Australia fires: Smoke to make 'full circuit' around globe, Nasa says www.bbc.com

Smoke from the massive bushfires in Australia will soon circle the Earth back to the nation, says Nasa.

Copper price jumps to 8-month high www.mining.com

On Monday in New York, copper for delivery in March closed the day near $2.8640 a pound ($6,314 a tonne), an 8-month high and up 3% from 2019’s closing level.

Mongolia-U.S.-Japan trilateral meeting held in Washington, D.C www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. A trilateral meeting between Mongolia, the United States of America and Japan took place on January 10 in Washington, D.C, USA. The meeting was co-chaired by D.Davaasuren, State Secretary of the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, D.Stilwell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Sh.Takizaki, Director-General of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.

At the meeting, the sides exchanged views on strengthening the strategic partnerships and tripartite cooperation of Mongolia, the USA and Japan as well as issues concerning regional affairs and the Korean Peninsula during the meeting and released the following Joint Statement.

Joint statement on the Mongolia-U.S.-Japan trilateral meeting

Mongolia, the United States, and Japan held a trilateral meeting in Washington on January 10, 2020. The United States and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their bilateral relationships with Mongolia in line with Mongolia’s “third neighbor” policy and the three sides’ visions for a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Mongolia, the United States, and Japan shared their respective visions for regional development, including in the Indo-Pacific, and exchanged views on how to cooperate to ensure a prosperous and peaceful future for a region of sovereign, independent, and democratic states. The three sides noted with satisfaction that the United States joined Japan as a strategic partner of Mongolia in 2019 and intend to strengthen these strategic partnerships.

Mongolia, the United States, and Japan reiterated that the DPRK must cease provocations, including launches of ballistic missiles, abide by its obligations under UN Security Council Resolutions, and engage in sustained and substantive negotiations to do its part to fulfill the commitments made at the Singapore summit. The three sides underscored the need for the full implementation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions towards the final, fully verified dismantlement of the DPRK’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in accordance with those resolutions. The three countries emphasized the importance of addressing humanitarian concerns, including the immediate resolution of the abductions issue.

The United States and Japan expressed their commitment to continue supporting Mongolia in strengthening its anti-money laundering capability in line with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force. All sides underscored their shared desire to deepen their economic partnership, including through enhanced collaboration in the areas of energy development, the digital economy, and cybersecurity. They also discussed the importance of developing Mongolia’s business climate and ability to attract investment, particularly from the United States and Japan, through improved transparency, predictability, and enforcement.

Mongolia, the United States, and Japan intend to hold the next round of the trilateral meeting in Mongolia.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia

EBRD to fund UB city heat supply project www.zgm.mn

The Government of Mongolia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed an agreement to implement the Ulaanbaatar heat supply project. The project is expected to increase the capacity of Ulaanbaatar’s central heating system. EBRD is providing USD 137 million for investments to double the throughput capacity of the 202-kilometer road between Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar and the third-largest municipality of Darkhan. The investment will address the issue of road safety and will bring a number of economic benefits for the country and the region. In addition to employment opportunities, the improved road will offer better infrastructure, including rehabilitated bridges and flood protection installations, which will result in safer rides for the community and transit vehicles. “The construction work of Ulaanbaatar­Darkhan road had been guided from Mandaluyong, headquarter of the Asian Development Bank. However, the implementation of the project was assumed as disqualifying and not intensified. Based on the fact, we decided to manage the project from Ulaanbaatar last week,” addressed the Ministry of Finance, Khurelbaatar Chimed. The investment is supported by the Ministry of Road, Transport and Development of Mongolia and benefited from technical cooperation funds provided by the EBRD. The funds will assist in making the state road fund operational and help improve overall road maintenance in the country. The EBRD investment is complementing earlier works along the same transport corridor funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Culture Minister: Three historical buildings to be renovated with MNT 6 billion www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Public concerns have been raised since last year as several historical buildings located in Ulaanbaatar city might be demolished to make room for new buildings as it was revealed that the 2020 State Budget was adopted with from MNT 52 billion to MNT 94 billion budgeted for each building.

In particular, buildings of National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet of Mongolia, National Academic Drama Theatre, Central Library of Mongolia, Natural History Museum and Central Stadium were included in the list of buildings to be funded by the State Budget for 2020 as new construction developments with budgets as following.

National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Mongolia – MNT 54.6 billion

National Academic Drama Theatre – MNT 52 billion

Central Library of Mongolia – MNT 52.4 billion

Natural History Museum – MNT 94.4 billion

Central Stadium – MNT 80 billion.

In October 2019, Prime Minister of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh announced that the buildings of National Academic Drama Theater, National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet of Mongolia and Central Library of Mongolia will be demolished due to their poor condition of structure and newly built on its location, replicating its original design. This has garnered public criticism, including the Union of Mongolian Architects, who claimed that those buildings hold cultural heritage and architectural values, and demanding preservation and restoration of the buildings instead of demolition.

Concerning the prolonged public outcry, Minister of Education, Culture Science and Sports Yo.Baatarbileg today clarified during his meeting with reporters that “Buildings of National Academic Drama Theater, National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet of Mongolia and Central Library of Mongolia are planned to go under renovation this year with funding of MNT 2 billion from state budget for each. The official position and decision of the Ministry of Culture not to demolish them remain the same as before”.

He also said the misleading information or false claims, such as possible land grabbing, that have been spread ahead of the upcoming 2020 Parliamentary elections, are preventing the government to carry out its huge development works planned in the culture industry. “I will be working at these three organizations this week regarding their renovations, which will be completed by 2021.”

The aforementioned three buildings in Ulaanbaatar are erected between 1931 and 1951 are deemed to be an outstanding example of neoclassical architecture in Mongolia. Last year, the Mongolian Union of Architects claimed that those buildings along with the demolished natural History Museum is under state and public protection and is registered in the database of Mongolian cultural heritage.

In December 2019, a building of the Natural History Museum was demolished in spite of a widespread criticism of several months. The museum closed its doors in 2013 as it does not satisfy the functional needs and standards of museum. The government resolution was made in July 2019 to re-build the Natural History Museum near the Ikh Tenger in the Bogd Khan Mountain, an official residency of heads of state and government, and a new museum of Chinggis Khaan to be constructed on its location instead.

200-bed model hospital to be commissioned in first quarter www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ In January 13, Minister of Health D.Sarangerel and delegates of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) got acquainted with construction progress of a general model hospital, which is being built in Songinokhairkhan district with financing from the ADB. With capacity of serving for 157 thousand citizens of the district, the model hospital is expected to be commissioned in the first quarter of this year.

Development plan for knowledge economy introduced www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. At the initiative of the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Speaker of Parliament G.Zandanshatar held a meeting with businessmen on January 11, exchanging views on timely issues and economic development of the country.

President receives World Bank delegates www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ President Kh.Battulga today received Ms. Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank’s Regional Vice President for East Asia and Pacific and Mr. Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank’s Country Manager for Mongolia.

Why Does China Have 1.4 Billion People and No Good Bands? www.foreignpolicy.com

The most successful Mongolian conquerors since Genghis Khan aren’t on horseback but on the drums. They’re called the Hu, and over the past year their bone-vibrating hard rock, which combines traditional Mongolian instruments and throat singing with Western rock and metal, has become a breakout hit with fans around the world—and made them official cultural ambassadors for the country.

The Hu first started gaining attention more than a year ago with the music videos for two songs—“Wolf Totem” and “Yuve Yuve Yu”—which blew up on YouTube thanks to their fist-pumping instrumentals and stunning steppe visuals. At a recent count, the two videos had a combined 61 million views on YouTube—20 times the number of people in Mongolia.

Fans attribute the success of the Hu to the group’s blending of Western metal with local styles. But it’s only the most well-packaged instance of an ongoing phenomenon. Mongolia has a strong tradition of rock groups working to modernize traditional sounds. Altan Urag, a Mongolian folk rock group from the capital of Ulaanbaatar, first succeeded in electrifying traditional Mongolian instruments almost 15 years ago. And it gave heavy metal the distinctive growl of throat singing with its seminal 2006 album, Made In Altan Urag. Mongolian bands like Khusugtun, Altain Orgil, Jonon, and Mohanik have all tweaked folk music to modern ends.

Despite having 1.4 billion people to Mongolia’s mere 3 million, there’s no such thing as a distinctive Chinese national sound that mixes tradition and modernity in the same way Mongolians do.

That’s a stark contrast with Mongolia’s neighbor China. Despite having 1.4 billion people to Mongolia’s mere 3 million, there’s no such thing as a distinctive Chinese national sound that mixes tradition and modernity in the same way Mongolians do—at least none that has become a serious commercial player. Instead, China has been left churning out a stream of pale imitations of other countries’ genres. That raises a big question: Why does Mongolian music slap so hard and Chinese music (with a few exceptions) suck?

The answers are partially historical. In the 20th century, Mongolia was a Soviet satellite state. The Soviet policy toward music was to promote folk music that represented the national consciousness while remaining wary of foreign imports. Folk songs were collected, recorded, and performed to create a sense of anti-imperial multiculturalism. It helped that Mongolia didn’t suffer the same level of cultural destruction as some communist states. While there were brutal purges in the 1930s, Mongolia’s nomadic and dispersed culture allowed its music to survive under a softer form of communist rule.

Unfortunately, the kids wanted blue jeans and rock. Noticing the passion that Ulaanbaatar teenagers held for their secret recordings of Western music in the 1970s, the Mongolian culture ministry embarked on a campaign to blend the mandatory folk music with rock ’n’ roll. But this Mongolian rock wasn’t really popular at the time.

“It was very watered down and safe,” said Lauren Knapp, the director of the 2015 documentary Live From UB, which tells the story of rock music in the new Mongolia.

Yet the state-backed rock of the 1970s gave young Mongolians enough of a ground that in the 1980s, when students started pushing for democracy, rock music became an important force. The new wave was straightforward Western-style protest rock, akin to that of other dissident artists like Russia’s Viktor Tsoi and China’s Cui Jian. Songs like “The Ringing of the Bell” united Mongolians as they gathered in Ulaanbaatar to demand democracy.

Its political weight meant that Mongolians took music seriously. Fights between fans of different genres wrecked clubs in the early 2000s, with hip-hop aficionados swinging at metalheads. In the new millennium, though, musicians in Ulaanbaatar’s growing rock scene regained interest in developing a distinctively Mongolian sound. The pioneers included Altan Urag, conservatory-trained folk musicians who thought they might be able to get more of their friends to come to their concerts if they gave their music a harder edge.

BoM: USD 200 million has been funded under EFF since 2020 www.zgm.mn

According to the Bank of Mongolia (BoM), USD 200 million in funding from the International Monetary Fund’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) has come from donors in December 2019 and January 3, 6, 2020. The finance had already been settled by the issuing countries but the Ministry of Finance accepted officially on the mentioned dates. Specifically, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided USD 100 million and the World Bank has provided USD 100 million respectively. The central bank highlighted that foreign exchange reserves exceeded USD four billion, reaching a record high.