Output of the main products of the mining and extractive industries was up by 19.6 percent, making it the main driver of overall growth.

Mainly, the volume of raw coal production rose by 63.1 percent, whilst that of iron ore production increased by 3.4 percent, year on year.

Mining industry products last year accounted for about 85 percent of the total industrial production in the landlocked country, which is rich in natural resources such as gold, silver, iron, coal and copper.

As at the end of 2018, Mongolia’ population was 3.2 million; an increase of 61.6 thousand on the previous year. A total of 79 thousand children were born in Mongolia in 2018; 1465 Mongolian babies were born in foreign countries.

According to the ‘ADIS’ social development centre, the owners of large farms in the US are interested in hiring Mongolian herders. The centre has signed an agreement with two large American Sheep Unions. However, Mongolian herders face some difficulties, in particular their knowledge of English.

Subsequently, Foreign Minister D.Tsogtbaatar, has made a requested to the parliamentary group of the Mongolian People’s Party to recall these nominees and submit different candidates.

Following the public demonstration last week, the Parliament decided to consider the President-initiated bill on the Procedure of the Parliamentary Plenary Session, which allows dismissal of Parliament Speaker if more than half of MPs submit a petition. The bill was passed to the Standing Committee on State Structure for final discussion yesterday. The draft legislation contains two articles. The first article states that the Parliament would discuss a proposal to dismiss the Parliament Speaker in an urgent manner when it is submitted by a majority of the Parliamentarians. The second article specifies the time when the legislation will take effect. If the bill is approved, the Speaker might be ousted next week.

Afterward, the Parliament discussed two key items, namely the establishment of a temporary committee on investigating Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Development Fund (SMEDF) and minerals law.

MINISTER OF MINING RETRACTS BILL ON MINERALS

Due to the lack of quorum for the last two months, the Bill on Minerals that was expected to extend 2.5 percent gold royalty for another three years was left undiscussed by the Parliament, resulting in 5-9 percent royalty starting from January 1. After finally forming a quorum, the Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry Sumiybazar Dolgorsuren requested to retract the bill to revise certain articles yesterday. The request was approved by 74.5 percent of MP. Since the bill is now postponed for an indefinite time, the gold tax will be set at the pre-revision level of 5-9 percent.

Initiated by nine MPs, the bill on establishing a temporary committee responsible for investigating, monitoring and transparently disclosing information of SMEDF was rejected. The Parliament deemed it unnecessary as a temporary committee has the authority as a permanent committee and rejected the bill with 64.3 percent of votes from MPs.

"The government decided to declare 2019 as a citizen-centered public service year in order to improve public services, eliminate bureaucracy in public service at all levels, and listen to the voices of citizens to solve pressing issues," the press office said in a statement.

In 2019, the government is going to implement around 70 measures, including intensifying the digitalization of public services, so as to improve the transparency of the public sector, eliminate bureaucracy and corruption, and save time, the statement said.

Samdannyam Munkhchuluun was appointed by 24 deputies in the 45-seat council in a secret ballot.

"Working as mayor of the capital city is very responsible. I will work hard to solve the pressing issues in the city which is home to more than half of the country's population of 3.2 million," Munkhchuluun told reporters after the appointment.

The 40-year-old Munkhchuluun, a member of the ruling Mongolian People's Party, has served as a deputy of the Citizens' Representative Council since 2016.

Sundui Batbold, the former mayor of Ulan Bator, announced his resignation in late November after the country's Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh accused him of not fulfilling his duties.

Mr. Munkhchuluun had a tight run against Amarsaikhan Sainbuyan, former Head of CRCC as the poll ended in a tie and the re-poll was in favor of Munkhculuun, who self-nominated himself at the meeting, with 24 to 43 votes. As for Amarsaikhan, the board of Mongolian People’s Party nominated him on December 28, but the election had to be postponed because the CRCC could not form the quorum.

After the appointment of Mr. Munkhchuluun, the CRCC put “Swine flu and influenza outbreak issues” as the next item on the order list, before the appointment of the next Head of CRCC. In the first week of this year, a total of 4,136 instances out of 57,508 ambulatory care were diagnosed with influenza or similar illness in the capital city alone. 35.6 percent of patients were infants aged 0 to 1, 26.8 percent were aged 2 to 4 and 14.4 percent were aged 5 to 9. Out of 3,098 calls at children’s emergency services, 59.5 percent were influenza or similar illness calls.

Additionally, the Cabinet resolved to grant 3-5 days of paid time off to parents and child guardians, who have a child suffering from influenza, at its regular meeting yesterday. After calling for private entities to support the implementation of the resolution, the Cabinet informed that the decision will be effective until March 16. Also, Minister of Health and other related officials were ordered to make local medical centers work on Saturdays until March 16.

During the meeting, Professor L.Dugerjav handed over the state flag of Mongolia which was raised in Antarctica. This year marks the 10th anniversary of participation of Mongolia in Antarctica research. On the occasion of the anniversary, the Mongolian researchers worked with the researchers from other countries at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base (BAB) on the Livingston Island of Antarctica, establishing their own research base named after Chinggis Khaan.

President reminisced that Mongolian polar research L.Dugerjav embarked on an expedition to Antarctica a decade ago and wished him good luck with his research works.

Kisenosato Yutaka said he had been struggling with injuries but had wanted to continue wrestling to repay fans for their support.

In 2017, he became the first Japan-born wrestler in almost two decades to reach the rank of grand champion, known in Japanese as "yokozuna".

The only two wrestlers left at the elite level are both from Mongolia.

"I feel that I did everything I could," a tearful Kisenosato told reporters at a news conference.

"I was supported by so many people... I have nothing but gratitude."

He will be adopting the name of Araiso as a sumo elder. It is expected that he will train younger wrestlers as a coach in his retirement.

Who is Kisenosato Yutaka?
Kisenosato, whose real name is Yutaka Hagiwara, is from Ibaraki, north of Tokyo.

As a child, Kisenosato was a pitcher in his school's baseball club before he chose to train as a wrestler at a stable in Tokyo.

The 32-year old made his professional debut in 2002 and reached Japan's top Makuuchi division in 2004 at the age of 18.

After being runner-up on multiple occasions, he finally clinched his first tournament victory - and thereby his promotion to yokozuna - in January 2017.

Kisenosato went on to win his first tournament as a yokozuna in March that year.

However a chest muscle injury kept him out of eight straight tournaments in a row, the longest career pause of any yokozuna in sumo history.

Since competing again in September 2018, Kisenosato has posted eight successive losses, the worst run of any grand champion since the competition format was introduced in 1949.

"I was gradually recovering, but I was unable to wrestle in my own style," said Kisenosato, the first Japanese-born yokozuna to retire in 16 years.

Only two active yokozuna now remain in professional sumo wrestling: Mongolian-born pair Hakuho Sho and Kakuryu Rikisaburo.

In recent years, sumo has been hit by falling numbers of Japanese recruits, partly because it is seen as a tough, highly-regimented life.

The last Japanese-born wrestlers to reach the top were brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana, who made it to yokozuna in 1994 and 1998 respectively.