MILLENNIUM

The Millennium Special

Millennium tourism

 The first ever sunrise of the third millennium at Mt Everest, the highest peak on earth, is being aired globally through televisions from Nagarkot as a special souvenir of the 21st century for the locals as well as global viewers.

To mark the new millennium and promote Nepal in the global markets, Nepal Television (NTV) is scheduled to broadcast the first millennium sunrise at the Mt Everest. According to General Manager of NTV Tapa Nath Shukla.preparation are underway to air the first millennium sunrise at Mt Everest through NHK, a Japanese television. This will definitely boost the Nepalese tourism industry, Shukla says.

The joint initiatives of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and NTV to air the Himalaya through television is considered as a token of tourism promoting in the growing competitive markets.

The picturesque views of Mount Everest and the panoramic views of the Himalaya will be telecast from nearby the mountains and NTV will later re-transmit it from Nagarkot, 32 kilometers east of Kathmandu on first January, 2000. The live broadcast will be accompanied by musical programmes. Furthermore, Cable News Network (CNN) and Asian televisions will re-transmit the programme later on, Shukla says.

 Whitman plans millennial concerts in Nepal

Flutist Pamela Whitman, granddaughter of poet Walt Whitman, of World Colour fame along with Nepal’s experimental instrumental ensemble Shristi will be marking the start of a new millennium with a series of various musical concerts in the capital.

“The multi-media event comprises a blend of visual arts and slide photography along with music,” says Whitman, who has been on a journey around the world sharing music since 1985.

“There are even voices of flight attendants guiding the journey with native greetings and music from the country visited,” she adds.

“Proceeds from the musical extravaganza will go to Maiti Nepal to set up an education trust for the girlchild,” said Pratima Pande, one of the three directors of the Infinity International, who is organising the event.

 Climber plans millennium celebration on Everest

A US climber plans to start an attempt to climb Everest in the hope of greeting the new millennium at the top of the world’s highest mountain.

Robert Anderson, 41, a writer from New York City,  arrived in Kathmandu and  left Kathmandu November, arriving at his base camp three days later.

Asked on what date he hoped to reach the top, he quickly replied: “January 1.” He said that this would depend on the weather, saying it would be “stupid” to waste a period of good weather waiting for the end of the month.

Anderson arrived shortly after Radford Washburn of the Boston Museum of Science announced a new altitude for Everest in Washington on Friday.

 Leap into the next millennium

Six sky divers are planning to be the very first to see the new millennium’s sunrise by leaping out of an aircraft 3,600 metres right over the international dateline in the South Pacific. They reckon the height and easterly advantage will give them the jump on Pitt island in the Chathanms which is the widely recognised site of the first sunrise.And they’ve got a tandem chute available for anybody willing to pay more than $10,200 for the privilege.Organiser Rod McCleod of Auckland told AFP they’ve had a number of bids on their web site.

 All ready in Japan

Japan’s government said recently than it will deploy 96,000 soldiers on New Year’s Day in case of millennium bug accidents, including special units to tackle nuclear incidents.

“We will deploy 96,000 members of the Self-Defence Forces on December 31 and January 1, up 12,000 from the normal year-end, to handle incidents or confusion related to the Year 2000 problem,” said a Defence Agency spokesman.

 Britains biggest ever party

London plans what organisers say will be Britain’s biggest ever party to celebrate the new millennium but its purpose-built dome, erected at huge cost, continues to attract controversy.

On New Year’s Eve, a lavish city-wide party will see London’s River thames set ablaze, an explosive pyrotechnic display, a giant Ferris wheel and the “Millennium Dome” in run-down east London host a party for 10,000.

“We expect this to be the biggest celebration that London has ever seen” minister for London Keith Hill told Reuters.

Up to three million people are expected to throng the streets of Britain’s capital, ferried in and out by free public transport which will run around the clock. But far more will stay at home.

A survey of top restaurants and hotels by the Times newspaper showed many, which have failed to attract customers or won’t pay high wages to staff, plan to close over the New Year.

 NRI donates $1m to millennium fund

Multi-millionaire Non-Resident Indian Vinod Gupta has donated $1 million to enable the US capital hold a glittering celebration on December 31 to usher in the new millennium. The Omaha businessman, founder of $300-million infousa Inc, said he would have loved a quiet New Year Eve “but this is definitely worth it.”

 Millennium baby bust!

The millennium baby boom has gone bust.
From Hong Kong to London, couples appear to have heeded the warning from doctors -- don’t plan a turn-of-the-century baby in overcrowded hospitals battling the Y2K Bug.

From Tokyo to Budapest, the message seems to have got through — it is OK to be fruitful and multiply but don’t make a special effort as the clock ticks down to the new millennium. A Reuters survey around the world revealed just two major exceptions. In Sydney and Beijing the temptation to aim for that magic target may just  have proved too great — although the Chinese are motivated more by the Chinese New Year calendar.

 Millennium specials

Most of the heavyweight museums of the world are offering millennium “specials” to mark the occasion. They range from a joint exhibition by the new York Public Library and France’s Bi-bliotheque Nationale on “Utopia: The Search for the Ideal Society in the Western World”, to “Seeing Salvation: The Image of Christ”, the British national Gallery’s view of God as man, a show that is to be accompanied by a BBC documentary.

One name is conspicuous by its absence from the list, however: the Vatican has no plans to hold special exhibitions at any of its museums. indeed, not one of Italy’s major cultural centres in planning a millennial event; the big shows there are focusing on strictly 15th-century fare, such as the youth of Michelangelo and Renaissance Venice.

The themes of the various millennial exhibitions are the rather predictable “big issues”: the nature of time; the significance of religion; and the role of art. There is a more or less even split between retrospective shows and those with a more contemporary flavour. But even the contemporary ones have a retrospective undercurrent: most are about the way that modern artists reinterpret past works.

 Millennium megablast with Sholay II

Bollywood’s all-time blockbuster Sholay has competed 25 years and, to commemorate the event, its producer G.P. Sippy announced he would make a sequel, Sholay II, in the new millennium.

Sippy told a press conference in Mumbai that the silver jubilee of the film would be kicked off by a “talent search” in January 2000 to decide on the stars and technicians for his next megamovie.

Most of the artistes of Sholay who are still alive will find a place in the millennium film, Sippy said.

 Women’s Viagra by 2000

After the unprecedented success of the male potency drug Viagra, medical companies around the world are engaged in a race to develop a similar product for women who have lost their desire for sex.

Millions of dollars are being spent to develop a product for women that could match the success of Pfizer’s money-spinning viagra. Women’s Viagra is being tested on 700 women around Europe, including Sweden, and the results are expected to be released next spring, followed by the marketing of the drug. According to market analysts, Pfizer, which has extensively funded studies on sexual deficiency in women, stands a very good chance of manufacturing and marketing women’s Viagra.

 2000, a leap year

The year 2000 is the first century year which will be a leap year. The confusion that 2000 would not be a leap year was because 1900, 1800 and 1700 were not so.

Here’s why. Julius Caesar introduced leap years to ensure that the months stay in step with the seasons. This is necessary because Earth makes one rotation of the Sun in 365.24219 days. Since the calendar is rounded off to 365 days, the balance gets carried over. Adding an extra day every four years corrects the calendar — but only approximately. For, it corrects for a year of 365.25 days, but over-corrects for the actual 365.24219.

To compensate for this, the Gregorian calendar stipulates a century year will be a leap year only if it is divisible by 400, which is the case for the year 2000. This corrects for an average year length of 365.2425 days, and will have a discrepancy of just one day in 4,000 years.The Gregorian calendar was adopted in Britain in 1752, when  September 2 was followed by September 14.