GURKHA INTERNATIONAL GROUP Website: www.gurkha.com.hk Newsletter Issue 278– October 2020

Shipping Companies And Ships Linked To Us

We are working with 19 shipping companies, and have 731 men and 145 women on ships, a total of 876 crew and staff under management. NORWEGIAN ENCORE ------We publish this month a photograph of The Norwegian Encore of Norwegian Cruise Line. We Welcome:

Miss Tarada Chanma (Thai Crew) If you have pictures or postcards of your ship, please send them in to us for future Newsletters.

Returning crew have continued to fly back to ------Nepal on commercial flights and we are delighted that so far no one returning home has GI (HK) Business shown any sign of the Covid-19 virus.

We are providing security services for 27 It is also very good to be able to report that we Hong Kong Clients and have 90 security have begun to send crew back to sea. Three of staff employed. our Nepalese crew and two of our Thai crew have joined ship, and we are working on more for November.

------We wish all of you who go back to work success! Editor of Newsletter

Mamta Gurung Covid 19 Protocol for return to Ship

Each shipping company has published its own protocols for crew joining their ships, and they will be briefed to you separately when necessary. These will cover action you must take in Nepal and on arrival at the port. Please take these very seriously and follow them carefully. It only needs one slip to get infected and that would mean return home not only for you but for those travelling with you.

We have instituted our own protocols at to add to what is required: a) Your PCR test will be taken inside the 72 hour period before departure; we shall book the test on the day before flight whenever we can, so that we get a result in 8-10 hours. b) You will be called for the test individually and will be asked not to travel to the clinic with others of our crew. c) After the test, you will be driven alone by our PCR-negative and PPE wearing driver to a quarantine hotel and remain there overnight, staying there in isolation. d) You will be driven alone to the airport by our PCR-negative and PPE wearing driver. e) You will be provided with a full set of Chinese PPE, including gloves. Please wear this for the flight. f) In the airport, we know that social distancing is difficult, so be careful to stay apart from people where you can, and when you touch anything (for instance passport and ticket) touched by others, or any surface, use the sanitizer you will be given to clean your gloves and any exposed skin. g) In the aircraft, wear the PPE and keep away from others as much as you can. Use the sanitizer after touching anything. Content Content Page

Content Page p. 3

World Security p. 4

Nepal News p. 5-6

Hong Kong News p. 7-8

Conclusion p. 9 World Security

Conflict and many terrorist acts continue in Afghanistan, in the border lands of Pakistan, and in Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and South Sudan.

Tension continues between Russia and the West.

Tension also continues between China and the states bordering the South China Sea and the Sea of Japan over islands disputed there, and between Qatar and the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia that has been blockading it since June 2017. Also between China and India over their border regions.

Relations between China and the USA remain poor, but little has changed and awaits the result of the US presidential elections.

Two more serious Islamic terrorist attacks occurred in France in the month. On 16 October, a Chechen murdered and decapitated Samuel Paty, a teacher who had shown a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed in his class. The man was shot dead. On 29 October, a Tunisian stabbed three people to death in a church in Nice; he was shot and wounded by police.

On the same day, a man was shot dead in Montfavet near Avignon after threatening police with a handgun and in Saudi Arabia, a guard was attacked outside the French consulate in Jeddah; the attacker was arrested and the guard taken to hospital. Four people were killed and 22 others wounded in a gun attack on a synagogue in Vienna, Austria. The attacker, a Muslim terrorist, was shot dead by police.

Terrorism continues in parts of the Philippines, southern Thailand, and much of north and central Africa, where Islamic terrorist groups connected with ISIS plague a series of countries including Nigeria, Niger, Mali, the Central African Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. Kurdish separatists carried out two ambushes on Turkish security forces in Payas and Iskenderun in southern Turkey. Nepal News

Bada Dashain being celebrated across country

The cultural and religious festival, Bijaya Dashami, has been celebrated by Hindu people across the country and abroad on Monday. Nepali people living in the country and abroad received ‘tika’, ‘jamara’ and blessings on the auspicious day of Bijaya Dashami.

During the Bijaya Dashami Festival, there is the tradition of receiving 'tika' and 'jamara' from elders as the auspicious item bestowed by the goddesses Nawa Durga, Mahakali, Mahalaxmi and Mahasaraswati.

'Tika' is the mixture of red vermillion powder and curd that is put on the forehead as a sign of victory and good luck. Similarly, 'jamara' are the maize or barley shoots that are germinated especially for the Dashain festival.

According to the Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Samiti, the auspicious hour for receiving tika as a prasad of Nawadurga on the occasion of Bijaya Dashami festival is at 10:19 am. However, since Bijaya Dashami, or the tenth day of the Bada Dashain festival is itself auspicious, tika can be received and put at any time in the day. Likewise, the auspicious hour for Devi Bisarjan is 10:11 am. Tika as a prasad of Durga is received from elders and seniors in the family starting from today until Poornima, the last day of Dashain festival.

Dashami or the 10th day of Bada Dashain festival is regarded as the most important day of the festival observed as a symbol of victory of truth over evil. Tika is offered by chanting of the special manta.

Source: The Kathmandu post Nepal Government announces mandatory face shields for long-route passengers

After widespread criticism of its permission for public vehicles to carry passengers in their full seat capacity even as Covid-19 infections are multiplying across the country, the Department of Transport Management has made it mandatory for passengers to wear face shields during their trip.

Observers, however, call it a gimmick, rather than a genuine move to contain the coronavirus spread. They find the government's new rules unconvincing, as its earlier announcements have gone unimplemented, activists and virologists say.

“We have made it mandatory for passengers to wear face shields and follow other protocols set by the government,” said Gogan Bahadur Hamal, director general at the department. “Passengers have to buy them.” Hamal said those who do not wear face shields will not be allowed to board long-route public vehicles.

The Cabinet last week announced to let public vehicles carry passengers to their full capacity charging normal fares, but the decision was criticised widely by doctors, consumer rights groups and the Valley’s mayors arguing that such a move would fuel the spread of coronavirus.

However, even a week after the Cabinet decision, public vehicle operators are still charging extra fares saying that they are not getting enough passengers even when Dashain has already started. Meanwhile, the government has done no monitoring to protect passengers from being overcharged.

The Metropolitan Traffic Police Division said it only got a document from the department to implement the government’s decision on Sunday. “It was due to miscommunication with traffic police that we could not implement the government's decision. We have already sent a letter; this will be enforced,” said Hamal. Source: The Kathmandu Post Hong Kong News

Tourism sector hails Hong Kong-Singapore bubble as ‘big step’ for city’s coronavirus-battered economy

Hong Kong’s tourism businesses have hailed the creation of a travel bubble with Singapore as an important step in reviving a local economy battered by Covid-19, with hopes it can open the door to similar arrangements with other destinations. Some industry insiders on Thursday said they would look into developing hotel and local tour packages for travellers when they had more details from the government about the plan, and focus on those not coming in group tours. They also predicted business travellers would be the first to use the scheme, which will reconnect the two cities after months of border closures by exempting residents from both sides from any form of quarantine. “If this plan can really be introduced, it will be a small step forward under the pandemic. But in terms of the revival of the Hong Kong economy, it’s a big step,” said Michael Li Hon-shing, executive director at The Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners. “If this arrangement can apply to other destinations just like what we do with Singapore, then Hong Kong will not just be a pool of stagnant water any more.” He added his sector would brainstorm business ideas with other tourism firms when they had more concrete details about the landmark Covid-19 travel arrangement.

Source: South China Morning Post Hong Kong’s HK$3.5 billion replica gets June 2022 opening date

A Hong Kong version of ’s Palace Museum – located in the heart of the – will make its debut in June 2022, the mainland attraction’s director has said, moving the city’s troubled art hub a step closer to its goal of simultaneously showcasing both Western and Chinese culture.

Two Hong Kong sources confirmed the opening on Wednesday, while a Cultural District Authority board member said curators for the local project were in talks with Beijing about the possibility of showcasing exhibits not previously displayed in the city.

The Beijing venue’s director, Wang Xudong, revealed the date in the museum’s publication while citing his colleague’s collaboration with Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in strengthening the cohesion of Chinese culture.

“The Palace Museum first signed an exchange and collaborative agreement with Hong Kong’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department in 2012 and had the groundbreaking ceremony of the Hong Kong Palace Museum in May 2018. [It is] expected to officially open at the end of June in 2022,” he said in the article, which ran in full on the website of People’s Daily, a government mouthpiece.

In 2016, the city signed a HK$3.5 billion (US$451 million) deal with Beijing to create a replica of the capital’s celebrated Palace Museum at the West Kowloon Cultural District. Hong Kong’s initial portfolio of relics will be supplied by its capital counterpart, which has 1.86 million pieces.

The 40-hectare (99 acres) West Kowloon Cultural District, set on the Victoria Harbour waterfront, was created in hopes of making Hong Kong a leading cultural destination.

The initial government grant for the project was HK$21.6 billion, though some have said cost overruns could eventually take the total investment past HK$70 billion

Source: South China Morning Post Conclusion Conclusion

We are a long way from getting back to normal, and do not expect to be fully operational until the middle of 2021. Until then, we shall send as many crew to sea as we can and keep ready to resume normality. Until then, keep safe, fit and well!

Nigel A. Collett Managing Director