Archive for January, 2014

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16/01/2014

India Is Polio-Free for 3rd Year, but It Can’t Afford to Be Complacent | TIME.com

Good news does not always flow freely in India. Too many children still go hungry. Violence against women endures. Inflation is soaring, and gay sex was just criminalized, again.

india_polio_ap0112

But today India got a boost: Jan. 13 marks the country’s third year of being free of polio, the highly infectious disease that attacks the nervous system of children in particular and can paralyze within hours. The last child to be crippled by polio in India was a 2-year-old girl in West Bengal, whose case was confirmed on Jan. 13, 2011. The fact that none have been found since is a stunning turnaround from 2009, when India hosted nearly half the world’s cases. That polio has been wiped from this vast, crowded country is arguably one of the greatest achievements in modern public health — and a stirring reminder that sheer determination can, in fact, change lives.

People used to say that ridding India of polio simply couldn’t be done. The virus has used the subcontinent as an incubator for centuries, and some experts argued that the slow process of vaccinating every child could never outpace the rapid transmission of the disease. Happily, they were wrong. Teaming up with groups like Rotary International, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization (WHO), the Indian government launched yearly national vaccination drives carried out by millions of volunteers and, eventually, backed up by sophisticated disease-surveillance and population-monitoring systems. In 2002, there were 1,600 polio cases in India. By 2009, there were 741. Today, there are none.

via India Is Polio-Free for 3rd Year, but It Can’t Afford to Be Complacent | TIME.com.

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15/01/2014

Wuhan overpass swings into place[1]- Chinadaily.com.cn

A 17,000-ton section of an overpass was rotated 106 degrees, one step closer to the completion of an elevated highway in Wuhan city, Central China\’s Hubei province, on Jan 14, 2014. The section on pier number Z63, at a height of 15 meters, was built along the railway to not disturb trains. It finished rotating and joined its other parts in 90 minutes. The completed overpass will be 256 meters long and span 11 railways, including the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and Wuhan-Hefei Railway. It is expected to open to traffic this month.

Wuhan overpass swings into place

via Wuhan overpass swings into place[1]- Chinadaily.com.cn.

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15/01/2014

Villagers in SW China share the wealth[1]- Chinadaily.com.cn

Jianshe village in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, shared about 13.11 million yuan ($2.17 million) in bonuses with the 340 households in the village, on Jan 14, 2013. The village became rich after piloting a land circulation project, which introduced a new farming company and an investment company. One household received 314,000 yuan.

Villagers in SW China share the wealth

via Villagers in SW China share the wealth[1]- Chinadaily.com.cn.

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14/01/2014

Another ancient university’s remains found in Bihar – The Times of India

Remains of an ancient university have been discovered in Bihar, which is home to Nalanda and Vikramshila universities, officials said on Tuesday.

Main stupa of Sariputta in the ancient Nalanda...

Main stupa of Sariputta in the ancient Nalanda University, Bihar, India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

\”We have discovered remains of another ancient university at the Buddhist monastery site of Telhara in Nalanda district,\” Atul Kumar Verma, director of state archaeology, told IANS.

Telhara was visited by Chinese traveller Heuen Tsang in the 7th century AD, and it was mentioned as \”Teleadaka\” in his account, Verma said.

Describing it as a major discovery for Bihar\’s history, Verma told IANS over telephone that remains of \”Tiladhak\” ancient university are spread in a big area and will take more time for full excavation – just like Nalanda where the excavation took years.

\”It is a positive development in the field of excavation in Bihar. After discovery of remains of 4th century ancient Nalanda and 8th century Vikramshila university, this is the discovery of remains of third ancient university in the state,\” Verma said.

Verma said that Tiladhak ancient university was set up in 5th century during the Gupta period.

via Another ancient university’s remains found in Bihar – The Times of India.

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14/01/2014

Ready for whatever Congress wants me to do: Rahul Gandhi – The Hindu

Ahead of the AICC meeting on Friday when he is expected to be named the Congress Prime Ministerial candidate, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday appeared ready to take up the responsibility.

“None of my family members ever worked for the sake of power. Neither my father nor my grandmother,

“I am a sepoy of Congress. I will obey whatever order is given to me. I will do whatever Congress wants me to do… Decisions are taken in our party by senior leaders,” he told Hindi daily ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ in an interview.

“Earlier also some decisions were taken…Power is poison ….does not mean that I am not keen to take responsibility. There is no word of reluctance in my life…Congress has never been specific. Whatever task the Congress wanted me to accomplish, I have done that,” Mr. Gandhi said when asked whether he was ready to take up the post of Prime Minister and about perceptions of him being reluctant.

Mr. Gandhi’s remarks at the party’s Chintan Shivir in Jaipur in January 2013, that his mother Sonia Gandhi had told him that power is poison had led to speculation as well Opposition attack that the Congress vice-president was not willing to take up responsibility.

Explaining his remarks, he said, “Power is poison is an observation that when power comes, one should know how to deal with the associated dangers that come with it. This is it. Power is poison means use power for the welfare of people and do not use it to make oneself bigger or more powerful.”

To a direct question on whether he will accept any such responsibility, Mr. Gandhi said, “None of my family members ever worked for the sake of power. Neither my father nor my grandmother.”

Mr. Gandhi’s father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi were both Prime Ministers of the country.

via Ready for whatever Congress wants me to do: Rahul Gandhi – The Hindu.

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14/01/2014

Indonesia to China: Stop Buying Our Stuff – Businessweek

Indonesian mines account for about 20 percent of the world’s nickel supply and a hefty chunk of the bauxite (used to make aluminum). China has been importing ever-larger amounts of these and other minerals from its Asian neighbor. Ironically, the more the Chinese buy, the angrier Indonesians become: Rather than purchasing refined minerals from Indonesia, China imports the raw rocks and does the processing itself, thus depriving Indonesians of jobs and tax revenue. Miners took more than 250,000 tons of nickel out of Indonesian mines last year but processed only about 16,000 tons in-country, exporting the rest. Meanwhile, China refined more than half a million tons.

A miner sprays water over tin ore at the PT Timah operations in Sungai Liat, Bangka Island, Indonesia on Nov. 19

To make matters worse, through much of last year, China stockpiled Indonesian ore to hedge against any action the government in Jakarta might take to encourage more of the value-added work to stay home. The stockpiling makes Indonesian officials even more irritated. “I just returned from China, and I saw with my own eyes there are 3 million tons of bauxite and 20 million tons of nickel over there,” Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat told reporters on Jan. 8. “That’s what we want to stop.”

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is taking action do just that. On Jan. 12 a new rule took effect prohibiting companies from exporting nickel ore and other raw minerals—while allowing miners to ship minerals that first go through processing or refining in Indonesia. The goal is simple: “No more ore exports,” Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said last month. “There should be refining or smelting.”

via Indonesia to China: Stop Buying Our Stuff – Businessweek.

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14/01/2014

Bowed and Remorseful, Former Red Guard Recalls Teacher’s Death – NYTimes.com

Nearly half a century after Bian Zhongyun was beaten, kicked, tormented and left to die, bloody and alone, at the Beijing girls’ school where she was deputy principal, a daughter of the Communist Party elite has offered public penance — of a kind that instantly brought controversy — for her part in one of the most notorious killings of the Cultural Revolution.

Song Binbin, third from left, before a bust of Bian Zhongyun, the leader of a Beijing high school who was killed in 1966.

Growing numbers of aging Red Guards have declared their contrition for violence perpetrated from 1966, when Mao Zedong urged students to turn against the school and party authorities he accused of stymieing his vision of a revolutionary society cleansed of ideological laxity.

But the apology from Song Binbin, reported by The Beijing News on Monday, quickly drew attention and was featured on many Chinese news websites. Here was a daughter of a veteran revolutionary apologizing for what has been widely described as the first killing of a teacher in the decade-long Cultural Revolution.

Ms. Song’s father was Song Renqiong, a general who served as a senior official under Mao and later Deng Xiaoping. Ms. Song herself won fame as a member of the first wave of Red Guards when she was photographed meeting Mao. But for years, many of them spent in the United States, she was muted about the death of Ms. Bian, a deputy principal at the elite Beijing Normal University Girls High School, where she was a student. The Cultural Revolution remains a sensitive, and heavily censored, chapter in China’s history. President Xi Jinping mentioned it only once and briefly in a speech last month celebrating the 120th anniversary of Mao’s birth.

On Sunday in Beijing, Ms. Song, who was born in 1949, told a gathering of former students and teachers from the school that she was sorry.

via Bowed and Remorseful, Former Red Guard Recalls Teacher’s Death – NYTimes.com.

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14/01/2014

Kejriwal’s Foreign Shop Ban is Bad for Delhi – India Real Time – WSJ

Delhi’s decision to block foreign supermarkets in the capital–one of the few markets that matter in India–is bad for the city and for the country, some analysts said Tuesday.

As India looks to attract more foreign investment, New Delhi’s flip flop on accepting foreign investment in multi-brand retail in the capital sends the wrong signal, the analysts said.

“Delhi is one of the key metro markets, keeping it out of reach of retailers may significantly reduce the attractiveness of an India investment for any major retailer,” said Deep Mukherjee, a director at ratings agency Fitch. “This uncertainty with respect to change of guard at the state level will always be a problem for any long-term investor in the retail space.”

The new Aam Aadmi Party-led government in New Delhi this week asked the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to remove Delhi’s name from the list of cities which allow multi-brand retail stores. Multi-brand retail is Indian bureaucratic speak for retail stores that carry more than one brand, such as supermarkets.

Big global brands used to only be able enter India through franchises, wholesale stores or single-brand stores, such as clothing shops. That kept out big supermarkets such as those run by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Last year India opened the retail sector to allow foreign retailers to own up to 51% in local supermarkets. It asked the state governments to make the final decisions on allowing multi-brand stores.

Since then, eleven of the country’s 22 states–including Delhi–decided to allow multi-brand retail outlets.

Last month, however, the Aam Aadmi, or common man, Party, took control of Delhi in state elections after promising it would block foreign investment in retail, concerned it would hurt the mom and pop stores that dominate the sector.

Keeping foreign funds and expertise out of the sector will hurt consumers and delay the modernization of India’s outdated supply chains, said some industry groups.

via Kejriwal’s Foreign Shop Ban is Bad for Delhi – India Real Time – WSJ.

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13/01/2014

Police drill realizes 9-year-old’s dream – CHINA – Globaltimes.cn

In order to fulfill a 9-year-old disabled schoolboy\’s dream of being a police officer, local police and residents in Xinyu, Jiangxi Province, simulated a hostage situation on Saturday.

However, critics have said that the move used public resources to allow the local police department to show off.

The 30-minute exercise was held at a square near a supermarket in Xinyu, at noon on Saturday. In the drill, two robbers kidnapped three people, and demanded the police send a car and 1 million yuan ($165,200) in cash.

During the standoff, a robber asked the boy, who was in a wheelchair, to send water to him. He first requested the boy drink some of the water and the boy obliged him.

When he passed the water to the robber, a policeman pushed the wheelchair and subdued the robber. Another thief was also caught by police, the Web publicity center under the Xinyu Party committee publicity department told the Global Times on Sunday.

The boy, Zou Junyi, was awarded the medal \”brave little police officer\” by Xinyu Mayor Cong Wenjing at the scene.

Before participating in the exercise, the boy visited the local police training camp and experienced the work of traffic police on the same day, Ao Weibing, the director of the center, told the Global Times. Zou said that the police did not spend any money on these activities, except to make a small uniform for Zou.

Zou suffers from muscular dystrophy, with the symptoms presenting since he was 6 years old. He lost the ability to walk in December, Zou\’s mother, Chen Qingmei, told the Global Times, adding that her family has spent about 500,000 yuan to treat the disease and can not spend any more.

\”Our family was touched. These special experiences can help my son build his confidence to fight the disease and overcome difficulties,\” Chen said.

Ao learned about the boy\’s dream when he visited him in December, and decided then that he wanted to find a way to help.

The drill was inspired by a US case in which 7,000 people in San Francisco, including the city mayor, helped 5-year-old leukemia patient Miles Scott make his wish – Batkid saves city – come true in November, according to Ao.

via Police drill realizes 9-year-old’s dream – CHINA – Globaltimes.cn.

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13/01/2014

* The Year Lokpal Comes of Age – India Real Time – WSJ

This post is a commentary.

In 1965, L.M. Singhvi addressed India’s lower house of parliament and told parliamentarians that the need for an anticorruption ombudsman was overdue.

“It is for the sake of securing justice and for cleansing the public life of the Augean stable of corruption, real and imaginary, that such an institution must be brought into existence,” he told lawmakers at the time.

Almost half a century later, on Jan. 1, the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, to create a corruption watchdog, became the first law made in 2014.

It gives Lokpal, or the “caretaker of the people”, jurisdiction to investigate allegations of corruption made against government officials up to the rank of prime minister. Even nongovernmental organizations with foreign donations above one million rupees ($16,252)  annually will fall within its purview.

The new anti-corruption machinery involves the services of federal investigators — the Central Bureau of Investigation — and the Central Vigilance Commission, which have both been made more robust and independent for the purpose.

via Inside Law: The Year Lokpal Comes of Age – India Real Time – WSJ.

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