HOHHOT: Northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region will publish visual dictionaries to save three endangered ethnic languages, according to the region's nationalities affairs committee. The dictionary collecting the historical, cultural, religious and economic texts and files of the ethnic minority of Daur has been published and the other two dictionaries of Oroqen and Ewenki are in preparation for publication. The dictionaries use colorful pictures, cartoons and illustrations to explain the words and phrases of the languages along with Mandarin descriptions and dialect pronunciation for each entry.
Thousands in Mongolia brave freezing weather to protest graft
Thousands of Mongolians braved temperatures of minus 25 degrees Celsius in Ulaanbaatar to take to the streets in protest against graft and demand the resignation of the country's parliamentary speaker.
It was one of Mongolia's largest demonstrations, prompted by corruption, bribery scandals and embezzlement of government funds that have triggered widespread anger among citizens over the past year.
Organisers of Thursday's protest in the capital said around 25,000 people took to the streets in Ulaanbaatar, while local police capped their estimate at 5,000.
"Our country's wealth has been robbed", said lawmaker Batzandan Jambalsuren during an opening speech at the protest.
The two main political parties in Mongolia and parliamentary speaker Enkhbold Miyegombo have been "breaking the country into many pieces", he added.
Enkhbold has been accused of selling government positions, such as vice minister and state secretary, to raise at least 60 billion tugrik ($24 million).
Calls for Enkhbold to step down came after an unsuccessful no confidence vote by parliament last month, which sought to sack Mongolia's prime minister and his cabinet amid a corruption scandal implicating high-level politicians in a state fund embezzlement scheme.
Political instability has been a constant problem for the young democracy, which passed its first constitution in 1992 after decades of Communist rule.
The country has been through 15 different cabinets in the years since, each lasting an average of 1.5 years.
Since the no confidence vote in November, 40 MPs have boycotted plenary sessions, and the Mongolian parliament has not been able to hold a regular session for five consecutive weeks, delaying legislation and the appointment of ministers.
Mongolia has fallen for two years in a row in a Transparency International corruption index, and ranked 103 out of 180 countries in 2017.
Source:Reuters
17-year-old eagle huntress wins one of Mongolia's highest awards
ULAN BATOR, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga on Friday awarded the internationally known eagle huntress Aisholpan Nurgaiv with the Order of the Polar Star, one of the highest state honors in the country.
The 17-year-old received the order for her contributions to promote the ethnic Kazakh tradition of hunting with eagles internationally, according to the president's press office.
When Aisholpan was 13, she became popular for her hobby of hunting with eagles. She was trained by her father to hunt on horseback with a golden eagle, traditionally a male pursuit.
Israeli photographer Asher Svidensky became the first to discover the girl in 2013 and published a series of jaw-dropping photos of the eagle huntress. Inspired by these pictures, British Director Otto Bell shot a documentary "The Eagle Huntress," in which Aisholpan starred together with her eagle.
The eagle huntress was also one of the recipients of the Asia Game Changer Awards in 2017, which recognize those making a transformative and positive difference for the future of Asia and the world.
Number of livestock animals in Mongolia rises to over 66 mln
ULAN BATOR, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of livestock animals in Mongolia reached 66.46 million, a record high since the nomadic country began a livestock animal census in 1918, a senior expert of the National Statistics Office said Thursday.
A census conducted between Dec. 7-17 showed the number of livestock animals in 2018 increased by 244,700, or 0.4 percent, from the previous year, Erdene-Ochir Myagmarkhand announced at a press conference.
According to the preliminary result of the nationwide census, sheep accounted for 46.0 percent of all livestock, goats accounted for 40.8 percent, cattle accounted for 6.6 percent, horses accounted for 5.9 percent and camels accounted for 0.7 percent.
Among the country's 21 provinces, the northernmost Khuvsgul has the largest number of livestock with 5.7 million, followed by Uvurkhangai and Arkhangai in the central provinces, with about 5.5 million respectively.
There are 230,800 herder households with livestock animals, up 0.8 percent from last year.
The promotion of animal husbandry is seen as the most reachable solution to diversify the landlocked country's mining-dependent economy. Currently, mineral products account for over 90 percent of its total exports.
Transgender beauty queen breaks barriers in Mongolia
ULAANBAATAR: Make-up artist Solongo Batsukh braves Mongolia’s below-freezing temperatures in just a skimpy black dress and light pastel pink coat — the country’s trailblazing transgender beauty queen wants to look good in any weather.
“I don’t like to look puffy,” the 25-year-old said as she drove to a beauty salon that hired her to promote its products and services via Facebook live videos.
It’s with this typical bluntness, confidence and attitude that taboo-breaking Batsukh strutted into the country’s first ever Miss Universe Mongolia competition in October.
Though she fell short of representing her country at the Miss Universe contest in Thailand on December 17, her participation shed another light onto a group living on the edges of a deeply patriarchal country with conservative views about sexual orientation.
Had she won, she would have joined Miss Spain’s Angela Ponce as the first transgender contestants in Miss Universe’s 66-year history.
“I wanted to inspire as many women as possible,” Batsukh told AFP.
“But I’m still proud that I got the chance to compete in this contest, and the ‘Solongo’ I created was a true winner in my heart,” she said.
Her participation didn’t please everyone, dredging up negative reactions on social media.
“The world would have a negative image of our country if a man represents us while there are thousands of beautiful and real women in our country,” one person wrote on the Facebook page of Miss Universe Mongolia.
But Batsukh isn’t deterred by such abuse.
Born Bilguun Batsukh, she grew up as a boy in the semi-arid central province of Dundgovi.
She couldn’t pinpoint her gender identity until she learned about different gender orientations as a university student in her early 20s.
It was when she started working as a programme officer at Youth for Health, a non-governmental organisation that provides safe-sex education for LGBT people, that she realised she was a woman born in a man’s body.
She started wearing wigs, putting on dresses and taking hormone therapy.
Batsukh is among the few LGBT people who have dared to come out in Mongolia, where some 80 per cent of the community remain in the closet, according to a UN survey.
“It is extremely difficult for transgender people to be employed,” said Baldangombo Altangerel, legal programme manager at the LGBT Centre.
A video of a young transgender woman who had repeatedly been beaten in the streets went viral in Mongolia last year, highlighting the prejudices LGBT people face.
Batsukh wants to dispel the image that transgender women can only be sex workers or strippers living on the fringes of society.
She flaunts her wealth, regularly travels abroad and is a celebrity in her country of three million people.
Batsukh found fame in 2014, when she represented Mongolia in Miss International Queen, finishing in the top 10 of the international transgender beauty pageant organised in Thailand.
She pursued a modelling career and became a make-up artist.
“I had to reveal myself (as transgender) so I could correct the misunderstandings in society. If we keep hidden, society will keep on hating us. They don’t know us,” she said.
Batsukh has used her public image to speak up on television and social media, fighting against perceptions that transgender people are suffering from mental illness.
But she has tough words for Mongolia’s transgender community, too, complaining that they should focus on working rather than talking about human rights.
“Instead of saying ‘we’re human like everyone else’, we need to prove ourselves through our actions. Just show others that we’re making a living like ordinary people,” she said.
Batsukh is seizing on the popularity of her Facebook page, which has more than 120,000 “likes”, to create a reality show featuring women seeking a makeover.
The beauty queen will help the women lose weight, change hairstyles and apply make-up.
Sarangoo Sukhbaatar, 25, who works in a cashmere company and was among 25 women competing to be among the five participants, said she trusted in Batsukh’s ability and skills to transform her looks.
“Solongo truly understands what women feel,” said Sukhbaatar, who started following Batsukh on social media two years ago.
“Her goals and patience inspire me,” she said. “If a man can be beautiful like her, women can be much more beautiful than we are today.”
Source:AFP
Christmas in Mongolia amid signs of consumerism and the memory of Mgr Padilla (photos)
by Giorgio Marengo*
Mongolia’s Catholic community got ready to relive "the great mystery of Incarnation" through a moment of retreat and reconciliation. Consumerism and untrained relationship to money are new dangers.
Arvaiheer (AsiaNews) – Today's Mongolia is a country undergoing great changes. Since we arrived 15 years ago as Consolata missionaries we have seen a rapid transformation. The country has gone from seventy years of communism centred on state atheism and almost total isolation from the rest of the world to the mirage of economic development based on exploiting its huge mineral reserves, managed more or less well by a new ruling class.
In the 1990s, Christmas was unheard of. In December, only New Year’s Eve mattered, a tradition introduced by the Russians in previous years. Until the early 2000s there was no visible sign that 25 December was anything special; in fact, it was a working day like any other.
Today, however, as the Mongolian economy opens up to the world, the commercial trappings of Christmas have arrived, without people understanding them. People exchange gifts wrapped in shiny paper but they don’t know why. It is a paradox that, among other things, favours new forms of consumerism that harm traditional customs in people not used to managing money carefully.
In essence, the End-of-Year celebrations remain more important than the religious event in a country where Christians represent only 2 per cent of the population, including a small number of Catholics. The real New Year is the much-celebrated lunar new year, which falls between the end of January and the middle of February, a timeless tradition linked to nature’s cycle signalling the beginning of the end of winter and the coming new spring.
Still, for Mongolia’s small Catholic community the great mystery of the Incarnation is something they experience with great intensity. The sacramental celebration of that encounter changed their lives, opening up the possibility of a personal relationship with the living God who frees from fears and guarantees true closeness. The pastoral context helps us identify with the events of Bethlehem. We have real shepherds who watch over the flock and easily recognise the surprise caused by a God born in a manger.
We too feel this, together with them. For us missionaries, to relive this is a great gift, together with our Mongolian friends who have opened their doors to Christ for the gift of salvation that comes to meet us. Accompanying and supporting them in faith is also a challenge, given the many trials they have to go through to maintain and strengthen their faith in a very particular context, which often frowns upon their choice of becoming Christian.
This year, Mongolian Catholics celebrated Christmas without the one pioneer who led them for 26 years, the man who was there at the birth of the Church. Mgr Wenceslao Padilla passed away suddenly, one September evening, from a heart attack, extending a veil of sadness on Christmas, yet with the confident hope that God will provide for his people as they wait for a new pastor.
For our part, as Consolata missionaries, we continue to sink our roots deeper in Ulaanbaatar’s northern suburbs, a big and chaotic capital (the coldest in the world). Likewise, we continue to serve the Apostolic Prefecture. In Kharkhorin – the ancient capital of the Mongol empire – we are engaged in interfaith dialogue (especially with our Buddhist friends) and in historical-cultural research.
In Arvaiheer, the small Christian community is a small sprout of the Church, born with us in the past few years, in a place where Catholics were absent. At present, it has rediscovered the peace of forgiveness received and offered. We experienced a moment of retreat and reconciliation, to "shake off" – with the help of Grace – the incrustations that inevitably weigh down our walk in the holiness that is the secret of true happiness. Catechesis and permanent education take a great deal of energy and demand a certain coherence of life from us.
So we celebrated the gift of Emmanuel again with simplicity and intense participation. The world outside may be focused on New Year's Eve, but for us Christians it was Christmas Eve, in which we prayed that the God-with-us may bring so much peace and brotherhood to a country with a rich history and culture, immersed in a present that is uncertain in so many ways.
* Consolata missionary in Arvaiheer
Source:http://www.asianews.it
Source:http://www.asianews.it
Thousands demand M.Enkhbold’s dismissal
At noon on December 27, Sukhbaatar Square was crowded with thousands
of people who joined the march demanding the dismissal of Speaker of
Parliament M.Enkhbold.
Lawmakers L.Bold, T.Ayursaikhan, L.Oyun-Erdene, J.Batzandan and Kh.Nyambaatar spearheaded the December 27 march.
The organizers of the march claimed that more than 25,000 people from Ulaanbaatar’s nine districts and some provinces arrived in Sukhbaatar Square to express their voices for justice and support the lawmakers’ activities to dismantle the “MANAN” (joint acronym of the Mongolian People’s Party and Democratic Party) regime.
The protestors shouted, “M.Enkhbold resign! M.Enkhbold, get out of Mongolia’s state!”
During the march, the lawmakers organizing the march entered the State Palace to hand over the protest’s demand for M.Enkhbold’s dismissal to him personally, but they could not give M.Enkhbold the demand as he wasn’t in his office.
L.Oyun-Erdene stressed, “M.Enkhbold is shocked at the march because he never imagined that so many people would protest against him, which is why he is afraid to see us.”
Lawmaker T.Ayursaikhan said, “M.Enkhbold has had almost all high-ranking positions within Mongolia’s state such as prime minister, deputy prime minister, speaker, vice-speaker, and mayor of Ulaanbaatar, but he has accomplished nothing for Mongolians, the state and the country’s development. He stole tons of money from Mongolian mineral resources, Ulaanbaatar’s land, and other valuable assets by abusing his power. Today we already reached the time to break the strong and enduring wall that protects M.Enkhbold’s regime and injustice hurting the people.”
Lawmaker L.Oyun-Erdene said, “If M.Enkhbold doesn’t resign until January 10, we will hold marches nationwide on that day, and if M.Enkhbold doesn’t receive our demand from that march, we will take the next steps of the protest.”
Some shared photos of mini-vans and microbuses brining a lot of people to Sukhbaatar Square. People on social media commented, “They are paying people to bring them to the march”.
Many seniors and young people who joined the march in Sukhbaatar Square said that nobody asked them to come to the march and they are marching for justice.
Some lawyers criticized the ringleaders of the protest L.Bold, T.Ayursaikhan, L.Oyun-Erdene, J.Batzandan and Kh.Nyambaatar for making political moves to gain public favor by fighting against M.Enkhbold, whose reputation has already plummeted amongst the public.
The lawyers said that if the five lawmakers really wants to kick M.Enkhbold out, they can put forward a proposal to amend the Act of Parliament to include a part to dismiss the speaker with the majority vote, but they didn’t do that and they are just “pretending to fight” against a “monster” named M.Enkhbold.
The lawmakers leading the protest say that amending the Act of Parliament for the dismissal of M.Enkhbold is a not good way noting that the process of the amendments will take a long time, several months or years.
They also suspect that the majority of the State Structure Standing Committee supports M.Enkhbold, which means the amendments will most likely not make it to parliamentary review.
Source:UB Post
Lawmakers L.Bold, T.Ayursaikhan, L.Oyun-Erdene, J.Batzandan and Kh.Nyambaatar spearheaded the December 27 march.
The organizers of the march claimed that more than 25,000 people from Ulaanbaatar’s nine districts and some provinces arrived in Sukhbaatar Square to express their voices for justice and support the lawmakers’ activities to dismantle the “MANAN” (joint acronym of the Mongolian People’s Party and Democratic Party) regime.
The protestors shouted, “M.Enkhbold resign! M.Enkhbold, get out of Mongolia’s state!”
During the march, the lawmakers organizing the march entered the State Palace to hand over the protest’s demand for M.Enkhbold’s dismissal to him personally, but they could not give M.Enkhbold the demand as he wasn’t in his office.
L.Oyun-Erdene stressed, “M.Enkhbold is shocked at the march because he never imagined that so many people would protest against him, which is why he is afraid to see us.”
Lawmaker T.Ayursaikhan said, “M.Enkhbold has had almost all high-ranking positions within Mongolia’s state such as prime minister, deputy prime minister, speaker, vice-speaker, and mayor of Ulaanbaatar, but he has accomplished nothing for Mongolians, the state and the country’s development. He stole tons of money from Mongolian mineral resources, Ulaanbaatar’s land, and other valuable assets by abusing his power. Today we already reached the time to break the strong and enduring wall that protects M.Enkhbold’s regime and injustice hurting the people.”
Lawmaker L.Oyun-Erdene said, “If M.Enkhbold doesn’t resign until January 10, we will hold marches nationwide on that day, and if M.Enkhbold doesn’t receive our demand from that march, we will take the next steps of the protest.”
Some shared photos of mini-vans and microbuses brining a lot of people to Sukhbaatar Square. People on social media commented, “They are paying people to bring them to the march”.
Many seniors and young people who joined the march in Sukhbaatar Square said that nobody asked them to come to the march and they are marching for justice.
Some lawyers criticized the ringleaders of the protest L.Bold, T.Ayursaikhan, L.Oyun-Erdene, J.Batzandan and Kh.Nyambaatar for making political moves to gain public favor by fighting against M.Enkhbold, whose reputation has already plummeted amongst the public.
The lawyers said that if the five lawmakers really wants to kick M.Enkhbold out, they can put forward a proposal to amend the Act of Parliament to include a part to dismiss the speaker with the majority vote, but they didn’t do that and they are just “pretending to fight” against a “monster” named M.Enkhbold.
The lawmakers leading the protest say that amending the Act of Parliament for the dismissal of M.Enkhbold is a not good way noting that the process of the amendments will take a long time, several months or years.
They also suspect that the majority of the State Structure Standing Committee supports M.Enkhbold, which means the amendments will most likely not make it to parliamentary review.
Source:UB Post
Mongolians protest against corruption as temperature plunges
ULAANBAATAR (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Mongolians took to the
streets on Thursday to protest against corruption in the top echelons of
politics, braving temperatures that dropped below minus 20 degrees
Celsius in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.
The protesters - organizers estimated there were 25,000 of them -
focused their anger on Mongolia’s parliamentary speaker, Enkhbold
Miyegombo, and the two main ruling parties, the Mongolian People’s Party
and the Democratic Party.
There has been rising anger over a long-running corruption case related to allegations that Enkhbold and other political figures had looked to raise 60 billion tugrik ($23 million) by selling off government positions.
Enkhbold has denied the allegations.
A
cross-party group of politicians who are boycotting the parliament’s
plenary sessions has signed a letter demanding Enkhbold’s resignation.
The group, the Mongolian People’s Union, opposes the two main parties, together know by the abbreviation MANAN.
“We will not allow the situation where the MANAN faction gets all the wealth and resources, while people ... remain with nothing,” member of parliament Ayursaikhan Tumurbaatar told media.
“The air pollution, people’s poverty, wealth inequality all started with Enkhbold, since he was the mayor of Ulaanbaatar city,” he said.
Mongolia, for years a satellite of the Soviet Union, transitioned to parliamentary democracy in 1990.
At the Thursday protest, people held up placards with messages such as “We Demand Enkhbold Resign”.
Protester Dejid Avirmed, 61, told Reuters that people were fed up that in a mineral-rich, democratic country like Mongolia many still lived in poverty.
“Mongolians are very patient, but now we lose our patience,” she told Reuters at the protest in the central square in front of parliament.
“Enkhbold should resign. A shame on him that he makes this many people protest in this mid-winter cold.”
“Parliament members should solve the problem not by appealing to protests, but by coming to the parliament session hall. This is the law,” said Enkh-Amgalan Luvsantseren, deputy speaker of parliament, media reported.
There has been rising anger over a long-running corruption case related to allegations that Enkhbold and other political figures had looked to raise 60 billion tugrik ($23 million) by selling off government positions.
Enkhbold has denied the allegations.
Sponsored
The group, the Mongolian People’s Union, opposes the two main parties, together know by the abbreviation MANAN.
“We will not allow the situation where the MANAN faction gets all the wealth and resources, while people ... remain with nothing,” member of parliament Ayursaikhan Tumurbaatar told media.
“The air pollution, people’s poverty, wealth inequality all started with Enkhbold, since he was the mayor of Ulaanbaatar city,” he said.
At the Thursday protest, people held up placards with messages such as “We Demand Enkhbold Resign”.
Protester Dejid Avirmed, 61, told Reuters that people were fed up that in a mineral-rich, democratic country like Mongolia many still lived in poverty.
“Mongolians are very patient, but now we lose our patience,” she told Reuters at the protest in the central square in front of parliament.
“Enkhbold should resign. A shame on him that he makes this many people protest in this mid-winter cold.”
Security forces disperse Sudanese protesters
Thursday’s regular session of parliament was delayed, the seventh time it has been,
because of the boycott by the members demanding Enkhbold’s resignation.
The last scheduled parliament session for 2018 is due on Friday. “Parliament members should solve the problem not by appealing to protests, but by coming to the parliament session hall. This is the law,” said Enkh-Amgalan Luvsantseren, deputy speaker of parliament, media reported.
Reporting by Munkhchimeg Davaasharav in Ulaanbaatar; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Robert Birsel
Source:Reuters news agency
Mongolian deputy minister sacked for criticizing gov't
ULAN BATOR, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Mongolian government decided Wednesday to sack a deputy minister who had criticized the government over a scandal involving financial irregularities.
Deputy Minister of Justice and Home Affairs Battumur Enkhbayar was sacked as he recently urged the government to punish some parliament and cabinet members who allegedly obtained low-interest loans from a government fund for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises.
Reports were made public in late October that some members of the Mongolian parliament and government, as well as other high-ranking officials obtained loans with low interest rates from the fund by abusing their powers. Since then, issues surrounding the fund have become a hot topic in the Asian country.
The country's Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Minister Batjargal Batzorig has been dismissed and Road and Transport Development Minister Yangu Sodbaatar has resigned over the scandal. Enditem
Mongolia's foreign debt rises to over 7 bln USD
ULAN BATOR, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's total foreign debt reached 7.24 billion U.S. dollars in the third quarter, up 12 percent from the same period last year, the country's central bank said Wednesday.
As of the third quarter, foreign debt accounted for about 60 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), according to the central bank.
"We have many challenges ahead. In particular, the government is due to pay back 5.4 billion U.S. dollars in total in 2021-2022," said Bayartsaikhan Nadmid, president of the Bank of Mongolia.
"So, we need to pay special attention to increase foreign currency reserves," he said.
Mongolia's foreign currency reserves reached 3.4 billion dollars at the end of the third quarter, a new high since 2013, he added.
The mineral-rich country has a population of 3.2 million and an economy of 12 billion dollars.
The country's economy is heavily dependent on the mining industry that contributes to about a quarter of the country's GDP and around 90 percent of its exports.
Mongolian president asks parliament to create conditions for plenary sessions
ULAN BATOR, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga on Wednesday submitted an official letter to the country's Parliament Secretariat, asking to create conditions for plenary sessions of the parliament.
"I planned to give information on national security during the plenary session of the parliament on Dec. 21. But I could not give any information on scheduled time because members of the parliament boycotted plenary sessions of the parliament," he said in the letter.
"Thus, the Parliament Secretariat should pay attention for creating conditions for plenary sessions of the parliament in the coming days," he said.
More than half of the lawmakers in the 76-seat parliament, most of them belonging to the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP), have boycotted plenary sessions and meetings of standing committees of the parliament for four weeks, demanding parliament speaker Miyegombo Enkhbold's resignation over alleged conflicts of interest.
Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh also submitted a request to the constitutional court on Nov. 29 to dismiss Enkhbold.
Audio recordings were made public last year that some officials of the MPP, including Enkhbold, allegedly used their government positions as a tool to run in the parliamentary election in 2016.
Enkhbold has denied the allegations, saying he did not do anything unethical and illegal.
Earlier this month, Enkhbold submitted an official demand letter to the prime minister, asking to stop the boycotting of plenary sessions of the parliament.
99 ancient tombs found in Inner Mongolia
A cluster of 99 ancient tombs, more than 2,000 years old, has been found in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to local authorities.
An archaeological team from the regional institute of cultural relics and archaeology discovered a complex of tombs in Jungar Banner, including 99 tombs and a sacrificial pit dating between the late Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) and the early Western Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-8 A.D.).
Most of the tomb owners were found without coffins in tombs that vary in size. The biggest one measured about five meters in length, three meters in width and three meters in height, and the smallest one was barely larger than a human body.
Animal offerings, including skeletons of goats, cattle, and dogs, were found in nearly one-third of the tombs.
Animal sacrifice was a familiar burial ritual among residents living along the Great Wall during the Warring States Period, according to archaeologists. The Great Wall wound through part of northern China at that time.
Cooking utensils, dating back to the late Warring States Period, such as ceramic kettles, were unearthed, as well as 10 bronze government seals from the Western Han Dynasty.
"This shows the area of the tombs was under the control of the central government during the early Western Han Dynasty," said Hu Chunbai, head of the archaeological team.
(Top Photo: A file photo taken in 2010 shows a relic site near Hulun Buir city, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. /VCG Photo)
Archaeologists find human sacrificial pit in Inner Mongolia
Archaeologists discovered bones of infants and adults at a ruins site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which are believed to be remains of human sacrifices, local authorities said.
Five complete human skeletons and a few skulls were found buried at the bottom of a round pit, which is three meters deep, according to the regional institute of cultural relics and archaeology.
The research found the skeletons belonged to 14 victims including some infants. The adult victims were all females, while the gender of infants could not be identified.
Archaeologists spotted chop and cut marks on some of the human bones, evidence of violent deaths.
The pit is beneath a large building complex, northwest of the imperial palace ruins of Shangjing, which is the first capital of the Liao Dynasty (916-1125).
Tests showed the building complex and the sacrificial pit date back to a period between the late Liao Dynasty and early Jin Dynasty (1115-1234).
Researchers excluded the possibility that the pit was a tomb.
A rectangular pit near the human sacrificial pit was also found. Skeletons of three horses, bones of camel hooves, skulls of cattle and dogs and a few incomplete human skulls were discovered inside.
Archaeologists said they have never found sacrificial pits under royal buildings during the same period, let alone human sacrificial pits.
Dong Xinlin, who heads the archaeological team, said they estimated that the people and animals might have been offered as sacrifices for the construction of the building complex. The buildings' function is still unknown.
The Liao Dynasty was founded by the nomadic Khitan who ruled the northern part of China. Shangjing, now located in Bairin Left Banner in Inner Mongolia, was first built in 918. The excavation on the ruins site started 12 years ago.
Mongolia's Tax Collectors are the Real Winner in National Lotto
By
Mongolia’s effort to get its citizens to pay taxes by enrolling them in a lottery is delivering a big payout -- for the government.
The north Asian country between Russia and China has expanded its tax base by almost half since 2016, according to government statistics, partly by printing a lottery ticket on every retail receipt when the 10 percent value-added tax is paid. The gimmick has consumers insisting they pay the tax at the register so that they have a chance at winning a jackpot.
Mongolia has struggled to crack down on the so-called shadow economy -- transactions made when retailers cut costs by failing to report sales to the tax office. Informal markets such as the Narantuul black market in Ulaanbaatar are filled with vendors selling everything from blenders to animal skins -- much of it off-the-books. That had Mongolia’s tax authorities looking for innovative ways to grow its tax base.
Every receipt that comes from a purchase when VAT is paid can enter consumers into a lottery that pays out prizes from as little as 50,000 tugrik ($18.99) to jackpots that can equal thousands of dollars. In 2017, one woman won 500 million tugrik, or 500 times the average monthly household income, according to local media reports.
Last year, Ulaanbaatar paid out 5.05 billion tugrik in prizes to 119,254 citizens, according to the government website for the Information Technology Center of Custom, Taxation and Finance.
The National Statistics Office in a December report said a 32.7 percent expansion in VAT over the previous year was a main driver for tax revenue growth.
Shadow economies are tricky to pin down and estimates vary, but the IMFreckons Mongolia’s gray economy was as high as 15.9 percent of GDP in 2015.
To play, consumers download a smartphone app to scan bar codes printed on receipts. Tax payers get the added bonus of a 2 percent tax refund the following year from all the receipts they’ve scanned.
While Mongolia isn’t the first to experiment with such a program, with governments in Europe trying similar ones, this lotto has widened the spotlight on the informal retail business in the country.
Source:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-25/mongolia-s-tax-collectors-are-the-real-winner-in-national-lotto
Bank of Inner Mongolia’s Ex-Chairman Convicted on Corruption Charges
The former chairman of a major joint-stock bank based in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region was handed a suspended death sentence on Friday after being convicted of corruption involving over 600 million yuan ($87 million).
 |
| The Bank of Inner Mongolia is seen in Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Photo: VCG |
Yang Chenglin, 66, the former chair and Communist Party chief of the state-backed Bank of Inner Mongolia Co. Ltd., was convicted of crimes that included accepting bribes and embezzling bank funds from 2000 to 2013, according to a statement (link in Chinese) from the Intermediate People’s Court of Baotou, a major industrial city in the region.
Yang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, and will not be eligible for parole or a sentence reduction after the death penalty is reduced to life imprisonment in two years, the statement said. All his property will be confiscated.
Yang’s crimes were “very serious, and had an especially bad social influence,” which warranted the death penalty, but the death penalty will not be imposed immediately as he exposed the crimes of others and confessed wrongdoings that had not been discovered by investigators, the statement said.
Yang Hai, Yang’s son, was sentenced to 19 years in prison and fined 3 million yuan for taking bribes and embezzlement, the court said. In addition, Zhang Ting, Yang Chenglin’s mistress, was sentenced to five years in prison and fined 700,000 yuan for taking bribes, it said.
In July 2014, the elder Yang was arrested on suspicion of bribery by the People’s Procuratorate of Inner Mongolia. Yang’s fall took place after he retired from the bank in August 2013. Several people close to the Bank of Inner Mongolia told Caixin that his wrongdoings were exposed during the exit audit.
Yang’s arrest was followed by a series of corruption arrests at the bank, leading to the imprisonment of Yao Yongping and Yan Ping, the bank’s former president and vice president respectively. Yao’s crimes were revealed by Yang, according to the sources.
Yang was one of the most senior officials at the bank. In 1999, he helped found Hohhot City Commercial Bank Co. Ltd., the predecessor of the Bank of Inner Mongolia, and he was the bank’s chairman for 14 years.
Contact reporter Liu Jiefei (jiefeiliu@caixin.com)
Incomes of herdsmen, farmers in Inner Mongolia soar over past 40 years
HOHHOT, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- The per capita disposable income of herdsmen and farmers in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region soared from 131 yuan (about 19 U.S. dollars) in 1978 to around 12,600 yuan today, increasing by 95 times, local authorities said Saturday.
China abolished taxes on animal husbandry and agriculture in 2004 and 2005, respectively, to ease the tax burden on herdsmen and farmers. Then, the region implemented a series of policies to offer subsidies to herdsmen and farmers in order to further increase their incomes, said Sun Zhenyun, director of the regional agricultural and animal husbandry department.
Since 2011, China has allocated a fund of 45.56 billion yuan to farmers and herdsmen in Inner Mongolia who have contributed to prairie protection, which has also assisted the restoration of the prairie ecosystem in the region. Each year, over 4.9 million farmers and herdsmen from more than 1.4 million households could benefit from the fund, according to Sun.
The region has also made plans for future development, including the cultivation of specialized farmers and herdsmen cooperatives, helping establish leading enterprises, improving agricultural and animal husbandry technology, and continuing to increase farmers and herdsmen's incomes, Sun said.
As one of China's most important production bases for agricultural and animal products, Inner Mongolia steadily provides 12.5 million tonnes of grain, five million tonnes of milk, as well as 1.5 million tonnes of meat to other parts of the country each year.
The teenager who hunts wolves in Mongolia and posts eagle selfies
Zamanbol (14) is part of a generation of nomadic youth embracing ancient customs as they seek connection with their roots and the wild
When school is done on Fridays, Zamanbol heads back home, finishes her homework and does her chores as typical teenagers do anywhere. On Saturdays, she saddles up her horse, treks deep into snow-capped mountains and hunts wild beasts with a trusted partner: her trained bird of prey.
Zamanbol (14) is an eagle hunter. A Kazakh nomad in the Altai region of Mongolia, she is part of a generation of nomadic youth who are embracing customs centuries old as they seek connection with their roots and the wild in a world being transformed by technology.
The young hunter, who goes to school in town during the week and returns to her nomadic family’s ger, or yurt, on the weekend, has been living among eagles her whole life. The demanding craft of eagle hunting was passed on to her by her grandfather, Matei. With him by her side, she and her eagle have even hunted wolves. Her grandfather taught her all he knew of hunting with eagles - how to call to the bird in the sky, how to whisper to it soothingly when perched on her arm. When he died, she inherited his prized bird.
Sing to eagles
“After my grandfather’s death, I wanted to continue his way,” Zamanbol said. Just as Zamanbol began learning the craft at a young age, the training of the birds starts soon after an eaglet is captured from the nest, often after a hunter has made a rugged climb up a cliff. The resulting relationship between hunter and eagle is close and lasts years; some last more than a decade, with a few hunters even talking about the eagle as if it were their child.
Hunters will often sing to their eagles to get them used to their voice. Female eagles, larger and stronger than males, are used almost exclusively in the hunt. Once grown to about 15 pounds, the eagles ride with their hunters on horseback into the mountains, where they are released to scan the landscape for prey, typically foxes and rabbits.
But wolves are the true prize, even if the hunters fear for their birds’ safety when they go in for the dangerous, and brutal, kill. Eagle hunting almost vanished in the last century. It was kept alive by the Altai Kazakhs in western Mongolia in Bayan-Olgii province, where at least 400 ethnic Kazakhs have formally registered as eagle hunters. The province is the only one in Mongolia that is majority Kazakh, and majority Muslim.
International attention
Now, for perhaps for the first time in its history, the art, and its essential role in Altai Kazakh culture, is being shared with outsiders. Hunters come together for the Golden Eagle Festival to compete in a two-day gathering open to tourists.
A popular 2016 documentary film about Aisholpan, a young eagle huntress who won the festival’s hunting competition in 2014, helped bring the Altai Kazakh culture to international attention. Just gathering the hunters together is a logistical feat, since many are pastoral nomads, some without cellphones or a fixed mailing address. Many will arrive on horseback, clopping down dirt roads clad in wolfskin and fox fur. During the festival, Soviet-era vehicles dot the steppe, with local vendors selling tapestries depicting Kazakh life, leather-bound books with Mongolian sayings and intricate bottles for Mongolian snuff. Children sit on the ground, playing games with shagai, sheep knuckle bones.
The number of foreign tourists coming to the festival is growing, with a record of more than 1,000 this year, according to government officials. This year, 120 eagle hunters took part: From the top of a mountain, the eagle is released as its hunter waits on horseback in a makeshift arena set up at the mountain’s foot.
The goal is to have the bird meet its hunter within a targeted area some 20 yards wide. To prod the eagle, the hunter holds aloft a piece of meat, and makes a loud cry for the bird. A reunion within the target area is no given: This year, just 18 eagles made it. For each successful convergence between hunter and eagle, gasps and cheers of awe erupted across the steppe. The winning eagle is chosen after a second round, judged on how they hunt a mammal carcass tied to a galloping horse.
Released to the wild
When Zamanbol rides out into the mountains to hunt, she often lets her friends come along, all moving confidently atop their horses over the rough terrain, bantering at full gallop. In the selfies the girls post on Facebook, Zamanbol’s eagle appears with them like a peer. “Your eagle is lovely,” one of the Facebook comments reads. Technology has widened gaps between generations across the world, and Bayan-Olgii is no exception. But eagle hunting, for the few who practice it, has been a bridge connecting Kazakh youth to their elders.
For Zamanbol, her eagle embodies her grandparents, although the bird she hunts with today is not the one her grandfather gave her. Out of custom and love, the eagles are eventually released back into the wild. Zamanbol was 13 when she let go her first eagle, the one she inherited from her grandfather.
Many hunters described deep sorrow coupled with a sense of well-wishing as their partner took the final flight from their arm. Before her eagle was let go, Zamanbol’s family slaughtered a sheep for the occasion. She then tied a white ribbon around its leg, went up to the mountains and bid farewell. “I was sad,” Zamanbol said, “but I wanted her to be free.” – New York Times
Mongolia produces over 6 mln barrels of crude oil so far this year
Mongolia has extracted a total of 6.007 million barrels, or 814,506 tons, of crude oil from the beginning of this year to Dec. 12, data released by the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry showed Friday.
Out of its total production, 5.879 million barrels, or 798,485 tons, of crude oil were exported to China in the period mentioned above, the ministry said in a statement.
The mineral-rich Asian country plans to extract 8.1 million barrels, or 1.1 million tons, of crude oil this year, which would contribute 93.31 million U.S. dollars to the state budget.
The country has so far implemented 74.11 percent of its extraction plan and 72.54 percent of its export plan, according to the ministry.
Currently, there is no oil refinery in the landlocked country. The first one in the country is scheduled to be commissioned in late 2022.
Source: Xinhua
Source: Xinhua
Mongolia’s digital disruptor takes on Asia
by Elliot Wilson
Anar Chinbaatar is wreaking havoc: local banks are running scared of LendMN, a digital payday lender that has disbursed 600,000 loans in just 18 months. The serial tech entrepreneur now plans to transform LendMN into a real digital bank – and take on Asia. Few would bet against him.
The best commercially disruptive ideas can blossom in unlikely conditions. Travis Kalanick was inspired to found Uber while waiting for a taxi in Paris. Mark Zuckerberg’s breakthrough was getting Ivy League undergraduates to tell one other they were single. And Anar Chinbaatar’s revelation happened one day when he went out for a smoke.
The best commercially disruptive ideas can blossom in unlikely conditions. Travis Kalanick was inspired to found Uber while waiting for a taxi in Paris. Mark Zuckerberg’s breakthrough was getting Ivy League undergraduates to tell one other they were single. And Anar Chinbaatar’s revelation happened one day when he went out for a smoke.
For more, go to
https://www.euromoney.com/article/b1cbh0p0mwc9xv/mongolias-digital-disruptor-takes-on-asia
Mongolia's foreign trade up 23.6 pct in first 11 months
ULAN BATOR, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's goods trade went up 23.6 percent year-on-year to 11.9 billion U.S. dollars in the first 11 months of 2018, official data showed Friday.
Exports rose 14.0 percent year-on-year in the January-November period to 6.5 billion U.S. dollars while imports increased 37.6 percent to 5.4 billion U.S. dollars, resulting in a trade surplus of 1.1 billion U.S. dollars, the Mongolian National Statistics Office said.
Mining is the main economic sector of the mineral-rich country. The industry accounted for 88.6 percent of total exports in the period, according to the statistical agency.
The landlocked Asian country has traded with a total of 155 countries in the first 11 months of this year and exported its goods and services to over 70 countries among them.
IAEA Conducts Mission to Assist Mongolia in Effective Nuclear Knowledge Management
The IAEA held an expert mission in Mongolia this month to assist the country in assessing their practices for nuclear management, human resource processes, training and competence development, knowledge capture and transfer, organizational culture and collaboration.
The IAEA Knowledge Management Assist Visit (KMAV) was conducted, at the national level, in Ulaanbaatar, from 3 to 7 December 2018, at the request of the National University of Mongolia and the Nuclear Energy Commission of Mongolia. In addition to the two hosts, the mission involved 16 other relevant organizations including universities, hospitals, research organizations, national laboratories, the nuclear regulatory body and other government offices.
The IAEA Team consisted of four experts from Canada, Japan, the Russian Federation and the UK, and two IAEA staff. During the mission, they also ran several nuclear knowledge management and human resources development training courses for various audiences at different locations.
Prior to the mission the participating Mongolian organizations completed, at a national level, a detailed Knowledge Management Maturity Self-Assessment. The analysis of the self-assessment revealed a significant gap between the current status of knowledge management practices and those the organizations would like to have in place in the future. For this, enhanced use of knowledge management methodologies and tools is needed are utilized to a greater extent.
The programme also involved a collective exercise of performing a detailed analysis of a possible national knowledge management programme to be established within five years.
“Main findings of the mission were related to the national policy on nuclear applications, nuclear education, research and development, cooperation with the IAEA, including additional nuclear knowledge management services that can be implemented in the near future,” said Huang Wei, Director of the IAEA’s Nuclear Planning, Information and Knowledge Management.
Among the recommendations of the KMAV team was organizing training sessions in knowledge management for senior managers and decision makers as key stakeholders. A policy and strategy document should also be developed.
The mission programme also included visits to the Nuclear Research Center and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the National University of Mongolia, as well as an award ceremony of four high school students who won a nationwide essay competition on the applications and benefits of nuclear science.
A similar national level KMAV mission was conducted in Indonesia in June 2018 with the objective of reviewing and supporting the KM programme development at the National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN).
A total of 41 KMAV missions in 25 countries have been conducted in the past 13 years, mainly at nuclear power plants, education and research organizations, and vendor/design organizations. Recently, KMAV missions have been introduced at national level in countries without nuclear power plant programmes.
Source:IAEA
Inner Mongolia rushing to preserve ancient texts of minorities
Northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is working to collect and preserve the ancient texts of three small ethnic minorities, local authorities said Wednesday.
The ethnic affairs committee of the city of Hulun Buir said they were translating and compiling the historical texts and files of Ewenki, Daur and Oroqen, including many collected from the public for better conservation.
The committee said they had so far collected 1,794 pages of texts dated between 1636 and 1949. The files written in the Manchu language include government files, folk legends, and records of local religious beliefs and practices.
The three ethnic groups do not have their own written languages, and many of their records were in Manchu and Mongolian.
China's graft crackdown snares ex-head of Bank of Inner Mongolia
BEIJING, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A Chinese court on Friday sentenced the former chairman of Bank of Inner Mongolia, a private joint-stock lender, to death for corruption with a two-year reprieve, the official Xinhua news agency said, effectively meaning he will be jailed for life.
Yang Chenglin abused his posts as Communist Party boss and chairman of the bank from 2000 to 2013, taking in over 307 million yuan ($44.54 million) in bribes and misappropriating 292 million yuan public funds from the bank, Xinhua said, quoting a verdict from Baotou city intermediate court.
The reprieve was granted because he offered clues to other people’s crimes and had admitted his wrongdoing and expressed regret, the court said.
Yang could not be reached for comment.
Since taking office in 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to wage war on graft, warning the problem is so serious it threatens the party’s survival. The campaign has taken down high-profile politicians and ensnared senior finance officials.
This week, Xi said that the country’s anti-corruption campaign has achieved an overwhelming victory. (Reporting by Stella Qiu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Nick Macfie)