Kathmandu, Dec 8 (Agency) Nepal and China on Tuesday jointly announced the new height of world’s tallest mountain — Mount Everest — which now stands at 8848.86 metres. Everest — earlier stood at exact 8848 metres which was measured in 1954 by Survey of India. The previous calculation by Chinese researchers from a 2005 survey stands at 8,844 meters, while Nepal said it was a little taller, at 8,847 meters.
According to Himalayan Times, Nepal Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi were present at the virtual programme, who read out the letters written by their respective heads-of-the-state — President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both the countries had agreed to jointly announce the revised height during Xi’s visit to Nepal in 2019. The Everest was first scaled by a New Zealand national Edmund Hillary and his Nepali Sherpa climber Tenzing Norgay in 1953. From India, Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mt Everest. Last year in 2019, she was conferred with highest civilian award Padma Bhushan by the Government.