Archive for ‘Chindia Alert’

« Older Entries  |   Newer Entries »
30/07/2012

* Northern India hit by one of the worst power breakdowns

The Hindu: “In what was one of the worst power breakdowns in the country, the Northern Grid crashed early Monday morning plunging eight states into complete darkness, disrupting inter-state train services, adversely hitting health services and impacting millions of lives.

The tripping of the 400 KV Bina-Gwalior line, which flows into Agra-Bareilly at 2.35 a.m. wreaked havoc on the power generation and transmission systems leading to shut down of all major power plants including hydro power stations in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, which are all a part of the Northern Grid.

The immediate impact of the grid collapse was the shortage of around 32,000 MW of power. The last such collapse of the Northern Grid, which caters to around 28 per cent of the country’s population, took place in 2001. India currently faces around 8 to 12 per cent peak power deficit, according to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

The massive shutdown had a crippling effect on inter-state passenger and goods trains that came to a screeching halt. Early morning office goers and school children had a harrowing time as traffic signals went on the blink leading to traffic chaos in the affected States including the Capital Delhi.

Hospitals too had to scurry around for alternatives and back up supply. A majority of the hospitals claimed to have alternate supply arrangements, yet reports of services being disrupted trickled in from several places.

Operations at the major oil refineries in Panipat, Mathura and Bhatinda remained unaffected as these facilities have their own captive power plants and do not rely on the grid for supply.

While Power Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde said he could not pin point the exact reason for the collapse, PGCIL and Northern Region Load Despatch Centre officials said that it was rampant overdrawal by Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana that led to the collapse that in turn paralysed services.

The last time the grid collapse occurred was in 2001, it has happened now after 10 years. At that time, the power breakdown took place at midnight and normalcy was restored by 4.30 pm.

PGCIL chairman and managing director, R.N. Nayak said the situation had been restored to normal by 4 pm. The Northern grid was generating around 29000 MW of power by late evening, which was about 2000 MW of the peak demand.

Hit by the sudden collapse of the grid system, the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) officials swung into action with Mr. Nayak and his team of officials reaching their monitoring centre at 3 a.m. to assess the situation and work on a rescue package. By 8 a.m., PGCIL officials claimed to have restored around 40 per cent of power.”

via The Hindu : News / National : Northern India hit by one of the worst power breakdowns.

Posted in Economics, Electricity, India alert | 2 Comments »

Tags: , , , , ,
30/07/2012

* India’s Power Demand Fuels Bhutan’s Economy

WSJ: “When northern India was hit by its worst power outage in a decade early Monday – bringing trains to a standstill, creating massive road jams in the absence of traffic signals, and keeping thousands of offices and factories shut – the country’s leaders turned to its tiny neighbor Bhutan for help.

The Himalayan kingdom responded by releasing additional power from its hydroelectric plants, allowing New Delhi to restore some order while government officials and engineers worked to fix its electricity network.

This example of David coming to Goliath’s rescue speaks of Bhutan’s successful efforts to increase its electricity generation capacity to help boost its modest economy.

Bhutan – which is just 1% of India’s size and has fewer than 800,000 people compared with its neighbor’s 1.2 billion – now provides 1% of India’s electricity needs.

India has a deal to buy 5.480 billion kilowatt hours of power from Bhutan in the year that began April 1. The number might seem small, but it is hugely significant for Bhutan.

The electricity sector’s share of Bhutan’s economy has reached almost 20%, and it now outstrips agriculture as the single-largest contributor to gross domestic product, according to a World Bank report published in September.

Bhutan’s gross domestic product grew 8.1% in the year that ended March 31, 2011, helped by the construction of new hydropower projects, the report added. It anticipated that electricity exports will be the country’s main source of growth in the short-to-medium term.

Bhutan has hydro power potential of 30,000 megawatts, about a fifth of India’s own potential. However, the hydro projects in India aren’t making much progress due to strong protests from environmentalists and other issues.

So New Delhi is focusing on tapping the potential of land-locked Bhutan. India has helped build 96% of the kingdom’s overall hydropower capacity (1,472 megawatts.)

In July 2006, India agreed to develop and import 5,000 megawatt of electricity from Bhutan by 2020. The target was doubled to 10,000 MW in May 2008.

India also has a significant military presence in Bhutan, which it views of strategic importance as it shares a disputed border with China.”

via India’s Power Demand Fuels Bhutan’s Economy – India Real Time – WSJ.

Related articles

Posted in Economics, GeoPolitics, India alert, Infrastructure | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , ,
29/07/2012

* Tailored in China, for Team World

China Daily: “The record number of Olympic teams clad in clothes bearing Chinese innovations brings a “made-in-China” to “created-in-China” paradigm shift to the London Games. Erik Nilsson, Wu Ying, Cecily Liu, Wang Zhenghua and Tiffany Tan report.

While much ado has been made about the fact that Team USA‘s uniforms for the London Olympics are made in China, less attention has been given to the record number of foreign teams’ uniforms not only manufactured, but also designed, by domestic companies.

Leading the pack is home-grown label Peak, which sponsors seven countries that will participate in 20 events in London, a major backer at the Games after Nike and Adidas. Because the design process takes months – it may take up to a year until manufacturing is complete – Peak had to turn away 10 countries that approached it for the 2012 Games.

Next up is Li-Ning, named after and founded by the Chinese Olympic champion, which sponsors teams from eight countries and more than 600 individual athletes from 17 countries across the five continents – one for every Olympic ring.

Other companies with foreign clients include Adivon, Qiaodan, Erke, 361 and Xtep. A far greater number of domestic companies manufacture uniforms, apparel and merchandise developed at home and abroad.

“The phenomenon indicates domestic sportswear companies are rapidly growing and earning a say on the international stage,” says Jian Jie, senior sponsorship products manager of Li-Ning’s sports resources products department.

“It also shows that brand influence becomes increasingly important in the sportswear field and ‘made in China’ is gradually transforming to ‘created in China’. The alliance between a domestic brand and an international brand can internationalize Chinese brands and generate greater access to the partner’s market.

“The alliance during the Olympics can also increase the exposure of the domestic brand, promote its brand value and further its recognition at home and abroad. Through cooperation with the foreign brands, domestic brands can also improve.””

via Tailored in China, for Team World[1].

Related articles

Posted in China alert, Chinese labels, Economics, exports, Manufacturing | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , ,
29/07/2012

* China Court Dismisses Ni Yulan’s Fraud Conviction

NY Times: “A Chinese appeals court on Friday threw out a fraud conviction against a human rights activist who has fought on behalf of people evicted from their homes, but it upheld a separate conviction against her for causing a disturbance, her lawyers said.

A lower court had ruled that the activist, Ni Yulan, and her husband, Dong Jiqin, acted in an unruly way when they failed to pay for their stay at a hotel — where they had been detained by the police — and mistreated staff members. It also ruled that Ms. Ni had received money through deceit.

One of her lawyers, Cheng Hai, said the higher court, the Beijing First Intermediate Court, had rescinded the fraud conviction and reduced Ms. Ni’s prison sentence by two months to two years and six months after the person who gave Ms. Ni the money told the court it was a donation.

“We consider it a success,” said Dong Qianyong, another lawyer for Ms. Ni.

Public disturbance convictions against the couple remain, and Dong Jiqin’s two-year sentence handed down by the lower court stands, Mr. Cheng said.

Mr. Cheng said he planned to appeal again for Ms. Ni’s release.”

via China Court Dismisses Ni Yulan’s Fraud Conviction – NYTimes.com.

Yet another indication that China is softening its approach towards dissidents.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/05/20/china-dissident-chen-guangcheng-arrives-in-the-us/

Posted in China alert, Dissident, Good news, Human rights, Politics, Rule of law | 1 Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
29/07/2012

* Thirsty South Asia’s river rifts threaten “water wars”

WSJ: “As the silver waters of the Kishanganga rush through this north Kashmir valley, Indian labourers are hard at work on a hydropower project that will dam the river just before it flows across one of the world’s most militarised borders into Pakistan.

The loud hum of excavators echoes through the pine-covered valley, clearing masses of soil and boulders.

The 330-MW dam shows India’s growing focus on hydropower but also highlights how water is a growing source of tension with downstream Pakistan, which depends on the snow-fed Himalayan rivers for everything from drinking water to agriculture.

Islamabad has complained to an international court that the dam in the Gurez valley, one of dozens planned by India, will affect river flows and is illegal. The court has halted any permanent work on the river for the moment, although India can still continue tunneling and other associated projects.

In the years since their partition from British India in 1947, land disputes have led the two nuclear-armed neighbours to two of their three wars. The next flashpoint could well be water.

“There is definitely potential for conflict based on water, particularly if we are looking to the year 2050, when there could be considerable water scarcity in India and Pakistan,” says Michael Kugelman, South Asia Associate at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.”

via India Insight

Posted in agriculture, Construction, India alert, Politics | 3 Comments »

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
29/07/2012

* Bo wife murder charge vexes skeptical Chinese

Reuters: “China’s ruling Communist Party might insist that the murder charge against Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted Politburo member Bo Xilai, is a simple case of all being equal before the law, but winning over the jury of public opinion is proving tough.

Since China’s last big political scandal — the purge of Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu in 2007 — its citizens have flocked to sign up to the Twitter-like microblogging site Sina Weibo, ensuring this time there will be lively public debate about the case against Bo and Gu, despite tight censorship.

In its first official statement on Gu’s case since April, state news agency Xinhua ran a brief report last week saying China will try Gu on charges of murdering a British businessman. The news spread rapidly on Weibo.

While state media generally stuck to reprinting that story, the influential tabloid the Global Times on Friday wrote an editorial warning nobody was above the law.

But that is a line the party is going to have a hard time convincing people is true, as suspicion swirls that populist politician Bo and his wife Gu are victims of a power struggle — and no more corrupt than other Chinese leaders.

People already have little faith in government statements despite repeated pledges to be transparent, after the SARS cover-up in 2003, among others, and refusal to discuss events such as the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing.”

via Bo wife murder charge vexes skeptical Chinese | Reuters.

See also: 

Posted in China alert, corruption, Justice, Politics, Rule of law, social media, Technology | 1 Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , ,
29/07/2012

* China waste water pipeline scrapped after protest

BBC News: “Authorities in China say a project to build a waste water pipeline in the city of Qidong has been scrapped after a protest over pollution.

Demonstrators took to the streets of the city, north of Shanghai, and ransacked local government offices. They said the pipeline, proposed as part of a paper-making company, would pollute their coastal waters.

China has seen rising anger about environmental damage after three decades of rapid economic growth.

The thousands of protesters overturned cars as well as storming the local government offices and throwing documents from the windows. Items which the protesters allege are often received as bribes by officials – such as wine – were also seized from the offices, reports say.”

via BBC News – China waste water pipeline scrapped after protest.

Yet another example that ‘people power’ is beginning to affect decisions by local authorities in China.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/07/03/china-factory-construction-halted-amid-violent-protests/

Posted in China alert, Ecology, Economics, Good news, Pollution, public protest | 2 Comments »

Tags: , , , , , ,
24/07/2012

* Second child is a growing option

China Daily: “Increasing number of eligible parents want another baby.

Beijing mother Han Xue had a second child last year, 10 years after her first. But despite eligibility the process was far from easy and entailed a bureaucratic paper chase.

Han, 31, felt that two children would keep each other company and provide better support to her and her husband in old age.

“As soon as my first child turned 4, we filed an application for a permit to have a second child to the government office that oversees the street where I was born,” Han said.

Han and her husband were both single children and allowed, under the family planning policies introduced in the 1970s, to have a second child.

An increasing number of parents in this category are opting to do so.

Nanjing offers a prime example. Applications filed in the capital of Jiangsu province surged to 600 last year from 85 in 2007, family planning authorities said.

Meanwhile, the number of urban couples eligible to have two children has also increased as the single-child generation comes of marriageable age.

About 10,000 couples are eligible in Nanjing annually, and authorities estimate that by 2015 up to 17 percent of couples in the city will be entitled to have two children.

Already, about 15 percent of women in Nanjing who booked maternity beds for the second half of 2012 were expecting their second baby.

Since 1985, couples in the province are allowed a second child if both parents were single children.

In the province of Jiangxi, the story is much the same.”

via Second child is a growing option |Society |chinadaily.com.cn.

See also: Single-child policy has some negative effects

Posted in China alert, Economics, One-child policy, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , ,
24/07/2012

* 4 killed in police firing as Assam violence continues

The Hindu: “The toll in continuing violence in western Assam reached 25 on Tuesday with four persons killed in police firing in Kokrajhar district, where shoot-at-sight orders and indefinite curfew were in force.

“Four persons were killed in police firing this morning when they were indulging in violence in the Rampur and Chaparkata areas of Kokrajhar,” IGP, Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD), S N Singh said.

Sporadic incidents of violence and arson were reported from Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts, while the situation was tense in neighbouring Bongaigaon and Udalguri districts. Bongaigaon and Udalguri districts fall under the BTAD.

Around 70 houses in four villages at Bijni in Chirang district were torched. Over 50,000 people are housed in relief camps.

There were reports of violence spreading to Sonitpur district in north central Assam also.

Shoot-at-sight orders and indefinite curfew continued in Kokrajhar, where the army was deployed, while night curfew was in force in Dhubri and Chirang districts, official sources said.”

via The Hindu : States / Other States : 4 killed in police firing as Assam violence continues.

See also: India suffers from serious ethnic clashes

Posted in Ethnic clash, India alert, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

Tags: ,
24/07/2012

* CNOOC to buy Nexen for $15.1 billion in China’s largest foreign deal

Reuters: “State-controlled CNOOC Ltd launched China’s richest foreign takeover bid yet on Monday by agreeing to buy Canadian oil producer Nexen Inc for $15.1 billion, forcing Ottawa to decide whether security concerns outweigh its desire for foreign investment in its energy resources.

CNOOC, China’s third-largest oil company, hopes to sell the deal to shareholders and the government with a hefty 61 percent premium to Nexen’s Friday stock price. It promised to retain all employees and to make Canada home base for its Western Hemisphere operations.

CNOOC is offering $27.50 cash a share for Nexen, which has oil sands operations in the Canadian province of Alberta, shale gas in the province of British Columbia and extensive exploration and production holdings in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and offshore West Africa.

The initial shareholder reaction was enthusiastic. Shares of Nexen, whose board unanimously approved the deal, surged C$9.06, or 52 percent, to C$26.35 in Toronto on Monday.

…

The move is the most ambitious foray by resource-hungry China into North American energy since a 2005 attempt to buy U.S.-based Unocal for $18.5 billion was thwarted by a political backlash there.

Chinese companies have been among the most aggressive in targeting assets around the globe to help feed demand in the world’s second-biggest economy.

As for Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pushed to attract more energy investments from China. The CNOOC deal shows his efforts are bearing fruit, and Canada has more reasons to accept the deal than to veto it.

“For Canada, this agreement provides a stable source of investment for the many projects that Nexen operates, which includes the exploitation of bitumen in Alberta,” CNOOC Chief Executive Li Fanrong said in a conference call.

“Because we intend to be a local company as much as a global one, we also intend to seek a listing for CNOOC Ltd on the Toronto Stock Exchange.”

The deal is subject to a review by the Industry Ministry, which by law must decide if the takeover would bring a “net benefit” to Canada.

In its favor is both CNOOC’s commitments to Canada, and the fact that Nexen’s operations are mostly outside Canada.”

via CNOOC to buy Nexen for $15.1 billion in China’s largest foreign deal | Reuters.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/02/13/pattern-of-chinese-overseas-investments/

Posted in China alert, Economics, Foreign acquisition, Natural resources | 1 Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries  |   Newer Entries »
CCChang

Law of Unintended Consequences

continuously updated blog about China & India

ChiaHou's Book Reviews

continuously updated blog about China & India

What's wrong with the world; and its economy

continuously updated blog about China & India