Infrastructure | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

07/05/2013

* 2,400 MTonnes wheat rotting in govt granaries for past 2 years

Times of India: “India may be facing the shame of 47% of its children suffering from malnutrition and about 30% of its population living below poverty line, but food continues to rot in government granaries. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has admitted in data accessed through RTI that the amount of damaged wheat has increased from 2,010 million tonnes (MT) in 2009-2010 to 2,401.61 MT (2011-2012). The country has already suffered a loss of 932.46 MT damaged wheat this year, with the worst affected being Bihar.

Food Corporation of India (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The data has been given in response to an application filed by Uttar Pradesh resident, Kush Kalra. Till February, 2013, the FCI has on its hands “non-issuable wheat” or damaged wheat amounting to 932.46 MT. Bihar has the highest quantity of rotting wheat at 306.5 MT, followed by Uttarakhand (221 MT) and Gujarat (195 MT).

The total damaged wheat in 2009-2010 was 2010 MT. This came down marginally to 1997 MT in 2010-2011, but again rose to 2401.61 MT in 2011-2012.

According to data, the worst offender in 2011-2012 was Maharashtra (1444 MT), while in 2010-2011 Uttarakhand recorded (931 MT) of damaged wheat. Gujarat had the maximum (785 MT) damaged wheat in 2009-2010.

Ironically, India has lagged in improving its Global Hunger Index (GHI) score despite strong economic growth and food production. According to the 2012 Global Hunger Index report, 43.5% of children below five years are underweight, which accounts for almost two-thirds of the country’s alarmingly high GHI score. From 2005-10, India ranked second to last on child underweight — below Ethiopia, Niger, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Limited access for farmers to the open market, lack of covered or adequate storage space for grains have only served to compound the problem. As on April 1, 2013, FCI has covered godown space with capacity to store 33.99 MT that falls woefully short of the demand.”

via 2,400 MT wheat rotting in govt granaries for past 2 years – The Times of India.

Govt floats bids for 1 mn tonnes wheat export (thehindu.com)
Punjab sets aside Rs.18,998 crore for wheat procurement (news.in.msn.com)

Posted in agriculture, Economics, food shortage, India alert, Infrastructure, poverty | Leave a Comment »

Tags: adequate storage, climate, environment, Food Corporation of India, food corporation of india fci, global hunger, Global Hunger Index, India

06/05/2013

* Indian Supreme Court gives nod to Kudankulam nuclear plant, says it is safe

Thank goodness. India needs all the power it can generate.

Times of India: “In a relief for the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government, the Supreme Court on Monday approved the commissioning of the controversial Kudankulam nuclear plant.

English: Construction site of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant Deutsch: Baustelle des Kernkraftwerks Kudankulam (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kudankulam plant is safe and secure and it is necessary for larger public interest and economic growth of the country, the SC said.

“Nuclear power plants are needed in the country for the present and future generations,” observed the apex bench.

The apex court said that the Kudankulam N-plant has been set up by the government for the welfare of the people.

A bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra, which had reserved the verdict following marathon arguments in the last three months, delivered the judgement.

A batch of petitions was filed by anti-nuclear activists challenging the project on the ground that safety measures recommended for the plant by an expert body have not been put in place.

They also raised various questions pertaining to the disposal of nuclear waste, the plant’s impact on the environment and the safety of people living nearby, besides other issues linked to the controversial plant.

The Centre, Tamil Nadu government and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, which operates the plant, had refuted all the allegations on safety and security aspects.

They had submitted that the plant is completely safe and can withstand any kind of natural disaster and external terrorist attack.”

via SC gives nod to Kudankulam nuclear plant, says it is safe – The Times of India.

Posted in Construction, Economics, Electricity, energy, Good news, greenhouse gas, India alert, Infrastructure | Leave a Comment »

Tags: environment, India, Koodankulam, Kudankulam, Nuclear Power Corporation of India, nuclear power plant, politics, science, Supreme Court, Tamil Nadu government

16/04/2013

* Henan villagers ‘beaten up by hundreds of rail workers’ over land dispute

SCMP: “Villagers in central China’s Henan province who were protesting a land grab in Huangchuan county said they were beaten up by hundreds of employees from the China Railway 13th Bureau at the weekend.

The villagers were demonstrating against the bureau, which planned to build a new railway line. They said they were “indiscriminately” attacked on Sunday morning by more than 300 uniformed construction workers with metre-long sticks, news portal Dahe.cn reported on Monday.

The protesters said the attackers spoke in northeastern Chinese accents and destroyed 30 mobile phones of those who had tried to film the incident. A villager’s car was also smashed up.

Police were called in but were “forced to turn back” by the 300 workers, the report said.

More than 10 people were injured and two were still in hospital on Monday.

The land dispute arose after villagers tried to prevent the bureau from acquiring the land for a new line for the Nanjing-Xian Railway. Villagers said the compensation offered to them was too low.

The China Railway 13th Bureau is a large state-owned construction enterprise and subsidiary of the China Railway Construction Corporation. Prior to 1948, it was part of the People’s Liberation Army Railway Corps No 3 Division.”

via Henan villagers ‘beaten up by hundreds of rail workers’ over land dispute | South China Morning Post.

China Railways – General (javmode.wordpress.com)
* China scraps railways ministry in streamlining drive (chindia-alert.org)
China ex-rail minister charged with graft (news.com.au)

Posted in China alert, Construction, Economics, Illegal practices, Infrastructure, land grab, railways, Rule of law, Transport | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, China Railway Construction Corporation, Henan, Trains and Railroads, transportation

14/04/2013

* Spike in land abuse cases in China’s western regions

China Daily: “Chinese authorities are drawing up new land support policies for western parts of the country, following a sharp spike in land abuse cases in the region during the first three months of the year.

In the first quarter, cases jumped 22.4 percent year-on-year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Land and Resources on Friday.

“Due to the focus on development of the western regions, demand for land from infrastructure construction and investment is increasing sharply, putting pressure on land supply,” said Yue Xiaowu, deputy director of the ministry’s law enforcement and supervision administration.

“This means the western regions need policy support, which is what we are working on,” Yue said.

Last year, the ministry held an investigation into illegal land use cases in western regions, studying the reasons for the surge in numbers.

Yue said that besides the increased investment and infrastructure construction, the higher rural population had also caused a rise in abuse cases involving farmland.”

via Spike in land abuse cases in China’s western regions |Society |chinadaily.com.cn.

Posted in China alert, Construction, Economics, Housing, Illegal practices, Infrastructure, land grab, real estate | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, environment, politics, Xi JinPing

25/03/2013

* Behind China’s Switch to High-End Exports

WSJ: “As rising labor costs push manufacturing of T-shirts, jeans and the like out of China, the country has been able to offset that loss by grabbing the high end.

[image]

And nowhere is that on better display than the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

When the switch is flipped each night for the span’s two-year artistic light show, the electricity flows through sophisticated power devices made by Gary Hua’s factory not far from Shanghai.

In the six years since it was founded, his company has grown to 1,000 employees, who last year made three million power-supply units for high-efficiency light-emitting diodes. The company, Inventronics Inc., expects to double production this year and export more than half that output.

With labor costs increasing in China, the country is now shifting its manufacturing focus to high-tech exports such as computers and sophisticated power devices. Shaun Rein of China Markets Research tells the WSJ’s Jake Lee how Western countries are reacting.

* China’s Xi tells Africa he seeks relationship of equals

Reuters: “China’s new president told Africans on Monday he wanted a relationship of equals that would help the continent develop, responding to concerns that Beijing is only interested in shipping out its raw materials.

TANZANIA-DAR ES SALAAM-CHINA-XI JINPING-ARRIVAL

On the first stop on an African tour that will include a BRICS summit of major emerging economies, Xi Jinping told Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete that China’s involvement in Africa would help the continent grow richer.

“China sincerely hopes to see faster development in African countries and a better life for African people,” Xi said in a speech laying out China’s policy on Africa, delivered at a conference center in Dar es Salaam built with Chinese money.

Renewing an offer of $20 billion of loans to Africa between 2013 and 2015, Xi pledged to “help African countries turn resource endowment into development strength and achieve independent and sustainable development”.

Africans broadly see China as a healthy counterbalance to Western influence but, as ties mature, there are growing calls from policymakers and economists for a more balanced trade deal.

“China will continue to offer, as always, necessary assistance to Africa with no political strings attached,” Xi said to applause. “We get on well and treat each others as equals.”

But gratitude for that aid is increasingly tinged with resentment about the way Chinese companies operate in Africa where industrial complexes staffed exclusively by Chinese workers have occasionally provoked riots by locals looking for work.

Countering concerns that Africa is not benefitting from developing skills or technology from Chinese investment, Xi said China would train 30,000 African professionals, offer 18,000 scholarships to African students and “increase technology transfer and experience”.”

via China’s Xi tells Africa he seeks relationship of equals | Reuters.

Posted in BRICS, China alert, Construction, Diplomacy, economic inter-dependence, Economics, exports, Foreign acquisition, GeoPolitics, Import, Infrastructure, joint venture, Manufacturing, Natural resources, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: africa, Beijing, BRIC, China, Dar es Salaam, Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzania, Xi JinPing

15/01/2013

Another spur to the New Orient Express.

Posted in Construction, economic inter-dependence, Economics, GeoPolitics, Infrastructure, railways | 1 Comment »

Tags: China, high speed train, Laos

06/01/2013

* China building nuclear power plant with fourth-generation features

Xinhua: “China has broken ground on a 3 billion-yuan (476 million-U.S. dollar) nuclear power project that will be the first in the world to put a reactor with fourth-generation features into commercial use, a Chinese energy company said Sunday.

It also marks China’s latest move to speed up nuclear power development, which came to a halt after the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan in 2011.

Construction of the project at Shidao Bay in the coastal city of Rongcheng, east China’s Shandong Province, began last month, Xinhua learned from Huaneng Shandong Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. (HSNPC), the builder and operator of the plant.

With a designed capacity of 200 megawatts and “the characteristics of fourth-generation nuclear energy systems,” the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor will start generating power by the end of 2017, the HSNPC said in a statement sent to Xinhua via email.

Independently developed by China’s Tsinghua University, the reactor has the features of “inherent safety” and “passive nuclear safety” in line with the fourth-generation concept, meaning it can shut down safely in the event of an emergency without causing a reactor core meltdown or massive leakage of radioactive material, according to the statement.

The reactor can have an outlet temperature of 750 degrees Celsius, compared with 1,000 degrees Celsius that can be reached by the very-high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, an internationally-accepted fourth-generation reactor concept.

It can also raise electricity generation efficiency to around 40 percent from the current 30-percent level of second- and third-generation reactors, said the statement.

If it is commercially successful, the reactor’s technology and equipment can be exported to other countries in the future, said an HSNPC public relations officer who declined to be named.

“That will be a great boost to China’s nuclear industry, as a very high percentage of the equipment is produced domestically instead of being imported,” the official told Xinhua by telephone.

The project is part of the HSNPC’s broader plan to build a 6.6-gigawatt (GW) nuclear power plant that will require approximately 100 billion yuan in investment over 20 years. If completed, it would be China’s largest nuclear power plant, said the official.

The rest of the plan includes four 1.25-GW AP1000 pressurized water reactors and a 1.4-GW CAP1400 pressurized water reactor.

via China building nuclear power plant with fourth-generation features – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

Posted in China alert, Construction, Economics, Electricity, Environment, Infrastructure, innovation, Science, Technology | 2 Comments »

Tags: China, Nuclear power, Shandong, Shidao Bay, Tsinghua University, Very high temperature reactor

04/01/2013

* China’s investment in UK will be ‘explosive’

United Kingdom (Photo credit: stumayhew)

China Daily: “China’s investment in the United Kingdom will continue its “explosive” growth, with high-end manufacturing and infrastructure leading the way, a senior diplomat predicted.

“The UK is the most open economy, and also the most market-oriented,” in Europe, said Zhou Xiaoming, minister counselor of the Chinese embassy in the UK.

Chinese companies have been answering the call from some members of the European Union for capital.

In 2011, the UK was the third-largest EU destination for Chinese investment, following Luxembourg and France, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

China’s overseas direct investment in the UK in 2011 was $2.5 billion, it said.

But Zhou said the real figure was far more as Chinese overall investment in the UK experienced “explosive” growth.

“It is estimated that the Chinese capital that flew into the country in 2011 reached $6.5 billion,” said Zhou.”

via China’s investment in UK will be ‘explosive’ |Economy |chinadaily.com.cn.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Infrastructure | 1 Comment »

Tags: China, China Investment Promotion Agency, European Union, Luxembourg

30/12/2012

* China’s transport improves, faces pressure: minister

Ever more infrastructure.

Xinhua: “Some 87,000 kilometers of new highways opened in China in 2012, marking a record-high year-on-year growth rate, a senior transport official said Saturday.

Minister of Transport Yang Chuantang said 11,000 km of the new highways are expressways. In addition to building new highways, China has also improved 194,000 km of rural roads this year, according to Yang.

“China’s transport sector has seen historic changes during the past decade,” said Yang, adding that the total length of highways in operation is expected to reach 4.1 million km by the end of this year.

However, Yang also said China’s transport capacity remains insufficient, considering the booming demand created by the country’s industrialization and urbanization.

To meet mounting demand, Yang said China will continue to intensify transport facility construction and try to make these facilities more durable and reliable.

China will also make efforts to improve transport facilities in rural areas as well as those in the country’s central and western regions, he said.

At the same time, China will improve road safety by taking measures to prevent serious transport accidents, Yang said.”

via China’s transport improves, faces pressure: minister – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Highways | Leave a Comment »

Tags: cars, China, Highway, Road traffic safety, transportation

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Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

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