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

28/10/2012

* China adopts mental health law to curb forced treatment

Reform and improvements keep coming. Is it because of the decennial leadership change or is it due to genuine concern for the people; or maybe it’s a bit of both.

Reuters: “China adopted a law on Friday to protect for the first time the rights of the mentally ill after years of accusations that psychiatric hospitals are used to lock up people against their will and silence dissidents.

Human rights advocates called the hard-fought for law, which has been debated for more than two decades, significant, even though they say it still falls short of international standards as it allows for involuntary commitment without judicial review.

The law will “curb abuses regarding compulsory mental health treatment and protect citizens from undergoing unnecessary treatment or illegal hospitalization”, the Xinhua state news agency said.

“We welcome it because having a law is better than not having one,” Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, a New York-based advocacy group, told Reuters.

“The most important thing that this law does is it will allow civil society to step in to monitor and press for improvement in the management of mental health in China, including … pushing for greater transparency and progressive curtailment of police rights.”

Activists have long argued that authorities force people they consider troublemakers into psychiatric hospitals without providing any evidence of their supposed crimes.

The tactic has been used to silence dissidents, whistle-blowers and petitioners. More recently, it has been used by people against relatives during family disputes.

State media has reported on people being locked up in psychiatric hospitals against their will.

Chen Guoming, a former gold store owner, was forced into an asylum in 2011 by his wife and locked up for 56 days after refusing to lend money to his wife’s family, Xinhua said.

The new law bans mental health examinations of a citizen against his or her own will, Xinhua said.”

via China adopts mental health law to curb forced treatment | Reuters.

Posted in China alert, Citizens's rights, Human rights, Illegal practices, mental health, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Human rights, Human Rights Watch, Involuntary commitment, mental-health, Psychiatric hospital

29/09/2012

* Bo Xilai expelled from CPC, public office

China Daily: “Bo Xilai has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and removed from public office, according to a decision made at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Friday.

The meeting also yielded the decision to transfer Bo’s suspected law violations and relevant evidence to judicial organs for handling.

The decisions were made after attendees at the meeting deliberated over and adopted an investigation report on Bo’s severe disciplinary violations, which had been submitted by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

At a meeting held on April 10, members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee were briefed on the investigation into the incident in which former Chongqing Vice Mayor Wang Lijun entered the US Consulate General in Chengdu without permission as well as the reinvestigation into the suspected murder of British citizen Neil Heywood by Bogu Kailai, Bo’s wife.

Based on Bo’s mistakes and responsibilities in the two cases, as well as evidence of his other discipline violations uncovered during the investigations into the two cases, the CPC Central Committee decided to suspend Bo’s membership in the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and the CPC Central Committee and the CCDI filed the case for investigation.

Investigations have found that Bo seriously violated Party disciplines while heading the city of Dalian, Liaoning Province, and the Ministry of Commerce and while serving as a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and as Party chief of Chongqing Municipality.

Bo abused his power, made severe mistakes and bore major responsibility in the Wang Lijun incident and the intentional homicide case of Bogu Kailai.

He took advantage of his office to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally and through his family.

His position was also abused by his wife Bogu Kailai to seek profits for others, and the Bo family accepted a huge amount of money and property from others.

Bo had or maintained improper sexual relationships with a number of women.

He was also found to have violated organizational and personnel disciplines and made erroneous decisions in the promotion of personnel, resulting in serious consequences.

The investigation also uncovered evidence that suggests his involvement in other crimes.”

via Bo Xilai expelled from CPC, public office[1]|chinadaily.com.cn.

Tags: Bo Xilai, Bogu Kailai, China, Chongqing, communist party of china, CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, Dalian, Liaoning, politics

15/09/2012

* Coalgate: Supreme Court issues notice to Centre over coal block allocations

The Times of India: “The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre on coal block allocations and has asked the govt what action it proposes to take against illegal allotments and those allottees who breached the contract.

The apex court has asked the coal secretary to file affidavit answering 6 questions on a PIL seeking cancellation of all 194 coal mine blocks under controversy.

The apex court’s posers to the government includes —

Why competitive bidding process was not followed for allocation of coal blocks?

What were the guidelines for allocation of coal blocks and whether there was any deviation during actual allocation?

Why so many politicians and their relatives figure among the alleged irregular allottees?

Whether the guidelines for allocation overlooked the safety mechanism to render the allotments as largesse in favour of private parties?

Whether govt’s objective in coal block allocation has been achieved through the present mode of allocation, which was faulted by the CAG?

The apex court has asked the coal secretary to file a response in 8 weeks.

Turning down the Centre’s plea that the court should not go into the issue as it is being looked into by a Parliamentary committee, the apex court said “these are different exercises.”

A bench of justices R M Lodha and A R Dave said the petition raised serious questions and “it requires explanation from the government”.”

via Coalgate: Supreme Court issues notice to Centre over coal block allocations – The Times of India.

Posted in corruption, Economics, Illegal practices, India alert, Inequalities, Justice, Nepotism, Politics, Rule of law | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Coal, Government, India, politics, Public Interest Litigation, Supreme Court

03/09/2012

* India’s top court allows some iron ore mining to resume

BBC News: “India’s Supreme Court has partially lifted its 16-month-old ban on iron ore mining, allowing some mines to resume work in southern Karnataka state.

Iron ore mining in Goa

Companies which had “not violated their lease conditions” could resume mining, the court ruled on Monday.

The ban was imposed last year in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts over environmental concerns.

The order will open up about 5 million tonnes a year of production again, reports say.

India is the third largest producer of iron ore in the world and Karnataka, which produces about 45 million tonnes of iron ore per year, is India’s second largest supplier.

But mining in the state has been under the spotlight for some time with reports of illegal mining and has become a hot political issue.

The Supreme Court order follows recommendations of the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC).

In a report in February, the CEC recommended that licences of as many as 49 iron ore miners in Karnataka should be cancelled.

It said 72 other miners should be fined for operating mining pits and burden dumps outside sanctioned areas.

“The extent and level of unauthorised, unregulated, environmentally unsustainable and illegal mining in its various facets has no other parallel in the country,” the CEC said it is report.

Last year, BS Yeddyurappa, the then chief minister of Karnataka, resigned after an anti-corruption panel indicted him in a mining scandal. Mr Yeddyurappa denies the allegation.”

via BBC News – India’s top court allows some iron ore mining to resume.

India’s Supreme Court raps Karnataka for illegal iron ore export‎ (mining.com)
First Karnataka iron ore mine restarts, but export ban stays (mining.com)

Posted in Economics, Illegal practices, India alert, Law enforcement, Politics, Rule of law | Leave a Comment »

Tags: India, Iron ore, Karnataka, Supreme Court

03/09/2012

* China probes ‘gutter oil in medicine’ claims

BBC News: “Chinese officials have told pharmaceutical firms to check their suppliers after claims that some have used “gutter oil” to make antibiotics, state-run media report.

Officials are looking into firms that reportedly use the cheaper gutter oil rather than the more expensive soy bean oil in the production process.

Gutter oil is reprocessed kitchen waste dredged from restaurant drains.

It has been part of a series of recent food safety scandals in China.

The government said it would release its findings soon, without giving further details.

It is not clear whether these antibiotics pose a risk to public health, but the incident highlights how some firms cut corners to pursue profits, says the BBC’s Martin Patience in Beijing.

Scandals over contaminated food – most recently gutter oil – have caused considerable public alarm in China in recent years.

In April, state-run media reported on how officials cracked down on underground workshops that used decomposing animal fat and organs to produce gutter oil.

Police said that most of the oil was sold to oil manufacturers for food production and making hotpot soup in restaurants.

In September last year, police arrested 32 people in an operation to prevent the sale of gutter oil as cooking oil.”

via BBC News – China probes ‘gutter oil in medicine’ claims.

There seem to be no limits to the unethical behaviour of some Chinese business people. Central government is trying to do its best, in pharmaceuticals,and food production, but the miscreants carry on.

China to export gutter oil for jet fuel (indiavision.com)
* China arrests 1,900 in crackdown on fake drugs (chindia-alert.org)
Could China’s ‘Gutter Oil’ Be Used To Save The Environment? (ibtimes.com)
From the gutter to the sky: KLM to fly on Chinese waste oil (wantchinatimes.com)

Posted in China alert, Crime, Economics, Food safety, Health, Illegal chemicals, Illegal practices | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Cooking oil, fake drugs, food safety, medicine claims

29/08/2012

* In China, Sons Fight Railways Ministry Over Crash

NY Times: “Henry Cao has stark memories of the moment the high-speed train he was riding rear-ended another last summer in the eastern city of Wenzhou: the pleasantly hypnotic rocking that gave way to a jolt he likened to an earthquake, followed by blackness and the sensation of falling as the car plummeted 100 feet off a viaduct.

Henry Cao, left, and his brother, Leo, at the site of a train crash that killed their parents and injured Henry in Wenzhou last year.

“We were flying like rag dolls,” he said.

The crash killed 40 passengers, injured 191 and shook the nation’s confidence in its ambitious high-speed rail system. Mr. Cao, 33, a Chinese-American importer from Colorado, barely survived; he lost a kidney and his spleen, and head injuries have left him mired in a perpetual daze, unable to stay awake for more than an hour or two. His parents, naturalized American citizens taking him on a triumphant tour of their native land, were killed.

As Mr. Cao has struggled to recover over the past year, he has found himself drained by a different sort of battle: trying to wrest compensation from the Ministry of Railways, an unbending government behemoth unaccustomed to dealing with determined foreign citizens.

This month Mr. Cao returned to China for the first time since the accident. He and his brother, Leo, came to collect their parents’ remains and to press negotiations with the ministry. “They know how to wear you down,” said Leo Cao, 30. “First they let you scream and yell, then they stall you, and finally they tell you vague and empty words. Now they say, ‘You’re lucky you’re getting anything.’ ”

Their painful and politically fraught odyssey has highlighted the workings of an omnipotent ministry that employs more than two million people and rivals the Chinese military in size and influence. The experience has been disorienting for the Cao brothers, who left China as adolescents two decades ago. “This place is not how I remember it,” said Henry Cao, speaking faintly as his eyes flickered and lost focus. “Everyone is rushing around to make money. Life here is cheap.”

The ministry, which runs its own court system and is largely impervious to oversight, has long been dogged by accusations of corruption. A former rails minister, Liu Zhijun, who was fired five months before the accident, is expected to go on trial next month for charges of taking millions of dollars in bribes and other unnamed “disciplinary violations.”

Zhang Kai, a lawyer who represented a passenger sentenced to three years in prison for slapping a train conductor, described the ministry as a “monster left over from the planned economy era” that resists reform or challenges to its authority. “It is common knowledge that the ministry is responsible for generating maximum profits while supervising itself,” Mr. Zhang said.

In a report released in December, government investigators placed the blame for the Wenzhou accident on flaws in signaling equipment. Investigators say the ministry bypassed safety regulations in its haste to create the world’s largest high-speed railroad network.”

via In China, Sons Fight Railways Ministry Over Crash – NYTimes.com.

China censors anniversary of high-speed rail crash (telegraph.co.uk)
12 of China’s railway lines have major safety issues: report (wantchinatimes.com)
Railways minister to be tried before 18th National Congress: Duowei (wantchinatimes.com)

Posted in China alert, Illegal practices, Justice, Rule of law | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Chinese American, High-speed rail, Ministry of Railways, transportation, travel, Wenzhou, Zhang Kai

29/08/2012

* China city party chief ‘fled with money’

BBC News: “A former top official of a city in northeast China has fled the country – reportedly with millions of dollars, Chinese reports say.

A person handling Chinese yuan bills

Wang Guoqiang, who was party secretary of Fengcheng city in Liaoning province, left for the United States in April with his wife, the People’s Daily said.

Local officials said Mr Wang, who was being investigated for corruption, had been removed from his post, it said.

Several reports cited 200m yuan ($31.5m; £20m) as the amount taken.

The local officials did not elaborate on allegations that he had embezzled and transferred the funds to the US, where his family is believed to be.

But rumours surrounding the case, the latest in a series of corruption scandals, have been circulating online for some time.

According to the city’s website, Mayor Ma Yanchuan took over as Fengcheng party secretary earlier this month.

Premier Wen Jiabao has repeatedly called corruption the biggest threat to Chinese Communist Party rule.

Corruption among officials remains a huge source of anger among China’s population, says the BBC’s Martin Patience in Beijing.

While the finances of the top leaders are off limits, many other senior officials have been brought down by scandals, says our correspondent.”

via BBC News – China city party chief ‘fled with money’.

As this article says: “Premier Wen Jiabao has repeatedly called corruption the biggest threat to Chinese Communist Party rule.”

Posted in China alert, corruption, Illegal practices | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, communist party of china, Liaoning, Party secretary, Wen Jiabao

26/08/2012

* India coal scandal: Hundreds protest against PM Singh

BBC News: “Police in the Indian capital Delhi have baton-charged hundreds of anti-corruption protesters angered by the government’s sale of coalfields without open bidding.

An auditors’ report last week said the mis-selling cost India $33bn (£20bn).

Police also used water cannon and tear gas to turn back protesters trying to reach the house of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Opposition calls for Mr Singh to resign have deadlocked parliament.

In the report last week, government auditors said private companies had made “windfall gains” by the allocation of coal mining rights from 2005-9 in a process that “lacked transparency”. India is one of the largest producers of coal in the world.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says Mr Singh should quit because he was head of the coal ministry at the time of the sales.

The call has left parliament deadlocked since Tuesday. The Congress-led government insists there was no wrongdoing.”

via BBC News – India coal scandal: Hundreds protest against PM Singh.

India PM urged to resign over huge economic loss (nation.com.pk)

Posted in Illegal practices, India alert, Natural resources | 1 Comment »

Tags: Bharatiya Janata, Delhi, Government, India, manmohan singh, New Delhi, politics, prime minister of india

12/08/2012

* Cleaning up after Pranab Mukherjee leaves finance ministry

Reuters:”Pranab Mukherjee’s reign as Indian finance minister was stained by economic meddling and political favouritism. Now he is gone, and some of his excesses are being reversed. An enemy has been pardoned and a friend has not received a plum job. This could be the beginning of a better era.

Imagine if Tim Geithner had been accused of putting pressure on the securities regulator to protect some political friends. The U.S. Treasury Secretary would be in serious hot water. But when the former number two at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) accused Mukherjee of something similar – putting pressure on the SEBI chairman to “manage” some high-profile corporate cases – there was little attention.

Rather, in a move that was all too typical of the Mukherjee regime, the finance ministry countered with allegations against the whistle-blower, K.M. Abraham. But the post-Mukherjee government is different. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has cleared Abraham.

In another development, the board of UTI, Asia’s oldest asset management company, is set to appoint a new chief executive. The position has been vacant for the past year and a half as the finance minister put pressure on the company, 26 percent owned by U.S. fund manager T. Rowe Price, to appoint the brother of one of Mukherjee’s most powerful advisors. The former political favourite, Jitesh Khosla, hasn’t made the new shortlist.

India’s new finance minister, P. Chidambaram, is also shaking up his own team. On Sunday he announced that the top officials in the revenue and expenditure departments would swap jobs. That seems to be a signal of a shift in the tax department’s priorities. It might pave the way for a reversal of Mukherjee’s damaging retrospective tax grabs.”

via India Insight.

The Dark Side of upcoming President Pranab Mukherjee (kractivist.wordpress.com)

Posted in India alert, Nepotism, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: finance minister, Government, India, manmohan singh, politics, Pranab Mukherjee, Securities and Exchange Board of India

10/08/2012

Once again, some signs that China is ‘softening’ on contovertial cases. Question is: is it a general policy or only for this year, the year of leadership change?

Posted in China alert, Citizens's rights, Good news, Human rights, Illegal practices, Justice, Politics, Reform, Rule of law | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, communist party of china, Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China

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* Coalgate: Supreme Court issues notice to Centre over coal block allocations

* India’s top court allows some iron ore mining to resume

* In China, Sons Fight Railways Ministry Over Crash

* China city party chief ‘fled with money’

* India coal scandal: Hundreds protest against PM Singh

* Cleaning up after Pranab Mukherjee leaves finance ministry

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