Reviews of the latest books from and no Southasia

POLITICS IN NEPAL 1980-1991: REFEREN-DUM, STALEMATE AND TRIUMPH OF PEOPLE POWER
by Rishikesh Shah Third Revised Edition Manohar Publishers. New Delhi 1992 [SBN817304 0206 Ks320
The first edition oflhis book was published a&Essays in the Practice ofGovernment in Nepal in 1982 and was confis¬cated by the then Panchayal government. The 1990 revised edition did not contain the essays dealing with pro Pancliayat political history contained in the first edition. This third edition contains the 11 well-known essaysof the 1990 volume and three new ones —"Performance of the Interim Coalition Government {19 April, 1990 – 26 May, 1991)"; "Formation of the Post-Election Government"; "Visit of Prime Minister of Nepal to India and After"; and a brief epilogue. Text of the Nepalo-India Treaty of Tran¬sit, Treaty of Trade, and Agreement of Cooperation to Control Unauthorised Trade — the three separate docu-ments signed by the Nepali Government and the Govern¬ment of India on 6 December, 1991 — are provided as appendices.
100 HIMALAYAN FLOWERS
by Ashvin Meiha Text by Prof PV Bole Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd, Ahmedabad IRs 695
Photographer Mehta captures the beauty of wild Hima¬layan flowers. The book contains 150 colour plates of different species, including Himalayan poppies, anemo¬nes, primroses, peonies, monkshood, buttercups, black pea, spurges, mentha, thyme, balsam, gentian,campanula and chrysanthemum have been captured in full bloom. With its serious text, this more than another coffee table glossy. Mehta´s earlier works include Himalaya: Encoun¬ter with Eternity and Coasts of India.
ANNAPURNA
Satellite Image Trekking Map
Compiled by R. Kostka CartoconsuH, Austria 1992
This new trekking map, scale 1:250,000, is based on LANDSAT satellite imagery and hence contains correct information on rivers, routes, ridgelines and snow-cover on the trekking region around AnnapumaHimal. This is perhaps the first trekking map with professionally laid out three-dimensional shaded information tricolour. To serve as a hands-on map for trekkers, however, it requires more mute details.
THE FUTURE OF LARGE PROJECTS IN THE HIMALAYA
by Chandi Prasad Bhatt
People´s Association for Himalaya Area Research
CPAHAR)
Nainital 1992 DCs 30
"The Himalaya is a vast store of natural resources," writes Chandi Prasad Bbatt. "We need hydro power and the rivers of the Himalaya are waiting for their use." Al the same time, "…the mountains ore the water towers of modem civilisation and thi s resource should not be the cause of the mountain tragedy´´. The fear of tragedy looms large in Bhatt´s reckoning, which is why he presents this small book (50 pages) as an attempt in "overcoming incomplete knowledge and unsound beliefs". Bhatt, who back in 1983 wrote to Indira Gandhi questioning the need for big dams ´ in the Himalaya, here chronicles the history of floods in Aiaknanda, the earthquakes and landslides that wrought havoc to the region, and traces the emergence of Chipko movement. There are no two opinions about the ´sensible´
 
use of the Himalayan resources, and there is a need for "small", "good" dams, and run of the river projects. "But not.,,projects like Tehri or Vishnu Piayag."
NEPAL UNDER THE RANAS
by Adrian Sever Oxford and India Book House New Delhi, 1993 ISBN 81204 07709 Price not listed
This book g ive s an sec ounl of the more than a century long Rana rule in Nepal and concludes with an analysis and assessment of the same. The book starts with Prithvi Narayan S hah´s conqu est of Kathmandu Val lev, and delves i ntn Jang Bahad ur´ s rise, and allocates separate chapters to the reign of each Rana Prime Minister. Sever, an Austra¬lian diplomat much enthralled by Nepal, also includes brief descriptions of the people and cullurc of Nepal, as well as the contemporary state of trade, mining, slavery, education and so on. The book includes many old photo¬graphs from Rana albums, most of which are said not to have been published before. It concludes with an analysis and assessment of Rana rule. On Jang Bahadur, Sever writes, "By any standard, he ranges along with Prince Bahadur Shah and (Prime-Minister) Bhimsen Thapa as one of the great political leaders of unified Nepal." There is an exhaustive appendix which covers, among other things, the genealogy of the Rana family and the rolls of succession as drawn up by various Prime Ministers.
NATIONAL ENV1RONMENTCOMMISSION OF BHUTAN
This series of small monographs on the natural resources
of Bhutan is available from the National Environment
Commission of Bhutan, PO Box 466, Thimphu, Bhutan
CTel 23384, fax 23385):
Common Trees in the Temperate Forest ef Bhutan,
(no author). 1992
Hydropmw Development in Bhutan. BTaniang, 1993
Environment, Shelter and Energy, Ananda P Sharma,
1993
A Comparison of Traditional and Modern Farming
Systems in Bhutan, Mahesh Ghintiray, 1993
Erosion Due to Roads and Canals in Bhutan, Chenclw
Narbu and Yadunath Sharma, 1993
Micro Hydro Power Development for Remote Areas in
Bhutan, Chewang Rixin, 1993
A Preliminary Annotated List of Fish Expected to
Occur in Bhulanesc River Systems, P Tamang, 1993.
CHRONICLES OF THE DOON VALLEY: AN ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSE by Prem K. Thadlmni
Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi 1993 ISBN 81 85182 841 DU500
TheDoon Valley nestles behind theShivalik and is bounded by the rivers Oanga and Jamuna. The history of Doom´s decline, says author Thadani, began as outsiders came in to plundered its forest wealth. The Gorkha invasion of the late 1800s, followed by colonial policies of the Raj, and the introduction of modem-day hydel projects, have all af¬fected the carrying capacity of the valley negatively. The author has analysed this impact in terms of floods, defor¬estation, earthquakes, landslide, soil erosion and poverty. This book documents how the Ooon´s population pined hands to save their valley from ecological disaster.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO NEPALESE STUDIES
Vol 18, No 1
CNAS, Tribhuvan University
Kathmandu
Six research papers and a review of the book, Boles: The
Ferrymen of Tanahun, are contained in this recently re-
 
leased January 1991 issue. Anthropologist Prayag Raj Sharma reviews Suraj Subba´s book on the Bates and describes it as "an ethnological manual on a people ad¬versely caught up in the development and modernisation process in Nepal," Stephen Mikcsell and Jamuna Shrestha argue that "caste" and "class" are not necessarily two ends of a pole, but that caste is just one of the fonns taken in the development of class society; Prem R. Uprety writes that in South Asia, small polities like Nepal have no choice but to adjust according to security perceptions of India. Alex Kondos studies Nepal´s manufacturing industry and con¬cludes that unavailability of data relating to caste and ethnic identity does not allow researchers to explore class relations in different enterprises. Annnta Raj Poudyal looks at the issues of "Nation, Nationalism and National Consensus" from a political science perspective. John N, Gray explores "how marriage implicates gender relations and how these in turn mediate and constitutes a particular configurational relation between hierarchy and equality"; and Bhtm Subedi´s paper examines two international migratory flows in Nepal, from the hills, and tolheTarai.
FUTURE
Issue 28, Autumn 1992 Thomas P Mathoi, editor Unicef (South Asia Regional Office), Kathmandu This quarterly on "development perspective on children" has resumed publication after two year´s of silence. Pub¬lished by the South Asia Regional Office of Unicef, it seems to have received a new lease following that office´s recent move to Kathmandu. The present issue carries articles on community action, global monitoring of child rights, China´s approach to basic education, as well as a ´Document´ section carrying declarations such as "The Statement after the South Asian Consultation of Parlia-mentarians in Kathmandu, 18-19 May, 1992"and "Report of the South Asian Consultation of Social Statisticians in Islamabad, 8-lOJone, 1992." THE ASIAN JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
University of Hong Kong
This new biannual journal, expected to start publication this Spring, will be an inter-disciplinary periodical focus¬ing on environmental management problems of Asia. "The goal is to facilitate information-sharing among envi¬ronmental managers, businesses, research institutions and environmental groups. All articles are to be refereed by an international team of experts." Confaa. Managing Editor A/EM, Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management, Knowles Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfalam Road, Hong Kong. Fax: (852) 5590468.
NEPAL-INDIA OPEN BORDER: A BOND OF SHARED ASPIRATIONS
by Ram Prasad Rajttahak Lancer Publishers New Delhi 1992 ISBN8172I20060 IRs 200
In contrast to previous studies on Nepal-India relationship which have treated the open border between the two countries as a constraint, this refers to "the importance and effectiveness of Nepal-India open border as an instrument which facilitates the establishment of durable relationship through developing interdependence in vital aspects of national life ofthe two countries," Amidst piatitudes of the age-old "people-Uvpeople" relationship between the two countries, some aspects of trade, transit and friendship treaties signed between India and Nepal since 1816, King Birendra´s efforts to replace the "special relationship" between the two countries with a "normal" one, implica¬tions of the 1989-90 trade impasse and specific policy issues, are discussed.
 

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