Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- A total of 322 HIV carriers and AIDS patients are now living in Mongolia, according to newly released data by the country's National Statistics Office.

More than 80 percent of the HIV-infected people are men, while around 60 percent are people between 20 and 40 years old, according to data released by the agency on the occasion of World AIDS Day, which falls on Dec. 1 every year.

Around 99 percent of infections are from sexual transmission, according to the statistical agency.

The first case of HIV infection in Mongolia was recorded in 1992. The East Asian country is home to a population of around 3.4 million.

On December 1, a forum took place under the theme, ‘Ulaanbaatar: Development Prospects’.

Governor of the Capital City, Mayor of Ulaanbaatar D.Sumiyabazar gave opening remarks at the forum, “In the past year, we aimed to resolve issues that accumulated over the years through a comprehensive policy by cooperating with the State Great Khural, the Government, and the Citizens’ Representative Khural of the Capital City for the development of Ulaanbaatar city. Through the forum, we aim to discuss possible solutions that could be effectively implemented in a short amount of time based on participation and partnership as well as to have them realized.”

“The Law on Administrative and Territorial Units and their Governance was amended by the parliament after 27 years. With this, it becomes possible for Ulaanbaatar city to resolve many of the issues that have accumulated over the past 30 years.”

Regarding the city’s development vision for 2040, “In the capital city, the population will increase up to over 2 million, with households amounting to 667 thousand. With two city centers, and 5 subcenters, there will be 84 new schools and 425 new kindergartens. By constructing 1,738.8 km of autoroads, 30 bridges and overpasses, and 9 underpasses, it is planned to increase the average speed of traffic during peak hours to 22.5 km/h,” highlighted Mayor D.Sumiyabazar.

MP, Head of the Temporary committee in charge of Ulaanbaatar city development policy E.Bat-Amgalan said, “In order to bring an end to the capital city’s many pressing issues, a temporary committee has been established with 26 members. The committee will provide support and cooperate in resolving socio-economic issues such as urban planning, traffic congestion, and environmental safety on a policy level.”

The capital city’s current population is 1.5 million, which is three times greater than the city’s population 30 years ago. In connection with the number of residents, 64.2 percent of the country’s total working age population and 69.2 percent of registered entities and organizations are based in Ulaanbaatar city.

During the forum, the city officials made presentations and held discussions on topics including ways to increase foreign investment, improve the city’s economic capacity, create opportunities for public-private partnership, and increase the amount of large-scale international projects and programs being implemented in Ulaanbaatar.

At the invitation of the Capital City Governor, the forum was attended by members of the temporary committee in charge of Ulaanbaatar city development policy, ambassadors, representatives of international organizations, and representatives of the Citizens’ Representative Khural of the Capital City.

The Ministry of Health reported that 441 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the past 24 hours. Specifically, 274 cases were confirmed in Ulaanbaatar city, with 167 cases in rural regions.

As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mongolia stands at 383,711.

Furthermore, three new COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 1,935. Currently, 5,300 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 whilst 10,087 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

Of the total patients currently undergoing treatment at hospitals, there are 2,073 patients in mild, 2,543 in serious, 573 in critical, and 111 in very critical conditions.

As of today, October 15, the coverage of 1st dose is 69.5 percent (2,260,835) and 2nd dose – 66.1 percent (2,151,702) of the total population. Moreover, 693,158 people (21.0 percent) have received 3rd dose or a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccines nationwide.

Tel Aviv, Israel has won the unenviable title of world’s most expensive city to live in, according to a newly released biannual report by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The city jumped to the top of the list, from fifth place last year, for the first time ever, the EIU’s December 2021 worldwide cost of living index, released on Tuesday, shows.

According to the EIU, Tel Aviv climbed up the rankings due to the rise in the Israeli currency, the shekel, “buoyed against the [US] dollar by Israel’s successful Covid-19 vaccine rollout,” which was one of the quickest in the world. The Israeli shekel was up 4% against the US dollar year-to-date early last month, which prompted prices on nearly one-tenth of goods to surge. Food and transportation costs were hit the hardest.

Last year’s leader – Paris – slipped to second, closely followed by Singapore. Among other cities in the most expensive top 10 are, in succession, Zurich, Hong Kong, New York, Geneva, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, and Osaka. Rome dropped the furthest in the rankings, amid a decline in prices for food and clothing.

The fastest-rising city is the Iranian capital, Tehran, which jumped 50 places to number 29, amid shortages and price increases due to US sanctions. Damascus, Syria was ranked the least expensive city in the survey.

Overall, the EIU survey shows that supply-chain bottlenecks, changes in consumer demand, and swings in currency exchange rates over the past year have increased the cost of living in many of the world’s largest cities, and analysts expect prices to rise further in the coming year. The largest increase was recorded in transportation, with the average price of gasoline per liter up by 21%.

Also, according to EIU figures, the inflation rate of the prices it tracked is currently the fastest recorded in the past five years, surging from 1.9% in 2020 to 3.5% year-on-year as of September 2021.

The EIU’s survey assessed the cost of living across 173 global cities and compared the prices of over 200 everyday products and services.

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) renovated and equipped the Center for the Elderly of Nalaikh Municipality in Mongolia.

Established in 1988 to carry out social activities and organize various events for the elderly and help the elderly use their time more productively, the Center for the Elderly of Nalaikh Municipality could not provide adequate services due to wear and lack of equipment.

TİKA renovated and equipped the Center for the Elderly as part of the project it implemented upon the request of Nalaikh Municipality for support for the renovation of the center.

The opening ceremony held for the center was attended by Amarsaikhan Sainbuyan, Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia; Zulfikar Sarkıt, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection; Zafer Ateş, the Republic of Turkey’s Ambassador to Ulaanbaatar; Radnaabazar Choijinsambuu, Mayor of Nalaikh; Emrah Ustaömer, TİKA’s Coordinator in Ulaanbaatar; Narantuya Purevdorj, Chair of the Town Council of Nalaikh; and Otgonpurev Batsukh, Director of the Center for the Elderly in Nalaikh.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, Amarsaikhan Sainbuyan, Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia, stressed that the friendly relations between the Turkish and Mongolian people were centuries old and that the Republic of Turkey implemented projects all around Mongolia. Sainbuyan thanked the Republic of Turkey and TİKA for their support.

Otgonpurev Batsukh, Director of the Center for the Elderly, delivered a speech and stated that the building and equipment of the center were very old, that they requested TİKA’s support in this context, and that their request was fulfilled in a short time. Batsukh said he was happy that the elderly would have a modern building, and thanked the people of Turkey and TİKA.

SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DEVITA Global ("DEVITA") together with the Bodi Insurance Group ("Bodi Insurance") have agreed on a cooperation partnership for the joint development of a decentralized health data sharing economy by employing blockchain technology to create a network of trust on which platform participants, characterized as either "Data Owner" or "Data User", can securely store and exchange personal health data.

This agreement comes at a time when the global health insurance sector faces a major data management crisis, which has only accentuated higher demand for high-quality, auditable, and reliable health data. After all, data is the lifeline of healthcare today, with reliable and censorship-resistant exchanges crucial to quality and efficiency.

DEVITA's decentralized health data sharing economy enables Data Owners to profit from providing their personal health information to the Decentralized Health Database or through the sale of their data on the DEVITA Marketplace to Data Users who require the acquisition of untampered health data collected through reliable means. Data is directly sourced from the patients and securely recorded to an immutable and interconnected decentralized ledger, made available on a permission basis to Data Users for research, market analysis, or in the case of insurance companies, specifically, Bodi Insurance, to gain accurate and reliable insight about individuals' health information in the evaluation of health risks.

Commenting on the partnership with DEVITA, B.Zolbayar (CEO of Bodi Insurance) remarks: "We are delighted as this (DEVITA) presents a way to reliably, securely, and efficiently source high-quality personal health data directly from the data owners in our evaluation of health risks to yield cost-effective insurance products for our consumers."

Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia recorded 554 new infections of COVID-19 and two more related deaths over the past 24 hours, bringing the national counts to 383,270 and 1,932 respectively, the country's health ministry said on Wednesday.

One of the latest confirmed cases was imported case, the ministry said.

Currently, 5,448 COVID-19 patients are being hospitalized across the country, while 10,370 are receiving home-based care, it added.

So far, over 66 percent of Mongolia's population has received two COVID-19 vaccine doses, with over 674,925 Mongolians aged over 18 having received a booster dose.

Mongolian mining sector is expected to have rapid growth until the year of 2030, specifically for the fields of copper and coal. As investment is made to increase its capacity, the two fields are estimated to expand two times in the next 10 years, according to a study carried out by ‘CRU Consulting’ on the outlook for Mongolia’s mining sector.

In connection with the increased production and positive expectations in 2020-2030, total income in the mining sector will increase from USD 5.3 billion to USD 12.5 billion, highlighted the study, which was presented at a discussion took place yesterday on setting up a sovereign wealth fund in Mongolia.

Currently, the mining and extraction sector make up 22 percent of the GDP, 71 percent of direct foreign investment, and 94 percent of exports in Mongolia.

If Mongolia’s GDP grows by 5 percent annually, the mining sector’s contribution will grow from 19.7 percent (as of 2020) to 32.7 percent by the year of 2030, estimates the company.

In the framework of the works being carried out to set up a sovereign wealth fund, the company, ‘CRU Consulting’, is providing consulting services on ways to efficiently develop the fund through the commissioning of the Ministry of Mining and Heavy and Industry with financing from the World Bank.

Turquoise Hill Resources’ (TSX, NYSE: TRQ) board has approved a bridging budget of $75 million that allows the parties involved in the vast Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia to progress the operation’s underground expansion.

The Canadian miner, in which Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) has a 50.8% stake, said the board’s decision reflected the progress made in the ongoing negotiations between the Government of Mongolia, Rio Tinto and the company.

Turquoise noted that, while it believes the budget approval was a “necessary and positive step”, there can be no assurance that the board of Oyu Tolgoi LLC will approve any future crucial additional investments to continue progressing the mine’s underground section.

Shares in the company climbed on the news and were trading 2.5% higher at $15.2 in New York at the opening.

Rio Tinto’s chief executive Jakob Stausholm met last week with Mongolia’s Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, aiming to iron out issues still threatening the future of the huge copper mine.

The ongoing expansion of the project in the Gobi desert has been plagued by delays and costs overruns, which have triggered the Mongolian government’s ire to the point of threatening to revoke the 2009 investment agreement, which underpins the mine development.

On shaky ground

Relations between Rio Tinto and the Central Asian nation hit a low in August, when an independent review rejected the mining giant’s explanation for the project’s delays and climbing costs.

Mongolia’s position is that Rio should cover cost overruns while debts accrued on Ulaanbaatar’s share of the project (34%) should be fully removed.

The Prime Minister reportedly wants Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill to revisit the economic benefits that the expansion will bring to the state’s coffers.

Sources familiar with the matter told MINING.COM earlier this year that Rio is prepared to make concessions to the Mongolian government to complete the troubled project, including reducing interest rates on loans to the nation to fund its share of the construction costs.

Rio may also consider a “restructuring” of Oyu Tolgoi’s ownership order, the sources said.

Fourth largest copper mine

First production from Oyu Tolgoi’s underground section, initially expected in late 2020, has been rescheduled a few times since 2015, when Rio approved the expansion project.

The latest estimate, announced in October, sees the underground mine kicking into commercial production not earlier than January 2023.

Oyu Tolgoi is Rio Tinto’s main copper growth project. Once completed, the mine’s underground section will lift production from 125,000–150,000 tonnes in 2019 to 560,000 tonnes at peak output, which is now expected by 2025 at the earliest.

By 2030, the operation would be the world’s fourth largest copper mine, according to Rio Tinto.

The mine is the country’s biggest source of foreign direct investment, having created thousands of jobs and generating almost $3 billion in taxes and fee revenue over the past decade.

The cost of electricity in Finland exceeded €400 per megawatt-hour during peak consumption hours this week, according to data from the Nord Pool electricity exchange.

The highest price was recorded on November 29, at €422 per MWh (including taxes). That’s about five times higher than a year ago.

Finland is energy-dependent, with about 10% of its electricity supplied by Russia. Experts attribute the increased price to high energy costs in Central Europe, where a large amount of electricity is generated from natural gas, the price of which has increased significantly. They say electricity in Finland is likely to remain expensive until next summer, when the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant is expected to become operational.

Natural gas costs have been rising for European consumers with the winter season approaching. On Tuesday, the price of January futures on the TTF exchange in the Netherlands exceeded $1,170 per thousand cubic meters, or €100 per MWh in household terms.

“According to our forecast, the price of electricity will remain high in winter but will start to decline in spring. It is likely that it will not be as high as it is today, but the overall level remains elevated,” a spokesman for Finnish electricity company Fingrid, Mikko Heikkila, told journalists.

He added that “Finland is very dependent on imports. In winter we need energy from neighboring countries but if the electricity market and domestic electricity production work normally, then next winter there will be enough electricity.”

According to Fingrid, the share of electricity imports from Russia amounted to 10% of consumption in Finland in the first nine months of 2021.

The average price of Russian electricity was €57.98 per MWh. Russian energy company Inter RAO said last week that most of its electricity export volume goes to Finland (37%), the Baltic countries (23%), and China (18%)