Nasa admits 'Everest' photo error

The US space agency, Nasa, has admitted it mistook a mountain in India for Mount Everest when it posted online a picture taken from space.

Nasa initially said the photo - by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko - showed the world's tallest summit.

The image was quickly picked up by a number of media outlets, but Nasa removed it after a Nepalese expert spotted the error.

Everest, which is 8,848m (29,028ft) high, straddles the Nepal-China border.

Space station

"It is not Everest. It is Saser Muztagh, in the Karakoram Range of the Kashmir region of India," a Nasa spokesman said in an email to the BBC.

"The view is in mid-afternoon light looking north-eastward," the spokesman added.

Nasa said that Malenchenko had taken the picture from the International Space Station (ISS) earlier this month.

The photo quickly spread on Twitter, triggering criticism from the Nepalese community.

Journalist Kunda Dixit, an authority on the Himalayas, tweeted: "Sorry guys, but the tall peak with the shadow in the middle is not Mt Everest."

However, he himself first wrongly guessed that it was "Xixapangma in Tibet".

On Thursday, Ron Garan - a US astronaut who lived aboard the ISS last year - tweeted: "We r still looking 4 a good view of illusive #Everest #FromSpace Apparently Yuri's ISS pic's not Everest It's Saser Muztagh."

Indian militants’ camps growing in Bhutan

After remaining silent for almost a decade following Operation Flush Out,’ the massive military assault on Indian Militant’s in Bhutan, the militants camps have started getting the touch of new life once again making it a concern for Indian authority.

According to senior security agency officials, Indian militant groups especially Kamtapur Liberation Organization(KLO) had well established set ups in Bangladesh. They have now started shifting their activity centres to Bhutan adjoining to north East India. These locations in Bhutan are their natural choice due to forest clad off-terrine topography, reported The Economic Times, Wednesday.

“Recent incidents including indiscriminate firing by KLO militants in Assam’s Dhubri , surrender of KLO top leader Chila Roy or independence day boycott call by conglomeration of militants organizations including KLO, NDFB or NLFT is a major indication of the increased activities of these outfits in Bhutan adjoining areas,” said the official.

However, Bhutan Home ministry officials denied any information in this line. “Our Government is too serious against militancy. Bhutan has always cooperated India in all possible manner to fight militancy,” said Consul General of Bhutan Tsering Wangda .

India and Bhutan enjoys 699km common border manned by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) from the Indian side and by the Royal Bhutan Army on the Bhutan side. Most of the insurgent camps were located along the border, according to the report.

It further said, following upraise of many militants camps, 81st National Assembly of Bhutan adopted a resolution for the last attempt to persuade ULFA, NBFD, and the KLO to close down their camps or to face military action.

Though Bhutan had to launch full fledged military assault on the militant’s camps from 15th of December 2003 to 15th of January 2004 mainly on Indian demand and under multi-directional Indian supports, large section of Bhutan politicians or elites never liked this indirect Indian invasion into their military affairs.

At the same time, despite ‘Operation Flush Out’ Indian intelligence could never confirm complete eradication of Indian Militants activities in Bhutan soil. Naturally, the net outcome of the operation has always remained as a debatable issue that has been refueled by recent activities

The making of the Constitution of Bhutan.

Article 22

Local Governments

Bhutan decided to have the unitary system of Government. It is governed as one single unit with one legislature. Bhutan has a proud history of Local Government with sound foundations for a genuinely workable democracy at all levels of society.

The decentralization policy fully enabled the people to participate in the decision making process. His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the Fourth Druk Gyalpo, initiated the decentralization process with the establishment of the Dzongkhag Yarkye Tshodue in 1981 and the Geog Yarkye Tshogchung in 1991. Decentralization was to empower the local people to develop their areas, bestow responsibilities and account-abilities, and to enhance capability towards self-reliance. Decentralization and streamlining of the administrative system have paved the way for greater participation of the people in the socio-economic development of the country.

With the elected members, Local Governments will represent their local communities. They should be responsible and accountable, and should focus on community identity and civic spirit. They must provide appropriate services to meet community needs in an efficient and effective manner, and to facilitate and coordinate local efforts and resources in pursuit of community goals. Decentralization will bring about constitutionally organized institutions that will endeavour to implement the vision of the Constitution, enjoined by section 7 of Article 9, which reads:

“… to develop and execute policies to minimize inequalities of income, concentration of wealth, and promote equitable distribution of public facilities among individuals and people living in different parts of the Kingdom.” 

Decentralization to the Local Governments is a desirable means of diminishing tension among the gewogs and the centre. In Milton’s words,

“Local Government is essential for developing a real political competence, federalism and delegation”.

The Article for the Local Government had the most intensive and extensive debate among the Drafting Committee members. The same deliberation was repeated in Parliament.

Decentralization leads to accountability. Under the gaze of the public, the leaders are continuously accountable at the operational level and finally to the electorate. So they ought to be responsible and must continuously gain enough support in their constituency. Moreover, the people should have direct and free choice of electing independent local leaders from the candidates of their choice and not the candidates forced upon them through the selection and nomination of political parties.¹⁴⁶

Local Government is the grass roots democracy that emphasizes trust in small decentralized units and municipalities for local identification of problems, solutions at the field and involvement of the local people. Appreciating the Article, DANIDA stated that:

“The article on Local Governments (Art. 22) is clear and comprehensive. It intends to render the possibility of a very genuine local democracy which according to the experience is important for democracy in any country. It is especially commendable that art. 22 section 16 makes it practically possible to initiate such a democratic structure… according to which the local Government shall be entitled to levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees in accordance with such procedure and subject to limitations as may be provided by the Parliament by law is an example of a possibility created for a genuine democracy.” 

It was further emphasized by UNDP, which stated that:

“A comprehensive Article on Local Governments (Article 22) supports the policy of decentralization.”

Explaining to the people, Their Majesties said:

(a) The Constitution provides that the Dzongdag would still be the chief executive officer in the Dzongkhag and would have no political affiliation with any parties. As you all know that it was only in the year 2002 that we have passed the Dzongkhag Yargay Tshogdue Chathrim and accordingly decentralized administrative and financial powers to the people. ¹⁴⁷ 

(b) The Dzongdag will be the executive head since all the Dzongkhags will have major development … However, he will not be involved in politics. Our Dzongdags will not be allowed to participate in the politics at all. As regard to the Gup, we have the Dzongkhag Yargay Tshogchung and the Gewog Yargay Tshogchung Acts which has given the power to the people in policy making, administration and matters related to finances.¹⁴⁸  

(c) Political and monetary powers will be bestowed to the Local Governments to facilitate direct participation of the people for the management of their social well-being and economic development.¹⁴⁹ 

(d) The people of Bhutan have direct and free choice to elect their candidates and not candidates forced upon them through the selection and nomination of political parties. Similarly, people can dissolve Local Governments. Therefore, there is no need for opposition since it is not based on political parties.¹⁵⁰  

Local Government is the continuation of the historical evolution and political system, which was resuscitated and refined by His Majesty. It is responsive, effective and efficient local administration and social service to the local people. Local Government promotes self-governance, shares power with the people at the grass root, develops local resources and capabilities and attends to their local interests. Consequently, the State develops and executes policies to minimize inequalities of income, concentration of wealth, and promote equitable distribution of public facilities among individuals and people living in different parts of the Kingdom and ensures equal treatment of all the Dzongkhags. Rural and urban migration could be mitigated. With passage of time, there will be equal growth with the maintenance of local knowledge, family values and respect for nature. All these would be continuously judged by their electors. Negligence of any area is a failure of a nation. Hence, Local Government and decentralization are curative and preventive actions.

                                                                 To be continued................. 

Opining local Banks to foreign currency accounts.

A policy change to come into effect from January 2013, if the central bank’s board approves

Revised Draft Foreign Exchange Regulations: Bhutanese or any entity earning foreign currency, whether living abroad or within the country, will be allowed to open foreign currency accounts in Bhutanese banks, starting January 2013.

This is according to the central bank’s revised draft foreign exchange regulations, which need approval of its board to come into effect.

Economists are debating whether this is a major move, or just a small policy change that will have minimal impact on the economy.

Druk PNB’s chief executive officer NK Arora said the revised regulation would improve liquidity in the domestic market because those, who previously maintained their accounts outside Bhutan, would bring it home.

“This should happen, provided the local banks here offer better interest rates than other countries, where non-resident Bhutanese work,” he said.

He also said Bhutanese working abroad, wishing to send home money, need not bear the transaction cost of buying and selling dollars to the banks.

Under the existing regulation, Bhutanese earning foreign currency are not allowed to open a foreign currency account.  Therefore, the preferred choice of remitting money home was either done through Western Union or manually delivered by their friends or relatives coming home.

One economist said it would favour only big businesses. Transacting through the bank in exchange of ngultrum always comes with a price, because the bank’s selling price for hard currency is always higher than the buying rate.

Businesses initially sold their dollars to the banks at a given rate and, when they required dollars, they bought the dollars back from the bank at a higher rate.  In this way, the businesses were losing. “With the new regulation, this could be avoided,” the economist said.

To individuals, the revised regulation would not mean much, because there are no incentives at all. “Instead, these individuals sending money home would lose a certain percentage, while converting it into ngultrum,” the economist said. “Individuals would still prefer the existing way of sending money home.”

In any case, individuals and families receiving remittances from abroad want it in hard currency that can be exchanged and sold anywhere and at anytime.

The regulation, however, does not allow the tourism industry, which is the biggest hard currency earner to open foreign currency accounts. “We’re working on with the tourism council on this particular issue,” the director of central bank’s foreign exchange department said.

Another industry, which earns foreign currency, is the apple and mandarin exporters.  Central bank official said that, while they would be allowed to open a foreign currency account, they could use the money only for import of raw materials for their particular line of business.

“This aspect isn’t very clear,” an orange exporter said. “There are many involved in the orange export business, and its earnings are used to run other businesses, like factories.”

According to the central bank’s monthly statistical bulletin (November), non-resident Bhutanese remittances through formal channels were around Nu 350M between January and September this year.  Most of it was in US dollars.

The revised regulations will also formalise the creation of moneychangers.

Four JV projects to begin in 2013

Ownership of these projects
 will be 50:50 for both countries.

Hydro-power development: Agreement has been sealed with initials on the joint venture projects of Bunakha, Chamkharchu, Kholongchu and Wangchu during the 10th empowered joint group meeting of December 20 and 21 in New Delhi, India.

That done, economic affairs ministry officials said, they expected things to move faster.

Based on the agreement, they said the government of India would now begin processing the approval of their Cabinet.

Economic affairs secretary Dasho Sonam Tshering said what the two sides also agreed on was that, within February, the two governments must obtain all approvals of their governments.

Meanwhile, he said, the joint venture partners should form a working committee to look at issues of pre-constructions, like where the access roads should be, identify construction areas, and seek government approval for land.

The intention, he said, was when the final tender was done for civil package, contractors could begin mobilisation easily.

“That way we don’t lose time,” he said, adding that, as soon as the two governments signed the inter-governmental agreement for joint venture, it is hoped within February 2013, the projects should move forward.

“By the latter half of 2013, we expect all these four projects to move forward,” he said. “That was a very significant move, because now we've resolved all issues, as far as joint venture projects are concerned.”

Dasho Sonam Tshering said the four joint ventures were among the 10,000MW project.

Partners from GoI, their owned companies, had already been identified and detailed project reports (DPRs) for all four projects were more or less completed.

From the Bhutanese side, ministry officials said, the DPRs were endorsed and were awaiting the Indian government’s approval, where its specialist agencies like the Central Electrical Authority and Central Water Commission had to endorse them.

One of the reasons for the country considering the joint venture model, Dasho Sonam Tshering said was because, under the inter-governmental model, financing would be a challenge, in that GoI could not be expected to fund all projects.

While funding mechanism does not change, the ownership of the joint venture projects between both public sector companies (THDC and DGPC) will be 50:50.

“Under inter-governmental model, all the money, including the loan and the grant comes from GoI,” he said, adding inter-governmental models were good, if the country was looking at one project to be taken up between five and 10 years time. “But when we’re trying to develop a series of projects under inter-governmental model, then there’s tremendous financial challenges for GoI also.”

Besides, he said the country already had three projects – Punatsangchu I, II and Mangdechu – already under construction under inter-governmental model.

“The cost of these three projects will be larger than that of the 10th plan budget, which is Nu 143B,” he said. “These three projects together today is more than Nu 150B and, by the time, they’re completed, due to escalation and time overrun, imagine what the cost will be.”

On the inter-governmental projects of Sankosh and Amochu, draft bilateral agreements of which were also forwarded to GoI, economic affairs ministry officials said they were informed by the power ministry of GoI that they had no issues on the agreement.

“So again, they’ll have to process their government approvals on this,” Dasho Sonam Tshering said.

Coming to Kuri-Gongri basin, he said, before the DPR for the project could begin, the technical committee, comprising people from economic affairs ministry, Central Electricity Authority, Central Water Commission and WAPCOS, was expected to visit the project site.

“They’re meant to see which option of the ones national hydropower commission (NHPC) identified is the most viable,” he said. “They also need to get a rough idea of what it would cost to do the DPR.”

So as not to lose out on the entire potential of Kuri-Gongri, NHPC was asked to come up with options that enhanced its capacity to produce more than 2,000MW.

“They’ll complete this exercise within February and, in the next empowered joint group meeting, we’ll take a decision on the project,” he said.

With regards to award of electro-mechanical tenders for Mangdechu hydropower authority, Dasho Sonam Tshering said it went to Bharat Heavy Electrical limited.

The main function of the empowered joint group meeting, he said, was for the purpose of keeping track of the progress of the 10,000MW project.

It also provided a forum for any issues to be raised, discussed and resolved.

Hacker run amuck in Bhutan.

Vulnerability due to use of open source content management systems 

Indicating vulnerabilities in local website design and hosting, a significant number of websites hosted with internet service provider (ISP) Druknet were hacked or defaced in the past year.

This has included the government’s online portal (www.bhutan.gov.bt) being hacked or defaced at least thrice this year alone, along with the websites of several government agencies, private firms, and even financial institutions.

Druknet systems manager, Dawa Sonam, attributed this to the use of open source content management systems (CMS) by web designers in Bhutan.

“Content management systems, like WordPress or Joomla, require to be updated constantly with security patches, and to be customised to prevent website defacement,” he said. “However, most such websites hosted with us are designed with default configurations and hardly updated, which results in defacement.”

As of yesterday evening, the website of the Journalist newspaper was at least one Druknet website that remained defaced.

A local web designer, who requested anonymity, acknowledged that, while customers must ensure their software is up-to-date and patched, Druknet should also assist in securing websites and assume some responsibility.

The web designer said that Druknet, as the host, can use software to help customers detect intrusions, notify them about malware, or to check if customers are using the latest version of their software, among others.

“Currently, Druknet does not seem to use any technology to monitor their customers’ websites,” the web designer said.

Dawa Sonam said there were currently two measures in place to address hackings.

He pointed out that Druknet was “constantly scanning for vulnerable, compromised websites”. “Once found, compromised websites are suspended, and the webmaster of that particular website is informed to clean it,” he said.

He also pointed out that Druknet assisted webmasters to clean their websites.

“A third measure, the ISP is currently pursuing, is the formation of a security team, dedicated to solely combat hacking,” Dawa Sonam said, although he did not specify when this team would be operational.

Department of information technology and telecom (DITT) director, Phuntsho Tobgay, said, while they were aware of the problem, it was a challenge to provide security, given the current environment.

Today, government agencies have their own data servers.

“Security service can’t be provided efficiently or guaranteed, with all these dis-aggregated servers and database across the government,” he said.

As of yesterday evening, a few government websites, for one, the trade department’s, included hidden links within their source codes pointing to sites that included pornography.

While the government does have an information management and security policy in place, it is yet to form a dedicated team that will be responsible to address or respond to security-related issues and needs.

The government plans to form this team only in the next plan.

Information technology department officials said if the Bhutan Information, Communications and Media bill was adopted without amendments by a new government next year, this team could be upgraded to a dedicated agency or department.

Phuntsho Tobgay said the government did not have such a team today, because it lacked resources and technical collaboration.

These shortcomings have now been solved with the World Bank providing financial assistance, and a Malaysian company being identified to help form the team in the 11th plan.

Besides the planned computer incidence response team, the government will also gradually consolidate data servers across the government into one centralised data server, also in the next plan.

“This is expected to not only improve security coverage but also increase efficiency within the government,” information technology officials said.

Are dam site blasts cracking the dzongs

Test: The glass would
 break if the cracks were
 indeed caused by the blasting

Some Indian experts were hired to conduct a study, the result of which is awaited

Mandgechu Project: Recent artificial tremors and subsequent cracks on some of the landmarks of Trongsa, residents and authorities of the dzongkhag attribute to activities being carried out at the Mangdechu hydropower construction site.

Authorities have reported of extension on existing cracks on the walls of Trongsa dzong that overlooks the gorge of the Mangde river, and fresh cracks appearing on the walls of the renovated Ta-dzong (watchtower) above the dzong.

Trongsa residents said, ever since work on the Mangdechu project began, heavy sounds and echoes of explosion from the dam construction site, a few kilometers below the dzong, have been regular.

Over the months, the loud explosions began showing their impact, dzongkhag authorities said, on the landmarks of the dzongkhag.

Ta-dzong’s officiating curator Loday said the three-storey block of the watchtower, which serves as meditation centre and security room, have developed new cracks since a few months ago.

He said, a few days ago, some Indian experts that Jaypee association hired to conduct studies on the relationship between explosions at the dam site and damage to the dzongs, said there was none.

“They said the cracks weren't new and that they weren't caused by the blasting at the dam site,” he said, insisting there were no crack on the walls of the structure before. “These cracks are a few meters long.”

Others staying inside the Ta-dzong said, whenever there was blasting at the dam site, they felt vibrations and heard their windowpanes quivering.

Loday also said, the experts told him the vibrations they experienced was not from the blasting per se, but the echo the explosion let out.

“We aren't really blaming the project, but there’s a need for a thorough investigation,” he said. “For the sake of saving and preserving the age-old museum from damage, it’d be better if local experts are invited to conduct studies.”

He said they would be in better position to understand the situation.

Tremors from the explosions have also caused additional cracks on the walls of the Trongsa dzong.

Dzongkhag officials from the engineering section, who inspected the damage, said, although no new or major cracks have been formed on the walls of the dzong, little hairline cracks have been seen extending along the old cracks.

One of dzongkhag’s junior engineers said, according to the experts, that Jaypee hired from National Institute of Rock and Mechanic (NIRM) India, who following some survey, had concluded that cracks were not new and not caused by the blasting.

“They said it was possible the blasting could cause damages to structures, if it was happening within a 300-meter diameter distance,” they said. “The dzong, they said, was 1,600m away from the blast site.”

Apart from the two dzongs, the proprietor of the View Point guesthouse, opposite Trongsa dzong, said gaps had begun appearing around the edges of the window frames, fixed on the concrete walls of her staff quarters.

Proprietor Karma Tsheltrim said she even lodged a written complaint to Mandgechu hydropower project authority.

To find out if cracks on the walls of the two dzongs were really caused by the blasting occurring at intervals at the dam site, the experts have glued rectangular glass slabs, the size of a data card, on some of the cracked walls of the two dzongs.

“The glass is supposed to determine if the cracks were indeed caused by the blasting,” the junior engineer said. “It’s supposed to break in the event of another blast.”

An engineer with the project said the issue of cracks on the walls of the dzong was reported before the project began.

A site engineer at the dam construction said at least three to four blasts were being carried out in a day, although officials claimed not to know how much blasting was done so far since the project began.

“All blasting is done in a way that ensures minimal affect in the area,” he said. “For less damage and less vibration, a detonator was used for blasting.”

Jaypee official were unable to comment on the issue, saying the two scientists they hired were studying the case.

“Such problems can’t be solved through discussion but through scientific methods,” he said, adding the actual causes of the cracks on the dzongs would be known only after they received the survey data from the experts, who are leaving the country in a few days.

The findings of their report are expected to take about a month.

Some locals, however, expressed skepticism if the study is being conducted without any slant to favour the company that hired the experts, and if the actual facts and real results will be shared.

Save for the Trongsa dzong, the Ta-dzong and the guesthouse, no other complaints have been reported so far.

15 Days blessing begins.

Over Changyu Bridge: Devotees return
to the wang venue after
lunch break yesterday

Dechhog Khorlo Dompai: By the time the dawn broke, and the light shone on to the first day of the Chakrasamvara (Dechhog Khorlo Dompai) wang in Punakha yesterday, thousands of people had already filled the Thangzona wangkhang.

Devotees, who had come to attend the wang, had started walking into the venue, which could accommodate more than 50,000 people, as early as 3am.

“I’m seeing such a huge congregation for the first time in my life,” Ap Kado from Wangduephodrang, said.

Police and desuups were positioned at entry and exit points at the Mochhu bazam and the Changyul bridge to control and manage the crowd.

“I thought the Mochhu bazam might collapse, when people rushed at one go,” a desuup said.

During lunch break, the entry and exit points were jammed by the crowd.  After being pushed in all directions, amid screaming women and children, devotees took more than an hour to get to the wangkhang.

“If such a rush persists, there’s a high chance of stampede at the bridges,” Kezang from Punakha said.

A smog of dust filled the air, despite having sprinkled water on the ground.

Vehicular traffic, however, had eased, despite seeing a jam for last two days.  There were designated parking spots for private vehicles.

The wang committee’s chairman, lopen Samten Dorji of Zhung dratsang, said more than 50,000 people could have turned up for the first day of the wang.

Meanwhile, monks and patrons offered prayers to His Holiness the Je Khenpo, who presided over the Chakrasamvara blessings.  His Holiness also talked to the devotees on the benefits and merits of the wang.

At the opening, cabinet ministers, led by the prime minister, Jigmi Y Thinley, attended the morning session of the wang.

Commitment shy capital city?

International Anti-Corruption Day: In the last 10 days, only 289 Thimphu residents turned up to pledge their commitment against corruption in the book that the Anti-Corruption Commission kept open only in Thimphu since it observed the international anti-corruption day on December 10.

The book, which has a capacity for 3,000, has so far recorded pledges from 194 males and 95 females from Thimphu. The commission’s program coordinator Karma Rinzin, said the pledge book was kept open at the clock tower square and the ACC office.

“We advised our staff not to force anyone to sign on the book, since we wanted to see how many would turn up voluntarily,” he said.

However, the turnout has not been encouraging and to analyse or draw any conclusions, based on the small figure, would be difficult, he said. “Therefore, we’re planning to extend and keep the book open for public, until the pages are filled,” he said. “But the book will be kept at the lobby of ACC office.”

Karma Rinzin said the idea of the pledge book was to see how serious and concerned people were about fighting corruption. “Once we get quite a number of people, we’ll be able to come up with measures to help prevent corruption in the country,” he said.

Of the total 289 people, who pledged so far, the highest are civil servants at 84, followed by public at 80, 65 students, 43 business people and 17 from civil society organisations. “On an average, 29 people came forward to pledge their commitment every day,” he said.

Deadline Further Deferred.

               Global tenders for three bridges en route are still to be taken on

The Chukha Damchu bypass on the Thimphu-Phuentsholing highway that will reduce road distance by more than 20 km, and cut travel time by an hour, may be open to traffic only by mid 2014.
Officials of Project DANTAK, which is doing the realignment, said the bypass requires building three bridges, but the global tenders for their construction are yet to be accepted, because bidders have asked for more time.
This could delay completion of the bypass, which was initially expected by the end of next year, by another six months, a spokesman for DANTAK said.  It might take another two to three months to award the work for constructing the bridges, the spokesperson said.
Work on the 29 km bypass began in 2010, with a completion date by March 2013.  But the deadline got pushed to 2013 end, because of the challenges posed by extremely rocky terrain.
Project DANTAK’s chief engineer, Brigadier S Radhakrishnan, said constructing three bridges, which are 80 to 100'm long, would take some time, although road construction would be completed by end of 2013.
Brigadier S Radhakrishnan said the construction of all three bridges would be awarded to one contractor.
Works and human settlement secretary Dasho (Dr) Sonam Tenzin, who visited the construction site on December 15, said there has been good progress.
He said Project DANTAK had divided the whole 29 km stretch into six sections, and that work was being done at all sections.
In the first 2.1 km section, the whole construction, along with surfacing and permanent work, had been completed, and in the five other sections, formation cutting, surfacing work and permanent work were being executed simultaneously.
Brigadier S Radhakrishnan said they had to divide the stretch into different sections to deploy more equipment, as progress of work depended on it. “With more additional points, we deployed more machinery to execute formation cutting, surfacing and permanent works simultaneously,” he said.
According to DANTAK officials more than 20 of its workers have died so far working on the bypass which, when completed, will no longer require traffic to ascend to Chapcha, drive down to Bunakha and again climb up to Tshimakoti.

Mayan apocalypse: End of the world, or a new beginning?

Selections from the Mayan calendarOne in 10 of us is said to be anxious that 21 December marks the end of the world. The Ancient Mayans predicted this doomsday, and the press is eating it up. But where are all the believers?

That the world will end in 2012 is the most widely-disseminated doomsday tale in human history, thanks to the internet, Hollywood and an ever-eager press corps.

Recent hurricanes, unrest in the Middle East, solar flares, mystery planets about to collide with us - all "proof" of what the ancient Mayans knew would come to pass on 21 December 2012.

According to a Reuters global poll, one in 10 of us is feeling some anxiety about this date.

Russians have been so worried that the Minister of Emergency Situations issued a denial that the world would end.

Authorities in the village of Bugarach in the South of France have barred access to a mountain where some believe a UFO will rescue them.

And survivalists in America - many of whom use the term "prepper" - have been busy preparing for all manner of cataclysm.

So I set out to find people who believe 21/12/12 is D-Day.

It was harder than I imagined, despite seeking out preppers, bunker builders, and even a Mayan shaman.

Eventually I turned to Morandir Armson, a scholar of the New Age and Esoterica at the University of Sydney, Australia.

"If you told me there were more than 5,000 people who genuinely believed the end of the world was coming rather than just having vague fears about it, I'd be surprised," he says.

Armson adds that those people are probably "in the wilds of Idaho, heavily armed, and won't talk to journalists anyway".

The heightened fear around this date is, in his view and that of other experts, almost entirely due to the internet. More specifically they blame the blogosphere.

It is not how the whole 2012 phenomenon started.

In 1987, Jose Arguelles, a man who devoted much of his life to studying the Mayan Calendar, organised what was called the Harmonic Convergence, a sort of post-hippy Woodstock. It attracted tens of thousands around the globe.

he event was an attempt to "create a moment of meditation and connection to the sacred sites around the earth," says Daniel Pinchbeck, author of 2012: The Year of the Mayan Prophecy.

It was also the beginning of what many in the loosely-defined New Age movement regard as a process in the transformation of our consciousness - a transformation that goes into full effect at the end of this year.

Pinchbeck calls 21/12/12 the "hinge point" of the emergence of a new, more enlightened age - not an ending point for all civilisation.

"It is quite clear that the Mayan system envisages a new cycle of the calendar beginning on the 22 December 2012," says Graham Hancock, author of Fingerprints of the Gods, and something of a rock star in the world of ancient mysteries enthusiasts.

He says the ancient Mayan culture was a shamanic one. Those who left us the calendar were visionaries who were providing clues to this ending of one cycle and the beginning of another.

That is not to say that New Agers do not see catastrophic events as necessary in some way to this new birth.

In fact they tend to embrace eastern faiths and native cultures with their cyclical views of time. In these visions, the world has been and will be destroyed - to some degree - and we start anew.

Accordingly, some believe the Mayans were sending us a warning for 2012.

"We may see a lot of destruction," says Pinchbeck. He points to Hurricane Sandy, which recently hit his home city of New York.

Many, including the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, linked that hurricane to global warming, which tends to be seen by New Agers as the main threat to our planet.

However the New Age movement is full of optimists. Crucially, they say we have a choice in how this story ends.

"We do not have to step over the edge of the abyss into darkness and destruction," Hancock says, calling this point in time a "cusp moment."

"It's up to us. It's totally up to us."

Morandir Armson, the Australian scholar, says the belief that 2012 marks a positive shift is one also shared by UFO groups, such as the Ashtar Command and the Ground Crew. These groups have no headquarters but for internet sites.

He says they refer to themselves as "lightworkers" who believe a fleet of alien space ships hover around our solar system.

"By doing good works on earth [they believe] you can speed up the consciousness of our humanity," says Armson.

In many ways, they emphasise the more positive aspects of the traditional Christian Apocalypse. The fire-and-brimstone part gets downplayed in favour of the glorious Kingdom to come.

Some 20% of Americans believe we are in the end times, and that they will see the return of Jesus Christ in their lifetime.

This month marks Advent in the Christian Calendar, during which Christians are encouraged to read from the Book of Revelation, the apocalyptic vision of St John the Divine.

"It's full of gory and grotesque detail of how the wicked are going to be punished," says Ted Harrison, author of Apocalypse When: Why We Want to Believe there Will Be No Tomorrow.

The twenty-first of December, however, is not on the biblical calendar and few, if any, believers in the traditional Book of Revelation are attached to this date.

The supposed date of the coming apocolypse, 21 December, also marks the Winter Solstice, symbolic in many cultures of the end of darkness and the renewal of the light.

It might, suggests Harrison, focus our minds on how we have been treating the planet and those on it, and how we could mend our ways.

In this respect, he says, "It might become a self-fulfilling prophecy. That's one hope. A remote one, but it is one hope."

Decoding the Mayan calendar

The "Long Count" cycle of the Mayan calendar began in 3114 BCE and is widely accepted to end on 21/12/12 CE.

Except that in Simon Martin's view, everyone has got it wrong.

Martin is curator of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia's "Maya 2012" exhibition. He says the calendar is complex, and best thought of as a series of gear wheels.

He points out that at a Mayan site in Palenque, Mexico, there is an inscription describing an event that takes place in 4,722 of our era, "and that is the turning of an even bigger cycle", he says.

He adds that technically this is also not the start of a new cycle.

In 3114 BCE the calendar reset to zero with the turning of the 13th bak'tun (which is a smaller, 400 year cycle). This time, however, it does not reset to zero but merely goes on to the 14th bak'tun.

"The Mayan Calendar is a weird and wonderful thing," he says.

News from BBC By Jane Little