Xsampa

[DueWizard70]

_______________________________________
June 4911

Following the announcement and subsequent commencement of operations of the Utemban National Railway System, today His Majesty King Pasang announced a second infrastructure project, which will be going on at the same time as the construction of the UNRS. The project will be the construction of a better national electrical grid, as the current one lack in many areas. The current one is small, understaffed, and reaches only 43% of the Utemban population. It also suffers from a lot of unreliability, causing massive blackouts all over the nation. The project seeks to expand the reach of the grid to over 60% and improve its reliability. It is expected to cost at least $5 billion LOD.

[DueWizard70]

UNRS and National Electric Grid construction going well, say government officials

Today we received some news regarding the construction of the Utemban National Railway System (UNRS) and the National Electric Grid. According to an official statement made by a government official, the construction of both is going well and without delay. He pointed out that they have encountered some unexpected problems along the way, but nothing they could not solve. This has been confirmed y various other sources, as well as by the team of The Utembo Times. We interviewed a worker who told us that they are even going faster than they anticipated. We will continue to inform you on the project as it develops.

The railway being built

King Pasang Aims to challenge Infant mortality
In a press conference, today King Pasang announced that he wished to address the challenge of infant mortality in Utembo. As of today, child mortality is at around 31.7%, meaning that around a third of all children in Utembo don't make it to 5 years of age. This is due to poor conditions all over the country, where access to medicine is remote and expensive, where around half of the population does not have access to clean drinking water and where around 46% of the population suffers from some level of undernourishment. King Pasang has announced that in the coming months he and a team of experts attempt to come up with a strategy to tackle the problem.

Rinboku Lama visits impovireshed communities
For the past 2 weeks, the Rinboku Lama has been going around the country to visit some of the most disadvantaged communities in Utembo. This was all recorded and uploaded to several social media sites, as an attempt to raise funds to help these communities across the country. The video has had some good reception, having raised some $24,000 Florins thus far. The Rinboku Lama has stated that they hope to collect around half a million Florin for the cause, and with the current levels of donations, it certainly seems they will achieve that.

The current Rinboku Lama

[DueWizard70]

Utemban Museum of History to be built in Karosawa
Today, it was announced by the Royal Palace that a new museum will be built in Karosawa. The museum will be a massive project, with the total area of the construction estimated to reach over 47 thousand square metres. The museum will cover the entirety of Utemban history, including periods as ancient as the origins of the first Rinboku Lama, as well as the colonial period, to things as recent as the coronation of King Durga I. It will also contain many archaeological artefacts that have been found in Utembo over the years. The construction is expected to take between 2 to 4 years.

UNRS Finds temporary setbacks
The UNRS has momentarily stopped construction, following a landslide that unfortunately took the lives of three workers and injured fourteen more. The person in charge of the project, a man named Kelden Gonpo, was blamed for the incident, with the official statement saying he cut corners to get the job done faster. This meant he did not properly review the mountainside to see if it was safe. He has been removed from the project. The setback will cost a few weeks to solve, during which the construction will stop completely.

[DueWizard70]

Electrical grid construction complete!

Today, King Pasang gave the official announcement that the main part of the electrical grid construction has been completed after a little over 5 years of construction. He said that there are still a few small things that need fixing, as well as final details to complete, but that these are only minor things and that the main project has been completed. The grid will now undergo final maintenance checks. King Pasang said that he hopes that by early 4917 the grid can be officially inaugurated.


UNRS Finally resumes construction

After a massive delay in August 4914 due to a catastrophic landslide that claimed the lives of 3 workers, this month finally the construction resumed operations. The original reports stated that the delay would be of only a few weeks, however, after further inspection of the entire construction, it was found that there were many places where the railway was not structurally sound, or that its surroundings could be dangerous. It took a little over two years to revise and fix any problem found. Now that that is all fixed and out of the way, the construction has been given the go-ahead to continue. The construction is expected to be completed in 4919 or 4920, as it was only about one-third of the way to completion when it had to be postponed.

[DueWizard70]

Utemban Museum of History opens its doors to the public

The Utemban Museum of History, which started construction back in 4914, has finally opened its doors to the public. This is after 3 years of construction and another 2 of preparing all the permanent exhibitions. The museum contains archaeological pieces that date back over 3 thousand years, with pieces such as a scroll which is suspected to have been written on by the Bahram Bidar.
The Rinboku Lama and King Pasang both attended the opening night. King Pasang congratulated the people in charge of the project, saying that they had managed the project beautifully.
If you want to visit yourself, you can buy tickets online.


One of the pieces at the museum.


UNRS Innaugurated

After nearly a decade under construction, King Pasang has officially inaugurated the Utemban National Railway System. The railway connects some of the more urbanised areas of the country with many rural areas. It also connects the north and south of the country, which have historically been separated by the Ring Po Mountains. Although the railway has officially opened, work will continue to further expand it. As it stands right now, over 7 thousand kilometres of railway have been constructed, but King Pasang says that the target is 10 thousand.

[DueWizard70]

The J-20 fighter
_____________________________________
February 4920
Arms deal with Yingdala

Today, an arms deal with Yingdala was finalised by King Pasang. The purchase consists of 30 J-20 fighter planes, as well as 15 JH-7 fighter-bombers. All of this is in order to continue the modernisation of the Utemban military, a project started by King Ratna and that is now continued by King Pasang.

The J-20 is a versatile fighter with a single-seat, a twin-engine, as well stealth capabilities. The aircraft does suffer from quite a bit of instability, however, parts of the aircraft are designed in canard, which provide excellent supersonic performance. The jet can carry short and long-range missiles, as well as a rotary turret. It is most effective in long-range engagements.

The JH-7 has two seats and a dual-engine. The jet is a fighter bomber. It has 9 hardpoints, and it is able to carry air-to-air missiles, bombs, anti-ship missiles, as well as air-to-ground missiles. It carries a twin-barrel autocannon. It is able to reach speeds of up to 1800 kilometres per hour, or Mach 1.5.

All the J-20 planes and 10 of the JH-7 will be delivered outright, with the remaining five JH-7 being ordered for construction by the Yingdalan government. The total price of the purchase was of ¥4.05 billion.

(OOC sources: J-20, JH-7)

[DueWizard70]

King Pasang marries Shenlha Woekar

Joyus news from Bajoum! Following the announcement of their engagement the past September, today King Pasang officially married Shenlha Woekar, daughter of Major General Bhuti Woekar. The marriage comes in what many have described as a strategic move from King Pasang, in order to make him even closer with the military. Official communications from the Royal Palace have released an official statement denying the rumours.

The wedding itself was a private ceremony, with no reporters allowed in. We hope to see a new royal prince in the coming years.


Queen Shenlha with King Pasang


King orders new palace to be built

Today, King Pasang announced that a new palace will be built in Karosawa. The current palace is very old, and through the years has been neglected. The news of the palace being built in Karosawa was received with shock, as Bajoum is the nation's capital. It seems that the new location of the palace could indicate the country changing capital. We are already seeing small indications of this, such as the Utemban Museum of History being built in the city, or the transfer of the Royal Mint.
The construction of the palace is expected to take anywhere from three to seven years.

[DueWizard70]

The Utembo Times
April 4928
BACKDATED POST(Very backdated)

Queen Shenlha gives birth to Prince Durga

Joyous news from Bajoum Palace, as it was announced today that Queen Shenlha gave birth to a baby boy. The prince has been named Durga and has now become first in line to the throne of Utembo. Whilst King Pasang is still very young, only turning 30 recently, he said that it is certainly a relief to have a heir to the throne. He has also said that he intends to have more than one child with the Queen, so we could be hearing news of a second pregnancy in the coming years.

We congratulate the King and his family and whish Prince Durga our best!

[DueWizard70]

The Utembo Times
June 4931
BACKDATED POST(Very backdated)

King Pasang announces development begins on bomber plane

Today at a press conference, King Pasang announced that Utembo will begin development on a new bomber. The plane will be heavily based on the JH-7, purchased from Yingdala eleven years ago. Even though the JH-7 is a fighter-bomber, the King said that the target is to develop a strategic bomber. Although the King was very enthusiastic about the project, many experts expect the development of the aircraft to take several years, if not decades, to develop the aircraft. We excitedly expect the results of this.

King Pasang announces "Repaving Utembo" programme

At the same press conference where the new bomber was announced, King Pasang also announced a new national programme. It is called "Repaving Utembo", and it aims to improve the quality of existing roads and highways and construct new ones. It will primarily target improving important highways, such as the Qulho-Doleri National Highway, which connects the Ring-Po mountains to the rest of the country. It will also build new ones, such as the new Karosawa-Bajoum Speedway. It will replace Route 73 as the primary way to get from one city to another. Currently, Route 73 is very dangerous, both to human dangers as well as natural ones. A large portion of the highways goes around a mountain, and the design makes the corners very fast and very dangerous. Over 37 fatal accident were recorded only in the 4828-30 period. The new highway aims to correct this. It is also expected to make the journey around an hour and a half faster.

The construction phase will begin in early 4932, and it is expected to create around 10 thousand new jobs.

[DueWizard70]

The Utembo Times
January 4933
BACKDATED POST(Very backdated)

Royal Palace completed. Change of Capital!

Exciting news from Karosawa, as King Pasang inaugurated the new Royal Palace. Although initially expected to take around 5 years to build, in the end, it took over nine. This was due to many delays with the construction, including two fatal accidents which claimed the lives of seventeen workers, who will be commemorated in a garden in the palace. The King announced that he and his family will be moving to the palace immediately.

After this, came another announcement. Utembo will be moving its capital to Karosawa. After centuries of it being in Bajoum, the news shocked many. However, it is a reasonable decision. Not only is Karosawa the biggest city, but also the most developed. Most major government buildings have been moving there for the past decade, such as the Royal Mint in 4924. This is expected to increase attractiveness to foreign investors.