Signing Off with Gratitude: Reflections on My First Journey as a National Conference Organizer

This is the closing speech of Mine in the conference: 

"Respected Chief Guest and Guests; Experts researching and practicing on energy policies, technology, economics and management; Fellow organizers, supporters and sponsors from academia, industry, government and community; And dear participants: Very warm good afternoon!!

I, Rabin Dhakal, Acting CEO and Asst. Director of Mechanical and Aeronautical Wing of GHEaSES International Pvt. Ltd., is speaking on behalf of our Managing Director, Dr. Shanker Dhakal who is the original brain behind today's giant CEESDev conference. He unfortunately couldn’t attend this esteemed "Satsang" of Energy and Economics having to come all the way from Melbourne. However, I have seen, Dr. Dhakal has done more than any of us in putting together this conference, by mobilizing  the entire Nepalese cohort of his rich network interested in energy-assisted "Intelligent Development Transformation" of Nepal! He brilliantly mobilized his fellow colleagues of GHEaSES International Pvt. Ltd. and TNUN in Nepal NRNA ICC and NCC -Australia's SKI project, in achieving excellent event management , engagement and impact of today.

I sincerely acknowledge the leadership skills of our Principal Convener, Dr. Vishnu Prasad Pandey, from AITM in Nepal throughout the preparation, including when he was travelling to and from Japan last week. The way Dr. Pandey coordinated with Dr. Dhakal and all stakeholders involved through online and physical meetings was exemplary. I am truly impressed. These two heads of the conference demonstrated that successful leaders don't only manage people and things but they also work very hard and intelligently by themselves.

Thumbs up to all brilliant paper and poster presenters and panelists of today who have totally won our heart. We have now no doubt, they are the true specialist of their field. The mind blowing invited talk of Dr. Rabindra Nepal from the University of Queensland, GHEaSES and NRNA-Australia SKI is still surrounding my head :-)

I sincerely reveal the input from dear fellow organizers:

- AITM's management, liaised by Dr. Pandey, for providing this beautiful venue and multimedia

- Mr Guna Raj Dhakal from WECAN and Mr. Mohan Raj Joshi from Nabil Bank by massively working in identifying and communicating with potential supporters, sponsors and panelists.

- Mr. Madhu Sudan Gautam from IFS by providing so many of his students as volunteers.

- Mr. Prachanda Pradhan from KU by contributing in some of paper reviews despite his pressures of PhD defense.

- Mr. Sunil KC by bringing diplomatic delegate and increasing the weight of the conference

- Dr. Binod Shrestha and Mr. Mahendra Oli from NRNA-Australia SKI by providing moral and financial support to the conference all the way from Oceania and endorsing Dr. Dhakal and Dr. Nepal as their representatives. This has added "international" flavor and impact to our "national" conference. The news has therefore been circulated widely across ICC network of NRNA, which we can capitalize upon in our future activities and projects in Nepal.

We express our special vote of thanks to AEPC, SEMAN, NMHDA, Argakhachi Cement, Nabil Bank and their current leaders for providing necessary fund and support for physically materializing today's success. Similarly, how can we keep silent without thanking our media partners, namely, Urja News and Himalaya TV, and other independent journalists and camerapersons.

A big hug to my fellow friends of GHEaSES International Pvt. Ltd. ,TNUN,  Coordination Committee SOMES Nepal and God in Technology, both inside Nepal and abroad, namely, Er. Kshitiz Khanal (conference secretariat), Er. Sadam Bala (event coordinator), Mr. Santosh Pandey, Mr. Sagun Lage, Dr. Dhruba Panthi, Er. Ganesh Sinkemana, Mr. Sujan Ghimire, Er. Prashidha Kharel , Ravi Prakash, Kiran Pandey and Arun Pandey and  all lovely Volunteers! At the expense of their precious time, they have invested their personal and political capital in to this historic conference, having been driven by true passion! I admire them.

Most significantly, the outcome of this conference, both the full papers as well as highly valuable opinions given by the experts involved in two different panel discussion sessions will be compiled, thoroughly reviewed, edited, published and disseminated widely to public and government. Let us give a warm applaud to this success. This is the success of each and every of us present today. On top of CEESDev 2014, we will develop more collaborative projects and activities in the days ahead and work together at a new height of understanding. Hope we keep in touch.

Finally, debates and discussions are inevitable when we work in group. Therefore, I appeal all of us to forgive each other if there has been any minor misunderstanding or dissatisfaction incurred when all of us were working very hard with full heart and sleepless nights lately! Most important thing is CESSDev 2014 has been successful!

Hurray, we did it!! 

We have created a history!

I hope you all enjoyed as much as I did myself, if not more :-)

In passing, I wish you all good health, and a very happy and successful family and professional life ahead in the auspicious occasion of Laxmi Puja and Tihar! May God bless  us in our progressive endeavors like CESSDev.

Thank you very much and Pranam!! "

Press release of National Conference on Energy Economics and Sustainable Development

22^nd October, 2014

With an objective of making energy sector a medium for nation’s sustainable development through mutual collaboration and movement, a one-day National Conference on Energy Economics and Sustainable Development has been successfully completed.

The conference was organized by GHEaSES International, Asian Institute of Technology and Management, WECAN, IEFS, NRN Australia and Kathmandu University along with the co-operation of Alternative Energy Program Centre, SEMAN and NMHDA, where, people related to energy sector and experts were involved. The conference was mainly focussed on Nepal’s economy, contributions from energy sector, its possibility, status of hydropower and renewable energy, new technologies and its applicability.

During the inauguration of the seminar, Dr. Govinda Nepal, a member of National Planning Commission, presented a key note highlighting the emphasis that Nepal should give to social, economic and political sector during the energy development. He also addressed the fact that active participation from every sector is equally important to attract foreign investments. Dr. Rabindra Nepal from Queensland University and also affiliated to GHEaSES International  emphasized the use of modern technologies. During the technical sessions of the conference, Professor Amrit Man Nakarmi talked about current energy consumption trends and future energy/ GHG scenarios of Nepal; Madhusudhan Adhikari of AEPC presented points about energy market and economics of Nepal; Shishir Shakya of IFS presented about co-integration and casuality between electricity consumption and GDP; emperical evidence from Nepal; Professor Jagan Nath Shrestha talked about the impact of decentralized PV grid-connected plans on load shedding in Nepal; Miss Anantaa Pandey of AITM talked about the effectiveness of subsidy policy in addressing barriers to renewable energy technology deployment in Nepal; Kshitiz Khanal and Sadam affiliated to GHEaSES International  presented about the collaborative and open access research for energy sector in Nepal. The Chairperson of the technical session was Prof. Dr. Tri Ratna Bajracharya.

The panel discussion titled Power Trade Agreement (PTA) and Project Development Agreement (PDA) was moderated by Dr. Sandeep Shah and the panellists were Prof. Dr. Hari Pandit (IOE/TU), Surya Nath Upadhaya (JVS), Shital Babu Regmee (former Secretary/GoN), Gyanendra Lal Pradha (FNCCI) and Khadga Bista (IPPAN). Majority of them were positive about PTA although they emphasized in its implementation aspects. Regarding PDA, they stressed that changes should be made in some of its criteria.

The second panel discussion titled Implementation of energy-mix in Nepal; opportunities and challenges was moderated by Mr. Ram Prasad Dhital and the panellists were Prof. Jagan Nath Shrestha, Prof. Amrit Man Nakarmi, Sher Singh Bhat (NEA), Nr. Narayan Chaulagain and Nabin Bhujel. During the discussion, they presented the fact that solar energy, gasifier and wind energy should be taken along with the hydropower as energy mix for solving the energy problem of Nepal. Decreasing the import of petroleum by encouraging alternative energy options leading to positive impacts on nation’s economy also came along in the discussion. Likewise, the sustainability of energy mix was also emphasized.

At last, Er. Rabin Dhakal, an Organizer of CEESDvs, gives closing remarks on behalf of Dr. Shanker Dhakal , he  addressed that through this conference, intellectual development transformation of Nepal is supposed to begin and GHEaSES, TNUN, SOMES Nepal and GOD in Technology and all other collaborators are representative of it. 

Press Release  In Nepali :

GHESES International, WECAN, IFSएशियन इष्टिच्यूट अफ टेक्नोलोजी एण्ड म्यानेजमेन्ट(AITM), GHESES International, WECAN, IFS, एनआरएन अष्ट्रेलिया, काठमाण्डौ युनिभर्सिटी लगायतको आयोजना सुरु भएको एक दिने उर्जा अर्थतन्त्र र दिगो विकास राष्ट्रिय सम्मेलनमा उनीहरुले पीटीए सकारात्मक भएपनि आयोजना विकास सम्झौताबारे भने केही विज्ञहरुले सच्चाउनुपर्ने माग गरे । सम्मेलनको उद्घाटन कार्यक्रममा राष्ट्रिय योजना आयोगका सदस्य डा. गोविन्द नेपालले पीटीएले नेपालको जलविद्युत विकासमा विदेशी लगानीकर्ता आकर्षण गर्ने बताए । पुर्व जलस्रोत सचिव सुर्यनाथ उपाध्यायले पीटीए सकारात्मक भएको बताउँदै यसले विद्युत आदानप्रदान, व्यापार, बजार र लगानीको सुनिश्चितता गरेको बताए । ‘पीटीए कार्यावन्यनका लागि संयन्त्र बनाउने कुरा उल्लेख छ, यो सकारात्मक हो तर यसको कार्यावन्यन पक्ष महत्वपूर्ण हुन्छ ।’
पुर्व उर्जा सचिव शीतलबाबु रेग्मीले पहिला पानीको उपयोगको समेत प्रावधान राखेर पीटीए गर्न लागेपनि पछि त्यसलाई हटाएर गरिएको सम्झौता सकारात्मक भएको बताए । नेपाल उद्योग वाणिज्य महासंघ उर्जा समितिका सभापति ज्ञानेन्द्रलाल प्रधानले पीटीए हुनु देशको हितमा भएकोले यसको सबैले समर्थन गर्नुपर्ने बताए । भारतमा नेतृत्व परिवर्तन हुँदाको परिणाम नेपालको सबै सर्तहरु स्वीकारेर गरेको पीटीए भारतका लागि भन्दा पनि नेपालका लागि आवश्यक रहेको उनको भनाई थियो । ‘पीटीए नेपालका लागि उत्कृष्ट सम्झौता हो, यसबारे अनावश्क आशंका गर्नु आवश्यक छैन ।’–उनले भने । प्राधिकरणका उपकार्यकारी निर्देशक शेरसिंह भाटले पीटीए गर्दा नेपाल र भारतका केही कानुनमा परिवर्तन गर्नुपर्ने भएकोले एउटा प्रावधानमा सबै अवरोधहरु अन्तय गर्ने उल्लेख गरेकोले यसैलाई आधार मानेर अवरोधहरु छन् भन्नु नहुने बताए । स्वतन्त्र उर्जा उत्पादकहरुको संस्था (इप्पान) का अध्यक्ष खड्गबहादुर विष्टले विजुलीको क्षेत्रीय व्यापार समेत उल्लेख गरेर गरिएको सम्झौता उपयुक्र्त भएको बताए । ‘पीटीएपछि स्वदेशी जलविद्युतका प्रवद्र्धकहरु समेत खुशी छौ, नेपाल विद्युत प्राधिकरणले विद्युत खरिद सम्झौता (पीपीए) नगरिरहेको बेला यसले बजार सुनिश्चित गरेको छ ।’–उनले भने । पीडीएबारे भने उपाध्याय, रेग्मी र प्राध्यापक हरि पण्डितले अस्पष्ट भएको उल्लेख गर्दै यसका सर्तहरु सच्चाउनुपर्ने बताएका थिए । प्रधान र विष्टले भने पीडीएले लगानीकर्तालाई उत्साहित हुने बताएका थिए । उपाध्यायले जीएमआरले ९ सय मेगावाटको माथिल्लो कर्णाली सार्वजनिक नीजि साझेदारी (पीपीपी) मोडेलमा निर्माण हुन लाग्नुले अनुमतिपत्र प्रणालीबारे आशंका पैदान भएको बताए । पीडीए गर्दा बढी सहुलियत दिएकोमा उनको विरोध थियो । त्यसैगरी रेग्मीले १ सय ५८ पेजको ठूलो पीडीए हस्तावेजलाई देशले धान्न सक्छकि सक्दैन भन्ने प्रश्न उठेको बताए । पण्डितले ४२ सय मेगावाट विद्युत उत्पादन हुनेमा नौ सय मेगावाट बनाइनुले समस्या निम्ताएको बताए । प्रधानले चीनमा पनि जलविद्युत लगानीकर्ताहरुलाई सहुलियत दिने गरेको बताउँदै बन्न लागेका आयोजनाहरुमा अनावश्यक विरोध गर्नु गलत भएको बताए । विष्टले प्रतिष्पर्धाको आधारमा दिइएको आयोजनामा पीडीए गर्न छिट्टै गर्नुपर्ने उल्लेख गर्दै विवाद भन्दा यसबारे सरकार उदार हुनुपर्ने बताए ।दोस्रो प्यानल छलफलमा Implementation of energy-mix in Nepal: opportunities and challenges लगायतबारे प्राध्यापक जगनाथ श्रेष्ठ, प्रा. अमृतिमान नकर्मी, नेपाल विद्युत प्राधिकरणका उपकार्यकारी निर्देशक शेरसिंह भाट, जीआईजेट/निप कार्यक्रममा डा. नारायण चौलागाई, सेमनका सल्लाहकार नवीन भुजेल सहभागी थिए । वैकल्पिक उर्जा प्रर्वधन केन्द्रका मधुसुदन अधिकारीले सहजीकरण गरेको सो छलफलमा उनीहरुले नेपालको उर्जा समस्या समाधान गर्न जलस्रोतसँगसँगै सौर्य उर्जा, ग्यासिफायर, वायु उर्जाको सहायता लिएर इनर्जी मिक्समा जानु अनिवार्य भइसकेको भएतापनि तत्काल यसको कार्यान्वयनमा विभिन्न नीतिगत समस्या भएको कुरा औँल्याउनु भयो । वैकल्पिक उर्जाको प्रवर्धन गरेर पेट्रोलियको आयात घटाउन सकिने र यसले देशको अर्थतन्त्रमा सकारात्मक प्रभाव पार्न सक्ने कुरा छलफलमा आएको थियो । साथसाथै इनर्जी मिक्सको दिगोपनतामा जोड दिएका थिए ।Reference: - See more at: http://www.urjanews.com/details/1475/ku.edu.np#sthash.hYAFxkUh.dpuf

Cheers 
Rabin