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7/30/2013
The Pope has surprised many Catholics (video)
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7/29/2013
A public happiness barometer in Lithuania
(Reuters) - The mayor of Vilnius plans to install a huge screen on the town hall to broadcast a real-time "happiness barometer" that will monitor the mood of the Lithuanian capital.
The giant display will monitor the level of happiness among the city's 520,000 residents by showing a number on the scale of one to 10 that reflects tabulated votes sent in by locals from their mobile phones and computers.
The system is already set up and on televisions in the lobby of the municipal office.
"This barometer is a great tool for politicians. If we take a decision and see a sharp fall in the mood of the city, then we know we have done something horribly wrong," mayor Arturas Zuokas said.
The results are displayed hourly. Residents and visitors can rate their mood throughout the day in Vilnius on the Happiness Barometer.
With a QR reader app and a smartphone anyone can scan their mood based on a 1-10 rating by stopping for a few seconds at special billboards that have been placed throughout Vilnius.
A 2011 poll of global happiness by WIN Association, a network of pollsters, found Lithuania, hit hard by the 2008-2009 financial crisis, among the unhappiest countries of 58 surveyed. Only Serbia, Palestine, Egypt and Romania fared worse.
Currently, the average level of happiness in Vilnius is 6.1 out of a possible 10.
Artūras Jonkus of IQ Polls, who initiated the project, hopes that Vilnius’ business centres, cafes, shopping centres and other companies will join the project.
“The Happiness Barometer is not a scientific experiment, but a socially oriented project. Its goal is to encourage people to smile more often and to share their good mood and good will with others,” said Artūras Jonkus.
From Reuters
Changes in Bangladesh garment industry (video)
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7/28/2013
Greek workers take over factory (audio)
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7/23/2013
Portugal soccer hit by financial crisis (video)
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7/22/2013
Dubai offers gold to fight obesity epidemic
(Reuters) - Dubai's government will pay residents in gold for losing those extra kilograms as part of a government campaign to fight growing obesity in the United Arab Emirates.
The 30-day weight-loss challenge was launched on Friday to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when the faithful must not eat and drink during daylight hours.
For every kilogram dropped by August 16, contestants can take home a gram of gold, currently worth about $42, Dubai's civic authority announced as part of its 'Your Weight in Gold' initiative. Additionally, the top three dieters will be able to participate in a draw to win $ 28,000 in gold coins.
"Participants must have excess weight to reduce and must not use unhealthy methods to lose weight. To qualify for the contest, they must be present on the final day to measure weight and must lose a minimum 2 kilograms" Dubai Municipality said in a press release.
The winners will be announced at the final weigh-in on Aug. 16.
“It’s a good idea. Gold is gold and money is money,” laughed Mona al Hamadi, a 29-year-old executive, who is looking forward to the challenge. “I will join tomorrow. We are eating more and more,” she added.
That is statistically true all over the Arab Gulf, home to some of the most obese populations in the world, according to a recent United Nations report, which rated the percentage of obesity in Kuwait at 42 percent, Saudi Arabia at 35 percent, the United Arab Emirates at 33 percent and Qatar at 33 percent. Comparatively, the growing obesity rate in the United States is 35.7 percent.
Child obesity is also a growing problem. Last week, medical experts released a study of 1,400 schoolchildren in the neighboring Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which found that one out of every three children is obese.
Health officials in Dubai and in neighboring Gulf nations are spending millions to control obesity among their citizens.
Analysts blame lack of exercise, fast food, overuse of cars and affluence for the overweight. Just over half a century ago nomadic Bedouin desert farmers and coastal dwellers populated the UAE - but the discovery of oil changed all that in the 1960s. With oil came money and an urban, affluent lifestyle that lacks an exercise culture, according to the World Health Organization.
Hussain Lootah, director-general of the Dubai Municipality, said the campaign is aimed at encouraging people to use the walking tracks and exercise machines available for public use in Dubai’s parks. But, that might be hard in a city where temperatures routinely top 38 Celsius. The “Let’s Walk” initiative in 2011 offered cars as prizes to those who lost weight by walking Dubai’s parks
Thanks to partnerships with the Dubai Gold and Jewelry Group and the Dubai Multi Commodities Center, the city says there is no cap on the gold prize. “It depends on how much the people are expecting to lose. We have not set a limit,” Hussain Lootah, Dubai’s director general, explained.
Sources: Reuters KMBZ and NBCnews
7/15/2013
Fighting fire with overstretched resources (video)
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Big Pharma in a little trouble in China
This time last year GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) made history in America when the Justice department announced the biggest-ever settlement for fraud involving a drugs company: GSK paid $3 billion for illegally promoting its drugs.
But on July 11th the British pharmaceuticals giant found itself in hot water again, when China’s Ministry of Public Security alleged that it had committed bribery.
The ministry said the case against Britain's biggest drugmaker involved a large number of staff and a huge sum of money over an extended period of time, with bribes offered to Chinese government officials, medical associations, hospitals and doctors to illegally boost sales and to raise the price of its medicines in the country. It also accused British drug maker GSK of channeling bribes to Chinese officials and doctors through travel agencies for six years.
GSK executives used fake receipts in unspecified tax law violations, it added. Under China's legal system, the GSK executives will be formally charged after the completion of the preliminary investigations.
The security ministry did not give details on the number of executives questioned, their identities, nor when the questioning took place.
The drugs industry is eager to benefit from China’s rise, particularly as sales slow in the West, where many former top-selling medicines have lost patent protection. China’s health spending is projected to rocket from $357 billion in 2011 to $1 trillion in 2020.
Faced with such numbers, multinational drug companies are setting up research centers and deploying an army of 25,000 salesmen. But this rush to sell their medicines is happening in an industry with perfect conditions for bribery. Chinese hospitals rely on drug sales as a main source of revenue and doctors often prescribe expensive or inappropriate drugs.
China, where biomedicine is a key strategic industry, will overtake Japan as the world's second biggest drugs market behind the United States by 2016.
Since China’s government is keen to battle corruption, its top economic planning agency on cost and pricing issues is investigating GSK, Merck & Co Inc and other foreign and domestic drugmakers.
However, Chinese officials are not the only ones scrutinizing GSK’s Chinese business. The government is investigating whether GSK and other drug firms violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which forbids the bribery of foreign officials. This mess is likely to become messier.
Edited from The Economist and Reuters
7/07/2013
John XXIII and John Paul II to be made saints (video)
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New Century Global Center
The superlatives in China continue -- the latest symbol of China's "bigger is much, much better" ethos is open for business.
Located in Chengdu (population 14 million), capital of Sichuan province in southwestern China, the New Century Global Center is the "largest freestanding building in the world," Chinese officials say.
Though the words "world's largest" usually bring to mind an image of a towering skyscraper, this project actually isn't tall. But it's certainly big.
At 500 meters long, 400 meters wide and 100 meters high, the 1.7-million-square-meter mega-structure is capable of housing 20 Sydney Opera Houses and almost three times the size of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
The Global Center on opened June 28 and is home to business offices, hotels, movie theaters, shopping malls, a faux Mediterranean village and family-themed attractions such as a water park called Paradise Island.
The New Century Global Center is located in an entirely new planned area of Chengdu called Tainfu New District.
Chengdu is also currently expanding its subway line and plans to construct a new airport by 2020, further suggestion that Chinese authorities want to make the city an economic and cultural capital of western China.
From June 6-8, Chengdu hosted this year's Fortune Global Forum, an annual invite-only event featuring chairs, presidents, and CEOs of the world's largest companies.
According to Xinhua, China's official state media, Chengdu's GDP hit 800 billion RMB US$130.48 billion by the end of 2012.
7/02/2013
7/01/2013
Kimberly-Clark Corp will expand operations in Venezuela
(Reuters) - Kimberly-Clark Corp is planning a 234 million bolivar ($37.1) investment to expand operations in Venezuela in a move that should help ease a national shortage of toilet paper.
President Nicolas Maduro's government, which began in April, is facing a scarcity of some food items, medicines and basic bathroom products.
The government blames private businesses. Critics say the shortages, high inflation, and slowing growth are the result of nationalizations and other socialist economics under Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez.
Officials say the problems are easing, though Venezuelans still complain they cannot find many items, and queues at supermarkets are a common scene across the nation.
"When the shortages occurred, the productive sector, together with the government, designed a strategy to combat it. Now things are fine," Trade Minister Alejandro Fleming said after a meeting with representatives of the U.S. company.
Kimberly-Clark has a 15 percent market share for toilet paper and also makes other products such as sanitary towels and diapers.
The general manager of its local subsidiary, David Cahen, said "Kimberly-Clark will invest 234 million bolivar over 6 to 24 months. This investment will increase the company's local capacity by 30 to 40 percent."
adapted from Reuters
And how about asking questions so as to get the following answers?
1. a 234 million bolivar ($37.1) investment
2. to expand operations in Venezuela
3. because there is a national shortage of toilet paper.
4. in April
5. a scarcity of some food items, medicines and basic bathroom products.
6. under Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez.
7. because they cannot find many items and queues at supermarkets are a common scene across the nation.
8. after a meeting with representatives of the U.S. company.
9. by 30 to 40 percent
10. I don't think so
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