KATHMANDU, July 4 - As a dim indication of revival of handicraft exports, the declining trend of handicraft exports has slowed down in the past two months, reveals the statistics of Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN).

According to the figures, cumulative handicraft exports during the 10th and 11th months of the fiscal year went down by 1.8 percent, whereas its exports had gone down by 4.65 percent till the ninth month.

Total exports during the first 11 months remained lower than that recorded during the same period last year.

FHAN´s figure shows handicraft items worth Rs 2.43 billion were exported during the period, while the same was Rs 2.54 billion in same period last fiscal year.

The slump in the export of pashmina products, metal craft and handmade paper, which together make 41 percent of all handicraft exports from Nepal, is largely attributed for the fall.

Things still look bad for pashmina products, which make up nearly 19 percent of the total handicraft exports.

A total of Rs 448.62 million worth of pashmina products were exported in the 11 months of this fiscal year. It is a drop of 19.04 percent compared to the export recorded during the same period last year. The country had exported pashmina worth of over Rs 5.6 billion six years ago.

FHAN officials said pashmina export suffered mostly from tough competition exerted by similar Chinese and Indian products. Nepali entrepreneurs´ inability to

adapt to the new market trends, develop new products and failure to maintain a standard of quality contributed to the loss of market.

The industry had also received a setback recently when Japan stopped exports from five companies and started verifying them for

authenticity. Apart from Japan, other countries like Italy and Spain have also called pashmina entrepreneurs to define the products.

Export of metal craft also declined by about 10 percent to Rs 349.12 million during the period. Export of handmade paper products also slid by 5.96 percent to Rs 218.29 million.

The export of woolen goods plummeted by 27.36 percent during the period.

According to FHAN, Rs 571.48 million worth of woolen goods and felt products were exported in the first 11 months of the 2005/06 fiscal year while in the same period this year Rs 415.13 million worth of woolen goods and Rs 185.92 million worth of felt products were exported bringing the combined export to Rs 601.07 million.

Cotton goods, allo goods, other textile products, silver jewelry, leather goods, incense, thanka art, ceramics products, bone and horn products, plastic items and stone craft saw improvement in export this year.

These products brought in foreign currency equal to Rs 567.78

million in the first 11 months of this year, compared to Rs 517.08 million in the same period last year.

2007-05-28: Over 200 climbers and high altitude workers associated with 21 various expeditions have reached the summit of the world's highest peak —Mt. Everest—as of May 26, 2007, according to officials at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA).

The ministry granted permits to 23 expeditions to attempt the 8,848-metre peak for this spring. The remaining members of the teams have continued their efforts to make it to the summit, the officials said. Three climbers—two Koreans and one Nepali woman climber (Mrs. Pemba Doma Sherpa)—have lost their lives. The Korean climbers died on Mt. Everest, while Mrs. Sherpa lost her life while descending from the summit of Mt. Lhotse.

Meanwhile, three climbers-- Colombian Fernando Gonzalez Rubio, Ecuadorian Ivan Vallejo and Australian Andrew Lock summitted Mt. Annapurna on May 24. They are reported to be descending. In the meantime, all three women members of the Pinay Mount Everest Expedition 2007, the first Filipino women's team to scale the world's tallest peak, said that they have fulfilled their dream of reaching the summit of Mt. Everest. "As we are from a tropical country, climbing Everest was our great dream," said Art Valdez, team leader, told journalists at press conference organised in Kathmandu on May 24.He is also a former Vice-Minister of the Philippines.

The three courageous women climbers are Noelle Wenceslao, Carina Dayndon and Janet Belarmino. They have become the first women to cross the mountain from the north route in Tibet to the south route in Nepal. Only very few male climbers have crossed the mountain, so far. "We had never thought of setting any world record. We had just wanted to reach the world's highest peak," said Jenet, who is the mother of her five-month-old first baby. Similarly, Mr. Kami Sherpa, a journalist with Nepal Television, has climbed Mt. Everest for six times, was felicitated in the capital city amidst a function on May 24.

Kathmandu, May 22:A British man has set a world record by making the first mobile telephone call from the summit of Mount Everest, taking the blessing — or curse — of the cell phone to new heights.

“It’s cold, it’s fantastic, the Himalayas are everywhere,” Rod Baber said in the phone call from the top of the 8,848-metre peak early yesterday morning, according to a voice recording posted on his weblog.
“I can’t feel my toes, everyone is in good spirits — we got here in record time, it is amazing,” said Baber.

His achievement was made possible by China Telecom, which has set up a mobile phone tower at base camp on the north side of the mountain. While the Himalayas had been cherished as one of the few places on earth where you can truly get away from it all, the news has nevertheless been welcomed by those involved in the adventure business. “It’s good news because communications are essential in the mountains where climbers face huge risks,” said Ang Tsering Sherpa, the president of Nepal’s Mountaineering Association. “The mobile coverage could help in rescue operations,” he said.