Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
October 3, 2016
China begins operating world’s largest radio telescope
BEIJING (AP) — China has begun operating the world’s largest radio
telescope to help search for extraterrestrial life. The project, along with the
recent launch of China’s second space station, demonstrates the country’s rising
astronomical ambitions and its pursuit of international scientific prestige. The
official Xinhua News Agency said hundreds of astronomers and enthusiasts
attended the launch of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope,
or FAST. Researchers quoted by state media said FAST would search for
gravitational waves, detect radio emissions from stars and galaxies, and listen
for signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life. The telescope, measuring 500 meters
in diameter, is nestled in a lush green karst landscape in southern Guizhou
province. Construction took five years and cost $180 million. Its size surpasses
that of the 300-meter Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
Indonesia detains ship with cargo of unregistered fertilizer
BALI, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities say they have detained a ship
carrying an unregistered cargo of nearly 30 tons of fertilizer that may have
been intended for use in making illegal fishing bombs. Explosives are
sometimes used to stun fish so they can be easily gathered. Officials said the ship
was intercepted off the tourist island of Bali. It was headed for Selayar, an island
off the southern coast of Sulawesi. The director of the police economic crimes
unit, Agus Setya, said there have been three similar cases since April in which
police suspected fertilizer was to be used for making fishing explosives. Local
media reported last year that two women were killed in an explosion at a
housing complex in South Sulawesi where police said fishing bombs were being
made.
Cambodian court gives two Chinese life in prison for drugs
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian court has sentenced two
Chinese citizens to life in prison after finding them guilty of producing and
trafficking heroin and methamphetamine in one of the country’s biggest drug
cases. The Phnom Penh municipal court found Deng Yuan Ping, 53, and Ly
Yong, 42, guilty of smuggling 120 pounds of the illicit drugs worth an estimated
$3 million from Laos in June last year. The drugs were believed destined for both
Cambodia and other countries. Two Cambodian men involved in the case also
received life sentences, one in absentia as police are still seeking him. A report
earlier this year from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime described
Cambodia as an increasingly important hub for smuggling heroin and
methamphetamine as well as chemicals used in their manufacture. At the time
of the arrests, police said most of the drugs were intended for Taiwan after being
diluted in Phnom Penh to increase their bulk and therefore their value. Ly and
Deng were described as familiar with drug-making processes. The drugs seized
were 84 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 35 pounds of methamphetamine
tablets, and 12 ounces of heroin.
Snake wrapped around armrest halts ‘bullet’ train
TOKYO (AP) — A passenger recently spotted a snake curled around the
armrest of another passenger’s seat on a Japanese Shinkansen “bullet” train,
forcing the train to make an unscheduled stop. No one was injured in the
incident. The train’s operator, JR Tokai, or Central Japan Railway Co., said the
passenger sitting in the reserved seat was unaware the snake was wrapped
around his armrest for about 50 minutes until the person behind him saw it and
notified a conductor. Experts suspected the snake may have been brought onto
the train accidentally in someone’s luggage or with maintenance equipment.
The footlong snake, initially thought to be a small type of python, was later
identified as a rat snake after police consulted with a local zoo, according to
Japanese media. Railway spokesman Atsuo Utano said the train crew made an
announcement asking if anyone had lost a pet snake and informing passengers
of an unscheduled stop, but nobody came forward. The super-express train made
a stop at Hamamatsu station about 25 minutes later. Railway police removed
the snake and the train departed in about one minute, Utano said. He said the
train arrived in Hiroshima, its destination, on time. The snake incident was not
the first on the high-speed “bullet” train line. Five years ago, a train crew spotted
a snake on an unoccupied seat, according to the railway.
Seoul says North Korean soldier crossed border to defect
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military has said a North Korean
soldier crossed the border between the rivals to defect. South Korea’s Joint
Chiefs of Staff said military officials were investigating the North Korean
solider, who defected across the central-east portion of the military demarcation
line, which is inside the 2.5-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone that separates the
countries. The military provided no other details. The Koreas have shared the
world’s most heavily fortified border since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean
Peninsula in a technical state of war. Despite the heavy military presence at the
border, North Korean soldiers occasionally find room to sneak into the South.
Another North Korean solider defected in June last year after crossing the
military demarcation line. In 2012, a North Korean soldier managed to walk
south of barbed-wire fences without being caught by guards, which led to
criticism on how South Korean soldiers were guarding the border. More than
29,000 North Koreans have defected to capitalist South Korea since the end of
the Korean War, according to Seoul’s government. Most of them reached South
Korea after travelling to China.
POACHING PREVENTION. A mahout guides a forest department elephant while demolishing a house in Ban-
dardubi village, on the periphery of the Kaziranga National Park in northeastern Assam state, India. Authorities ordered the
demolition of about 300 houses in three villages to evict people living on the periphery of the rhino sanctuary to stop ram-
pant poaching of the rare animal, a top police official said. Two people were killed and several others were injured when
villagers clashed with police while protesting the demolition of their homes. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Two killed while protesting
evictions near Indian rhino park
By Anupam Nath
The Associated Press
ANDARDUBI, India — Two people
were killed and several others were
injured when police tried to stop
protests against the demolition of homes near
an Indian rhino sanctuary, police said.
Authorities had ordered the demolition of
about 300 houses in three villages to evict
people living on the periphery of Kaziranga
National Park in northeastern India to stop
rampant poaching of the rare rhinos, said
Mukesh Aggarwal, a top police official.
The villagers pelted the police with stones,
injuring around 10 policemen, and security
forces responded by firing rubber bullets and
tear gas to disperse the protesting villagers,
said Mukesh Sahay, police chief in Assam
state. Two people were killed in the skirmish
that followed, Sahay said.
The bodies of two protesters have been sent
for an autopsy, police said.
Around 40 people who were injured in the
clashes were hospitalized, he said.
Park and district authorities used bull-
B
dozers and domesticated elephants, guided by
mahouts, to pull down the thatched houses.
Community leaders and conservation
groups have long demanded that the boundary
areas of the park be cleared of human habita-
tion. Local residents say many of the villagers
have illegally settled in the area. Some of the
settlers face charges of aiding and abetting
poachers to kill rhinos inside Kaziranga.
“Fourteen rhinos were killed by poachers in
Kaziranga this year. Last year, 17 rhinos were
victims of poaching,” said Subhasis Das, a
forest official at the park, which has the
largest number of rhinos in the world.
All five of the world’s rhino species are under
constant threat from poachers seeking their
horns to sell on the black market. Demand is
high in countries such as China and Vietnam,
where people mistakenly believe consuming
rhino horns can increase male potency.
Kaziranga is hailed by wildlife activists as a
conservation success. The reserve had 75
rhinos in 1905. In 1966, the number of rhinos
in Kaziranga was put at 366. According to a
2015 estimate, the number has risen to 2,401.
Uber starts food delivery in Japan after ride-share stumbles
By Yuri Kageyama
AP Business Writer
OKYO — Uber, which has struggled to
win Japan over to its ride-sharing
service, is hoping to fare better with
takeout deliveries.
UberEats has opened, initially just in
central Tokyo, ranging from simple dishes
costing just hundreds of yen to Michelin-star
dining at the equivalent of hundreds of dollars.
Delivery is free at first, although fees are
expected to be added at a later date.
T
Consumers download a software application in
iOS, Android, or a desktop version to choose
food off menus from 150 restaurants.
Drivers hired by UberEats are tapped
online, pick up food at restaurants, and make
deliveries, ensuring food arrives relatively hot
and fresh. The global average for deliveries is
about a half hour.
Japan is the eighth nation, and Tokyo the
34th city, for UberEats, already available in
San Francisco, Dubai, Singapore, and Paris.
Ride-sharing has stumbled in Japan partly
Continued on page 3
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 9/30
Bangladesh Taka· ·
Cambodian Riel · ·
China Renminbi · ·
Fijian Dollar · · · ·
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Indonesian Rupiah ·
Iranian Rial · · · ·
Japanese Yen · · ·
Laos New Kip · · ·
Malaysian Ringgit ·
Nepal Rupee · · · ·
Pakistani Rupee · ·
Papua N.G. Kina · ·
Philippine Peso· · ·
Russian Ruble · · ·
Saudi Riyal· · · · ·
Singapore Dollar · ·
South Korean Won ·
Sri Lankan Rupee ·
Taiwan Dollar · · ·
Thai Baht · · · · ·
Vietnam Dong · · ·
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77.914
4139.0
6.6718
2.0537
7.7564
66.611
13042
31500
101.35
8122.0
4.1385
106.53
104.45
3.169
48.467
62.879
3.7537
1.3631
1102.1
146.67
31.355
34.59
22451