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Nepal to use DNA to identify bodies found in Everest

Posted on by SAT News Desk

AFP: The bodies of four climbers who failed their Everest challenge and left little clue as to their identity have thrown up a new challenge for Nepalese authorities who control the world’s tallest peak.

Police and government officials admit they face a huge challenge putting names to the dead climbers and sending them back to their home countries.

They cannot even be sure how long the corpses had been among scores waiting to be found on the slopes.

A government-organised clean-up team retrieved the bodies between the Everest base camp and the South Col at 7,906 metres this climbing season.

“The bodies are not in a recognisable state, almost down to their bones. There is no face to identify them,” senior police official Phanindra Prasai told AFP.

“We have directed the hospital to collect DNA samples so they can be matched with any families who come forward.”

Everest afterlife

Nepalese police are going through administrative processes so they can make an appeal for help and inform foreign diplomatic missions about the bodies. But some fear the mystery could take years to solve.

“It is a difficult task,” said Ang Tsering Sherpa, former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

“They need to share more information about the bodies, especially the locations of where the bodies were found, and reach out to expedition operators.”

More than 300 people have died on the 8,848-metre (29,029-feet) high mountain since expeditions to reach the top started in the 1920s.

It is not known how many bodies are still hidden in the ice, snow and deep crevasses.

Two Gurkhas, over 30 British South Asians, awarded by the Queen

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London– Two serving Gurkhas and over 30 British South Asians are among the list of academics, business chiefs and professionals who have made it to the Queen’s annual Birthday Honours list released in London on Saturday.

Queen Elizabeth II, who turned 93 in April, officially marked her birthday on Saturday with a traditional Trooping the Colour ceremony in central London.

The Honours list is released to coincide with the celebrations in early June to recognise outstanding achievements across the UK.

Overall, 1,073 people are on the honours list, with 75 per cent recognised for work in their community and 47 per cent of the total being women.

 

Mahendra Kumar Limbu, Welfare Officer at the Brigade of Gurkhas, and Netra Bahadur Rana — also from the Brigade of Gurkhas — have been conferred MBE. Limbu has been awarded for his services to Gurkha Personnel while Rana has been awarded in recognition of his contribution to Sports.

 

According to media reports,  following  people from the British South  Asian community have been awarded.

 OBE List : 

Arvinda Gohil. Chief executive Officer Community Links. For services to the community and to Housing for Vulnerable People. (London)

Sajid Gulzar. Chief executive Officer Prince Albert Community Trust. For services to Education. (Birmingham, West Midlands)

Arun Kumar Batra. Chief executive Officer National Equality Standard. For services to Faith and Integration in the Public Sector. (London)

Arnab Dutt. For services to Small and Medium-sized Businesses to Diversity and to Equality. (Market Harborough, Leicestershire)

Qadeer Kiani. Chair Arhag Housing Association. For services to Migrants and Refugees. (St Albans, Hertfordshire)

Narinder Kaur Kooner. Councillor Birmingham City Council and director, Sikh Women’s Action Network. For services to Supporting Vulnerable People and to the community in the West Midlands. (Birmingham, West Midlands)

Professor Sudhesh Kumar. Dean Warwick Medical School. For services to Medicine and to Diabetes Care. (Solihull, West Midlands)

Manmeet Singh Panesar. Head of Technical Services Office for Product Safety and Standards, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. For services to Product Safety. (London)

Reena Ranger. (Reena Ahuja). Founder and Chair Women Empowered. For services to BAME Women. (Moor Park, Hertfordshire)

The following were awarded an MBE

Amrik Singh Basi. Amateur Boxing Referee. For services to Boxing. (Essex)

Rashid Bhayat. Founder Positive Youth Foundation. For services to Young People in the Midlands. (Coventry, West Midlands)

Dr Ashok Kumar Bhuvanagiri. Founder The Telugu Association of Scotland. For services to Cultural Cohesion and to charity. (East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire)

Dr Navnit Singh Chana. Formerly chairman National Association of Primary Care and General Practitioner, Cricket Green Medical Practice. For services to Clinical Education and Primary and Community Care. (Chipstead, Surrey).

Dr Gulbash Singh Chandok. Senior Partner Guru Nanak Medical Centre. For services to General Practice. (Moor Park, Hertfordshire).

Dr Sengottiyan Chandrasekaran. Medical Lead General Adult Critical Care. For services to the community in Manchester. (Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire)

Dr Mohammad Farsi. Founder CANopen Protocol. For services to the Automotive Industry, to Education and to Cultural Engagement. (Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear)

Skinder Singh Hundal. Chief executive Officer The New Art Exchange. For services to Visual Arts. (Birmingham, West Midlands)

Dawda Jatta. Founder and chief executive Officer Black and Minority Ethnic Environment Network. For services to Recycling and to Energy Saving in Hull. (Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire)

Mahendra Kumar Limbu. Welfare Officer Brigade of Gurkhas. For services to Gurkha Personnel and their Families. (Aldershot, Hampshire)

Netra Bahadur Rana : Brigade of Gurkhas. For contribution on Sports

Dr Syed Muhammed Habib Naqvi. Policy Lead Workforce Race Equality Standard, NHS England. For services to Equality and to Diversity in the NHS. (Knowle, Bristol)

Syed Muhammad Iqbal Nasim. For services to Community Development and to Tackling Poverty. (Surrey, SM3)

Sarabjit Kaur Sahota. For services to Education. (Hitchin, Hertfordshire)

Imran Sanaullah. Chief executive Officer Patchwork Foundation. For services to Young People. (London)

Dr Abdullahi Shehu. For services to Community Cohesion in Coventry. (Coventry, West Midlands)

Aghia Pal Singh. Infrastructure Engineer West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service. For services to charity and to the community in the West Midlands. (Walsall, West Midlands)

Emdad Hossain Talukder. Community Resource Officer Tower Hamlets Social Services Family Placement Services and Foster Carer. For services to Fostering. (London)

The following were awarded an BEM

Ghulam Mohammed Vohra. Vice chairman Coventry Muslim Forum. For services to Community Cohesion. (Coventry, West Midlands)

Saira Wajid. Head of Engagement Museum of London. For services to Culture and to Diversity. (London)

Dr Naeem Ahmed. Consultant Radiologist Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust and Founder, Selfless. For services to volunteering and to Healthcare. (London)

Naseem Akhtar. For services to Health to Fitness and to Sports for Women in Birmingham. (Birmingham, West Midlands)

Dr Sivaramkrishnan Devaraj. Volunteer. For services to Health Charity Fundraising and to General Practice. (London)

Vallabh Kaviraj. For services to Asian Media and to the South Asian community in the UK. (London)

Shamsa Jabeen Latif. For services to Disadvantaged People in South Yorkshire. (Sheffield, South Yorkshire)

CMG

Moazzam Tufail Malik. HM Ambassador Jakarta, Indonesia. For services to British foreign policy and international development.

Full list https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/birthday-honours-lists-2019

Sajid Javid says he would lift work restrictions on international students if elected Tory leader

Posted on by SAT News Desk
Photo : Getty Image

PTI(London) : UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has set out his stall in the race to Downing Street with a pledge to reverse Theresa May’s stringent visa norms that restricted overseas students from countries like India from staying on to work for a few years at the end of their university degree.

The senior Pakistani-origin minister, who is among 10 other contenders to succeed May as Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister after she formally resigned on Friday, has stated that he believes it makes no sense for overseas students to not be able to work after they complete their course at a UK university.

It makes no sense to send some of the brightest and most enterprising people in the world straight home after their time here, Javid said in a column for The Financial Times’ on Friday.

At an event organised by think tank British Future in London on Thursday, the minister had stressed on a similar commitment to encourage international students to both study in the UK and stay on and work after they graduate.

I want to see more international students come to our country. If they’re coming here to study at our great universities, and if they want to work afterwards, we should make it easier for them to stay and work. We need a more positive attitude to this and I think the country would welcome it, Javid said.

The minister’s intervention was welcomed by former universities minister Jo Johnson, who had tabled an amendment to the government’s Immigration Bill back in April, calling for a two-year post-study work visa option for international students.

Home Secretary accepts my new clause in the Immigration Bill lifting post study restrictions on foreign students! Real win for UK soft power, Johnson said in a Twitter statement.

The new clause means students at recognised universities will have an automatic right to stay on to work for two years on their Tier 4 student visa and, in addition, will no longer be counted towards any hard UK-wide net migration cap on numbers, said Jo Johnson, the brother of prime ministerial frontrunner Boris Johnson who had resigned from the Theresa May Cabinet last year in protest over her Brexit policy.

While his amendment makes a specific reference to students from the European Economic Area (EEA), experts believe any change to the visa policy would have to cover all overseas students as part of the UK’s post-Brexit immigration policy ending freedom of movement for EU nationals.

Although the Immigration Bill itself only addresses the end of free movement with the EU, and so only applies to EU citizens, the UK government has made it very clear that any new immigration system should apply across all nationalities,” said Vivienne Stern, Director, Universities UK International (UUKi), the representative body which has been lobbying for an improved student visa offering.

“By default, then, any change to post-study work visas proposed in the bill should apply to all international students, including those from India, she said

The UK ranks first for international student satisfaction overall, compared to other major study destinations, but having a more attractive post-study work offer will open the UK up to even more international students. We know that students from India particularly value being able to gain work experience in the UK, she added.

A two-year post-study work visa offer ended during May’s term as home secretary in 2012, widely seen as responsible for a major drop in student numbers from countries like India.

The withdrawal of the PSW [post-study work] visa was attributed with a decline in international student recruitment in the UK from key markets, notably India. Between 2010-11 and 2016-17, the number of higher education students from India more than halved, noted a report by the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Students last year.

Under a new International Education Strategy launched by the UK government earlier this year, set to be rolled out in the coming years as Britain exits the EU, the UK Home Office had announced plans to offer undergraduate and Masters’ students the chance to stay in the UK to look for work for six months after graduating.

Javid’s latest statements on the issue, as part of his bid to set himself apart from other Tory leadership candidates and to distance himself from May’s more rigid stance on such visas, has renewed hope that a comprehensive post-study offer may be in the works for overseas students in the UK.

British Asian Trust and CIFF launch anti-trafficking partnership

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London– The British Asian Trust, a leading South Asian diaspora development organisation, has announced a new partnership with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) to launch a mass awareness campaign to combat child-trafficking in India.

The partnership is backed by leading Jaipur-based Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket team, the Rajasthan Royals, and was announced at a star-studded fundraising event on Friday at Lord’s Cricket Ground – A Wicket Night of Comedy, an exclusive night of cricket and comedy. The evening raised funds to scale up the British Asian Trust’s anti-trafficking programme in India and develop a mass awareness campaign to combat child trafficking. Funds raised at the event were matched by CIFF.

The event was attended by a host of cricket legends such as Shane Warne, MS Dhoni,Steve Smith,Graeme Smith and many others at the Long Room at Lord’s.Guests were hosted by British Asian Trust Ambassador and actor Nitin Ganatra and treated to comedy from Nish Kumar.

 

The partnership will be supported by the Rajasthan Royals, the leading IPL team that has a long-standing relationship with the British Asian Trust. Last year, England and Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Ben Stokes visited British Asian Trust projects in Jaipur, to show support for its campaign to end child labour in the city.

 

According to an ILO study, there are 5.8 million children working in forced labour in India and it is estimated that there are more than 150,000 new instances of human trafficking in South Asia every year, leaving women and children particularly exposed to abuse and sexual exploitation.

 

“The British Asian Trust is using fresh thinking and innovative solutions – engaging technology and working with businesses to champion child-labour-free practices and remove the demand for forced labour and protect those at risk. This includes the introduction of a certification for Child Labour Free products made in Jaipur and the launch of a child-labour awareness campaign in the city,” said a press release issued by the Trust.

 

Since 2012, the British Asian Trust has supported over 18,000 children and young women in India who were particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation, building their resilience to abuseand trafficking and offering rehabilitation for victims.

 

Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of the British Asian Trust, said, “It is great to see so many people come together to tackle the scourge that is child trafficking. This is critical in India, where 100,000 children are reported going missing every year, with unofficial numbers likely to be higher.”

 

Kate Hampton, Chief Executive Officer of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, said, “The Government of India has demonstrated considerable political will and leadership in tackling Child Trafficking. Over the last few years, we have seen the Government of India ratify Core ILO conventions and introduce strong legislations against trafficking in the country. We have also seen the state Government of Rajasthan and its various departments come forward to join hands with businesses and civil society to pursue a child labour free vision for Jaipur.”

 

Similarly, Shane Warne, Australian cricket commentator and former captain of Australia’s National Cricket team, said, “The British Asian Trust and CIFF do great work in tackling child trafficking in South Asia and I am pleased to play my part to support and contribute to a South Asia that is better for all. Cricket has a huge role to play as both a catalyst for change and as a force for good.As abrand ambassador of the Rajasthan RoyalsI have seen first-hand the difference that resources and awareness campaigns can make on the ground in Jaipur.I look forward to building on this work between the Rajasthan Royals and the British Asian Trust for years to come.”

 

 

The British Asian Trust supports the development of a South Asia that maximises the potential of its people, and that is free from inequality and injustice. It was founded in 2007 by His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales and a group of visionary British Asian business leaders. The British Asian Trust backs sustainable solutions to the challenges of poverty and injustice and has already touched more than four million lives in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

 

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)is an independent philanthropic organisation, headquartered in London with offices in Nairobi, New Delhi and Addis Ababa. Established in 2003, CIFF works with a wide range of partners seeking to transform the lives of children and adolescents in developing countries. Areas of work include maternal and child health, adolescent sexual health, nutrition, education, deworming, tackling child slavery and exploitation, and supporting smart ways to slow down and stop climate change.

 

The boom in climbing tourism in Everest is dangerous and unsustainable

Posted on by SAT News Desk
Yana Wengel, University of Strathclyde :
The last days of Mt Everest’s spring window for 2019 witnessed the deaths of 11 climbers. Images of hundreds of mountaineers queuing to reach the summit and reports of climbers stepping over dead bodies dismayed people around the world, many wondering how human beings had got it so wrong.

After the conquest of Annapurna and Everest in the 1950s, mountaineering became popular among the more privileged. But in the past two decades, mountaineering has taken on a increasingly commercial angle with disastrous results.

Experts report that aside from a very short weather window to climb Everest this season, a new generation of guides offering cheap expedition rates attracted a rash of novice mountaineers, which contributed to the high number of deaths. Those inexperienced climbers, some of whom had only climbed Mont Blanc (4,810m) and Aconagua (6,962m), should not have been there.

Modern climbing

Until the beginning of the 21st century, mountaineering was an exclusive activity accessible only to a few. Twenty years later, despite being a high-risk activity that requires a high level of specialised skill, its popularity among recreational climbers has drastically increased. Climbing legend Reinhold Messner once said that for a fee, “almost anyone could brave a top-class peak” – meaning regardless of skill, ability or experience.

Many modern mountaineers are attracted by the Seven Summits Challenge, introduced by Messner in the 1980s, with the aim of climbing the highest peak on every continent. Cashed-up adventure tourists lured by the challenge face expensive mountain expedition packages – from £3,000 for Aconcagua and £30,000 for Everest.

Aconcagua in the Argentinian Andes is the second highest of the Seven Summits after Everest, and one of the cheapest to climb. The number of climbers attempting Aconcagua has increased by 400% since 1990 – 4,000 people a year now push for the summit.

Our current research project focusing on mountaineering tourism shows that this recent trend can be explained by the transformation of mountaineering from personal exploring to a commercial guided-tour industry which is capitalising on better accessibility to big mountains, affordable transportation and more advanced equipment. This boom in commercial adventure sports means “real” mountaineers are often outnumbered by tourists whose ambitions exceed their climbing skills.

Although technically Aconcagua is not considered a difficult climb, it reaches a high altitude, where climbers struggle with low humidity, low oxygen and severe winds, so the summit success rate is 30-40%.

In February 2019, we spent three weeks at Aconagua’s base camp, where rangers told us that the popularity of the mountain has triggered an increase in accidents and fatalities. But reinforcement of safety measures implemented over the past five years have minimised casualties, averaging two to five deaths a season – with no deaths in 2019 so far.

Such measures include climber check-in and medical checks at ranger stations, and the availability of doctors and rescue teams up to 5,500m. Our interviews with rangers, guides and porters reveal that accidents are associated with an high number of inexperienced climbers who often carry insufficient equipment and underestimate the difficulty and risks of a high-altitude mountain environment. The question is, should everyone be allowed to climb any mountain they decide to?

Many recreational mountaineers opt for package expeditions, relying solely on the experience of service companies and the help of porters and guides. Without this professional support, they would fail. The paradox of modern mountaineering is that the provision of necessary expedition support and all-inclusive packages also encourages inexperienced climbers who wish to reach the desired summit at any cost, putting others at risk.

Of course even the most skilled mountaineers need logistics and local support on the world’s highest peaks. But experienced climbers possess the knowledge, skill and strength to reach the summit – and often rely on themselves as far as possible. But their achievements, together with the “all-inclusive” adventure tourism industry, lull inexperienced climbers into a false sense of security about what they are capable of.

Experience and permits

Each country manages climbing permits in different ways – and only a handful of authorities check mountaineering experience seriously. To climb Alaska’s Mt Denali (6,190m), the highest peak in North America, climbers are required to have advanced mountaineering skills along with backcountry winter camping experience.

Only seven mountain guide companies are authorised to lead expeditions on Denali and solo climbers need to prove their mountaineering experience to obtain a climbing permit. This strict control minimises the risks to climbers and the impact on the environment, allowing sustainable management of expeditions without casualities – which was achieved in 2018.

Other countries have much looser requirements. The New York Times reported that to get a climbing permit for Everest all a climber has to do is submit a copy of their passport, limited biographical data and a certificate of good health.

Climbing a mountain is mentally and physically demanding. Climbers need to have good ethics – such as taking responsibility for their actions, respecting local climbing traditions, taking care with the environment and so on – proper equipment and real mountaineering experience. In our view high-altitude climbers should be required to demonstrate a standard of experience to obtain a permit. But mountaineering is a lucrative industry and brings huge amounts of money to often impoverished local economies. Over the years, overcrowding and safety issues have become a serious problem.

Mountain tourists lack the experience and the requisite attributes to summit difficult peaks. This foolhardy arrogance can lead to tragedy, as we saw on Everest this year. The global mountaineering community needs to call for specific conditions of ability and experience be met when issuing permits for high-altitude mountain expeditions. It has to be about more than simply being able to afford to take on the world’s most difficult peaks.

But how do we achieve that? Who is responsible for managing modern mountaineering in a safe, responsible and sustainable way? If we don’t address these issues, avoidable tragedies caused by commercialised mountaineering will continue to appal the world. From the Conversation

Where does Theresa May sit after her resignation ?

Posted on by SAT News Desk

It is, of course, too early to make a balanced judgement about Theresa May’s legacy. That can really only happen once Brexit is resolved. But we already have some sense of where she will sit in the hall of fame dedicated to bad prime ministers.

Some ground rules for this discussion, first. It seems reasonable to exclude the 19th-century prime ministers, for a start. Some of them were truly awful, but they were not operating in anything that looks like a modern political system. However, even if we confine ourselves to the period since 1918, when something resembling a modern franchise was introduced, it’s a competitive league for the title of worst prime minister.

Everyone has their view on who the worst prime minister is, but here are mine. I argue there are at least four candidates to consider before we look at May. The first would be Ramsay MacDonald. After heading two minority Labour governments in 1924 and 1929-31, he then became prime minister in the national government from 1931 to 1935. But as his health declined, effective power gradually flowed to his Conservative colleague and, subsequently his successor, Stanley Baldwin. It was 1945 before Labour was in office again.

For Labour supporters, MacDonald was synonymous with the word “betrayal”. They felt he had sold out to financial interests, and the blandishments of King George V, and introduced a programme of austerity that deepened the recession of the 1930s. He seemed unable to grapple with the scope and depth of the problems he faced.

Neville Chamberlain (1937-40) has his defenders. Like many men of his generation, he was understandably scarred by the experience of World War I and genuinely wanted peace. His advocates argue that by giving in to Hitler’s demands and postponing war as long as possible, he gave the country more time to prepare and rearm.

The counter argument is that each capitulation simply encouraged Hitler to ask for more. It was remarked that Chamberlain had never met anyone like Hitler in Birmingham, where he came from. His experience was in municipal and domestic politics and his grasp of the imperatives of foreign policy in the late 1930s was limited, although that didn’t stop him intervening. When he came back from the Munich talks with Hitler, he was a national hero, in tune with the pacifist mood of the country. However, opinion quickly changed and he was castigated as one of the “guilty men” of appeasement.

Anthony Eden (1955-57) also has his defenders, but the case is harder to make. He involved Britain in an invasion of Egypt to restore British control of the Suez Canal which ended in fiasco when American pressure led the UK to withdraw. Eden viewed the Egyptian leader Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser in rather simplistic terms as another Mussolini, whom he had dealt with as foreign secretary in the 1930s. Rather than reasserting British influence in the Middle East, Suez ended the belief that Britain was an independent great power. Eden did not reveal to the House of Commons that Britain had colluded with France to encourage Israel to invade the Sinai Peninsula to give the UK a pretext for intervention.

Alec Douglas-Home (1963-64) was a surprise choice as prime minister who emerged because alternative candidates self-destructed. He had to give up his seat in the House of Lords to become prime minister. He had little understanding of economics which he said he used to work out with matchsticks. He was, however, only narrowly defeated by the modernising Harold Wilson in the 1964 general election.

Edward Heath (1970-74) hardly covered himself in glory, ending his period in office among industrial chaos. The answer the electorate gave to his question he posed in the February 1974 general election “Who governs?” was “Not you”. His main achievement, getting Britain into the then Common Market, is now likely to be reversed.

Dealt a bad hand, handled deal badly

Theresa May was handed a poisoned chalice in terms of steering a deeply divided country and House of Commons to a Brexit settlement. However, she arguably made things worse by her own mistakes. The biggest was to fight a poor election campaign in 2017, which led to the loss of the Conservative majority and a reliance on the Democratic Unionist Party to govern.

Having failed to secure a majority, she then should have reached out to other parties to try to build a consensus on Brexit. Instead, as one might expect from someone whose whole public life has been built around the Conservative Party, she was relentlessly partisan, sticking obdurately to her “red lines”. It might have been difficult for anyone else to get a better deal from the EU, but she allowed her unpopular deal to be humiliatingly defeated in the Commons three times, only reaching to other parties when it was too late.

As a consequence of the focus on Brexit, she was unable to do very much to help the working poor, which was her central objective when she came into office. She belatedly tried to promote a review of university financing as part of her legacy.

She is, of course, the fourth Conservative Party leader in succession to be brought down by issues related to the EU, with internal strife within the party the most important factor. But she could have been more flexible and more emotionally intelligent in dealing with colleagues and opponents. The magazine Private Eye gave its verdict by printing a blank page on the cover, presenting it as her “legacy in full”. Harsh, but not unfair.

Courtesy : The Conversation

At least eight people died in Nepal while collecting “Yarsagumba”, the Himalayan viagra

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PTI ( Kathmandu) : At least eight people died while collecting rare medicinal fungus Yarsagumba, popularly known as the Himalayan viagra, in Nepal’s Dolpa district, police said here Thursday.

Known for its aphrodisiac properties, Yarsagumba is only found in the Himalayan mountains above 10,000 feet.

At least eight people died in the last one week while collecting the unique caterpillar-fungus fusion. While five pluckers died of altitude sickness, two fell off a cliff while plucking the expensive fungus, police said.

A toddler accompanying his mother, who was collecting the herb, also died due to altitude sickness, they said.

Every summer, people come from miles around to search for the precious crop, which sells for over USD 100 a gram across Asia and the US.

The local authorities have set up health camps at various places for facilitating the Yarsagumba collectors. Over a dozen pluckers are receiving treatment in these health camps, officials said.

Yarsagumba is a unique caterpillar-fungus fusion that occurs when parasitic mushroom spores infect and mummify a ghost moth larva living in the soil.

There are more than 70 highland meadows opened for Yarsagumba pickers in Dolpa district, situated 600 km north-west of Kathmandu.

Theresa May resigns, who will be her successor?

Posted on by SAT News Desk

London: Theresa May has officially stepped down as the leader of the ruling Conservative Party on Friday. However, she will remain as prime minister until her successor is chosen.

Mrs May announced her resignation two weeks ago, saying it was a matter of deep regret that she had been unable to deliver Brexit.

Mrs May remains acting leader while the contest takes place.

According to various media reports, key candidates who want to be Mrs May’s successor are:

Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson is currently the most-backed candidate with 48 MP supporters,  according to the Conservative Home website.

Photo : PA

Jeremy Hunt

Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt is the second most popular candidate with 32 MPs backing his bid.

Michael Gove

Michael Gove is the third most supported candidate with 30 MPs backing his bid.

Dominic Raab

Dominic Raab has 24 MPs supporting his bid to replace Theresa May.

Sajid Javid

Home secretary Sajid Javid has gained 17 supporters for his leadership bid.

Matt Hancock

Matt Hancock has 12 MPs supporting his leadership bid at the moment.

Andrea Leadsom

Andrea Leadsom has been supported by three MPs in her bid to replace Mrs May.

Nepali Economy to Grow over 7 percent: World Bank

Posted on by SAT News Desk

London—The World Bank has estimated that Nepali economy will grow at 7.1 percent in the fiscal year 2019-20.

According to the recent report published by the Bank, the growth will be driven mainly by the service and agriculture sectors.

The service sector is likely to grow by 7.5 percent due to a boost in the retail, hotel, and restaurant subsectors, driven by an uptick in tourist arrivals and remittance-fueled private consumption., the Bank said.

“Agriculture is estimated to grow by 5 percent in FY2019, well above its 30-year average of 3.1 percent, due to good monsoons, increased commercialisation, availability of fertilisers and seeds, and improved irrigation facilities. Industrial growth is also likely to be strong at 8.1 percent, well above its 30-year average of 5 percent, mainly due to improved power availability from increased electricity generation. Private investment and consumption are likely to be the main contributors to growth on the demand side,” the Bank said.

However, public investment is projected to contract due to a a slowdown in post-earthquake reconstruction and delays in national pride projects like Melamchi water supply and Upper Tamakoshi hydroelectric, the Bank warned.

Finance Ministry of Nepal had predicted last month that the country’s economy would grow by 7 percent in the year 2019/20. Making public the annual Economic Survey, Finance Minister Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada said the growth of the country’s economic and physical infrastructure was satisfying and that absolute poverty had declined to below 19 percent of the total population.

South Asia

Meanwhile, The World Bank said the outlook for South Asian region is solid, with growth picking up to 7% in 2020 and 7.1% in 2021.

“Domestic demand growth is expected to remain robust with support from monetary and fiscal policy, in particular in India. Growth in India is projected to accelerate to 7.5% in FY 2019/20, which begins April 1. Pakistan’s growth is expected to slow further to 2.7% in FY2019/20, which begins July 16,” the Bank said.

Clean-up on Mount Everest removes 24,000lbs of rubbish and four dead bodies

Posted on by SAT News Desk

Kathmandu : A Nepal government expedition to Mount Everest has removed 11,000kg of rubbish and four dead bodies from the world’s highest mountain, officials said Wednesday.

Tourism Department official Danduraj Ghimire said the cleaners spent weeks collecting food wrappings, cans, bottles and empty oxygen cylinders.

Some of the garbage was flown to Kathmandu and handed over to recyclers in a ceremony Wednesday officially concluding the cleaning campaign. Officials called it a successful mission but said more trash still needs to be collected. Some is covered by snow and only is exposed when temperatures rise.

Ghimire said the four bodies were exposed by melting snow and were carried to base camp and then flown to a hospital in Kathmandu for identification. Climbers struggling to make it down the mountain alive sometimes are unable to carry out the bodies of teammates who have died.

More than 300 climbers have died on Everest since it was first conquered in 1953. It is unclear how many bodies are still on the mountain, and officials said they have no records.

Hundreds of climbers and their guides and porters spend weeks on Everest every spring, the best climbing season. A tent city rises at the base camp at 5,300m for three months between March and May.

– AP

Wasting in South Asia : Lesson to learn

Posted on by SAT News Desk

UN Children’s Fund , New York : A one-day consultation was held in New York on 16 November 2018 to examine the evidence on wasting in South Asia and guide the direction of future collaborative efforts of the No Wasted Lives coalition in the region. The consultation was organized by UNICEF with the following objectives: (1) to share the status of policy and programme action to care for severely wasted children in South Asia; and (2) to identify evidence gaps, research priorities and way forward to build the evidence base to inform the policy and programme response in South Asia. Members of No Wasted Lives and the Council of Research and Technical Advice on Acute Malnutrition (CORTASAM), researchers and academics were invited to join the consultation. There were 32 participants, including 13 participants who joined the meeting remotely.

In the morning, presentations examined the status of and response to wasting in South Asia, with a specific focus on India, which carries about 80 per cent of the region’s wasting burden and where the government is developing national guidelines on the community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM). In the afternoon, the participants discussed the data and evidence presented, the implications for the design of policies and programme to prevent and manage severe wasting, and follow-up actions needed.

Based on the information and evidence shared during the one-day consultation, the following conclusions were drawn.

First, the South Asia context for wasting has several unique characteristics, compared to sub-Saharan Africa where the prevalence is also high. These characteristics require further exploration because they may warrant nuanced approaches to the prevention and treatment of wasting and severe wasting. Contrary to countries in other regions, the prevalence of wasting is highest at birth in South Asia, which suggests that poor maternal nutrition is a key driver and should be considered in preventive efforts. Most infants in South Asia experience their first wasting episode by three months of age, and a higher proportion of children have prolonged episodes of wasting, hereafter referred to as ‘persistent wasting’, than in sub-Saharan Africa. In India, severely wasted children respond lower and slower to treatment in India for reasons that are not fully understood. There are also questions concerning the mortality risks of severe wasting and child survival benefits of treatment in South Asian countries. The ‘very high’ prevalence of wasting (15.9 per cent) and severe wasting (5.1 per cent) in South Asia exceeds all other regions, yet the post-neonatal mortality rate is relatively low. However, these comparisons need careful interpretation and more research is needed to understand the relationship between mortality and wasting in South Asia. Furthermore, the mortality risks are not low enough to ignore, particularly in the first six months of life, and there are potentially long-term impacts of wasting on cognition and learning.

Second, the draft India CMAM guidelines and the country level adaptations build on the relatively strong community platforms for early case detection, community-based management and referral in India. With these guidelines, the government seeks sustainable and scalable solutions that focus on both the prevention and treatment of wasting, including during the first six months of life. The current draft of the India CMAM guidelines does not promote the use of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) to identify wasted children or the use of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) to treat severely wasted children, even though these are supported by the World Health Organization’s 2013 recommendations for treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Instead, children will be identified using weight-for-height and/or bilateral oedema, and severely wasted children without medical complications will be treated with local foods in the form of take-home rations or hot cooked meals that are energy dense, micronutrient-rich and safely produced. Participants in the consultation concluded these approaches are likely to be adequate if the intervention provides a quality product that complies with WHO specifications, and systems are in place to identify and refer severely wasted children with medical complications for inpatient care. The draft guidelines provide an opportunity for a learning agenda including the cost-effectiveness of this alternative model of care for severely wasted children.

Third, research in South Asia can contribute to global and regional efforts in optimizing and innovating care and treatment approaches for children with severe wasting. Areas of research include modifications in the quantity, duration and formulations of RUTF use in nutritional rehabilitation; the use of home-based foods or home-augmented foods to treat severe wasting; and transitioning from treatment foods to family diets. This research could facilitate the development of a greater range of treatment options that are tailored to specific contexts that have the potential for greater coverage, quality and sustainability of care and treatment for severe wasting.

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Pashupatinath Temple In Nepal owns 276 kg of gold and 1.3 billion rupees cash

Posted on by SAT News Desk

ANI(Kathmandu):  A committee formed by the Nepal government, to investigate the assets owned by Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu on Wednesday, made public data that states that the shrine owns 276 kg of gold and 1.3 billion rupees in cash, a report revealed.

This is the first time in history that the data was made public by a committee formed by the government to investigate the assets owned by the shrine. The committee had carried out a study and survey on the basis of prevailing data of over a period of 10 months.

After analysing the record from the Financial Department of Pashupati Area Development Trusts’ (PADT), the committee found out that a total of 1.3 billion rupees had been deposited in banks.

Built in the fifth century, the shrine is one of the four most important religious sites in Asia for devotees of Lord Shiva.

The lands, rest houses and sattals of the temple fall under the unmovable properties of the temple. Three offices falling under PADT, covered 994.14 hectares land of the shrine.

Apart from it, the record of utensils in “Bombe Treasury” owned by temple and property of various Guthis that is part of the temple property is yet to be surveyed.

However, the committee did not count the gold, silvers, currencies, ornaments and other pieces of jewellery offered to the temple that is kept in the main treasury of the temple.

Prayut Chan-o-cha is Thailand’s 29th Prime Minister

Posted on by SAT News Desk

General Prayut Chan-o-cha was elected as Thailand’s next prime minister in a joint upper and lower house Parliamentary vote around 9pm last night following a day of intense debate.

Prayut beat his opponent Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit from Future Forward Party with 500 to 244 votes. Three MPs abstained from voting and one was on a sick leave. 250 of the votes came from the Senators, all appointed by the NCPO, and voted as a bloc in favour of the General.

  • Final tally stands at 500 for Prayuth and 244 for his sole rival, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, with three abstaining
  • Vote ensures Prayuth’s transition from leader of the 2014 coup and the ruling junta to a prime minister endorsed by an elected parliament

(Agencies )

Hong Kong ranks Asia’s No 4 business-friendly market

Posted on by SAT News Desk

According to SCMP, Hong Kong is the fourth easiest place do business in Asia, behind Thailand, South Korea and Japan, as compliance requirements has made the city less friendly to companies than before, according to a report by TMF Group, a global administrative services firm.

But for mainland businesses looking to enter the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong can still play a role in helping them to reduce compliance complexity and costs, it said.

“Compliance requirements are making it more intricate to do business than before in Hong Kong, similar to other comparable jurisdictions in the region,” said Margaret Fung, TMF’s managing director for Hong Kong. “The relative maturity of the market, the foresight of regulatory policymakers and a substantial ecosystem of service providers underpin our position as one of the region’s and world’s most straightforward places to do business in accounting, tax and regulatory terms.”

Mastercard unveiled suite of open banking applications

Posted on by SAT News Desk

According to Finextra, Mastercard has unveiled a suite of open banking applications and services designed to help financial institutions and third party providers make the most of the PSD2 era.

New research from Ovum suggests that delivering on the promise of Open Banking will require market participants to come together to:

  • develop standardised mechanisms by which banks and TPPs interact,
  • establish ecosystem-appropriate measures to minimise fraud exposure
  • provide clarity and consistency on managing enquiries and resolving disputes

Mastercard has put together four offerings to help with this:

  • a single connection to banks’ Open Banking functionality
  • real-time verification of TPP registration status
  • a centralised enquiry and dispute resolution service
  • advice and hands-on support service for banks building their Open Banking strategies

Mastercard has already signed up several partners – including Kikapay, Streeva, Tribe Payments and Alior Bank – in the launch markets of Poland and the UK.

Nepal looks to limit Everest access after deaths

Posted on by SAT News Desk

AFP : Under pressure after a deadly season on traffic-clogged Mount Everest, Nepal is considering tightening access to the world’s highest peak, but mountaineering experts fear the proposed changes could amount to little more than lip service.

Eleven people died during the climbing season that ended this week, as record numbers lined the route to the summit. Although overcrowding was blamed for at least four deaths, many say inexperience is a bigger killer.

“People who know nothing of climbing, never been on a mountain, came and tried to climb Everest,” Chilean mountaineer Juan Pablo Mohr told AFP after returning to Kathmandu.

“A lot of people didn’t know how to put (on) crampons or (use) the fixed ropes,” he said, adding they relied on an army of sherpas or Nepali guides to help them accomplish such basic tasks.

For years, Kathmandu has issued permits to anyone willing to pay $11,000, regardless of whether they are rookie climbers or skilled mountaineers.

But after a devastating spring season, officials told AFP they are considering imposing more restrictions.

“We are looking into having a minimum requirement for climbers, fixing more ropes or taking more oxygen and sherpas,” said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, secretary at Nepal’s tourism ministry.

For veteran mountaineers, the announcement of new rules amounts to little more than a futile annual exercise — with the government each year promising tougher measures that fail to materialise by the following spring.

– ‘Just stupid words’ –

Russell Brice, whose company Himalayan Experience (Himex) has been organising Everest expeditions for decades, told AFP his meetings with government officials over the years had left him in no doubt about their indifference towards the industry.

“The ministry is in denial of overcrowding, of issuing too many permits, not checking what people are doing and so on,” Brice said.

“It is just stupid words,” he said, adding, “they are not interested.”

In 2014, Kathmandu said it would double the number of fixed ropes near the summit to prevent traffic jams.

It never happened.

The government also said it would station soldiers and police at Everest base camp for assistance. An AFP visit to the area in 2015 revealed no such deployment.

Unlike Tibet, which caps the number of Everest climbers at 300, there are no limits on the Nepali side, making for an exceedingly profitable — and dangerous — business.

As cheaper operators have entered the fray, the number of climbers has shot up, creating deadly bottlenecks en-route to the top of the 8,848-metre (29,029-feet) peak — especially when bad weather cuts the number of summit days, as it did this year.

Phurba Tenjing Sherpa, who has guided clients on Everest for over a decade, told AFP one of the climbers who died should never have been allowed to go up, given her excessively slow pace.

But the woman, who was in her fifties, “would not listen” because she had paid the fee and wanted to see the summit, he said.

“Such climbers are increasing on Everest. They force us, they want to climb no matter what. Their stubbornness is killing people on the mountain,” he said.

– Rush to profits –

The situation has deteriorated to such a degree that Nepal’s Mountaineering Association, which represents operators, is lobbying the government for stricter rules.

The association’s president, Santa Bir Lama, told AFP the high number of deaths this year was due to the increased presence of inexperienced climbers.

“Climbers should be self-reliant. It would be best if there is a criteria set for issuing permits,” he said.

For years after Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first ascent of Everest in 1953, access to the world’s most famous peak was a rare prize, offered only to solo mountaineers charting new routes or to climbers belonging to national teams or boasting major sponsorship deals.

But after Nepal scrapped its limit in the 1990s, operators have crowded the slopes for a slice of the multi-million dollar industry.

This year, the Himalayan nation made around $4 million from Everest permits alone.

“It is nice to see this income,” Himex’s Brice said.

But he warned the rush to reap profits was “detracting from the major attraction of Nepal, which is Mount Everest”.

“If we ruin that business, it’s going to have long-term effects”.