Nepalese complain about the caste system and corrupt officers. They openly vent their anger against the government. But have they ever thought About Nepal’s real problems? I believe that they have not. I want to say that Nepal’s real problems are lack of patriotism among the people and lack of love for one another. This is the conclusion I have reached during my stay. This summer, I did voluntary work from July 5 to July 30 at FHI Ever Vision School, Matatirtha, Kathmandu.
Let me first tell you about my country, Korea. This might help you understand my point. Just after the Korean War, which claimed lives of more than 5 million Koreans, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. Without natural resources, Korea had no choice but to desperately struggle for its survival by all means. Under this gloomy situation, Koreans envied other Asian countries like Japan, Taiwan, and Nepal. Korean government officials were horribly corrupt. With the dual classes of Yang ban (nobles) and angnom (peasants), Korean society was sickening day by day. However, Koreans, having determination to become rich, overcame the unfair social structure and put the country onto the track of development. When the former president Park Jung Hee took over the government, there were few factories in Korea. Korea could not attract loans or expect foreign investments. Under these circumstances, President Park ‘exported’ miners and nurses to then West Germany . The salaries that they earned were used to building factories and promoting industrialization of Korea. In 1964, when President Park visited then West Germany, the miners and nurses asked the president when the Koreans would become rich. The president replied, crying with the miners and nurses, that someday the Koreans would become rich. Many of Korean scientists and engineers, who could just enjoy comfortable lives in the United States, returned to Korea with only one thing in their mind: the determination to make Korea the most powerful and prosperous country in the world. They did their best even though their salaries were much less than what they would have received in other countries.
The Koreans believed that they have the ability to change their desperate situation and that they must make the country better, not only for themselves but also for the future generations yet to come. My parents’ generation sacrificed themselves for their families and the country. They worked 14 hours a day, and risked their lives working under inhumane conditions. The mothers, who went to work in factories, fed their babies while operating machines in dangerous environments. They always tried to teach their children the true value of ‘hard work’. Finally, all of these hard works and sacrifices made the prosperous Korea that you see now.
Nepalese, have you ever cried for your country? I heard that many of Nepali youth do not love their Nepal. I also heard that they want to leave Nepal because they don’t like caste system, or because they want to escape the severe poverty. However, they should be the first ones to voluntarily work for Nepal’s development, not the first ones to complain and speak against their country. I have a dream that someday I would be able to free the souls from suffering from the underdeveloped countries, anachronistic customs and the desperate hunger. My belief has become stronger than ever after seeing the reality in Nepal. A child with a fatal disease who doesn’t have enough money to buy a pill; a child living in what seems like a pre-historic dwelling and not having the opportunity to receive education; and a student who cannot succeed, no matter how hard he studies, just because of the class he comes from. A society, in which wives not only take care of children but also work in the fields, while their husbands waste their time doing nothing; a society in which a five-year-old must labor in a brick factory to feed herself. Looking at the reality of Nepal, I was despaired, yet this sense of despair strengthened my belief. I already know that many of the Nepalese are devout Hindus. However, nothing happens if you just pray to hundreds of thousands of gods while doing nothing. It is the action that you and Nepal need for the better future. For Nepal and yourselves, you have to show your love to your neighbors and country just as you do to Gods. You know that your Gods will be pleased when you work for the development of your country and improvement of your lives. Therefore, please, love your neighbors and country. Teach your children to love their country. And love the working itself. Who do you think will cry for your Nepal?
Who do you think will be able to respect the spirit of Himalayas and to keep the lonely flag representing it? You are the ones responsible for leading this beautiful country to a much brighter future. This responsibility lies on you.
(The writer is a 15 year-old student of Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies, South Korea).
Monday, August 27, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Vizhinjam dreams of receiving the biggest ships
Vizhinjam dreams of receiving the biggest ships
Special Correspondent
Global tenders floated for international seaport project
VISL nodal agency for project execution
Project cost estimated at
$580 million
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The proposed deep-sea container terminal at Vizhinjam, near here, for which the facilitating agency has now floated global tenders, will have facilities for receiving the biggest ships currently transporting goods across the continents, according to Ports Minister M. Vijayakumar.
Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL), the company formed by the State Government as the nodal agency for the execution of this dream project of Kerala, floated global tenders for the project on Wednesday.
Mr. Vijayakumar said the port, at the completion of its first phase of development, would be able to receive ships of up to 8,000 TEU (Twenty Equivalent Units). The project is conceived in such a way that, in the subsequent phase of its development, ships of even 12,000 TEU could easily berth at the port. The biggest ships currently on the international sea routes do not exceed 9,500 TEU in capacity, he said.
The project cost is estimated at the level of $580 million (about Rs.2,390 crore). The Government had appointed a company called IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation as the strategic adviser for the project. The technical consultants for the project are L&T-RAMBOLL Consulting Engineers Limited, ROGGE Marine Consulting GMBH of Germany, RAMBOLL of Denmark and L&T Capital Company Limited.
Vizhinjam is located 8 km south of the State capital Thiruvananthapuram, on the west coast of the country. The biggest advantage of the location is its proximity to international shipping routes and the East-West shipping axis. The seabed here has a 20-metre contour depth within one nautical mile of the coast. The sea here has little littoral drift close to the coast and, therefore, requires hardly any maintenance dredging, Mr. Vijayakumar said.
The qualification criteria stipulated in the ‘request for proposal’ documents are available at the office of VISL and on the websites www.vizport.org and www.ilfsindia.com.
Private developers have been advised to first assess their eligibility on the basis of the stipulations given in the ‘qualification criteria’ before obtaining the ‘request for proposal’ documents.
Special Correspondent
Global tenders floated for international seaport project
VISL nodal agency for project execution
Project cost estimated at
$580 million
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The proposed deep-sea container terminal at Vizhinjam, near here, for which the facilitating agency has now floated global tenders, will have facilities for receiving the biggest ships currently transporting goods across the continents, according to Ports Minister M. Vijayakumar.
Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL), the company formed by the State Government as the nodal agency for the execution of this dream project of Kerala, floated global tenders for the project on Wednesday.
Mr. Vijayakumar said the port, at the completion of its first phase of development, would be able to receive ships of up to 8,000 TEU (Twenty Equivalent Units). The project is conceived in such a way that, in the subsequent phase of its development, ships of even 12,000 TEU could easily berth at the port. The biggest ships currently on the international sea routes do not exceed 9,500 TEU in capacity, he said.
The project cost is estimated at the level of $580 million (about Rs.2,390 crore). The Government had appointed a company called IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation as the strategic adviser for the project. The technical consultants for the project are L&T-RAMBOLL Consulting Engineers Limited, ROGGE Marine Consulting GMBH of Germany, RAMBOLL of Denmark and L&T Capital Company Limited.
Vizhinjam is located 8 km south of the State capital Thiruvananthapuram, on the west coast of the country. The biggest advantage of the location is its proximity to international shipping routes and the East-West shipping axis. The seabed here has a 20-metre contour depth within one nautical mile of the coast. The sea here has little littoral drift close to the coast and, therefore, requires hardly any maintenance dredging, Mr. Vijayakumar said.
The qualification criteria stipulated in the ‘request for proposal’ documents are available at the office of VISL and on the websites www.vizport.org and www.ilfsindia.com.
Private developers have been advised to first assess their eligibility on the basis of the stipulations given in the ‘qualification criteria’ before obtaining the ‘request for proposal’ documents.
Fresh tender floated to build India’s deepest container port
Vizhinjam International has invited bids from local and overseas companies to develop the project in phases
Mumbai: The Kerala government plans to build an international deepwater seaport and container transhipment terminal at Vizhinjam port at a cost of more than Rs5,000 crore to meet the rising needs of trade in the world’s second fastest growing economy.
Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd, a company fully owned by the Kerala government, on Wednesday invited bids from local and overseas firms to develop the project in phases. The first phase costing Rs2,390 crore involves creating capacity to handle 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (teus) a year. The second phase costing over Rs2,610 crore will expand the total container handling capacity to 5.3 million teus a year. A teu is the standard size of a container and is a common measure of capacity in the container business.
Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd, Zoom Developers Pvt. Ltd and Hindustan Infrastructure Projects and Engineering Pvt. Ltd, a firm promoted by former BPL Mobile owner Rajeev Chandrasekhar, have confirmed that they will bid for the
International appeal: File picture of Vizhinjam port. The greenfield project is designed to serve the transhipment needs of the region, and will compete with the terminal being developed at Kochi by DP Worldproject.
When operational, Vizhinjam will compete with the international container transhipment terminal being developed at Vallarpadam in Kochi port by the Dubai government-owned container port operator DP World. A transhipment port or terminal typically has a depth of more than 16m where big container ships can call to load cargo arriving from smaller ports and ship them directly to destinations or to unload cargo arriving from origin ports which are then loaded onto smaller feeder ships and transported to final destinations. Because of the draft (or depth) restrictions at Indian ports, India’s container cargo is transhipped at ports such as Colombo, Singapore and Dubai. This entails extra time and costs for moving the cargo, two key factors that influence India’s competitiveness in global trade. And ports at Colombo, Singapore and Dubai are beneficiaries.
For instance, Colombo port currently handles 3.3 million teus a year and about 60% of this originates at or is destined for Indian ports.
“So, containers that should ideally have been transhipped at Indian ports are now getting transhipped at Colombo port,” said Kshitiz Bhasker, senior manager (ports) at Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd, a unit of Mumbai-based construction firm Gammon India Ltd.
Companies have until 31 October to submit their proposals for developing the greenfield project that is designed to serve the transhipment needs of the region. The firm seeking the lowest debt support from the Kerala government will get the 30-year contract, said an official at Vizhinjam International Seaport.
This is the second attempt by the Kerala government to develop the port located 8km south of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram on India’s west coast.
A consortium comprising two Chinese firms (Kaidi Electric Power Company and China Harbour Engg. Co.) and Zoom Developers had emerged successful bidders in the global tender that was floated in 2005. But, the tender was scrapped on issues related to national security because of the involvement of the Chinese firms, one of which was also operating a port in Pakistan.
“We will definitely be interested in bidding for the project in the fresh round of tendering,” said Arun Altekar, assistant vice-president, Zoom Developers.
This time around, Zoom Developers will be bidding for the project with new partners. One of them is most likely to be Portia Management Services Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peel Ports Ltd, the second largest port operator in the UK. Gammon Infrastructure, the only other bidder in the earlier round, is looking at the project very seriously, said Bhasker.
“It is the best natural location in India with very good draft that requires no maintenance dredging at all and is close to the international shipping route. This port can easily become the deepest container port in India,” added Bhasker.
Currently, Vizhinjam port has a depth of 16m that will be deepened to 18.7m to allow big container ships of 12,000 teu capacity to call for loading and unloading cargo.
The added attractiveness is that because it is owned by the state government, Vizhinjam port will be outside the ambit of the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, the tariff regulator that sets prices for cargo handling at the 12 Central government-owned major ports in the country. As a result, the private firm winning the Vizhinjam project will be free to fix its own tariffs.
Mumbai: The Kerala government plans to build an international deepwater seaport and container transhipment terminal at Vizhinjam port at a cost of more than Rs5,000 crore to meet the rising needs of trade in the world’s second fastest growing economy.
Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd, a company fully owned by the Kerala government, on Wednesday invited bids from local and overseas firms to develop the project in phases. The first phase costing Rs2,390 crore involves creating capacity to handle 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (teus) a year. The second phase costing over Rs2,610 crore will expand the total container handling capacity to 5.3 million teus a year. A teu is the standard size of a container and is a common measure of capacity in the container business.
Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd, Zoom Developers Pvt. Ltd and Hindustan Infrastructure Projects and Engineering Pvt. Ltd, a firm promoted by former BPL Mobile owner Rajeev Chandrasekhar, have confirmed that they will bid for the
International appeal: File picture of Vizhinjam port. The greenfield project is designed to serve the transhipment needs of the region, and will compete with the terminal being developed at Kochi by DP Worldproject.
When operational, Vizhinjam will compete with the international container transhipment terminal being developed at Vallarpadam in Kochi port by the Dubai government-owned container port operator DP World. A transhipment port or terminal typically has a depth of more than 16m where big container ships can call to load cargo arriving from smaller ports and ship them directly to destinations or to unload cargo arriving from origin ports which are then loaded onto smaller feeder ships and transported to final destinations. Because of the draft (or depth) restrictions at Indian ports, India’s container cargo is transhipped at ports such as Colombo, Singapore and Dubai. This entails extra time and costs for moving the cargo, two key factors that influence India’s competitiveness in global trade. And ports at Colombo, Singapore and Dubai are beneficiaries.
For instance, Colombo port currently handles 3.3 million teus a year and about 60% of this originates at or is destined for Indian ports.
“So, containers that should ideally have been transhipped at Indian ports are now getting transhipped at Colombo port,” said Kshitiz Bhasker, senior manager (ports) at Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd, a unit of Mumbai-based construction firm Gammon India Ltd.
Companies have until 31 October to submit their proposals for developing the greenfield project that is designed to serve the transhipment needs of the region. The firm seeking the lowest debt support from the Kerala government will get the 30-year contract, said an official at Vizhinjam International Seaport.
This is the second attempt by the Kerala government to develop the port located 8km south of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram on India’s west coast.
A consortium comprising two Chinese firms (Kaidi Electric Power Company and China Harbour Engg. Co.) and Zoom Developers had emerged successful bidders in the global tender that was floated in 2005. But, the tender was scrapped on issues related to national security because of the involvement of the Chinese firms, one of which was also operating a port in Pakistan.
“We will definitely be interested in bidding for the project in the fresh round of tendering,” said Arun Altekar, assistant vice-president, Zoom Developers.
This time around, Zoom Developers will be bidding for the project with new partners. One of them is most likely to be Portia Management Services Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peel Ports Ltd, the second largest port operator in the UK. Gammon Infrastructure, the only other bidder in the earlier round, is looking at the project very seriously, said Bhasker.
“It is the best natural location in India with very good draft that requires no maintenance dredging at all and is close to the international shipping route. This port can easily become the deepest container port in India,” added Bhasker.
Currently, Vizhinjam port has a depth of 16m that will be deepened to 18.7m to allow big container ships of 12,000 teu capacity to call for loading and unloading cargo.
The added attractiveness is that because it is owned by the state government, Vizhinjam port will be outside the ambit of the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, the tariff regulator that sets prices for cargo handling at the 12 Central government-owned major ports in the country. As a result, the private firm winning the Vizhinjam project will be free to fix its own tariffs.
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