The Bogdkhan railway project was launched today, on August 23. The government of Mongolia plans to begin the construction of the railway bypass line with promptitude and put it into service within three years.

In his remarks during the project launch, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene emphasized that the new railway line will not only contribute to the country’s infrastructure and logistics development, but also is one of the key solutions to reducing congestion in Ulaanbaatar, creating new satellite cities in Tuv aimag, and alleviating traffic congestion.

The Bogdkhan railway line to be built between Rashaant and Maanit stations, bypassing Bogdkhan Mountain, will stretch 135.8 km across Altanbulag and Sergelen soums of Tuv aimag, and Bagakhangai, Khan-Uul and Songinokhairkhan districts of Ulaanbaatar city.

Mongolian scientists have started to develop a PCR test, reports Minister of Health S.Enkhbold.

“Scientists of Choros Onosh laboratory have launched a startup company to develop a PCR test to diagnose coronavirus infection” said Minister S.Enkhbold.

Saliva and other main diagnostic tests are thus being produced in Mongolia.

The Ministry of Health is planning to purchase first 10,000 tests from the company in aims to support its operations as much as possible. In the future, the hospitals will be able to order and widely use the diagnosing device.

“This will bring us one step closer to detect and distinguish coronavirus mutations using a domestically produced device,” added the Minister.

In Ulaanbaatar, 105 hectares of forests were restored this year spending state and local budget funds.

A reforestation and rehabilitation professional organization is monitoring afforestation of 30 hectares and the establishment of forest strip on 50 hectares as well as green strip on 25 hectares.

In the framework of ‘Program on ensuring safety of water supply for Ulaanbaatar citizens and improving sanitation facilities’ approved by the resolution of Citizens’ Representative Khural (city council) of the Capital city in 2018, the Environment Department of the capital city and Water Supply and Sewerage Authority have jointly planted trees and established green strip with the leafy trees such as aspen, elm, bush in the total area of 50 hectares.

The Government of Mongolia and the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) broke ground on August 20 on a USD 93 million Advanced Water Purification Plant (AWPP) in Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar.

The President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh invited U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia Michael Klecheski, MCC’s Deputy Resident Country Director Eric Guetschoff, and members of the Millennium Challenge Account-Mongolia (MCA-Mongolia) to celebrate starting the first major infrastructure project in the USD 350 million Mongolia Water Compact.

“The U.S. Government is supporting Mongolia’s economic growth using grant financing when possible,” explained Ambassador Klecheski, “because we believe that growing democracies benefit from programs that do not lead to too much debt.”

The new state-of-the-art AWPP will supply up to 50 million cubic meters of water annually, boosting the bulk water supply production capacity in Ulaanbaatar by 65 percent over its lifetime. The AWPP is part of a phased, five-year compact that will ultimately increase Ulaanbaatar’s water supply production capacity by 80 percent.

“Today marks a new chapter in the U.S.’s partnership with the people of Mongolia,” said MCC’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Alexia Latortue. “Once operational, this purification plant will help alleviate the strain on groundwater aquifers along the Tuul River and provide the critical water resources needed to support the everyday wellness and economic growth of Mongolians.”

Along with the AWPP, MCA-Mongolia will also construct new groundwater wells downstream from Ulaanbaatar; construct a new wastewater recycling plant and pipelines to provide high-quality treated water for industrial use; as well as increase the country’s institutional capacity, and the long-term sustainability of Ulaanbaatar’s water supply, through reforms and technical assistance.

In less than three decades, the population of Ulaanbaatar has nearly tripled in size; however, the water supply has remained the same, creating the conditions for a severe water crisis. The MCC-Mongolia Water Compact will build the critical infrastructure necessary to sustain this limited natural resource, positively impacting more than 55% of Mongolia’s population.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an international development agency of the U.S. Government, working to reduce global poverty through economic growth. Created in 2004, MCC provides time-limited grants and assistance to countries that meet rigorous standards for good governance, fighting corruption and respecting democratic rights.

Source: U.S. Embassy Ulaanbaatar

Asian benchmark Australian thermal coal at Newcastle Port has seen an unprecedented 106% gain in prices in 2021. In stark contrast, international oil benchmark Brent crude gained only 33% this year.

The price of coal soared to more than $166 per metric ton, according to the latest report by market data provider Argus. The Newcastle weekly index, which stood at $46.18 in September 2020, now stands at its all-time high of $195.20 from July 2008.

The Richards Bay index, Newcastle’s South African equivalent, also jumped more than 55% this year, closing at $137.06 per metric ton last week.

According to Yulia Buchneva, Fitch ratings agency’s director in natural resources, thermal coal remains one of the main global energy sources with an over 35% share in power generation worldwide.

“We expect that the share of coal in energy generation will decline driven by the energy transition agenda, however this will have a rather longer-term impact on the market. In the medium-term, demand for coal in emerging markets with less strict environmental agenda, in particular in India, Pakistan, and Vietnam, where coal-fired power dominates generation, is expected to rise,” Buchneva told CNBC, noting that Europe and the US represent a mere 10% of worldwide coal demand.

“The current high thermal coal prices have decoupled from costs and are therefore not sustainable. We expect that prices will normalize during the remainder of the year,” she added.

Fitch Ratings expects the price of Australian coal to drop toward $81 by year’s end.

Thermal coal is burned to generate electricity. It is the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel, with a high level of emissions. Argus analysts claim coal prices were impacted by high electricity demand and a surge in global gas prices due to the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with unseasonably low gas storages in Europe and low gas imports.

Two of China’s major steel producers, Ansteel and Ben Gang, are merging into one corporation, which will have an annual production capacity of 63 million tons of crude steel.

Under a merger agreement signed on August 20, Ben Gang, currently owned by the Liaoning Provincial Property Management Committee, will donate 51% of the company’s shares to Ansteel, becoming its subsidiary, China’s news agency Xinhua reports. Both companies view the merger as a way of reorganizing and boosting industrial capabilities.

“Through this reorganization, we will implement an integrated resource use and coordinated development in areas such as research and development, procurement and sales, and thereby contribute to the revival of Liaoning and the northeastern part of the country as a whole,” Ansteel’s chairman of the board Tan Chengxu said, calling the transition “a milestone in the development of Ansteel.”

The restructuring will now be reviewed under China’s anti-monopoly regulation by related government departments.

Upon completion of all merger procedures, Ansteel will have an annual production capacity of 63 million tons of crude steel, effectively making it the third in the world in terms of steel production after the Chinese Baowu Steel Group and ArcelorMittal, a Luxembourg-based multinational steel manufacturing and mining corporation.

By 2025, Ansteel plans to achieve annual production of 70 million tons of crude steel and 50 million tons of iron concentrate, boosting its revenue to approximately 300 billion yuan ($46.3 billion).

China, the world’s largest producer with 1.065 billion tons of crude steel output in 2020, is on course to restructure its crowded steel industry by forming a number of super-large steel conglomerates by 2025. They will consolidate up to 70% of China’s steel output in the hands of its top 10 steelmakers from some 37% they cover now, under a plan recently released by the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported 1,780 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths over the past 24 hours, pushing the national counts to 193,679 and 898 respectively, the country's health ministry said Sunday.

One of the new confirmed cases was imported from abroad, and the others were locally transmitted, the ministry said in a statement.

The COVID-19 Delta variant remains prevalent in the country, the ministry said, urging the public to follow all relevant health guidelines to protect minors and people suffering chronic diseases.

So far, 63.1 percent of the country's population has been fully vaccinated against the virus, according to the ministry.

The Asian country launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in late February, aiming to inoculate at least 60 percent of its 3.3-million population.

Electrocution and collisions on power lines are among the leading causes of non-natural mortality for birds. Power lines are exponentially increasing, particularly in developing countries, but mitigation strategies to prevent bird mortality are questionable. Mongolia combines a recently increased power line network, an abundant raptor population, a dangerous crossarm configuration and a habitat with no natural perches, producing many bird-power line interactions. Our aim is to assess the bird mortality caused by power lines in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, to determine the factors increasing the risk of bird electrocution, and to evaluate the effectiveness of used retrofitting measures.

Methods

In July 2019 we covered 132.9 km of 15 kV power lines checking 1092 poles. We also conducted bird transects to record raptor and corvid richness and abundance, to assess species vulnerability to electrocution.

Results

We recorded 76 electrocuted birds of 7 species. Electrocution rate was 6.96 birds/100 poles. The most affected species were Common Raven (Corvus corax) and Upland Buzzard (Buteo hemilasius), highlighting the electrocution of 5 endangered Saker Falcons (Falco cherrug). By contrast, we only recorded 8 individuals of 5 species colliding with wires, the most affected being Pallas’s Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus). About 76.1% of sampled poles had some mitigation measure. Of these, 96.6% were brush perch deflectors and 3.4% rotating-mirrors perch deterrents. We found differences in electrocution rates among crossarm configurations, with the strain insulator with one jumper being the most lethal. Additionally, we found no correlation between bird abundance and electrocution rates, suggesting that some species are more sensitive to electrocution. Although no differences in total bird electrocution rates were detected between poles with and without perch deterrents, when bird size is considered, deterrents reduced the mortality rate of small birds, while they were ineffective for medium-sized birds.

Conclusions

Despite the widespread use of perch deterrents in the Mongolian power line network, there is still an alarming electrocution rate. This strategy is ineffective and some mechanisms, such as brush perch deflectors, may increase the electrocution rate for some medium-sized birds. Finally, we propose strategies to minimize the avian electrocution rate in the Gobi Desert.

Background

The development of power line networks is both a consequence and a driver of a country’s economic progress (Chaurey et al. 2004), but it is also an important source of environmental impacts (Sánchez-Zapata et al. 2016). Electrocutions and collisions with power lines are among the leading non-natural causes of bird mortality (Bevanger 1998; Haas 2005), drastically reducing the populations of some endangered species (García-del-Rey and Rodríguez-Lorenzo 2011), especially raptors (Meretsky et al. 2000; Real et al. 2001; López-López et al. 2011; Angelov et al. 2013). Three factors have been linked to the increased risk of accidents between birds and power lines. The first one is related to the pole and crossarm configuration or the wire arrangement (e.g. grounded steel and concrete poles and crossarms, or the increase of jumper wires; Tintó et al. 2010; Guil et al. 2011), the second one is associated with the ecology and biology of birds (e.g. size and wingspan, low maneuverability, narrow visual field, hunting behavior; Janss 2000; Lehman et al. 2007; Martin and Shaw 2010; Guil et al. 2015) and the last one is related to the environment (e.g. absence of natural perches, frequency of fogs, location on migratory routes; Harness et al. 2008; Dixon et al. 2018).

Electrocution occurs when a bird simultaneously contacts two differently energized phases or one energized phase and one grounded area (APLIC 2006). Thus, mitigation strategies (from now on “retrofitting”) used to prevent bird electrocution can be: (i) by “separation” between potential contacts, which is the most recommended strategy since it is permanent and does not require maintenance; (ii) by “insulation”, which requires strategically covering energized or grounded contacts, it is the most used strategy and needs maintenance; and (iii) by “redirection” of birds to perch in safer places, which is the cheapest strategy and also requires maintenance (APLIC 2006). By contrast, bird collisions can be mitigated modifying surrounding habitats, removing overhead shield wires, burying lines, and increasing visibility to birds by marking wires (Eccleston and Harness 2018). Although these mechanisms are considered effective in reducing electrocutions (Tintó et al. 2010) and collisions (Alonso et al. 1994; Barrientos et al. 2011), few studies have evaluated their long-term effectiveness in the field and with different avian populations (Janss and Ferrer 1999).

Asia is undergoing the fastest economic growth and many of its countries are exponentially increasing their power line network (Hammons 2011). In addition to this sharp increase, most power lines have little or no retrofitting (Dixon et al. 2013a), as most Asian countries are limited in their economic resources. However, avian electrocution and collision studies in this continent are scarce (Lehman et al. 2007; Bernardino et al. 2018; Slater et al. 2020), so there is an urgent need to focus efforts on the continent, especially in important bird areas, to understand the magnitude of these impacts. In the last two decades, Mongolia has sharply increased its power line network (Amartuvshin and Gombobaatar 2012). Studies carried out so far show a severe environmental impact as a result of the interaction between rich and abundant raptor populations, an electrical network with hazardous designs (grounded steel and concrete poles and metal crossarm with few or obsolete retrofitting, usually redirection) and habitat conditions without natural perches (Harness et al. 2008; Amartuvshin and Gombobaatar 2012; Dixon et al. 2018). One of the largest concerns is the high mortality rate of the Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug; Dixon et al. 2020), which is globally endangered (BirdLife International 2021) and a large part of its breeding population is in Mongolia (Gombobaatar et al. 2004). Despite previous research about birds and power lines carried out in Mongolia (Harness et al. 2008; Amartuvshin and Gombobaatar 2012; Dixon et al. 2013a), most studies have been located in the central and eastern part of the country (Ganbold et al. 2018). By contrast, large areas in southern Mongolia have remained understudied. The Gobi Desert extends in this area, an extremely arid ecosystem in which many species adapted to these extreme ecosystems survive. Although the abundance of species that are more sensitive to power lines impacts, such as birds of prey, is slightly lower than in other areas previously studied in the country, the presence of potential natural perches is even lower, so the interaction between birds and power lines can be high (Gombobaatar et al. 2004).

In this study, our main goal was to study bird mortality at power lines in the Gobi Desert (southern Mongolia). Specifically, we aimed to: (1) evaluate bird mortality by electrocution and collision with power lines, (2) explore the factors that increase the risk of bird electrocution, such as the crossarm configuration and the size or abundance of the bird species in the area, and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of the retrofitting measures used.

Please see the full article on the link https://avianres.biomedcentral.com/.../s40657-021-00277-2

On August 19, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene became acquainted with how the General Entrance Exams are being organized at schools.

With the first exam taking place for the subject of Mongolian History, the exams are planned to be organized until August 22. Of a total of 1,696 examinees registered to take the Mongolian History exam, 74.1 percent or 1,258 examinees have taken the exam, which is a lower attendance rate compared to last year.

Until the end of the exams, the examinees are able to travel for free on public transport by showing their documents. Furthermore, as traffic wardens have been stationed near schools where the General Entrance Exams are being organized, it is possible for examinees to quickly arrive at their exam venues.

Minister of Education and Science L.Enkh-Amgalan said, “40,420 examinees are taking the exams this year. If the exams had been organized between June 29 and July 2, it would not have been possible for over 5,000 examinees that recently tested positive for COVID-19 or became a close contact to take their exams.

As of today, about 98 percent of the students have been fully vaccinated. Thus, we believe that there would not be any high risk of getting infected. About 150 thousand students will be studying at colleges and universities this year.”

As for students that are currently unable to take the exams due to COVID-specific reasons, the exams will be organized once again from September 2 to 5. Furthermore, the Ministry is currently planning to have the General Entrance Exams organized biannually in the future. Alongside transitioning into a system where examinees will be able to take their exams at their preferred date, the exams are planned to be divided into three levels. “This is due to how it is unfair for a student planning to major in Mathematics to take the same level of exam as a student who is looking to enroll in an undergraduate program for performing arts,” highlighted the Minister of Education and Science.

Classes will resume for colleges and universities from September 13.

More specifically, while the academic year will begin for schools and kindergartens from September 1, classes will begin at colleges and universities once students are enrolled following the completion of the General Entrance Exams that will be organized for the second time.

As this year’s General Entrance Exams are being organized during a pandemic, all examinees are being allowed entry after having their body temperatures checked. With infection prevention guidelines in place, students found to have high body temperatures will be tested for COVID-19 in a dedicated room at each school.

Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene said, “While previously, all levels of educational institutions had transitioned to organizing classes online due to the pandemic, classes will soon begin to take place in-person as the nationwide vaccination rate has reached over 60 percent, with over 90 percent of all teachers and students vaccinated. It is important for all sides involved to put in effort into resuming in-person classes - and gradually return to our normal way of life.”

Of a total of 40,420 examinees taking this year’s General Entrance Exams, there are eight examinees that are above the age of 50, reports the Education Ministry.