US, Hong Kong climbers set records on Everest
Climbers from the United States and Hong Kong have set new records as they scaled Mount Everest this week, hiking officials said on Friday.
Arthur Muir, 75, became the oldest American to climb the world’s highest peak at 8,848.86-metres on Sunday, an official from the company that organised the expedition said.
“Arthur Muir is the oldest American at 75 years old to summit
KATHMANDU:
Mount Everest,” Garrett Madison, expedition leader at the Madison Mountaineering company told Reuters from the base camp.
Muir beat the record set by Bill Burke, who became the oldest American to climb the mountain at the age of 67 in 2009.
Separately, Hong Kong mountaineer Tsang Yin-hung has recorded the world’s fastest ascent of Everest by a woman with a time of just under 26 hours. Tsang, 44, scaled the mountain in a record time of 25 hours and 50 minutes on Sunday, Everest base camp’s government liaison officer Gyanendra Shrestha said.
“She left the base camp at 1.20pm on Saturday and reached (the top at) 3.10pm the next day,” Shrestha told AFP.
But Tsang still needs to present her claim to officials from Guinness World Records to receive certification of her feat, he added. The Nepal government certifies that climbers have reached the summit but does not issue certifications for records.
The fastest woman to conquer Everest had been Nepali Phunjo Jhangmu Lama when she completed the climb in 39 hours 6 minutes.
In 2017, Tsang became the first Hong Kong woman to reach the top. It was her third attempt at scaling the Himalayan peak.
Nepal has issued a record 408 Everest permits for this climbing season after last year’s season was cancelled due to the pandemic. Up to 350 people have summited the mountain so far this spring.
College in Vellore.
“The government should keenly observe the Covid-19 trends and take a call on relaxations concerning closed spaces such as pubs, gyms, cinema halls, etc, only when things are safe enough. But effective implementation of 100% mask compliance is a must. So, it is not just about planning things it is more about their efficient implementation,” he added.
Kejriwal said that in subsequent weeks, more relaxations will be made after taking into account case numbers, expert inputs and public feedback. He said that if cases start increasing, all economic activities will have to be stopped again. “So, I urge people to adhere to all regulations and strictly follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. We are not in favour of a lockdown. We are aware of its implications.”
At present, only people, institutes, and enterprises engaged in the delivery of essential goods and services are allowed to function – these include grocery stores, offices of core government agencies, pharmacies and banks, among some others.
The construction sector and factory workers’ unions welcomed Friday’s announcement.
“The un-lockdown initiative will bring big relief to tens of thousands of workers engaged in Delhi’s factories. But a large number of people have already left, and they are not likely to come back any time soon. The disease has affected them and their families back in villages. Most of them have run out of money too. They are unlikely to return to Delhi without a guaranteed job,” said Rajesh Kumar, general secretary, Delhi, Indian Federation of Trade Unions.
Thaneshwar Adigaur, the convener of Nirmal Majdoor Adhikar Abhiyan, a joint forum of 40 construction sector labour unions in Delhi, said there is fear of another potential wave of Covid-19.
“Children of migrant labourers no longer have to attend physical classes in schools any time soon. So, those who have left for villages are likely to be there for a few more months. However, for the construction workers who stayed back and those who plan to return, the announced relaxation will be a big relief.”
HT reported on May 22 that at least 800,000 migrant labourers are estimated to have left Delhi for their home states in buses from the three interstate bus terminals in the first four weeks of the lockdown.
Neeraj Sehgal, a factory owner and general secretary of an industrial area welfare body in Delhi’s Mayapuri, said factory owners too are facing problems and, hence, are unlikely to expand their workforce beyond a point. “In the next three months, production capacity is likely to remain under 50% because of the financial losses caused by the pandemic. It would be great if the government considers relaxations for the industry sector too in terms of rent relaxation, tax relief and waiver on at least fixed charges on power and water.”
The coming weeks will be crucial as it buys the city some time to ramp up the vaccination drive, experts said.
“We have to scale up vaccination at this stage. Supply shortage cannot be an excuse. Governments will together have to work towards resolving that,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the community medicines department in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.
Kishore said as cases and positivity rate declines significantly, tests are likely to decline. “But the government should have its testing infrastructure in place. Any inconvenience in this regard naturally leads to hesitance and the test-trace-isolate model eventually collapses,” he added.