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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2020)
Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER ASIA / PACIFIC October 5, 2020 Veteran Sherpa guide who set Everest record dies at 72 KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A veteran Nepalese Sherpa guide who was the first person to climb Mount Everest 10 times has died at age 72 after a long illness, family members said. Ang Rita, among the first Sherpa guides to receive international fame for his accomplishments, had suffered from health problems for many years and had not climbed any mountains since setting the Everest record in 1996. His daughter, Dolma Lhamo, said he died in his sleep at their home on the outskirts of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu. Ang Rita was a national hero known as the “snow leopard” but struggled financially and with his health, including liver illness and swelling of the brain. He was in bad health at his home in his mountain village in 1999 when his close friend, former Nepal Mountaineering Association President Ang Tshering, hired a helicopter and flew him to a hospital in Kathmandu for treatment. He was hospitalized again for months in 2017 due to continued swelling of the brain. The cause of death was not disclosed. Sherpa are an ethnic group from the Himalayan region, many of whom work as guides or support staff for foreign climbers. They carry equipment and supplies and dig paths in the snow and ice to help their clients get to the summit, usually with little recognition. Since Ang Rita set his record on the world’s highest peak, several mountaineers have surpassed it. Kami Rita, who is not related, has scaled the 29,035-foot peak 24 times. Ang Rita is survived by a daughter and two sons. Police to investigate condom recycling factory HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese police say they will investigate a factory that was found recycling about 320,000 used condoms for resale, local media reported. Following a tip from a local resident, Binh Duong provincial market inspectors raided a factory near Ho Chi Minh City where they found used condoms being repacked for sale at the market, the state-owned Tuoi Tre newspaper reported. A market inspector said the owner of the factory, a 34-year-old woman, confessed that they bought the used condoms from a man in the province. The condoms were washed, reshaped, and packed into plastic packages, the newspaper said. It said police announced they will investigate and track down others involved in the operation. A call to police for comment was not answered. The newspaper quoted a health official as saying the recycled condoms posed an extreme health risk to users. Owner of fire-stricken ship to pay $1.8M for Sri Lankan help COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The owner of a large oil tanker that caught fire off Sri Lanka’s coast has agreed to pay $1.8 million to the island nation for its help in extinguishing the blaze, an official said. The MT New Diamond, which was carrying nearly 2 million barrels of crude oil, was damaged by two fires in early September. Attorney General Dappula de Livera submitted an interim claim of $1.8 million for services provided by the Sri Lankan navy, air force, ports authority, and Marine Environment Protection Authority since the ship caught fire on September 3. Greece-based Porto Emporios Shipping Inc. is the registered owner of the 20-year-old vessel. Nishara Jayaratne, the coordinating officer in the Attorney General’s Department, said the owner agreed to pay the claim in full. She said the attorney general is expected to present another claim of about half a million dollars for additional services rendered to the ship. She said an interim report on environmental damage has also been submitted to the ship’s owner, and that a separate claim for that will be presented after the final report is complete. The owner’s agreement to pay came nearly a week after a Sri Lankan court ordered the ship’s Greek captain to appear in court, after the attorney general directed police to name him a suspect in the fire. Experts have been working to salvage the ship, which remains in Sri Lankan waters. The tanker was transporting crude oil from the port of Mina Al Ahmadi in Kuwait to the Indian port of Paradip, where the state-owned Indian Oil Corp. has a refinery. The initial fire killed one Filipino crew member and injured another, while 21 other crew members escaped uninjured. The 21 crew members, including the captain, are staying in a coronavirus isolation center for seafarers. Man arrested with nearly 300 centuries-old jars PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A man on Cambodia’s southern coast has been arrested for possessing nearly 300 centuries-old earthenware jars that he is believed to have salvaged from a shipwreck, according to an official. Khieng Phearum, a spokesman for Preah Sihanouk province, said the 42-year-old man was arrested after authorities determined he was illegally keeping at his home 281 small and big jars presumed to be legally protected antiquities. The man is an expert diver and was spotted in the area of an underwater shipwreck in the Gulf of Thailand off the coastal city of Sihanoukville from which the pottery is believed to have been retrieved, Khieng Phearum said. He did not know how the man retrieved the jars or how long they’d been in his possession, but the authorities became aware of his collection, and after observation, arrested him at his home. It was not known if he intended to sell the jars, but he is expected to be charged under a law protecting Cambodia’s cultural heritage. Long Punna Serivath, a spokesman for the Culture and Fine Arts Ministry, said that judging from photos of the jars, they were likely made some time during the 15th to 17th centuries, officially making them antiquities. Buth Bupha, a director of the Culture and Fine Arts Department of Preah Sihanouk province, said the origin of the jars and the ship from which they were presumably taken have not yet been established, and experts will study the collection for answers. He said that in 2015, several hundred pieces of similar pottery were collected from a sunken Chinese ship off nearby Koh Kong province. CROSSOVER CONTAINERS. Arthur Lee (top photo), owner of MoVertical Farm, walks beside his shipping contain- ers in Yuen Long, Hong Kong’s New Territories. Operating on a rented 1,000-square-meter patch of wasteland in Hong Kong’s rural area, Lee’s farm utilizes about 30 of the decommissioned containers to raise red watercress and other local vegetables hydroponically, which eliminates the need for soil. A few are also used as ponds for freshwater fish (bottom photo). After a career making the containers that transport untold tons of freight around the world, Lee has stuck with the metal boxes in retirement, now by repurposing them as farming environments. (AP Photos/Kin Cheung) Former shipping container maker uses them to farm HONG KONG (AP) — After a career making shipping containers that transport freight around the world, Arthur Lee has stayed with them in retirement, using them to raise crops and fish. Operating on a rented 1,000-square-meter (quarter-acre) patch of wasteland in Hong Kong’s rural Yuen Long, Lee’s MoVertical Farm utilizes about 30 decommissioned containers, some decades old, to raise red watercress and other local vegetables hydroponically, eliminating the need for soil. A few are also used as ponds for freshwater fish. The bounty is sold to supermarkets in the crowded city of 7.5 million that is forced to import most of its food. As one of the world’s great trading hubs, Hong Kong is a rich source of the sturdy 40-foot-long boxes. Lee uses the latest technology to monitor his crops. The controlled environment inside the boxes uses a hydroponic drip system to deliver nutrients, eliminate the need for herbicides and pesticides, and reduce risks from pests, small animals, and bad weather. Temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide levels, nutrient mixtures, and light can all be monitored and adjusted. And if Lee loses his lease, he can load his container farm onto trucks and move it elsewhere with minimal disruption. Shipping container farms have taken off in countries around the world with wildly varying climates, from freezing to tropical, and on scales ranging from single containers to dozens. Many are located in urban areas where fresh produce can easily be delivered to stores or directly to consumers. While vegetables, fruits such as strawberries, and freshwater fish are among the most popular, some growers have turned to raising high-protein insects as a food supplement. Controlled environment agriculture is just one use for shipping containers, both new and old. In poorer nations, they are often used as shops with the added advantage of locking up tightly at closing time. In more affluent nations, they have been turned into tiny homes, painting studios, coffee shops, backyard sheds for hobbyists, and even swimming pools. Online, containers can be bought for around $4,000, with basic home conversions going for $30,000 or more. Asian Currency Exchange Rates Units per U.S. dollar as of 10/02 Bangladesh Taka· · Cambodian Riel · · China Renminbi · · Fijian Dollar · · · · Hong Kong Dollar · Indian Rupee · · · · Indonesian Rupiah · Iranian Rial · · · · Japanese Yen · · · Laos New Kip · · · Malaysian Ringgit · Nepal Rupee · · · · Pakistani Rupee · · Papua N.G. Kina · · Philippine Peso· · · Russian Ruble · · · Saudi Riyal· · · · · Singapore Dollar · · South Korean Won · Sri Lankan Rupee · Taiwan Dollar · · · Thai Baht · · · · · Vietnam Dong · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 84.63 4096.7 6.7898 2.0925 7.7499 73.346 14830 42025 105.36 9243.4 4.162 117.95 163.54 3.498 48.482 78.345 3.7506 1.3643 1165.8 184.64 28.914 31.54 23221