600 toilets to be build under China’s ‘toilet revo-loo-tion’
Beijing: China plans to build 600 ‘three-star-rated’ toilets in one of the country’s most popular tourist areas as part of its “toilet revo-loo-tion”. The plan by Yunnan province’s committee of tourism development will see the local government spend USD 5 million every year until 2017 as part of the campaign to build new high-quality toilets and also upgrade existing facilities, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. The target is for a total of 336 new toilets to be built at popular tourists destinations in Yunnan, which is famous for its beautiful mountains and countryside. A further 265 toilets are to be upgraded. Last month China announced its toilet revolution following complaints from tourists. The committee said that in the past, tourists had complained about problems of insanitary, poor quality toilets at Yunnan’s tourist sites, which had harmed the image of tourism. The new measures would “ensure the construction of toilets at tourist sites reaches a high level in the country, which will assist the province’s tourism industry”, the Post quoted an official news portal as reporting. The plan is expected to formally published by the committee soon, the provincial government’s website reported. It also said local government officials would be assessed on the quality of the work carried out to improve the province’s toilets. Li Jinzao, director of China National Tourism Administration said at the National Tourism Conference that the central government planned to spend the next three years promoting toilet improvements at tourist sites. By 2017, toilets in the nation’s major tourist scenic spots, including travel routes, restaurants, entertainment venues and transport hubs would be of a “three-star rating”, including high quality, hygienic and better managed, he said, the Post reported. (PTI)
Sidewalk sinkhole swallows South Korean couple
Seoul: Concerns about public safety standards in South Korea have been fuelled by shocking CCTV images of a young couple being swallowed up by a sinkhole that opened at their feet on the sidewalk in Seoul.
The footage, which has gone viral on social networking sites, shows the couple plunging through the paved sidewalk, shortly after alighting from a bus in the South Korean capital, as other passers-by look on in horror. The incident happened near an apartment construction site last Friday — the end of the three-day Lunar New Year holiday. Firefighters rescued the young man and woman who fell 10 feet (three meters). Neither of them was seriously injured and both were discharged from hospital after receiving treatment. South Korean President Park Geun-Hye vowed an overhaul of national safety standards after the Sewol ferry tragedy in April last year that claimed more than 300 lives. In October, 16 people were killed and nine seriously injured when a ventilation grate collapsed at an outdoor pop concert in the city of Seongnam south of Seoul. Yesterday, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport ordered a nationwide survey of construction sites and their immediate surroundings to check for dangers like sinkholes and other subsidence. (AFP)
Brazil judge seen driving tycoon’s seized Porsche
RIO DE JANEIRO: The Brazilian judge presiding over criminal proceedings against charismatic entrepreneur Eike Batista, once Brazil’s richest man, was seen on Tuesday driving a Porsche belonging to the fallen tycoon that had been seized by the court. Flavio Roberto de Souza, who is overseeing Batista’s trial for insider trading, was seen driving the white Porsche Cayenne by reporters for Estado de S Paulo’s news agency after a tip-off from Batista’s lawyer. The car was one of a number of luxury vehicles confiscated by police earlier this month following a court order. Local media said investigators had seized the cars because of concerns Batista had been selling or donating assets that were frozen as part of the insider trading case.When asked why he was driving the Porsche, Souza told local business daily Valor Economico: “The federal police did not have a safe place for the car and it was exposed to sun, rain and possible damage. As I want the car to be preserved in good condition, I took it to a covered parking space (in the building where I live).” “I did not take it to use, just to look after it … It is a normal situation,” he said. The cars were meant to be put up for auction this Thursday, but Batista’s lawyer secured an injunction halting the sale. (AFP)
World’s largest computer manufacturer’s webpage hacked
Beijing: The webpage of Chinese technology firm Lenovo, the world’s largest computer manufacturer, was hacked Thursday and the website’s content remained inaccessible.Instead of the usual homepage, Lenovo’s webpage for a few hours showed pictures of young people with songs playing in the background.A group of hackers called ‘Lizard Squad’ claimed responsibility for the attack in a message on Twitter.
Although the company did not officially admit to being hacked, it published an apology in nine languages in their portal.However, Lizard Squad, which is believed to be responsible for hacking Playstation and Xbox during Christmas, bragged about its achievement through its Twitter account @LizardCircle, where it also posted screenshots of emails sent to Lenovo employees.”So we’ve done Google Vietnam and Lenovo, what’s next?” said the hackers, also claiming responsibility for the attack on the Vietnamese version of the Google search engine.In recent weeks, Lenovo’s ‘Superfish’ software has been subject to criticism as it introduces advertisements along with internet search results in its laptops. However, the computer manufacturer disabled the advertising software last week and opened a helpline for clients with problems related to Superfish. (IANS)