GURKHA INTERNATIONAL GROUP Website: www.gurkha.com.hk Newsletter Issue 284– April 2021 Shipping Companies And Ships Linked To Us

We are working with 12 shipping companies, and have 455 men and 66 women, a total of 521 crew and staff under management.

------AIDAperla GI (HK) Business We publish this month a photograph of AIDAperla of AIDA Cruises. We are providing security services for 24 Hong Kong Clients and have 91 security If you have pictures or postcards of your ship, staff employed. please send them in to us for future Newsletters.

We managed to send only two crew back to sea this month, one to Cunard and one to Disney ------ has, we know, gone back into lockdown Editor of for Covid-19. We wish everyone there to come Newsletter through this healthily and safe.

Mamta Gurung ISO CERTIFICATION

On 29 April, we were invited to a small ceremony at the Hong Kong BSI offices to be presented with our ISO certificates. Here are the photos of the day.

From left to Right: Mrs. Mamta Gurung Tamang, Assistant Manager - Accounts Mr. Dipan Siwa, Assistant Manager - Recruiting & Training Mr. Lok Parsad Limbu, Director - Administration & Accounts Lt. Col. Nigel A. Collett, Managing Director Mr. Suraj Gurung, Manager Operations - GIMS Mr. Prem Bishwakarma, Assistant Manager - Constructions Mr. Manoj Pun, Assistant Manager - Operations ISO CERTIFICATION Contents Content Page

Contents Page p. 4

World Security p. 5

Nepal News p. 6-7

Hong Kong News p. 8-9

Conclusion p. 10 World Security

Conflict and many terrorist acts continue in Iraq, Afghanistan, in the border lands of Pakistan, and in Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and South Sudan. The USA has announced that it is pulling its troops out of Afghanistan. This has resulted in a surge of Taliban attacks across the country. Tension continues between Russia and the West and between and the states bordering the South China Sea and the Sea of Japan over islands disputed there. Also between China and over their border regions. Relations between China and the USA remain poor. Terrorism continues in parts of the Philippines, southern , and much of north and central Africa, where Islamic terrorist groups connected with ISIS plague a series of countries across the Sahel, including Nigeria, Niger, Mali, the Central African Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. In April, two Spanish journalists and an Irish wildlife activist were murdered while on an anti-poaching patrol in Burkina Faso, and at the start of May, Islamic militants attacked the village Kodyel in that country, killing around 30 civilians; homes were set on fire. In France, an Islamic militant knifed a female police officer to death outside the police station in Rambouillet, south-west of Paris; he was shot dead by police. Nepal News

Prime Minister Oli inaugurates historical

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has inaugurated the historical Dharahara, amid a programme in Sundhara, .

Reconstruction of the monument -- which was damaged by the April 2015 earthquake with only its base remaining -- has been coordinated by the National Reconstruction Authority.

The inauguration ceremony has been organised on the eve of the sixth memorial day of the Gorkha earthquake which occurred on April 25, 2015.

Reconstruction of the tower had begun in October 2018. However, Dharahara's reconstruction picked up speed after its foundation was laid in December 2018. The new tower, which stands 72m high (236ft), has 22 storeys. It has a garden, a museum and a fountain, as well as two lifts to make it more accessible.

The tower is shaped like a minaret and offers views across the . However, visitors will have to wait until later in the year to enjoy them, as there will be no access for the public until November.

Dharahara was built by the first , .

Source: The Himalayan Times Government decides to close schools in city areas until May 14

Decision follows Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre’s recommendation to close educational institutions in most-affected districts in view of the spike in coronavirus infections.

The government has decided to close all schools in city areas until May 14, starting from Tuesday.

A Cabinet meeting on Monday morning decided to close schools in the city areas that have seen a surge in Covid-19 cases, until the end of the Nepali month of Baisakh, according to Urban Development Minister .

“An order on Covid-19 control has also been issued. Details regarding the order will be made public later,” said Sah. “The government has also decided to ban gatherings of over 25 people.”

The decision to shut schools comes amid a lot of confusion, created due largely to contradicting statements from the health and education ministries.

While the Health Ministry had advised guardians not to send their children to schools and close schools in 14 districts which were at high risk of Covid-19 infections, the Education Ministry was for running classes.

The Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre on Saturday, however, had recommended that the government order closure of schools until May 14.

According to Sah, the government has decided to shut down schools with a provision of holding online classes.

Source: The Kathmandu Post Hong Kong News

Unemployed HKers to be offered low-interest loans upto HK$80,000 guaranteed by government

The Hong Kong government is for the first time offering to guarantee low-interest personal loans for unemployed people, after the Covid-19 pandemic sent the city’s jobless rate to a 17-year high.

Permanent residents aged 18 and above who have been out of work for at least two months can apply for loans of up to HK$80,000 (US$10,306) or six times their previous salary, under a scheme announced by government-owned HKMC Insurance on Tuesday.

The 10 participating banks initially include HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of China (Hong Kong), with two more joining in May.

“Hong Kong’s economy has been hard hit by the Covid-19, and the labour market faces severe challenges,” said Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in the statement from HKMC.

“This scheme aims to provide a supplementary financing option to individuals suffering from cessation of main recurrent incomes, to help them tide over the interim difficulty.” Borrowers can opt for a repayment period of up to six years.

They will need to pay a fixed interest rate of 1 per cent per year and can choose to repay only interest in the first 12 months. They can get a full refund of the interest paid after the loan is fully repaid, according to HKMC’s statement.

Source: South China Morning Post Coronavirus: vaccinations a must for future travel bubbles, minister says

Full vaccination will be the baseline for Hong Kong residents hoping to take part in future travel bubbles, the city’s commerce minister has said, as flights for a new quarantine- free corridor with Singapore were rapidly filling up on Tuesday.

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah said future discussions on travel-bubble arrangements with other countries would be premised on outbound local travellers having had two coronavirus vaccine jabs.

Hong Kong confirmed eight new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, taking its total infection tally to 11,748, with 209 related deaths. Three of the cases were locally transmitted, while two came from India, and the rest were imported from Indonesia, Japan and Turkey.

“I believe [vaccinations] are a good starting point to give people added protection when they travel,” Yau told a local radio programme.

Yau mentioned that New Zealand and Australia could be next in line if the arrangement with Singapore went well, but Taiwan, a popular travel destination for Hongkongers, was not on the government’s list at the moment.

The long-awaited travel bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore, officially announced by the two governments on Monday, will now take off on May 26 after initial plans were put on pause last November amid a spike in Covid-19 infections in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong will require its residents to take two vaccine doses at least 14 days before departing for Singapore as an added health precaution, though the city state is not imposing that requirement on its own travellers. As of Monday, 13.7 per cent of Hongkongers had received one jab, while 6.7 per cent had taken two.

Asked why the vaccination precaution was being applied by only one of the two travel-bubble partners, Yau said it was up to other countries involved to make that decision and stressed that Hong Kong and Singapore had agreed to stringent Covid-19 testing as well as stipulations that the virus remain under control in both locations.

Source: South China Morning Post Conclusion Conclusion

At the moment, we are all rightly concentrating on following Covid-19 precautions. However, terrorism hasn’t gone away and the threat against you ships, your colleagues and passengers and yourselves remains. Keep up your guard and be suspicious of the unusual.

Nigel A. Collett Managing Director