43rd New Delhi World Book Fair opens - guest of honor country is China

#worldbookfair #pragatimaidan The 43rd New Delhi World Book Fair has taken off with China as the guest of honor country and a theme presentation of the cultural heritage of India. China was invited to be the guest country following the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India last year where he had signed a memorandum of understanding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 9 January 2016.

The nine-day fair, believed to be the largest in Asia, is hosting about 30 countries in which there would be a series of programs including panel discussions, dramas, classical and folk dances, workshops, discussions, authors' meets, conferences, seminars and cultural program.
Tickets to the fair held at the sprawling Pragati Maidan is priced at Rs 20 and will be sold from 9 AM till 5 PM at 47 stations of the Delhi Metro network from January 9-17. Entry is free for schoolchildren and the disabled.
Among attractions are a selfie corner for photobuffs where they can click pictures and upload them on social networks. The highlights of the China pavilion include display of traditional Chinese garden style, showcase of paper making, publishing and printing in ancient China, a daily live show of wood block printing and a china tea cultural show. Moreover, twenty-four illustration works by prize winning young Chinese artists will also be on display.
Cultural exchanges between the two countries will be showcased in an India-China cultural contacts photo exhibition of over 150 photos and the pavilion will also play host to over 300 Chinese original illustrations for children exhibition.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Most popular world leaders - Barack Obama No 1, Narendra Modi No 7

#barackobama #NarendraModi #FrancoisHollande #AngelaMerkel #VladimirPutin Results of the WIN/Gallup survey for ORB International's 'International World Leader Index' reveal that Barack Obama is undoubtedly the No 1 while India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is placed at 7th position. This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 24 December 2015.

For Narendra Modi, the breakdown of the percentage is: favourable view from 24 per cent of people polled throughout 65 countries around the world as opposed to 20 per cent unfavorable - his score, thus, was +4 per cent in the WIN/Gallup survey.
Barack Obama grabbed the topmost spot with a score of +30 per cent - there was a whopping 59 per cent in his favor and 29 per cent unfavorable.
At No 2 position is German Chancellor Angela Merkel - her score is +13 per cent
Next comes British Prime Minister David Cameron at No 3 - his score is +10 per cent. He scored a 37 per cent favorable rating while another 28 per cent viewed him unfavorably
4th - French President Francois Hollande
5th - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
6th - Chinese President Xi Jinping
8th - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff
9th - Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud
10th - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
Obviously, President Barack Obama is significantly more admired around the world than anyone else.

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Cameron and Xi let down their hair with fish and chips in a London pub

In the course of his state visit to England, Chinese President Xi Jinping accompanied by British Prime Minister David Cameron headed for a traditional British pub to indulge in a beer and a portion of traditional fish and chips. The two world leaders wore suits but were tieless and sipped their ales at The Plough. This is close to the residence of the British prime minister located in Chequers northwest of London.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 23 October 2015.

The pub had hunting guns hanging on the bare-brick wall behind them and the landlord of the pub has said that the two leaders had chatted for around three-quarters of an hour and had been "extremely friendly".
Incidentally, the history of the pub goes back to the 16th century when it used to be a staging post for London coaches.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Explosion in Tianjin leaves at least 50 dead, more than 700 injured

The blasts, at a warehouse storing toxic chemicals in Tianjin, a city in north China, and has left at least 50 dead with another 700 injured. The explosion has also destroyed tower blocks and burned out thousands of cars.
This has been reported in bbc.com dated 13 August 2015.

The dead include twelve firefighters while 36 of their colleagues are still missing.
Tianjin is one of China's most important industrial centers, and one of the busiest ports in the world and President Xi Jinping has promised a thorough investigation into the events and agreed to make the disclosures public The explosions occurred in Tianjin's Binhai New Area which is a vast industrial zone and houses car factories, aircraft assembly lines and other manufacturing and research firms. There were a number of blasts and broken and buckled shipping containers lay all around the area.
The intensity of the blast was such that windows had blown out and office blocks were destroyed for a radius of 2-Km. The impact of the blasts was felt several kilometres away, and was detected by a US Geological Survey monitoring unit in Beijing 160-Km distant.
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Prince William’s tour of Japan and China – ban on illegal wildlife trade on his agenda

#PrinceWilliam #wildlifetrade #ivorytrade #China #JapaneseTsunami Prince William is on a tour of Japan and China and, after conclusion of the Japanese leg, he is now in China where he would be attending a few events as representative of the Queen and in others as an ambassador of Britain. This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 1 March 2015.
The visit of Prince William to Beijing would be the first visit to China of a senior British royal in three decades. As per the itinerary, the Duke of Cambridge, would spend three days in visiting Beijing, Shanghai and an elephant sanctuary in Yunnan Province.
The trip after his four-day tour of Japan, would test his diplomatic skills because UK is actively seeking to expand economic and cultural opportunities with China. Therefore, while trade would be one area of focus, Prince William is also expected to take up the issue of China's role in ending the illegal wildlife trade.
In Japan, he had spent the last day of his tour listening to the pathetic stories from the survivors of the 2011 Japanese tsunami. He had toured the coastal town of Ishinomaki which was hit by an estimated 28 foot wave in which 3,275 people died. It seems 430 people are still missing. Moreover, nearly 22,000 residents lost their homes and 53,000 homes were damaged in the Tsunami.
In China, Prince William would meet President Xi Jinping and tour the Beijing's iconic Forbidden City before flying to Shanghai where he would officially declare open the Great Festival of Creativity in Shanghai. This is a British initiative to set the ball rolling for what is billed as a "flagship year of cultural exchange between the two countries".
In the last leg of his tour in China, he would focus on his favorite cause of combating the illegal wildlife trade. As per plans, he will visit China's only elephant sanctuary on the border with Laos and Myanmar. And, on this occasion, he would get the opportunity to call for a ban on illegal wildlife trade in China, especially the ivory trade.