NMA general secretary Gurung nominated for UIAA

 Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) general secretary Kul Bahadur Gurung has been nominated for the candidacy of general representative in the management committee of the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA), according to a press note issued by the NMA.

“Gurung is the second person to be elected in UIAA in the 48 years of history of NMA after former president of NMA Zimba Jangbu Sherpa,” the press note reads, adding that this was his second attempt to be on the UIAA committee. “The four-year term of general representative is considered a very important opportunity to have a clear debate and proposal in the international forum on Nepal’s mountain tourism.”

Gurung has been nominated during the general assembly held online on October 23-24.

Established as the technical wing of mountaineering for the government, the NMA has been managing 27 different peaks of Nepal on behalf of the government.

Since the establishment, NMA is the only association that has been conducting various mountaineering training to produce technical human resources for mountaineering in Nepal coordinating and cooperating with UIAA and UAAA as well as other different mountaineering federations.

Working in the mountain tourism sector for the last 28 years, Gurung is from Ruby Valley of Dhading district.

Founded in 1932 UIAA is an international federation for climbing and mountaineering and has global presence on six continents representing 89 member associations and federations in 66 countries. The UIAA has been recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1995.

Critical gaps in social protection hampering Asia-Pacific region’s resilience to Covid-19

 The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for well-functioning social protection systems in the region as never before. A new UN report released today reveals that despite their rapid socioeconomic ascent, most countries in the Asia-Pacific region have weak social protection systems riddled with gaps.

About half of the region’s population has no social protection coverage, according to the publication ‘The Protection We Want: Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific’, jointly produced by the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Only a handful of countries have comprehensive social protection systems with relatively broad coverage.

“Comprehensive social protection creates the foundation for healthy societies and vibrant economies,” UN under-secretary-general and executive secretary of ESCAP Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana said, adding that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought this imperative into sharp focus, by demonstrating the stabilizing effect well-functioning social protection systems have and how their absence exacerbates inequality and poverty. “Delivering effective social protection to all people across our region is already shaping our approach, as we advocate combining short-term relief with longer-term strategies to build back better in the aftermath of the pandemic.”

The scope and scale of existing programmes is still limited. Most poverty-targeted schemes are failing to reach the poorest families and the pandemic risks further reversing progress to eradicate poverty by almost a decade. Many countries are also facing high levels of inequality, both in outcomes and opportunities, which the pandemic has exacerbated. Population ageing, migration, urbanisation, natural disasters and climate change, as well as technological advancements are further compounding these challenges.

The report identifies significant underinvestment as one of the main factors for the huge coverage gap. Excluding health, many countries in the region spend less than 2 per cent of GDP on social protection. This low level of investment in people stands in stark contrast to the global average of 11 per cent. Another key reason is the high prevalence of informal employment in the region, representing close to 70 per cent of all workers.

“The Covid-19 crisis has exposed the precarious situation of many working women and men and especially those in the informal economy,” regional director at the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa said, adding that there is a clear need for further investment in public social protection systems, if we are to avoid the stagnation of social and economic progress made across the region in recent decades.

Expanding social protection would have an immediate impact on reducing poverty, inequality and purchasing power disparities. For example, the proportion of households living in poverty would fall by up to 18 percentage points if governments were to offer basic child benefits, disability benefits and old-age pensions.

While the required investment of two to six per cent of GDP is significant, the report demonstrates that it is within the grasp of most countries. The report recommends governments to reprioritise existing resources, boost public revenues, tap into new technologies and embed social protection into national development strategies, underpinned by social dialogue.

The report was launched on the sidelines of the fifth Regional Conversation Series on Building Back Better. The high-level dialogue on ‘Social Protection: A Right for All, or A Privilege for a Few?’

Prince of Bahrain coming to Nepal for mountaineering

 The government has allowed some 18 climbers including the prince of Bahrain to enter Nepal for mountaineering.

A cabinet meeting yesterday decided to allow the high level guests to come to Nepal for mountaineering at the recommendation of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA). “Those receiving permission include 15 people from Bahrain including the prince of Bahrain and three others from the United Kingdom (UK), confirmed government spokesperson Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada today. “They will come to Nepal on charter flights after September 15,” he said, adding said, the climbers will attempt to scale Mt Manaslu and Mt Lobuche. “They will follow the safety measures prepared by the Health Ministry upon their arrival in Nepal.”

The government has opened mountain peaks across the country for climbers but the ban on international flights and international borders, apart from restriction in movement inside the country has hit the tourism sector, though mountaineering activities has resumed in July after a hiatus of nearly five months due to Covid-19.

The government is also preparing a quarantine modality for tourists arriving in Nepal. “The guests will have to mandatorily stay in hotel quarantine for a week and undergo PCR tests before heading to their planned destinations,” according to the safety measures prepared by the Health Ministry.

Nepal bags country of the year award

Nepal received the country of the year award 2019 for being recognised the Asia’s Best Nation For Mountaineering Adventures at the Top Asia Corporate Ball 2019 organised by Research House of Asia (RHA) Media in Malaysia.
Nepal received the award after being confirmed by carrying out various research surveys on Asian Countries among 5 shortlisted countries for the category of ‘Asia’s Best Nation for Mountaineering Adventures’.
The award was presented by deputy minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia YB Tuan Muhammad Bakhtar bin Wan Chik to ambassador of Nepal to Malaysia Uday Raj Panday, amidst a special ceremony at Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur today.
The Top 10 of Asia is an English language magazine owned and published by Research House of Asia (RHA) Media. The magazine is all about celebrating beautiful stories of successful businesses, people, and inspiring lifestyles across the entire fabric of Asian life.
Present at the occasion were ministers, members of the royal family, chief executive officers (CEOs) of reputed companies, business owners, and many more.

Congestion alone did not kill climbers on Mt Everest: government

Nepal government today claimed that a large number of deaths of climbers on the Mt Everest this season is not solely due to the ‘traffic jam’ on the highest peak of the world.
Factors like high altitude sickness, other health reasons and adverse weather are some of the causes for a large number of deaths on the highest peak of the world, according to director general of the Department of Tourism (DoT) Dandu Raj Ghimire.
The number of deaths on Mt Everest has made the sensational headlines since 2015. Though, tourism ministry claimed that death toll reached only 9, the international media reported it to be 11. “Four Indians died on the 8,848-metres high Mt Everest and two each died on Mt Kangchenjunga and Mt Makalu, bringing the total death toll of Indian climbers in the Himalayas to 8,” he said, adding that the government should check the wrong information.
A 'Traffic jam' occurs when many climbers vie for the summit at the same time, and can be especially dangerous above 8,000 metres known as the 'death zone'. The department – issuing a press note – has been facing criticism for issuing too many permits to scale Mt Everest while disregarding the safety of the climbers.”
The department – in its statement – said that it had issued 366 expedition permits in 2017 and 346 expedition permits in 2018 - not a huge difference compared to 381 permits issued this year for the highest peak. “It untrue that congestion killed climbers on Mt Everest and we urge everyone not to be swayed by false information," the statement reads.
“Such false news tarnishes our image and affects our mountaineering sector,” he added.
According to the department, more than 200 mountaineers have died on the peak since 1922, when the first climbers' deaths on Mt Everest were recorded. The majority of bodies, however, are believed to have remained buried under glaciers or snow. Five people died on Mt Everest in 2018.
In 2016 and 2017, the world's tallest peak claimed lives of six and five climbers respectively.
In 2015, quake-triggered avalanches killed 20 climbers.
According to the department, more than 4,400 people have scaled the highest peak of the world since Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay first conquered the mountain in 1953.
The government has yesterday formed a five-member panel to review and recommend policies to reform the mountaineering sector.

Traffic jam on Mt Everest as climbers make a final summit push

The highest peak of the world has witnessed a traffic jam after more than 200 climbers are making a final push this morning and waiting at the final camp hoping to reach the top of the world by Wednesday morning as the season is expected to close by May 26.
According to a liaison officer at the Everest base camp Gyanendra Shrestha, climbers who have been camping at the 7,900-metre point of the mountain – popularly known as Camp IV – early this morning complained that they have been waiting more than two hours in queues on their way to the summit point.
Some 200 climbers – including high-altitude climbing guides – have headed from the South Col to the summit point early this morning after they found a second weather window to attempt to stand atop the roof of the world. But the traffic jam has created a long queue of climbers above Camp IV.
The increasing high number of climbers aiming to make it to the top on the same morning has however raised fears of overcrowding not only a traffic jam but accidents and deaths, though the officials claimed that huge number of climbers waiting to make a push at the final camp is nothing to worry about.
If all the waiting climbers successfully scale the highest peak on Wednesday, it would be the largest single-day ascent of Mt Everest. In 2012, some 264 climbers stood at the top of the world. That year, 179 climbers successfully reached the top, but not before causing what many referred to as a ‘traffic jam’ on the Hillary Step – a vertical rock with a sharp slope considered one of the most dangerous parts of the climb – due to a small weather window.
This season, the Mt Everest climbing season started on May 14, with a team of eight rope-fixing high-altitude climbers opening a climbing route. The first two-day weather window was closed on May 16 after over 150 world climbers made it to the summit.
According to the Department of Tourism, some 381 individuals have been permitted to climb the Mt Everest this spring. 

Government bans Indian couple for faking Mt Everest summit

The government has imposed a 10-year ban on an Indian police couple for morphing the photographs to obtain their Mt Everest summit certificates.
The couple would not be allowed to enter Nepal for 10 years and will be banned from mountaineering expeditions, according to a ministerial-level decision taken by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation today.
"Likewise, the government has also rescinded the certificates they gained," reads a statement issued by the ministry.
The ministry was in dilemma since there was no minister at the Ministry for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation due to political transition. However, the newly-appointed Tourism Ministry Jeevan Bahadur Shahi endorsed the legal action against the couple as per a recommendation made by the Department of Tourism. The department has the right to issue summit certificate and rescind it.
The Indian police couple Dinesh Chandrakant Rathod and his wife Tarkeshwari Chandrakant Bhelerao from Pune had made a false claim of having reached the 8,850-m summit of Mt Everest on May 23. They had submitted morphed photographs while applying for the summit certificates. But their fellow Indian mountaineers disputed their claims and accused them of crudely manipulating photographs to support their claim to have reached the top of Mt Everest.
Eight other mountaineers had lodged a complaint against the couple saying that Dinesh Rathod and his wife Tarakeshwari never made it to the summit and had 'morphed' photographs of themselves at the top, which the couple denied. But after the investigation, it was found that the climber couple had altered the photographs to support their summit claim and get certificate.
The others mountaineers had said that the couple, who had arrived at Mt Everest base camp very late in the climbing season to have a chance of reaching the top, had morphed the photographs. They also pointed to apparent contradictions in the photographs published online by Dinesh.
After 2 consecutive years of disasters on the mountain, a total of 454 mountaineers scaled the highest peak of the world this year during the March-May climbing season.
Last year 19 climbers were killed and 61 injured by an avalanche at the base camp triggered by a devastating earthquake, whereas in 2014, an avalanche at the Khumbu Icefall killed 16 Sherpa guides cancelling the entire climbing activities.

Local bodies to get their share of mountaineering royalty

The local bodies will get 30 per cent of the mountaineering royalty, according to the new guideline.

The government has endorsed Mountaineering Royalty Allocation and Distribution Guideline 2014 that will enable distribution of 30 per cent of the royalty raised from mountaineering activities to local bodies.

The guideline endorsed on February 9 with an immediate effect will help the government distribute the piling royalty amount in the government coffer due to lack of guideline.

Though, the funds were allocated partially in the past and it had to be approved by the Finance Ministry.

Earlier, in Local-Self Government Act enforced in 1999 had provision of allocating royalty for the development of mountain regions. But it could not come into effect. Locals of Upper Mustang and other mountainous regions have been staging protests and demanding their royalty share as provisioned by the Local-Self Government Act.

Currently, the government owes more than Rs 300 million in royalties to 11 mountain regions.

In September 2011, locals of Upper Mustang even warned of barring tourists from entering the district unless the government gives it its share. Locals have been blaming the government for allocating nominal funds in the districts that mobilise the highest mountaineering royalty.

According to the new guideline, Tourism Ministry will mobilise royalty through District Development Committees in the form of subsidy. The DDCs have to send their progress reports – on the mobilisation of the royalty – to the ministry annually. "The regions that get more than Rs 5 million annually have also to prepare a tourism master plan."

The guideline also directed the royalty to be used for development and upgradation of tourist road, trekking trail, base camp, porter’s shelters, rafting, home stay and preserving tangible and intangible cultural heritage. " The amount should be used for the development of adventure sports activities, airport infrastructure, promotion of tourism products and exploring new destinations," it has stated.

Annually, the government collects more than Rs 240 million in mountaineering royalty by issuing climbing permits for various peaks.