Remarking on the growing importance of energy and natural gas supply following the economic and population growth in the Northeast Asia, the sides agreed on the vital role played by Mongolia for satisfying the expanding needs. For instance, 1100 km long gas pipeline from Russia to China through the territory of Mongolia is the shortest way and it is possible to supply energy to consumer states, such as South Korea and Japan and reduce prices. Scholars from Russia, China, South Korea and Japan who were present at the meeting expressed their views on this topic and had a detailed discussion.

As the NAGPF carries out studies about strategies to build up natural gas pipeline network in the Northeast Asia and benefits of natural gas use while gathering the most important data on natural gas markets in the Asia and the Pacific region, President Kh.Battulga put forward a proposal to take the matter on the natural gas pipeline across Mongolia seriously and called for close cooperation among participants of the forum .

During the event, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Light Industry, and the Mongolian Cosmetics Cluster NGO in aims of giving support to the development of the Mongolian cosmetics industry, partner in enhancing the sector policy and legal environment, and developing partnership between state and private entities.

Works are currently being done on developing the manufacturers of the following four sectors: organically produced cosmetics, sea buckthorn oil, yak fiber, young camel hair, and leather, as clusters, and building their capacity for export products. One of the first clusters, Mongolian Cosmetics Cluster NGO is running its operations, having unified the sector’s leading 15 companies.

So far, the organization introduced the international ISO 16128 standard for the ingredients of organically produced cosmetics in the products of its member companies, and has requested the Mongolian Agency for Standard and Metrology for authorization. The cluster is working on to participate in large scale exhibitions in Germany and Italy, and sell their products in European countries in 2020.

The cosmetics cluster partnership event was attended by representatives of state and private-owned entities, manufacturers, and scholars led by Acting State Secretary and Head of the Department of Public Administration and Management of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry T.Jambaltseren, MNCCI Chairman O.Amartuvshin, Chairman of the Board of the Mongolian Cosmetics Cluster NGO Ch.Battsetseg.

Present at opening ceremony were Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh, Minister of Road and Transport Development B.Enkh-Amgalan, Governor of the Capital City and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar S.Amarsaikhan and Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming.

Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh said, “For Ulaanbaatar city, it is very constructive year that auto road of Khushig Valley Airport and new bridges of Yarmag, Bayanzurkh and Sonsgolon have been put into operation. I am happy to note that the traffic movement of the 20.9km road between Gachuurt junction and Nalaikh district, whose construction work commenced in January this year, is opening today. As it was not renovated for over 60 years, the old road of this direction was fully broken; thus used to affect traffic safety. … Caused by rainy situation of last summer, the construction work stopped for 29 days. Notwithstanding, it is opening on the scheduled date thanks to joint effort of Mongolian and Chinese teams.” Current government focuses on the quality of auto roads, aiming to bring it into international standards, the PM added.

Governor of the Capital City and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar S.Amarsaikhan said, "This road links eastern and southeastern aimags of the country, along with its being a road of Mongolia-Russia-China transit transportation. Therefore, it is a road of development. Moreover, it is a tourism road that links Khan Khentii, birthplace of Great Chinggis Khaan, Gorkhi and Terelj National Parks. In the end, it is a road of sports and health because pedestrian and cycling roads to be built next year will be stretched to Marshal Bridge, and farther – Yarmag.”

Funded with China’s soft loan, construction cost of the road between Gachuurt and Nalaikh-Choir junction is USD 36 million. The project is being executed by a general contractor China’s ‘Sinohydro Corporation Limited’, sub-contractors ‘Tegshplant,’ ‘Gashuuny Gol’ and ‘Dardan Zam’ companies, with ‘Munkhad ashdyn zam’ consultancy.

Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming emphasized that the road construction presents Mongolia-China friendly relations and will take an important place in bilateral relations and cooperation. The ambassador mentioned that the two countries are doing more construction works within the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In early October, Mongolia sent samples of the processed fuel to three countries for laboratory tests after several people died and dozens of others have been hospitalized in Ulan Bator since the beginning of last month due to allegedly burning processed coal to keep warm.

"Laboratories in China, Russia and South Korea confirmed that the samples of our processed fuel meet the qualified standard," the agency said in a statement.

Relevant officials of Mongolia believed that the reason why people have been poisoned is related to broken stoves and chimneys and wrong usage of the processed fuel.

On May 15, a government ban on domestic use of low-grade coal in Ulan Bator came into force, with the aim of reducing air pollution.

Since then, households in the city have been supplied with processed fuel instead of raw coal.

Amb. J.S. Mukul, Dean (FSI) hosted a welcome reception for the participating diplomats on 28th October 2019.The intensive two-week course would include training modules on various topics covering India’s foreign policy, key international issues, multilateral diplomacy and diplomatic skills. The participants would get an exposure to modern India’s economic and technological developments. They would also undertake study tours to experience the rich cultural heritage of India.

To date, 17 diplomats from Mongolia have participated in FSI training programmers for foreign diplomats.

India and Mongolia enjoy historical and friendly relations. India and Mongolia have interacted through history over a period of 2000 years. Following the emergence of Mongolia as a modern nation state in the 20th century, the two countries have continued to build relations based on shared historical and cultural legacy. FSI signed an MoU with Mongolia on 17th May 2015. The special course will further increase mutual understanding and strengthen India-Mongolia relations.

Foreign Service Institute, India

A staggering 80 percent of air pollution in Ulaanbaatar city is caused by the coal-burning stoves used by households in the ger districts. Regarding the remainder: 10 percent is caused by vehicle exhausts, six percent by the capital’s power plants and four percent from waste disposal, dust and soil pollution.

The government has pledged significant funding to clean up the air — the equivalent of $55 million since 2008.

The top four teams in the FIBA 3×3 Federation Ranking in the women’s category (China, Mongolia, Russia and Romania) earned a trip to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where 3×3 will make their first appearance on 25-29 July.

Mongolian 3×3 Men’s Team will compete for the Olympic qualification in India on March, 2020.

Crude steel output totaled 748 million tons in the first nine months, up 8.4 percent year-on-year, while the output of cast iron went up 6.3 percent from a year ago to 612 million tons, showed data from the China Iron and Steel Industry Association (CISA).

Despite the rising output, China's steel enterprises reported declining efficacy, with the aggregate profit of the CISA members totaling 146.6 billion yuan ($20.8 billion), 32 percent lower than the same period a year ago.

Steel manufacturing cost in the period went up 8 to 10 percent, according to the CISA, mainly due to surging prices of imported iron ores, a key steelmaking raw material.

Meanwhile, the export and import of steel products decreased by 5 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively, showed the CISA data.

On Monday, the company announced a new logo for Facebook Inc. to distinguish the corporate parent from its apps, including its eponymous social media platform.
The logo, which features the word Facebook (FB) in all capital letters in a new font, alternates between blue, green and hues of purple, red and orange -- all colors that represent its other brands. (Blue for Facebook, green for WhatsApp and purple, red and orange for Instagram.)

The move highlights its effort to be more clear with consumers about the apps it owns. A recent survey by nonpartisan think tank Pew found that only 29% of Americans correctly answered that Instagram and WhatsApp are owned by Facebook.
"People should know which companies make the products they use," Facebook said in a blog post Monday.
The company plans to use the new logo on products and marketing materials in the weeks ahead.
In June, the company started adding the words "from Facebook" across all its apps. Soon, that language will feature the new logo, too.
Earlier this year, the company laid out plans to integrate its messaging platforms, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, and make privacy a bigger focus. This includes encrypting communications and making it possible for users to send messages to their contacts using any of its services and SMS. The move could effectively cement Facebook's dominance over the messaging market for years to come.
The efforts come at a time when Facebook and other tech companies are facing heightened antitrust scrutiny.
In October, the New York attorney general announced that 47 state attorneys general are now investigating Facebook for evidence of anticompetitive practices. All the states involved "are concerned that Facebook may have put consumer data at risk, reduced the quality of consumers' choices, and increased the price of advertising."

UN Secretary General António Guterres said countries in the region were among the most vulnerable to global warming and should be on the "front line" of efforts to stop it.

He cited a new study that found that Asian countries were at particular risk of climate-driven flooding.

Coal is a major source of power in many Asian countries.

Speaking to reporters in the Thai capital Bangkok on Saturday, Mr Guterres described climate change as the "defining issue of our time".

The UN chief referenced a study published on Tuesday, which found that climate change would put millions more people at risk from coastal flooding by 2050 than previously thought.

The majority of those implicated were in developing countries across Asia, the study said.

Mr Gutterres said that while "people can discuss the accuracy of these figures...what is clear is that the trend is there".

He said the issue was "particularly sensitive" in Asia, where a "meaningful number" of new coal power plants are planned.

"We have to put a price on carbon. We need to stop subsidies for fossil fuels. And we need to stop the creation of new power plants based on coal in the future," Mr Gutterres warned.

Who is at risk in Asia?
Tuesday's report by Climate Central, a US-based non-profit news organisation, said 190 million people would be living in areas that are projected to be below high-tide lines in the year 2100.

It found that even with moderate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, six Asian countries (China, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand), where 237 million people live today, could face annual coastal flooding threats by 2050.

China - 93 million people
Bangladesh - 42 million
India - 36 million
Vietnam - 31 million
Indonesia - 23 million
Thailand - 12 million