Archive for ‘Good news’

11/05/2013

* India, China working on Border Cooperation Agreement: Khurshid

The Hindu: “Mr. Khurshid visited China in the backdrop of the Chinese incursion in Daulat Beg Oldi.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid speaking to the reporters after after meeting former Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal at his residence in New Delhi on Saturday. Photo: PTI

Against the backdrop of China’s recent incursion in Ladakh, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday said the two countries are working on a new Border Defence Cooperation Agreement.

Mr. Khurshid, just back from his visit to Beijing, said the two sides had underlined that the incidents like the recent incursion in Daulat Beg Oldi should not happen and agreed that this issue should not come in way of improving ties.

Mr. Khurshid told reporters here that special representatives of India and China will meet in a couple of months to discuss in detail the issues related to boundary. “China has proposed sometime back a proposal for Border Defence Cooperation Agreement… We have also given our suggestions,” he said.

On the recent incursion of 19 km into India’s territory by Chinese troops, he said, “we did not do any post-mortem or aportion blame.” He expressed satisfaction that the mechanisms in place worked well to resolve the stand off.

On the contentious issues which could be raised during the visit of Chinese premier Li Keqiang, Mr. Khurshid said, “there are no prickly issues, issues of major differences which can be seen as obstacles.” He said MoUs would be signed during the Chinese premier’s visit and some during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s subsequent visit to Beijing later this year.

“This is for the first time since 1954 that a two way visit by the two Prime Ministers of the two countries in the same year,” he said.”

via India, China working on Border Cooperation Agreement: Khurshid – The Hindu.

08/05/2013

* Detention of petitioners denounced

China Daily: “Anti-graft officials vow protection of whistle-blowers from retaliation

Officials with China’s top anti-graft authority expressed firm opposition on Tuesday to the detention of petitioners.

Authorities are not allowed to detain petitioners at any level of petition offices and at public venues, said Zhang Shaolong, deputy director of the office of letters and calls of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.

It is a legal channel for petitioners to submit whistle-blowing materials face to face to the anti-graft authorities, and the petitioners should receive a warm welcome from anti-corruption agencies, he said.

Zhang made the remarks on Tuesday during an online interview with two other anti-graft officials from the commission.

Under the administrative mechanism in most places, the leading officials will not get promoted if too many petitioners appeal to higher authorities.

Many corrupt officials were exposed by online posts, Zhang said, adding that some inaccurate online information has also made the investigations of corrupt officials difficult.

Among all the cases investigated by the commission last year, about 41.8 percent of the clues were collected from the public whistle-blowers through online reports, letters and calls, Zhang said.

Guo Hongliang, Zhang’s colleague who also attended the online interview, said that the commission has received 301,000 online whistle-blowing reports from 2008 to 2012.

The commission established 12388.gov.cn, its online whistle-blowing website, in October 2009, and the Internet has become one of the most important channels for the commission to collect information, he said.

Deng Jixun, another colleague of Zhang who attended the interview, said that real-name whistle-blowing activities should be encouraged to promote the efficiency of anti-corruption work.

The anti-graft authorities should protect real-name whistle-blowers from being victims of retaliation, he said.

Zhang acknowledged that some officials try to prevent people from petitioning to higher levels of government, and these officials’ behavior should be firmly opposed.

A report in People’s Daily revealed that many petitioners had been detained by the government of Hai’an county in Jiangsu province since March when they tried to visit the anti-graft officials from an inspection team sent by the provincial government.”

via Detention of petitioners denounced |Politics |chinadaily.com.cn.

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 ...

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.

06/05/2013

* Abbas and Netanyahu on separate China visits

China, the new peace-maker.

BBC: “Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are in China for separate talks with top officials.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (06/05/13)

Mr Abbas, who met President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday, said he would explain obstacles to talks with Israel.

Mr Netanyahu, who is visiting Shanghai before flying to Beijing later this week, was due to sign trade deals and discuss the issue of Iran.

The two men are not expected to meet while they are in China.

China would assist if they wanted to, a foreign ministry official said, but the two leaders were not expected to be in the same city at the same time.

Mr Abbas, who arrived in Beijing on Sunday, signed agreements on technical co-operation and cultural exchange with Mr Xi on Monday. The Palestinian leader was also expected to meet Premier Li Keqiang during his visit.

Speaking to Xinhua news agency ahead of the visit, he said he would update Chinese leaders on “what are the obstacles that block” dialogue with Israel, and would ask Beijing “to use its relationship with Israel to remove the obstacles that obstruct the Palestinian economy”.

Xinhua quoted him as saying: “It is very good that Netanyahu will visit China too because it is a good opportunity that the Chinese listen to both of us.”

Mr Netanyahu’s visit is the first to China by an Israeli leader in six years.

He was expected to meet business delegates in Shanghai before heading to Beijing. Israeli officials say he is expected to sign a number of trade deals.

He is also expected to raise the issue of Iran, which many nations including Israel believe is trying to build nuclear weapons – something Iran denies.

Beijing is one of the biggest buyers of Iranian oil, and has opposed unilateral Western sanctions on Tehran.

“China and Israel have both much to gain from enhanced co-operation, and that’s our goal,” Mr Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev told AFP news agency.”

via BBC News – Abbas and Netanyahu on separate China visits.

05/05/2013

* Rural bamboo business thriving

China Daily: “The prosperity of the bamboo industry in Zhejiang province’s Lin’an county has come from community-driven development, in which farmers reach consensus with agricultural scientists, the local government says.

Rural bamboo business thriving

“The farmers’ prosperity has been self-determined rather than from policies derived by government decree,” Chinese Forest Academy of Bamboo Professionals committee member Wang Anguo explains.

“Farmers must be involved if their situation is to improve. We can’t just give them orders.”

The county’s bamboo production is 3 billion yuan ($487 million) a year, accounting for 55 percent of the local GDP. About 253 million yuan comes from exports.

Lin’an’s population of 250,000 dwell on 3,100 square kilometers, 65,833 hectares of which are covered with bamboo. About 32,600 hectares of those are for edible shoots.

It hosts about 100 processing factories. About 70 percent of the staff are farmers, including administration, Wang says.

The county even publishes the Lin’an Bamboo Newsletter.

Various levels of government also provide bamboo producers 1,500-3,000 yuan in annual subsidies.

The county is host to 67 types of moso (giant) bamboo, although moso bamboo represents only about 30 percent of its total bamboo coverage. There are 20 species in the county.

The most common is huangtian zhu (yellow-sweet bamboo), which is celebrated not only for being delicious but also for its ability to draw toxic substances from soil and prevent erosion.

“Farmers across the country used hazardous pesticides from the 1960s until the ’90s,” Wang says.

“So, we’ve been planting huangtian zhu around China to clean the earth.”

This is especially important in Lin’an, which is a major producer of edible shoots.”

via Rural bamboo business thriving[1]|chinadaily.com.cn.

30/04/2013

* India foreign minister Salman Khurshid to visit China

BBC: “India’s Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid has said he will visit China in May amid tensions near the de facto border in the Himalayas.

Salman Khurshid

Mr Khurshid’s trip comes ahead of a scheduled visit by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India.

It comes at a time when India has asked China to withdraw troops it says have moved into a territory near the border.

China denies violating Indian territory. The two sides are holding talks to resolve the row.

“I believe we have a mutual interest and we should not destroy years of contribution we have put together,” Mr Khurshid was quoted by AFP news agency as telling reporters on the sidelines of a business event.

“I think it is a good thing that we are having a dialogue.”

Mr Khurshid said he would be visiting China on 9 May, ahead of Mr Li’s visit on 20 May for his first overseas trip, reports say.

India says Chinese troops erected a camp on its side of the ill-defined frontier in Ladakh region last week.

China has dismissed reports of the incursion as media speculation.

The two countries dispute several Himalayan border areas and fought a brief war in 1962. Tensions flare up from time to time.

They have held numerous rounds of border talks, but all have been unsuccessful so far.

The BBC’s Soutik Biswas in Delhi says there has not been a fatality in skirmishes along the undefined India-China boundary since 1967, but the memories of the crushing defeat inflicted by the Chinese on India in the 1962 war have not faded from the minds of some Indians.”

via BBC News – India foreign minister Salman Khurshid to visit China.

13/04/2013

* India’s Great Polio Legacy

WSJ: “Hundreds of leading scientists are urging the world to finish the job on polio, declaring that the disease has never been closer to eradication and endorsing a new global plan to wipe it out within six years. India has proved an inspiration.

More than 400 signatories to this week’s declaration, hailing from 80 countries, believe polio eradication is achievable in large part because of the great gains India has made against the disease. Not long ago, experts said stopping polio in India was impossible, but we’ve just celebrated two years since the last case and continue to work hard to ensure that all children are vaccinated against the virus.

Polio once paralyzed hundreds of thousands of children each year without regard to national borders. Now, it is endemic in only three countries.

The Scientific Declaration endorses a new global polio eradication plan provides a fully costed, realistic roadmap how to finish off polio. It applies lessons learned from India for reaching zero polio cases while simultaneously preventing re-importation of the disease and switching to a new vaccine that wipes out even the risk of vaccine-related polio.

As the rest of the world learns from India’s success, it is worth asking what else polio lessons can teach India. The country has the highest child mortality rate in the world; 1.66 million children under five die every year from preventable diseases. Innovations developed to eliminate polio offer India unprecedented opportunities to get other life-saving vaccines and health interventions to the people that need them most.

Measles could be the next disease on the hit-list. According to The Lancet medical journal, vaccines slashed measles deaths by 74% between 2000 and 2010, from 535,300 to 139,300. But India still accounts for nearly half of measles deaths.”

via India’s Great Polio Legacy – India Real Time – WSJ.

25/02/2013

* Measures curb illegal ivory trade in China

Today the elephant, tomorrow the rhino and the day after sharks (fin).

China Daily: “China’s strict registration and management system can effectively keep illegal ivory from entering the domestic market, experts say.

Measures curb illegal ivory trade in China

According to Jin Yu, a researcher at Northeast Forestry University, China has launched an information control system stricter than the standards of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as CITES.

Seized elephant tusks are displayed by customs authorities in Hong Kong in October. Ivory smuggling has fallen due to strict law enforcement in China in recent years. [Provided to China Daily]

CITES is an international convention that regulates the ivory trade, and monitors ivory stockpiles, consumption and products.

“On every finished product, there is an ID card with information regarding the product’s appearance, size and digital code, which can be used to obtain further information, including its original material, from an online database,” she said.

“It’s the only way to prove an ivory product is legal and should always be carried when selling or transporting ivory.

“Any trade without such a certificate can be identified as illegal.”

However, lack of expertise and experience may cause inaccurate surveys and reports that lead to allegations that the market has ivory products from illegal sources, Jin said.”

via Measures curb illegal ivory trade in China[1]|chinadaily.com.cn.

24/02/2013

* Railway linking China, ASEAN becomes operational

New Orient Express slowly taking shape.

Xinhua: “A railway that links southwest China’s Yunnan Province with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries became operational on Saturday after seven years of construction, local railway authorities said.

The railway between Yuxi and Mengzi is part of the eastern line of the planned Pan-Asia Railway network.

The 141-km railway has a designed maximum speed of 120 km per hour. It passes through 35 tunnels and crosses 61 bridges, which together account for 54.95 percent of the eastern line’s total length.

The eastern line also consists of Kunming-Yuxi Railway, which had been in operation, and the Mengzi-Hekou Railway that is under construction and scheduled to be operational end of next year.

Upon the full completion of the eastern line, it will further open up China’s southwest, improve transportation and boost economic development along the line, experts said.

The Pan-Asia Railway network also consists of central and western lines and is an international railway project that will bring China closer with southeast Asia.”

via Railway linking China, ASEAN becomes operational – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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