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.

China has formally revised its laws to allow couples to have up to three children, to boost the birth rate.

The regulation was one of several passed on Friday at a meeting of the country's top lawmakers, the National People's Congress (NPC).

Details on a controversial anti-sanctions law for Hong Kong, which many businesses feared would put them in a difficult position, were also expected.

But Hong Kong media reported on Friday that the decision had been delayed.

What is the three-child policy?

China had announced back in May that it would allow couples to have up to three children, in a major policy shift.

That decision has now been formally passed into law, along with several resolutions aimed at boosting the birth rate and "reducing the burden" of raising a child, said Xinhua news agency.

These include cancelling the "social maintenance fee" - a financial penalty couples pay for having children beyond the limit, encouraging local governments to offer parental leave, increasing women's employment rights; and improving childcare infrastructure.

Recent census data had shown a steep decline in the birth rate.

In 2016, the country had scrapped its decades-old one-child policy to replace it with a two-child limit, but this failed to lead to a sustained upsurge in births.

The cost of raising children in cities has deterred many Chinese couples.

What about the anti-sanctions law?

This past week, global banks and financial institutions had been watching the NPC meeting closely for signs on how and when the controversial anti-sanctions law would affect Hong Kong.

China had already passed the law in June, and was expected on Friday to put it into Hong Kong and Macau's mini-constitutions, spelling out how it would be applied. Reports on Friday however quoted a lawmaker as saying this was delayed.

Under the law, companies in China are not allowed to implement foreign sanctions against Chinese individuals or entities. On top of that, they are required to help Beijing carry out retaliatory measures, and may face punishment if they refuse.

It was tabled after the US government imposed several rounds of sanctions on Chinese officials - including Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam - over Beijing's crackdown on pro-democracy protests. In response, China imposed its own sanctions on US officials.

Experts say that under the law, banks and companies in Hong Kong could face legal risk for following US sanctions.

Hong Kong is a hub for many global financial institutions and the city state is a major source of profit for companies like HSBC and Standard Chartered.

"Hong Kong's attraction for many firms, especially international ones, was its relative insulation from intra-party rivalry and major power competition. Such a law would take away one of those important legs," said Ian Chong, a political science expert at the National University of Singapore.

"The cost and uncertainty of doing business in HK could increase substantially," he told the BBC.

Dr Chengxin Pan, an associate professor of international relations with Deakin University in Australia said China came up with the law because while it "doesn't want to unduly unsettle businesses...it also doesn't want businesses to think it's normal and costless to have its cake and eat it too, by profiting from doing business in Hong Kong while carrying out sanction orders from Washington against Chinese interests."

"This no doubt will complicate the cost-benefit calculations, if not political loyalty, of business in Hong Kong, which could be caught in the geopolitical crossfire between the US and China."

India's drug regulator has approved the world's first DNA vaccine against Covid-19 for emergency use.

The three-dose ZyCoV-D vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in 66% of those vaccinated, according to an interim study quoted by the vaccine maker Cadila Healthcare.

The firm plans to make up to 120 million doses of India's second home-grown vaccine every year.

Previous DNA vaccines have worked well in animals but not humans.

India has so far given more than 570 million doses of three previously approved vaccines - Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V.

About 13% of adults have been fully vaccinated and 47% have received at least one shot since the beginning of the drive in January.

Cadila Healthcare said it had conducted the largest clinical trial for the vaccine in India so far, involving 28,000 volunteers in more than 50 centres.

This is also the first time, the firm claimed, a Covid-19 vaccine had been tested in young people in India - 1,000 people belonging to the 12-18 age group. The jab was found to be "safe and very well tolerated" in this age group.

The key third phase of clinical trials was conducted at the peak of the deadly second wave of the virus. The vaccine maker believes this reaffirmed the jab's "efficacy against the mutant strains", especially the highly infectious Delta variant.

"I am quite excited about the vaccine because it offers a lot of good potential. If this jab works, the future of vaccination becomes logistically simpler," said Prof Shahid Jameel, a well-known virologist.

How does this vaccine work?

DNA and RNA are building blocks of life. They are molecules that carry that genetic information which are passed on from parents to children.

Like other vaccines, a DNA vaccine, once administered, teaches the body's immune system to fight the real virus.

ZyCoV-D uses plasmids or small rings of DNA, that contain genetic information, to deliver the jab between two layers of the skin.

The plasmids carry information to the cells to make the "spike protein", which the virus uses to latch on and enter human cells.

Most Covid-19 vaccines work by giving the body instructions to make a fragment of the spike protein so it can trigger a person's immune system to produce antibodies and teach itself to fight off the virus.

What makes this vaccine different?

This is the world's first human DNA vaccine against Covid-19.

There are a number of DNA vaccines approved in the US, for example, for use in animals, including a vaccine for a disease in horses and a skin cancer vaccine for dogs.

Vaccines

However, more than 160 different DNA vaccines are being tested in human clinical trials in the US. Most are devoted to treating existing cancers, and a third of the vaccines were for treating HIV.

ZyCov-D is also India's first needle-free Covid-19 jab.

It is administered with a disposable needle-free injector, which uses a narrow stream of the fluid to penetrate the skin and deliver the jab to the proper tissue.

"To have a DNA vaccine which works against an infection is a big deal. If it gives good protection this is something India will be proud of," said Dr Gagandeep Kang, a virologist and the first Indian woman to be elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London.

What are the advantages of a DNA vaccine?

Scientists say DNA vaccines are relatively cheap, safe and stable.

They can also be stored at higher temperatures - 2 to 8C.

Cadila Healthcare claims that their vaccine had shown "good stability" at 25C for at least three months - this would help the vaccine to be transported and stored easily.

What are the drawbacks of a DNA vaccine?

DNA vaccines developed for infectious diseases in humans have failed in the past.

"The problem is they work well in animals. But they don't end up offering the same level of immune response protection in humans," said Dr Kang.

The challenge, according to Dr Kang, was how to push the plasmid DNA into the human cell so that it gives a durable immune response.

Dr Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, echoed a similar sentiment.

"Plasmid DNA vaccines have been tried in the past. But we know it's very difficult to get plasmid DNA into the nucleus of human cells, especially in adults," Dr Kamil told me.

mRNA vaccines - which use messenger RNA, a molecule, to make the proteins - like Pfizer or Moderna do not need to reach the nucleus of the cell to be effective and offer higher efficacy and are likely to produce longer lasting immunity.

The other potential drawback is that ZyCoV-D requires three doses, instead of two for the other two candidates being used in India. The vaccine maker says it is evaluating at a two-dose jab.

"I would be delighted that a vaccine company overcame the immense challenges to make it work. But it's imperative that the efficacy data be vetted independently," said Dr Kamil.