Mongolia Online | Published News | Development

Why The Mongolian ‘Ninjas’ Keep On Digging?

mongoliaonline — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:36:33 EDT

Gold production in Mongolia is growing rapidly and it saw a seventeen-fold increase between 1991 and 2001. But the real boost came in July 2001, when a Canadian company called Ivanhoe Mines found a large gold and copper deposit at Oyu Tolgoi (turquoise hill). Foreign investment in the country on explorations soared. And the great Mongolian gold rush began with mining companies from aroun

501 Vote(s)

Mongolia Weighs Wind for China

mongoliaonline — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 05:24:12 EDT

Mongolia, one day, hopes to export more than just coal to neighboring China.

At a recent cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold outlined plans to ramp up the country’s investments in alternative energy and to export wind power to China — enough to equal 40 million tons of coal.

485 Vote(s)

Utah medics to teach surgery technique to Mongolian doctors

mongoliaonline — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 01:32:23 EDT

SALT LAKE CITY -- A team of medical volunteers, mostly from Utah, is preparing for a trek to one of the most remote countries in the world. It's an annual effort doing what many experts thought was a bad idea: teaching an advanced form of high-tech surgery in a primitive economy.

It's so off-the-beaten-track, a lot of people probably couldn't find Mongolia on a map. By

91 Vote(s)

Wary of Chinese Intentions, Mongolia Opts For More Expensive Rail Development Plan

mongoliaonline — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:08:52 EDT

As they ponder ways to develop Mongolia's abundant natural resources, political leaders in Ulaanbaatar are opting for more expensive infrastructure options in order to bolster the country's sovereignty.

The leadership's sovereignty concerns were evident in the recent announcement that a railroad spur leading from the country's largest coal mine would link into the country's dome

93 Vote(s)

Mongolian Cabinet holds meeting in Gobi desert to draw attention to climate change

mongoliaonline — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:21:50 EDT

GASHUUNII KHOOLOI, Mongolia - Top Mongolian officials donned dark green baseball caps reading "Save our planet" and set up chairs and tables in the sands of the Gobi desert for a Cabinet meeting aimed at drawing attention to climate change.

The meeting of 12 government ministers was held in scorching heat Friday in Gashuunii Khooloi, a sandy valley in South Gobi p

134 Vote(s)

Abu Dhabi to help Mongolian falcons to spread their wings

mongoliaonline — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:06:02 EDT

ABU DHABI // With financial support from Abu Dhabi, conservationists have started to build the first of 5,000 artificial nests in the Mongolian steppes in a bid to increase the number of breeding Saker Falcons.

The Saker Falcon population has been declining rapidly due to capture for the falconry trade, loss of habitat and pollution.

140 Vote(s)

South Korea To Help Mongolia Achieve Maritine Transportation Capability

mongoliaonline — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:06:01 EDT

SEOUL, Aug 24 (Bernama) -- South Korea plans to help Mongolia to build up maritime transportation capability in exchange for gaining access to the landlocked country's abundant natural resources, Yonhap news agency said Tuesday.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said Seoul aims to train sailors, share commercial maritime management systems and allow

37 Vote(s)

Seoul Metro to Conduct Feasibility Study for Ulaanbaatar

mongoliaonline — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:02:41 EDT

Seoul Metro, which operates subway Line One to Line Four in Seoul, has won a contract to conduct a feasibility study for a project to build a light rail transit system in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar.

The city plans to construct a 47-kilometer light rail system as part of a one-point-four trillion won transportation project.

17 Vote(s)

Earthquake hits eastern Mongolia

mongoliaonline — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:42:58 EDT

An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale hit Zuunbayan County, Dornogobi Province, in eastern Mongolia Friday morning, the Mongolian Astronomical and Geophysical Research Institute said.

A researcher from the institute said the epicenter was initially determined at 44.5 degrees latitude and 109.6 degrees longitude, 30 km west of Zuunbayan County and 250 km from

27 Vote(s)

Heat Wave Sweeps across Mongolia

mongoliaonline — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:02:07 EDT

Heat waves will continue to sweep across many parts of Mongolia until Aug. 25, Mongolia's meteorological authorities reported Saturday.

With temperatures at 36-39 degrees Celsius, the eastern part of the country and the areas along River Orhon and River Selenge in northern Mongolia will experience a sultry weather in the summer heat, reported Mongolia's Institute of Me

26 Vote(s)

Mongolia - Departing Country Manager Shares His Thoughts on Mongolia’s Economic Growth

mongoliaonline — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:30:09 EDT

Ulaanbaatar, July 22, 2010 – Today representatives from the banking sector, private sector, academic community, media and the public attended a public lecture, presented by Arshad Sayed, titled ‘Mongolia's economic growth: what’s next?’.

Arshad, who has held the position of resident representative of the World Bank Mongolia office, shared fin

1 Vote(s)

Driving the Genghis Goddess to Mongolia for charity

mongoliaonline — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:48:42 EDT

Marco Kesseler, Tom Jamieson, Jon Choksye and Edd Macey are driving to Mongolia in a 1953 Green Goddess fire engine. They have called it the Genghis Goddess and will join teams from around the world for the Mongol Rally challenge.

2 Vote(s)

Mongolia to export up to 240 saker falcons this year

mongoliaonline — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 10:44:10 EDT

ULAN BATOR, Jun. 12, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Mongolia had set a quota of 240 saker falcons for export this year, Minister of Environment, Nature and Tourism L. Gansuh said Friday.

Speaking on a new hunting regulation at a press conference, the minister said foreigners would be allowed to hunt 240 of the most prized birds of prey, which cost 12,000 U.S. dollars each.

13 Vote(s)

IOM to Assess Needs of Rural Families Displaced by Extreme Winter

mongoliaonline — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:50:25 EDT

International Organization for Migration (IOM), in cooperation with UN partners including UNICEF, is to launch an Emergency Displacement Assessment to investigate the situation of thousands of rural Mongolian families forced to migrate from their homes to the capital Ulaanbaatar by one of the coldest winters on record.

The extreme winter conditions, known locally as a "Dzud," resulted

12 Vote(s)

Mongol herders reeling after harsh winter

mongoliaonline — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:02:26 EDT

SOUTH HANGAY PROVINCE, Mongolia - They call it the zud, a prolonged period of heavy snows and paralyzing cold that adds to the challenges of living on a treeless expanse nearly the size of Alaska. But this year's zud followed a punishing summer drought that stunted the grass and left Munkhbat Lkhagvasuren's herds emaciated and his family in debt after borrowing money for fodder.

45 Vote(s)

Mongolia counts carcasses after harsh winter

mongoliaonline — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 21:54:56 EDT

UYANGA, Mongolia-Before he can fully tend to his dwindling herd, Demberel has to bury the dead cows, goats and sheep in earth barely thawed from Mongolia's worst winter in decades.

Fetid and fly-ridden, the carcasses lie stacked by the hundreds around a burial pit dug by Demberel and a dozen fellow herders. A truck brings dozens more carcasses. Others lie in piles or strewn in n

47 Vote(s)

Support For Mongolia's Development

mongoliaonline — Sat, 15 May 2010 15:41:50 EDT

International experience can be helpful as Mongolia makes choices about its future.

"Mongolia will determine the choices it makes about its own future," said United States Ambassador to Mongolia Jonathan Addleton, "but international experience, both good and bad, can also be helpful and offer useful and important insights as Mongolia learns from both the successes and failures o

8 Vote(s)

UN seek $18 million to assist nearly 800,000 people in Mongolia after severe winter and summer drought

mongoliaonline — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:55:01 EDT

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) - United Nations (UN) agencies and partner humanitarian organizations on Wednesday requested more than $18 million to assist nearly 800,000 people in Mongolia who are suffering from a long and severe winter, and the proceeding summer drought.

The dzud - a complex, natural disaster in which a summer drought is followed by heavy snowfalls and unusually lo

2 Vote(s)

Mongolia declared disaster after fierce winter-UN

mongoliaonline — Wed, 12 May 2010 11:09:46 EDT

GENEVA, May 12 (Reuters) - Mineral-rich Mongolia is in the grips of a natural disaster after its worst winter for 50 years wiped out huge livestock populations vital to the country's herders, the U.N. said on Wednesday.

Rana Flowers, the United Nation's top representative in the landlocked Asian country, said a hot dry summer in 2009 followed first by fierce cold and h

2 Vote(s)

UN urges aid for Mongolia

mongoliaonline — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:48:00 EDT

GENEVA - THE UN warned on Wednesday that a drought which has devastated Mongolia during one of the worst winters for decades could continue for another year, as it appealed for US$ 18.1 million (S$30 million) in aid.

UN interim humanitarian coordinator Rana Flowers said the aid appeal presented to donors in Geneva would assist nearly 800,000 Mongolians, mainly herders

2 Vote(s)

Silent spring for Mongolians after winter kills herds

mongoliaonline — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:34:33 EDT

(Reuters) - The winter camps of southern Mongolia are quiet during this year's breeding season, after an unusually harsh winter wiped out herds and left nomadic families with little but debt to their name.

The bitter winter killed an estimated 8 million animals, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), leaving exhausted, poverty-stricken herders st

2 Vote(s)

INFLATION WORRIES LEAD CENTRAL BANK TO RAISE POLICY LOAN RATE BY 1%

mongoliaonline — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:33:43 EDT

The Central Bank raised on Monday its policy loan interest rate from 10% to 11% with effect from May 12, to counter inflation which now stands at 11.4% as against 8.4 percent in January.

The rising inflation has been attributed to the distribution of MNT70,000 to every citizen, to the massive loss of livestock that has raised the price of meat by 64 percent, and to th

2 Vote(s)

Bridging the digital divide

mongoliaonline — Sun, 09 May 2010 01:15:38 EDT

Mongolia — an isolated country sandwiched between Siberia and China — has become a pioneer in using the Internet as a tool for development, through a lasting partnership with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) that continues today. Since the demise of the Soviet Union, Mongolia has made significant progress in democratic restructuring and creating a private-sector

2 Vote(s)

IMF says revised budget violates terms of agreement

mongoliaonline — Sat, 08 May 2010 16:20:45 EDT

IMF Country Representative .P. Ramlogan told Parliament Speaker D.Demberel on Monday that reported provisions in the revised budget for 2010 violated Mongolia’s agreement with the IMF, and that if these were not reviewed, the Fund “would find it difficult” to continue with the agreement.

1 Vote(s)

China arrests two Mongolians for smuggling snow leopard skins

mongoliaonline — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:38:54 EDT

Beijing - Chinese police arrested two Mongolian citizens after finding two snow leopard skins and a snow leopard skull hidden inside their jeep at a border checkpoint, state media said Tuesday.

Police in the remote Alxa League of north China's Inner Mongolia region spent 10 hours searching the vehicle that had more than 40 hidden compartments, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

2 Vote(s)

Mongolian dzud kills millions of domestic animals

mongoliaonline — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:16:52 EDT

By James Sawyer
Imagine trying to survive in temperatures below minus 50 degrees F (minus 47 degrees C) for more than a month.

It happened in Mongolia this winter--weather so cold that livestock and other animals were dying painfully at a rate of a quarter of a million deaths every week, resulting in the loss of millions of animals over the season.

Imagine

1 Vote(s)

Books being shipped to Mongolia

mongoliaonline — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:09:05 EDT

CHILDREN in Mongolia will benefit from 45,000 English reading books thanks to an international book collection scheme led in the UK by a Belbroughton-based photographer.

The Bookbridge initiative set out to collect unwanted children’s English books to equip school libraries in Mongolia so children in the country can learn English as a second l

1 Vote(s)

Mongolia, South Korea to build waste recycle plant in Ulan Bator

mongoliaonline — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:31:05 EDT

ULAN BATOR, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia and the Republic of Korea on Saturday signed a cooperation agreement to build a waste recycling plant in the Mongolian capital city.

The cooperating parties are the Ulan Bator municipal administration and the Korea International Cooperation Agency, according to the city's administrative office.

The waste recycling plant

1 Vote(s)

How conservation can help Mongolia's herders fight the dzud

mongoliaonline — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:45:55 EDT

Half of all Mongolia's livestock could be dead by spring -- victims of a drought-freeze punch known as a dzud. How could grassland conservation help herders cope with such climate-change intensified phenomena?

Evan Girvetz, Cool Green Science Blog describes the root causes for this particularly devastating dzud and suggests some ecosystem-based solutions to help make the livelihoo

1 Vote(s)

ADB Helps Mongolia Prepare for Urban Growth Ahead of Influx in Southeast Gobi

mongoliaonline — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:34:24 EDT

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing $15 million in grant to help Mongolia improve urban infrastructure and services in the booming mining and border towns in Southeast Gobi.

The grant, which was approved by ADB's Board of Directors, will directly benefit about 100,000 people in six towns of Omnogovi and Dornogovi provinces, where poverty incidence is around 31%.

Both

1 Vote(s)

Six million heads of livestock died in Mongolia

mongoliaonline — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:48:25 EDT

Ulaanbaatar Six million heads of livestock died due to extreme weather conditions in Mongolia. 14.3% of the 44 million heads counted in the beginning of 2010 have been lost.

These livestock are the primary source of income and food for nomadic families, and as a result thousands are struggling to survive.

The Mongolian government has declared a state of nationa

2 Vote(s)

Severe winter devastates Mongolian herder families

mongoliaonline — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:41:42 EDT

A particularly severe winter in Mongolia is having a devastating impact on more than 12,000 people from herding families, whose entire reserves of livestock have died in the harsh conditions.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has released £65,000 from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund and issued an emergency appeal seeking £645,000 to sup

2 Vote(s)

Mongolia Gets ADB Support for Herder Families Battling Natural Disaster

mongoliaonline — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:09:32 EDT

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Isolated nomadic herder families in Mongolia who are struggling to survive amidst an unfolding natural disaster are to receive support from the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund.

A grant of $2.5 million from the Fund to the Government of Mongolia will help deliver food, fuel, and health and social services to herd

1 Vote(s)

Return to Khishig Undur: The Tale of Peter Rabbit

mongoliaonline — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:05:08 EDT

Over 10,000 people voted to give a book to children in the remote Mongolian village of Khishig Undur - the most participants yet!

The winning book is "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", and Asia Foundation delivered it to Khishig Undur's 4th grade class on March 29th. We thought we'd give the children the opportunity to thank you themselves so please watch the video to the end!

2 Vote(s)

Extreme Weather | Mongolia

mongoliaonline — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:45:27 EDT

Dead sheep, goats, horses and cattle are strewn throughout a barren and snowy landscape on Mongolia's remote steppes.

For the nomadic herdsmen and women who inhabit this unforgiving land, the level of death and destruction is not normal.

Sheila Zhao spent nine days traveling with another photographer and a small entourage of local officials through two of Mongolia’s worst

1 Vote(s)

Mongolia's zud: Bitter toll

mongoliaonline — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:51:58 EDT

In a country where livestock outnumber people by an order of 16 to one, animal welfare is no small matter. In Mongolia this year the animals are not faring well at all, and the 2.8m human inhabitants are feeling their pain. Hundreds of thousands of Mongolians depend directly upon animals for their own livelihood.

The immediate cause of everyone's distress is an untoward sequence

1 Vote(s)

Mongolia: UN provides more funds as severe winter continues to bite

mongoliaonline — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:04:14 EDT

29 March 2010 - The United Nations has allocated $3.7 million in emergency funding to support UN agencies in Mongolia as they try to assist more than half a million people suffering from the combined effects of a long, severe winter and a preceding harsh summer drought.

1 Vote(s)

Struggling to survive Mongolia's freezing winter

mongoliaonline — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:10:47 EDT

In Mongolia, what aid agencies are calling a slowly unfolding disaster is underway as extreme cold continues to devastate nomadic herder communities. As the BBC's Chris Hogg reports, about 10% of the country's livestock has perished and thousands of families have lost everything.

2 Vote(s)

Arctic winter threatens Mongolian way of life

mongoliaonline — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 02:43:41 EDT

Thousands of nomadic Mongolian herders are facing impoverishment after the onslaught of a bitter cold winter which has decimated their livestock.

An estimated 4.5 million animals have perished on the freezing Mongolian steppes depriving families of their only source of income.

2 Vote(s)

Mongolian herders need food aid after hard winter

mongoliaonline — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 17:35:32 EDT

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia -- Emergency food relief is needed for nomadic herders in Mongolia after the number of livestock killed there by blizzards and extreme cold doubled in recent weeks, the Red Cross said Monday.

International funds of 1 million Swiss francs ($935,000) were needed to provide food and other emergency relief for herders in the poor, landlocked country, the Interna

2 Vote(s)