YeinJee's Asian blog

Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment

Human made disasters (tag)

Human made disasters - Air crashes, structure failures, fires, explosions, overpopulation, toxic pollution, nuclear meltdowns and other anthropogenic hazards.

Guiyu electronic waste town, China

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Guiyu in China’s Guangdong Province is the world’s largest electronic waste site, with an estimated 80% of its 150,000 population (+200k migrant workers) working in the e-waste processing business, often with primitive and hazardous methods – which has led to severe pollution and health problems to the township.

Guiyu eletronic waste town, China

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421 million Indian population live in poverty

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There are 421 million who people who are living in poverty in eight north India states of Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal according to recent Oxford’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) – more than in the poorest 26 African countries combined (421M).

It doesn’t mean that India is poorer than those African nations (with many of them living in ‘extreme’ poverty) – the MPI is a bit complicated to begin with – but it does reflect the sad fact behind the world’s second most populated country.

I remember watching a heart-wrenching Chinese documentary, where some villagers from rural China are all-smile after selling their produce for RMB4000 (~USD590), the annual income for the entire village of about 100 households. Still, it’s not disastrous for a farming community where most basic needs are self sustainable, I can only imagine things being worse in some other places.

[Read more…] about 421 million Indian population live in poverty

Beijing’s CCTV Headquarters on fire

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Beijing police have detained twelve people over Monday night’s (Feb 11) massive fire at the unfinished headquarters of China Central Television (CCTV) which resulted in the death of a firefighter and seven other injuries.

The building is part of the iconic CCTV tower complex and is to house CCTV’s cultural centre and the then nearly completed Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Initial investigations suggested that the fire was caused by illegal fireworks by CCTV. Fireworks are generally allowed at the traditional Lantern Festival, the last day of Chinese New Year; but the fireworks that caught the fire was dangerous and needed approval (which CCTV didn’t get) before being allowed in downtown Beijing.