Kunda Dixit writes 'even if the right decision is taken today, we'll still have eight hours of winter power cuts daily till at least 2013' ('The country's future is dark', #308). But his concern raises another major issue: it will take longer than the energy crisis to create intellectual power in Nepal, even if we make sound policies. Smart Nepalis are heading West or are there already, and those who remain are frustrated. The country's future is indeed dark, in every sense.

Prakash Pangeni,
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