Not if
Appreciate the timely article on earthquake preparedness ('Not if, but when, Kunda Dixit, #536). The future damage of life and properties will be very huge. Awareness and preparation are the only way and for this our political leaders need to wake up. There is still time to mitigate the effect

Radha Krishna Deo
SACNEPAL

You advise people to stay clear of buildings and power lines. In Kathmandu? Good luck!

Kirsten

If we can't predict earthquakes, the only solution is to be prepared for them. Thanks to Kunda Dixit for at least doing something to spread the awareness. The information sure helped me, and I am sure it will help others too.

Amit

Cynical
May I be brave enough to ask a simple question? What is the relation between the government making process and the constitution writing process ('Vacuum ahead', Prashant Jha, #536)? Why is it that the CC had not met for over six months? If the task force could resolve 127 issues in about 10 sittings of a few hours each, could the sittings of CC not resolve more? It is understandable that the government is lame-duck, but what did the two-legged ducks of the Maoist party do during their time in the government? Despite Prashant's cynicism about the entire process, I will predict that nothing of consequence would happen one way or another.

Nepal will most likely have a PM sometime this month, and then some other crisis would be initiated by some faction or some group which will function as an excuse for the Maoists to start getting violent before 28 May. Good luck to the "people". There is nothing they can do, other than to grin and bear it. And, I am not being a cynic.

Slarti

Get Zuckerberg
Dahal, Khanal, Poudyal, Nepal? What's the difference? Where's Nani Maiya, when we need her the most ('Seizing the moment', Damakant Jayshi, # 536)? I mean, folks, these people are squabbling in the name of national politics, when Nepal, after who cares how many years following internal independence, is still reeling from no water, no electricity, no food, no sanitation, no highways, no goretos, no pati, no pauwa, and so on and so damn forth. Let a nerd Zuckerberg buy Nepal and run it. I'm sick of it all.

Thurpunsich

Political education
Isn't it ironic that these so called student neta like Himal Sharma who are 40 plus and has his kids studying in China, tell us that we need to close private schools ('Ignorant crusaders', Ashutosh Tiwari, # 536). Do we not have a right to choose where we want our kids to study or do we need to be dictated by these idiotic people? If they had the guts they should come out of the so called student leader tag and enter the world of real politics. One should leave Politics out of the educational system.

Ram

One would think that with the benefit of an expensive private education, Ashutosh Tiwari could come up with some plausible argument in favour of private education. Instead we get an illogical rant, simply pretending that the opponents of private education are opposed to education. Obviously, the argument is about whether better off people should help pay for poor people to go to school through taxes to fund a public education system to the same level for all or whether the poor should only get less education and children of better off parents get the education their parents can afford.

By pretending the argument is about whether there should be education or not, the writer shows that he has nothing relevant to say.

Arthur

Many private schools are extorting parents, who are desperate for quality education because cheaper government schools are so bad. The answer is not to close private schools, but regulate their fees and improve the quality of government schools. Many government schools have shown that you can have a good school without exorbitant fees. The Maoists are not for free universal education, that is just a slogan for them to extort the private schools. You just have to see how the campaign against private schools always gears up at admission time. Private schools should be less greedy, the government should improve its schools and the Maoists should be lined up in Tundikhel and spanked on their buttocks.

Kiran L

Ethics matters
Excellent thought provoking article, hope it leads to some action ('Diagnosis of death', Indu Nepal, #536). Nepal Medical Association officials, amongst others should take the lead.

Samjana Poudyal

I am a doctor, not a god and I don't want anyone to treat me as a god. But lying about a patient's condition is a crime. Just because you are threatened to be beaten up is not an excuse. Being a doctor is not just about mugging up those facts in the book. You have to be able to counsel and comfort the patient. It's a skill you have to develop over time and experience. A patient has a right to be told the truth, no matter how unpleasant. And there's a proper way to do it. And the safe way to do it is to work within the boundaries of law. Make sure that the patients' forms are properly filled, consents taken, risks explained. Doctors barely care to tell about the side effects of the drugs they prescribe, explain the complications of the disease etc. That's inviting trouble to yourself. On the other hand, patients' relatives should also know that any information about the patient's condition is strictly confidential unless the patient gives the consent to the doctor. Please do keep in mind that we are so limited in our investigations and treatment that we are left clueless lots of time. And at those times, you just need the courage to say "I don't know" instead to telling them that their loved ones is about to die.

Doctor Who