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June 27, 2007
First Labour Team Climbs Everest
Nima Dorchi Sherpa, a
residennt of Makalu Village Development Committee (VDC Ward No. 4 of
Sankhuwasabha district, scaled the 8-848-metre Mt. Everest from the
normal ropute on June 23.
According to a press
statement issued by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation
(MoCTCA), the one-member of the First Nepali Labour Expedition 2007
hoisted the flag of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on the
summit of the world's highest mountain.
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June
25, 2007
Nepal to hold CA polls on
Nov. 22
The much-awaited elections to the
Constituent Assembly (CA) is slated for November 22, 2007. The meeting
of the Council of Ministers held Sunday (June 24) afternoon at Prime
Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s official residence at Baluwatar took
the decision in this regard.
The government made the date for the CAL
polls public as per the mandate of the eight-party meeting held in
Kathmandu on June 23.
Disclosing the decision of the cabinet
meeting, Minister for Information and Communications and spokesman of
the government, Mr. Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that the government and
the parties were confident that the polls would be held as scheduled.
The upcoming elections, which are going to
be the first post-conflict polls, will elect a body of the Constituent
Assembly, which will rewrite the country's constitution.
Earlier, the government had decided to
hold the lections on June 20. Following the postponement of the
elections, the Interim Legislature-Parliament amended the interim
constitution for fixing a new date for the polls.
The announcement of the date for the CA
elections is indicative of the fact that the major political parties are
committed to ending Nepal's current political impasse.
Following the success of the Jana
Andolan II (Second Democratic Movement) in April 2006, the political
parties have formed an interim parliament, formulated interim statute
and formed the interim government.
With all the
political parties focusing their attention on making the CA polls a
success, the country's ongoing peace process is gaining due momentum.
With the start of the peace process, Nepal's tourism industry has been
showing a very encouraging trend of revival. In the first five months of
2007, tourist arrivals went up by over 40 percent as compared to the
figure of the same period last year
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June 11, 2007
Korean Climber Um Felicitated
Renowned Korean climber
Um Hong Gil and members of the expedition "Um's 14+2 8,000m. Challenge"
were honoured amidst a facilitation programme organised by Nepal
Mountaineering Federation on June 9, 2007.
Felicitating Mr. Um,
Minister for Education and Sports, Mr. Pradeep Nepal expressed the view
that his successful feat on Mt. Lhotse Shar would help highlight Nepal
and Korea in the international arena and strengthen the people-to-people
ties between the two friendly countries.
Handing over a Letter of
Appreciation to the Korean and Nepali climbers to commemorate the "First
Ascent" of Mt. Lhotse Shar via the South Face, Mr. Nepal also extended
best wishes to them.
Mr. Gil said that his
attempt would not have been successful without the concerted effort and
support of all the members of the team and Nepali high altitude workers.
Following the successful
ascent of 8,400m high Mt. Lhotse Shar on May 31, 47-year-old Korean
climber Mr. Gil has completed his feat of ascending all the 8,000ders
for the 16th time.
Mr. Gil's compatriots
37-year-old Byun Sung Ho, 33-year-old Mo Sang Hyun, and Nepali high
altitude guide Pasang Namgyal Sherpa, 24, of Solukhumbu, Khumjung,
accompanied him to the summit of Lhotse Shar. Um Hong Gil's success on
his 16th time climbing of 8,000 metres also marks the first successful
ascent of Mt. Lhotse Shar from South Face route, which is demanding
physically as well as in technique.
With his successful
ascent of 8,586m high Mt. K2 in the summer of 2000, Um Hong Gil set the
record of being the first mountaineer from Asia to summit all the 14
eight thousand metre peaks. Eight of these peaks, including the world's
highest Mt. Everest (Sagarmatha / Chomolungma) is situated in Nepal. The
remaining six are situated in Tibet / China and Pakistan.
After the record setting
successful ascent of all the 14 eight thousand meter peaks, he took the
challenge to reach the summit of Mt. Yalungkhnag 8,505m and 8,400m.
Lhotse Shar (subsidiary 8,000m summits respectively in the Lhotse and
Kangchenjunga massif) to set yet another new record of climbing 8,000
meter peaks known as "Um's 14+2 Challenge".
In spring 2004, he
succeeded in reaching the summit Mt. Yalungkhnag 8505m to mark his 15th
8000m summit. However, he faced tough challenges to reach the summit of
his 16th 8000m summit - Lhotse Shar. His four previous attempts to reach
the summit of Lhotse Shar had failed resulting loss of his two climbing
partners in the autumn of 2003.
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June 8, 2007
Arrivals up by around 50% in May
Tourist arrivals in
Nepal showed upward trend even in the month of May this year. A total of
27,759 tourists from various parts of the world visited Nepal during the
month. This is 49.6% growth as compared to the same month of last year.
Arrivals from the Indian
market shot up by about 28% in comparison with the figure of the
corresponding period of 2006, according to the Ministry of Culture,
Tourism and Civil Aviation.
Similarly, arrivals from
non-Indian markets also registered a remarkable growth.
The South Asian market
was very encouraging followed by Bangladesh (204.2%) and Pakistan
(154.5%). However, arrivals from Sri Lanka decreased by 28%.
The number of tourists
coming from Malaysia and Singapore also increased significantly. Japan
(18.3%), S. Korea (743.4%), Thailand (704.4.1%) and Taiwan (243.2%) are
other primary markets showing increased arrival trend.
Arrivals from the
European markets scored one-third market share during the month. The
number of tourists visiting from the UK, France and Germany increased by
86.3%, 94.6% and 48.4% respectively. Arrivals from Italy, the
Netherlands and Spain also shot up by 169.4%, 81.6%, and 55%
respectively.
The Australian and USA
markets, too, increased by 30.9% and 71.1% respectively.
Although Nepal is
becoming a much sought-after tourist destination, the shortage of air
seats has hampered further growth. The ongoing peace process and various
mega international adventure sports tourism events such as the Hillary
Tenzing Everest Marathon have contributed to the tourism growth. The
tourism industry is very hopeful that the upcoming autumn season would
be more encouraging.
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June 5, 2007
254 Climbers Scaled Everest Spring 2007:
Ministry
More than 500 climbers
and high altitude workers from across the world summitted the world's
highest peak (Mt. Everest), from both Nepal and Tibet (China) sides in
spring this year.
A total of 254 climbers
scaled the 8,848-metre peak from Nepal side alone. Of them, 114 were
foreigners and the remaining 140 were Nepali climbers and high altitude
workers, according to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil
Aviation (MoCTCA).
Of the total climbers
making their successful attempts from Nepal side, eight were women, the
ministry stated. Similarly, the number of climbers losing their lives on
Everest stood at seven this spring.
Twenty-three
expeditions, including three Nepali teams, had received permit to
attempt Mt. Everest from Nepal side during the time. |
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