Illogical suggestion

Apropos of the news report “Panel proposes correction in Bikram Sambat” (THT, Jan 15), it is absurd to propose that the month of Chaitra be struck off and be referred to as Baisakh 2067 instead. The Bikram era calendar is a Vedic calendar that uses both Solar and Lunar calendars. The solar month in the calendar is the time taken by the Sun to traverse a sign of the zodiac. Since all the months are created in accordance with the position of the Sun in the sky , it is illogical to make changes proposed by the calendar revision committee under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. The only problem we face is that the dates have lost their seasonal relevance due to precession of equinoxes. That is, the Sun enters Makar, the 10th sign of the zodiac, on Magh 1st (The zodiac as divided by Vedic astrologers covers 30 degrees for every sign along the path of the Sun. The modern-day version as

devised by International Astronomical Union is based on true shapes our ancestors drew by joining the stars). But the day the Sun starts its northward journey is no longer the day of Winter Solstice, which people still celebrate. The Winter Solstice instead has gone back to Poush 7 from Magh 1.The problem now stems not from any error in the calendar, but from the dilemma of when to celebrate festivals like Maghe Sakranti. The problem has arisen because of the winter season arriving earlier due to slight change in tilt of the Earth.

Pradipta Shrestha, President, Kathmandu

Astronomical Society

Hypocrisy

Nepal is one country where begging foreign aid and misuse of resources go hand in hand. Even as the government seeks around Rs 5 billion in aid money, “Government in red, seeks greens to escape blues” (THT, Jan. 17), it just appropriated a sum of Rs 330 million, a million each to every MP ostensibly “to be spent in development works” in their non-existent constituencies. While the episode is largely reminiscent of Deuba’s fabled duty-free “Pajeros”, the obliging donors have to bear in mind that their unscrutinising attitude to fund flow could do more harm than good to this country already in disarray.

Bihari Krishna Shrestha, Chakupat Green Block, Lalitpur

Inspiration

This is in response to the news report “Edmund Hillary, first atop Mt Everest, dies at 88” (THT, Jan 12). I agree that the late Edmund Hillary was one of the greatest adventurers of the 20th century. Hillary reminds us that there is a whole world out there to be explored. He was a living example of an explorer not content to live within the confines of his small

existence but keen to experience the whole world for himself. He must have lived a satisfied life.

Sonam Dolker, New York City, USA

Mistakes

The news report “Kupandole-Tripureshwor bridge to ease traffic jam” (THT, Jan 17) was very informative. But it was riddled with mistakes. First, the headline spells the name of the place “Kupandole” while the spelling used in the report is “Kupondole”.

Second, the person named Arjun Tandukar is referred to as “Thakur” in second citation. I hope such mistakes are not repeated in the future.

Arpan Shakya, via e-mail