The move aims to end “ghost voting” and increase lawmakers’ turnout for parliamentary sessions, said the secretariat.

Ghost voting is an illegal practice when some lawmakers cast electronic machine ballots for their absent fellow members. It is widespread in the 76-seat parliament of Mongolia. This has raided public criticism.

The regular spring session of the Mongolian parliament is scheduled to open on 5 April.

Polymer bitumen will be domestically produced by the Aashto LLC, which is introducing the technology for producing euro-standard polymer modified bitumen suitable for geographical features and climate conditions of Mongolia. The 40 degrees Celsius heat resistant polymer bitumen, jointly studied by specialists of Mongolia, Russia, Italy, and Germany, can withstand temperatures from minus 46 to plus 68 degrees Celsius and its load limit is three times higher than the one used in current roads.

About the product, Director of the new plant N.Enkhtur said “We are endeavouring to elevate quality of our roads to European standards. Roads made with our asphalt would last two times longer compared with the current paved roads. The product has been tested at research institutes in Canada, Kazakhstan, and Russia”

Minister of Road and Transport Development B.Enkh-Amgalan attended the ceremony. “The time saving, improved technology brings significant change and new solution to the road sector of Mongolia” said the Minister, wishing success upon the Mongolian and foreign specialist took part in the product development and employees of the plant.

Constructed and equipped in six months, it will prepare coals of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC and export them to Asian and European markets. Moreover, there is an opportunity to wash brown coal of Shivee Ovoo coal mine, raising its value.

Facebook (FB) announced Thursday that Chris Cox, most recently its chief product officer, and Chris Daniels, who was in charge of WhatsApp, are both leaving the company.
Shares of Facebook dipped as much as 2% in after hours trading Thursday following the news.
"While it is sad to lose such great people, this also creates opportunities for more great leaders who are energized about the path ahead to take on new and bigger roles," Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's cofounder and CEO, wrote in a note announcing the departures.
Cox, in particular, has been a longtime fixture at the company and Zuckerberg's right-hand man. He joined Facebook in 2005, shortly after it launched, and helped build the News Feed. As part of a broader reorganization last year, he was put in charge of Facebook's "family of apps," including Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.
In an internal post Thursday announcing his departure, Cox alluded to Facebook's recently announced plans to put privacy first by emphasizing private, encrypted and ephemeral conversations across its products.

Facebook says it's resolved outage issues and denies attack
Facebook says it's resolved outage issues and denies attack
"As Mark has outlined, we are turning a new page in our product direction," he wrote in post shared on his personal Facebook page. "This will be a big project and we will need leaders who are excited to see the new direction through."
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, Facebook said Cox intends to leave after a brief transition period.
For years, Facebook was known for having a remarkably stable executive bench. But in recent months, the company has lost its chief security officer, its top policy and communications exec, both founders of Instagram and the CEO of WhatsApp.
Daniels, who previously ran Facebook's affordable internet initiative, only took over WhatsApp less than a year ago, after WhatsApp cofounder Jan Koum stepped down as CEO amid a reported clash over Facebook's approach to personal data and encryption.
The steady drip of executive departures come amid a bruising two year period in which Facebook has faced criticism for its data privacy practices as well as stories about fake news, election meddling and filter bubbles.

A spokesperson of the IAAC addressed, “The survey attempts to bring to light the main issue for entrepreneurs and review recorded corruption cases. The IAAC needs to cooperate with private entities, public organizations, and civil societies to abolish corruption. Anti-corruption activities are perceived as a concern of particular organizations and specialists. However, everyone's involvement will be crucial in realizing actual results. The survey aims to see where the risk is so that we can take preventive measures.”

According to the study, corruption cases were noted in key positions that grant special permits and licenses. In terms of organizations, corruption is highly associated with professional inspection and tax authorities.

Business people perceived the current tax rates as high
According to the IAAC, the majority of business people perceived the current tax rates as high. Officials at the discussion highlighted that high taxes cause taxpayers to avoid taxes in order to increase their profits, which then leads public servants to become dependent on corruption. The problem is that bribery still exists because civil servants are abusing their power to pay taxes.

In the beginning of the meeting, Mr B.Choijilsuren noted Mongolia’s economy has been improving favourably and budget revenue targets have been surpassed in the first two months of 2019; he expressed his hope that this positive performance would last for the rest of the year. The MP also noted that the second and third-stage financing of the World Bank’s USD 440 million fund to be provided under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) need to be disbursed according to the agreement; this is because the Government of Mongolia is required to take major policy measures to reduce any fiscal imbalance and exchange rates even though the budget revenue is above target.

For his part, Mr. Deepak Mishra said the second stage tranche is under preparation as Mongolia has already accomplished five out of the required 10 policy actions and four of the remaining five can be accomplished in the first quarter. The World Bank delegation is visiting Ulaanbaatar for two days (14-15 March).

The Vice President expressed his gratitude to the Mongolian Government on Mongolian peacekeepers' special contribution to building peace and stability in the Republic of South Sudan. During the meeting, the sides talked over developing cooperation in agriculture and education.

Great Britain leads the world for its innovation of low CO2. The British government has spent GBP 2.5 pound on low CO2 innovations. This made the country the fourth in the global innovation index. Both the UK and Mongolia share strong winds in common; the British Isles are now home the largest offshore wind farms in Europe.

China has for years been the world's biggest rare earths exporter, raising shipments overseas by 4 percent year-on-year to more than 53,000 tonnes in 2018, and its emergence as the top importer as well is a sudden and surprising development.

Any company that's reached production in recent years has done so by selling rare earth concentrate to China
The country imported 41,400 tonnes of rare earth oxides and oxide equivalents in 2018, up 167 percent year-on-year, as a crackdown on illegal production reduced domestic output, according to a report by consultancy Adamas Intelligence.

Shipments were primarily in the form of mineral and chemical concentrates from Myanmar and the United States, Adamas managing director Ryan Castilloux said.

In the case of at least seven key rare earths — including praseodymium, used in magnets, and yttrium, used in ceramics — China was a net importer in 2018 for the first time in more than 30 years, Castilloux told Reuters.

"It is definitely the first time since at least 1985 when China emerged as a major producer of rare earths," he said.

Import volumes last year were about 10 times higher than before 2015, China Merchants Securities analyst Liu Wenping said in a note on Wednesday, also pointing out that China had become the top rare earths importer.

The United States, a major market for Chinese rare earths, ships ores rich in lanthanum, used in oil refining, to China and then buys back the oxides and chemicals, Castilloux said.

Washington had last year proposed slapping tariffs on rare earth imports from China in a trade spat between the two countries, before reversing its decision.

Myanmar, meanwhile, last year became a vital source of dysprosium, terbium and gadolinium for China's magnet and alloy manufacturers, according to Castilloux, whose numbers are based on customs data and Adamas' own research.

If Beijing ends up banning rare earth imports from Myanmar this year — due to fears the Southeast Asian country is being used to "launder" illegally mined Chinese material — China could temporarily revert to being a net exporter of the seven key rare earths in 2019, Castilloux said.

But rising Chinese imports look set to be a long-term trend, he added. Other than Lynas Corp, a rare earth producer that operates in Malaysia and Australia, "any company that's reached production in recent years has done so by selling rare earth concentrate to China", Castilloux said.