Mt. Makalu (15 May 1955) & Mt. Kanchenjunga (25 May 1955) Diamond Jubilee Celebration

The official inauguration of Mt. Makalu-Mt. Kanchenjungha Diamond Jubilee Celebration, UAAA GA and International Conference on mountain tourism, climate change and earthquake in Nepal took place on 18 Nov 2016. Dhundu Raj Ghimire, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and President of Union of Asian Alpine Association (UAAA) Inn Jeoung Lee inaugurated the program. Ang Tshering Sherpa, Member Secretary of Mt. Makalu & Mt. Kanchenjungha Diamond Jubilee Main Organizing Committee and Sophie Gerard, Office Manager of Union of International Alpine Association were also present in the program.

Morning Procession and civic reception- 19 Nov

Kathmandu Metropolitan City organized civic reception at Naranhity Palace Museum for all national and international Makalu-Kanchenjungha summiteers and participants of UAAA. Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) expressed his satisfaction to have an opportunity to felicitate climbers and other international guests. Director General of Department of Tourism Janarayan Acharya said that the joint effort of all the concerned is required to promote our tourism, hence KMC's initiation to felicitate all the guests is very appreciative. Earlier to the reception, the morning procession was concluded, which started from Khulamanch. Different ethnic groups, students, climbers, travel related associations participated in the morning procession.

International Conference on mountain tourism, climate change and earthquake in Nepal

The two day conference on International Conference on mountain tourism, climate change and earthquake in Nepal concluded with the paper presentation and question-answer session n the following titles.

• Climate Change and Tourism in Sikkim - Mr. Yeshi Dorjee, President, Sikkim Association of Adventure Tour Operators (SAATO)
• Impact of Geohazard/Earthquake on Mountain Tourism - Mr. Deo Raj Gurung, Bhutan/Remote Sensing Specialist, ICIMOD
• Adventure Tourism in Nepal: Opportunities and Challenges - Mr. Chandra Prasad Rijal, President and Mr. Tek B Mahat, CEO, Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN)
• Changing Tourism Scenario in India - Mr. Col Haribhajan Singh Chauhan, President IMF India
• Climate Change and its Impact on Livelihoods - Mr. Thakur Devkota Thematic leader, tourism, nature, culture and heritage, NAP process Nepal
• Mountain Tourism Recovery Strategies and Crisis Management –Mr. Marcello Notarianni, Senior Tourism Specialist, ICIMOD
• Earthquake in Nepal and impact to Tourism with Revitalizing Strategy - Mr. Jaynarayan Acharya, DG, Dept. of Tourism
• Building Resilient Livelihoods in Nepali Hazardscape- Mr. Ajaya Dixit, Executive Director, ISET Nepal
• Weather Services in Mountain Tourism - Mr. Rishi Raj Sharma, Director General, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology
• Recalibrating Mountain Development: A shake up is needed - Mr. Prashant Singh General Secretary -Climate Alliance for Himalayan Community
• Challenges of Safety in Mountaineering - Frits Vrijlandt, President UIAA
• . Mountain Sports for Tourism promotion in Asia - Dr. Lee In-Jeung, President UAAA
• Climate Change and Tourism in Asia - Tomatsu Nakamura, Honorary member UIAA
• Impact of Climate Change and Earthquake in Mountain Tourism of Nepal - Lessons Learnt - Mr. Ang Tshering Sherpa, President NMA

General Assembly of UAAA 2016

The UAAA GA started with the welcome speech from President of NMA Ang Tshering Sherpa and opening remarks by UAAA President Inn Leoung Lee. Then General Secretary of UAAA Christine Pae conducted the meeting. Reports on Environment, Youth and Expedition were presented by Iran, China and Nepal respectively.

The GA also approved Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) as observer member and Expedition Operator Association (EOA) from Nepal and Mongolian National Climbing Federation for Mongolia proposed for observer member of UAAA.

Mt.Makalu Diamond Jubilee Celebration, Chichila

Rt. Hon'ble President of Nepal Vidhya Devi Bhandari inaugurated Mt. Makalu Diamond Jubilee Celebration on 21 Nov at Chichila, Khandbari, Sankhusawa. Jeevan Bahadur Shahi-Minister for Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation, Shankar Prasad Adhikari- Chairman of Makalu Kanchenjungha Main Organizing Committee &Secretary for Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation, foreign delegates, and representatives for different government and nongovernment organization and tourism related organization were present during the program. The chief guest also conferred medals to Makalu summiteers on the same program. The program was organized by Makalu Diamond Jubilee Committee led by Mingma Sherpa.

Mt. Kanchenjungha Diamond Jubilee Celebration, Suketar

In the special program organized at Suketaar on 22 Nov to mark Kanchenjugha Diamond Jubilee Celebration, the chief guest of the program -Rt. Hon'ble Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal appreciated the initiative of local people for their active participation in the program. He highlighted on some major development policies and programs initiated for the development of Taplejing district.The chief guest also conferred medals to Kanchenjunha summiteers on the same program.Shankar Prasad Adhikari- Chairman of Makalu Kanchenjungha Main Organizing Committee & Secretary for Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation expressed his satisfaction in the active participaton of local people in the diamond jubilee celebration program.Constituent members of the district, representatives of different political parties and Association of Trade and Commerce of Taplejung also expressed their views. Local products, handicrafts, cultural dress and foods of different ethnic groups were on display during the celebration, which concluded on 24 Nov. The program was organized by Kanchenjungha Diamond Jubilee Committee led by Chewang Sherpa.