRupeesperUSDollar)
TableA2.1 USDtoNRsexchangeratesovertheyears1986–2012(July7th)
Year Averageyearly Yearmaximum Yearminimum Averagedifferencein%
NRsperUSD NRsperUSD NRsperUSD fromyeartoyear
1986 21.320 – – –
1987 21.819 – – 2.341
1988 23.289 – – 6.737
1989 27.189 – – 16.746
1990 29.369 – – 8.018
1991 37.255 – – 26.851
1992 42.718 – – 14.664
1993 48.608 – – 13.788
1994 49.398 – – 1.625
1995 51.890 – – 5.045
1996 56.692 – – 9.254
1997 58.010 – – 2.325
1998 63.867 68.100 56.950 10.096
1999 68.328 69.050 67.400 6.985
2000 71.053 74.938 65.857 3.989
2001 75.474 80.811 71.822 6.222
2002 79.146 81.261 78.300 4.865
2003 77.162 80.163 74.040 -2.508
2004 74.864 75.702 73.415 -2.978
2005 73.985 76.435 70.823 -1.174
2006 75.238 78.213 72.354 1.694
2007 68.306 74.038 63.684 -9.213
2008 70.821 82.403 64.432 3.682
2009 79.513 80.232 78.506 12.273
2010 74.364 77.805 70.833 -5.390
2011 73.409 74.366 72.100 -1.285
2012July 81.520 86.163 76.718 11.008
Totalchangefrom1986to2012(July7th) 382%
Averageyearlychange 14.7%
Exchange rates from 1986 to 2003 are from: Asian Development Bank 2004,
Key Indicators 2004. Poverty in Asia: Measurement, Estimates, and Prospect,
Asian Development Bank, pp. 224–229. 1998–2009. Exchange rates for
1998–2012 are from the fxhistory web site: http://www.oanda.com/convert/
fxhistory
The ‘‘Average Yearly NRs per USD’’ table is calculated from the following
data sources:
1. Exchange rates for the averaged yearly valuesfrom 1986 to1997 are from the
Asian Development Bank data.
2. Exchange rates for the averaged yearly valuesfrom 1998 to2003 are from the
AsianDevelopmentBankandthefxhistorywebsitebaseddata.Maximumand
minimum values are only from the fxhistory web site.
Appendix2:ExchangeRates(NepaliRupeesperUSDollar) 417
3. Exchange rates for the averaged yearly valuesfrom 2004 to2011 are from the
fxhistory web site based data.
Main findings and interpretations:
From the mid 1980s onwards to the early 1990s a high yearly USD to NRs
exchange rate increasingly devalued the NRs internationally. Even more
importantly, it made imported goods progressively more expensive, not
proportional to the yearly remuneration and salary increase the local people
have experienced. This is a counter productive experience towards the wide
spread, international call for poverty alleviation Nepal made during these years.
From around 1994–2000 a more or less steady, year by year rise of the USD
currencyovertheNRs,of2–6 %wasencountered.Thebeginningoftheeconomic
downturn of the US, the massive yearly increase of their international debts and
theirongoingwarbills,causedtheUSDtolosegroundfromaround2003toearly
2008 against its value in NRs. While this decrease of value of the USD currency
should be followed by a fall of costs of the imported goods and equipment, the
local prices did not fall accordingly. As a consequence, the local people did not
benefit from the USD’s weakness. During 2008 a sharp increase in the USD’s
value was seen, followed by sharp increasing local prices, even for the more
mundane,commondailyneededgoods.Thistrendwasfollowedbytheworldwide
economic crisis starting in the US, weakening the USD’s value and making it
again less stable and predictable. This state is still in effect in July 2012.
Thus,fromthisquick,andbynomeansin-depthorcomprehensive,lookatthe
past 26 years history of the USD—NRs currency exchange rate development, it
canbeseen,thattheUSD—NRsexchangeratehashaddramaticchanges,withan
almost four fold value increase of the USD against the NRs.
Through personalinterviews anddiscussions with local people,businessesand
organizations one finds out quickly, that the payments and salaries of the local
people and workmanship have not increased four-fold over the same time period.
Neitherhavetheyonanaverageincreasedonayearlybasisby*14 %,matching
the average yearly value increase over the last 26 years of the USD against the
NRs from 1986 (21.32NRs/USD) to 2012 (86.163 NRs/USD).
That means, that the local worker and the businesses and companies, involved
ininternationaltradeand,contracts,hadaveryhardtimetomakealivingoverthe
pasttowdecades,duetoexternalparameterswhicharenotatalldependentonthe
Nepali economy, but rather the responsibility of the international economy and
governments.
This point is important to mention as it shows, that anyeconomic matter these
days, and that includes the wide scope of development projects and activities, is
not just restricted to national borders, but is linked and entangled in the most
complicated ways at an international level. The issue of poverty alleviation is a
major issue for Nepal and, most other developing nations and is one of the main
points of the UN’s MDGs. To address the local people’s poverty realistically, a
nation such as Nepal needs to look at a much wider perspective, including the
international economy and markets.
418 Appendix2:ExchangeRates(NepaliRupeesperUSDollar)
Difference in Exchange Rate in %
28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -102
1
20 %
11 n
20 h) i
10 7t
20 y
9 ul
0 J
20 2 ( e)
h) 0072008 Rate 986-201 nge Rat
6 -2012 (July 7t 32004200520062 o NRs Exchange e Rate Change 1 SD to NRs Excha
US Doller -Nepali Rupees Exchange Rate 198 Polynomial Average Annual USD to NRs Exchange Rate5432y = 5E-05x-0.5141x+ 2051x-4E+06x+ 4E+09x -2E+122R= 0.9843 91990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200 sYear nnual USD to NRs Exchange RateMaximum Annual USD t Annual USD to NRs Exchange RateAverage Yearly Exchang ar Exchange Rate Difference in %Poly. (Average Annual U
1988198 erage A nimum ar by Ye
7 Av Mi Ye
8
9
1
6
8
9
864208642086420864208642086420864201
88888777776666655555444443333322222
relloD SU rep seepuR ilapeN
Appendix 3
A Short History of Nepal
Nepal’s earliest recorded history dates back to the beginning of the first
millennium BC, when the Khas, an Indo-Aryan language speaking people
group,arrivedwiththeircattle,goatsandsheep,settlinginthewesternhillareasof
Nepal. These nomadic pastoralists grew barley, millet and sesame (Bista 1991,
15). During the seventh and eighth century BC another people group, the Kirat,
arrivedinNepal.NotmuchisknownaboutthemexceptthattheyareMongolsand
spokeaTibeto-Burmeselanguageandcamefromtheeastwiththeirdomesticated
pigs and buffaloes (Bista 1991, 15). It was during this period that Buddhism first
came to the country. By 200 AD, Buddhism had waned, and was replaced by
Hinduism, brought by the Licchavis, who invaded from northern India and over-
threw the last Kirat king. They also introduced the caste system (which is still
practiced today) and they were known for their art and architecture. By 879 AD,
the Licchavi era was succeeded by the Thakuri dynasty. A grim period of insta-
bility and invasion often referred to as the ‘‘Dark Ages’’ followed.
Several centuries later, the Thakuri king, Arideva, founded the Malla dynasty,
allowing another renaissance of Nepali culture. Despite earthquakes and battles
between the three independent city states of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur in
theKathmanduvalley,thedynastyflourished,reachingitshighpointinthefifteenth
centuryunderYakshaMalla.UnderthestrongleadershipofPrithviNarayanShah,
theGhorkhalaunchedacampaigntoconquertheKathmanduvalley.In1768,after
27 yearsofwar,theytriumphedandthecapitalwasmovedtoKathmandu.Overthe
next 24 years the kingdom’s power expanded, until progress was halted in 1792
through a short andpunishing war with Tibet (Figs. A3.1, A3.2).
Some disagreement and hostilities followed in 1814, this time with the British
over the territories of Sikkim (east of present Nepal) and the Terai region, which
borders India to the south. Nepal had to hand over Sikkim and parts of the Terai
plains as a result of the signing of the 1816 Sugauli Treaty. This established
Nepal’spresentgeographicalborderlinestotheEastandWest.TheShahdynasty
continued in power during the first half of the nineteenth century until the Kot
Massacreof1846,whenQueenRajendralakshmifailedinabloodyplottokillBir
Narsingh Kunwar (known later as Jung Bahadur Rana), an influential warlord.
Jung Bahadur seized control of Nepal by butchering several hundred of the most
importantmenwhiletheyassembledintheKotcourtyard.Heassignedtohimself
the more prestigious title Rana, and thus the Rana dynasty was formed. Jung
A.Zahnd,TheRoleofRenewableEnergyTechnologyinHolistic 419
CommunityDevelopment,SpringerTheses,DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-03989-3,
(cid:2)SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2013
420 Appendix3:AShortHistoryofNepal
Fig.A3.1 King Prithvi Narayan Shah (1723–1775), unified Nepal for the first time after con-
queringtheKathmanduValleyin1769.HemadeKathmanduthecapitalofNepal
Fig.A3.2 JungBahadurRana(1816–1877).FounderoftheRanadynasty.Hewasthefirst,self-
appointed,RanarulerandfirstPrimeMinisterofNepalin1846
Appendix3:AShortHistoryofNepal 421
Fig.A3.3 KingTribhuvanBirBikramShah(1906–1955)waskingofNepalfrom11December
1911untilhisdeath
Bahadur Rana proclaimed himself the first Prime Minister of Nepal, while the
monarch was made a ceremonial figure. The post of prime Minister was the most
powerful position and it was made hereditary, so that the Rana family could
remaininpowerandlivealuxuriouslifestyleinthepalacesinKathmandu,while
the local people struggled to survive from what was left to them. The Rana
leadershipandregime,aharsh,stronglycentralisedautocracy,followedapolicyof
isolating Nepal from the surrounding world, so that no external or foreign
influences were able to penetrate the society, purposely keeping people living in
medieval conditions. The aim of the Ranas was to stay in power for as long as
possiblebysuppressinganypotentialinternalmovementemergingfromincreased
education and exposure of the local people to the outside world. On a more
positive note, this policy kept Nepal free from any colonial powers and their
influence, as was the case in the neighbouring India, through the British.
Thus Nepal remained a medieval society until 1950, when the Rana prime
ministers and their antiquated regime, were overthrown and replaced by a
democraticgovernment,operatingunderthescrutinyofanactivelyinterestedand
ultimatelypowerfulmonarch,KingTribhuvan(Fig.A3.3).Hewasappointedruler
in 1951 and established a new government comprising of Ranas and members of
thenewlyformedNepaliCongressParty.Afterafaileddemocraticelection,King
Tribhuvan’s son, who succeeded him, King Mahendra (Fig. A3.4), decided on a
more appropriate ‘‘party less’’ panchaayat system for Nepal. He chose the Prime
Minister and the cabinet and appointed most of the people sitting in the national
assembly, making sure ‘‘his’’ people were sitting in the right positions, rubber