City officials brace for fire threats posed by Lunar New Year

Written by Khoun Leakhana

Friday, 23 January 2009

A damaged fleet of firetrucks could hinder efforts to contain unexpected fires caused by burning incense left unattended. Photo by: Sovann Philong Chinese New Year candles on sale in Phnom Penh last week. THE Phnom Penh Municipality has appealed to city residents to be vigilant and prevent fires caused by burning incense during the Lunar New Year, which begins Monday, as they prepare to deal with the threat posed by the holiday with a damaged fleet of firetrucks. Of 15 firetrucks operated by city officials, five are "old and broken", said Neth Vantha, office manager of the Municipal Police Fire Brigade.

"We are preparing our forces in accordance with the suggestion from the National Police chief to be ready to fight unexpected fires during the Lunar New Year," he said, adding that the night before the New Year begins [Sunday], was actually the time officials were most concerned about.

He said 88 officers will be deployed over the holiday period.

Concern among residents
Meas Malis, 29, who lives in Tuol Kork district, said she was not planning a big celebration because she is not of Chinese descent. But she said
she would be mindful of fire threats in light of the fact that she might not have much assistance should she need to put one out.

"I do not even have a fire extinguisher," she said. "We are careful, but if our neighbours are not careful, we will be worried about fires. Fires can jump to many houses" she said.

Neth Vantha said there were 44 fires in Phnom Penh during the first 10 months of 2008. The cause of the fires - which damaged 483 houses, two guesthouses and a factory, among other buildings - is known in only 22 cases.

He could not provide data on the number of fires that occurred during Lunar New Year last year

Slumdog makes its debut in India

Slumdog Millionaire, the Mumbai-based movie nominated for 10 Oscars including best film, has finally opened in India.

The rags-to-riches tale, which has already won four Golden Globes, is being given as big a release in India as any major Bollywood film.

The film has won much praise in reviews in India but has also earned some criticism for exploiting poverty.

A fully dubbed Hindi version of the film has also been released to reach rural and small-town audiences.

Slum fund

The film, which was made on a budget of £7m ($9.6m), has already raked in nearly $50m at the box office in the US and Britain. The film's music director, AR Rahman, has become the first Indian to get three Oscar nominations.

Rahman told the Times of India: "I'm at the top of the world. Everything is a blur."

The film has created discussion in India about whether it exploits "poverty chic".

But the Times of India said film-goers should forget "the twitter about aggrieved national sentiment" and enjoy "a piece of riveting cinema".

The producers have announced that a portion of the box-office proceeds will go a welfare fund set up for the betterment of slums in Mumbai (Bombay).

The film revolves around 18-year-old Jamal Malik, played by Dev Patel, who wins the jackpot on Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Hindi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Jamal participates in the game show not for money but to reach his missing girlfriend Latika, played by Freida Pinto, who watches the programme without fail.

The film stars well-known Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan.

Kapoor said at the Thursday night premiere: "We are really, really emotional. All of us just can't stop hugging each other."

Malaria illnesses decline in Cambodia in 2008

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The number of reported malaria cases and deaths in Cambodia respectively dropped by 8.5 percent and 25 percent in 2008 over the previous year, national media on Friday quoted the National Malaria Center as saying.

The number of confirmed malaria cases decreased to 59,840 in 2008 from 54,784 in 2007, and deaths to 184 from 241, according to the center.

"The trend is downward but it is not sharp," Rashid Abdur, malaria scientist for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Cambodia, told English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily.

Meanwhile, Duong Socheat, director of the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control Program, attributed the dip primarily to early diagnosis and treatment, and better health education particularly in rural areas.

Durable mosquito nets treated with insecticide have also contributed to the progress against malaria.

"One net can last for three to five years," he added.

According to the WHO, about a half million Cambodians live in forested regions where malaria transmission is intense.

News Analysis: Are Britain's hopes to join euro dashed?

by Dongying Wang

LONDON, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- With the rapid depreciation of the once strong British pond against euro in the recent years and the uncertainty of the country's economy in the face of the ongoing global economic downturn, an urgency has come for Britons to join the euro but the chance might slip through their fingers due to their persisted reluctance.

STATUS OF EURO

"The euro has become increasingly a candidate for the status of a reserve currency alongside, or in substitution for the dollar," Lord Lea, an economist and life peer of the House of the Lords told Xinhua.

"Familiarity with the euro is now self-reinforcing in Africa, Asia, Latin America as well as in the OECD area," Lord Lea said, adding "The pound is nowhere by comparison."

It is widely believed that at the worst point, investors will give up all but four big global currencies: the dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the Chinese yuan. In that case, Britain will see no way out, he added.

Euro membership has returned to British agenda. It comes on the10th anniversary of the launch of the European single currency, which has been adopted by 16 of the 27 European Union member states.

Since its introduction in 1999, the euro has been the second most widely-held international reserve currency after the U.S. dollar. The possibility of the euro's becoming the first international reserve currency is now widely debated among economists.

BRITONS' RELUCTANCE TO ADOPT EURO

Despite the euro's 10-year success, skepticism towards the currency has not diminished in Britain. The strength of the euro has yet to draw Britain closer to the continent. A majority of Britons are still adamantly opposed to joining the euro, arguing that keeping monetary autonomy would benefit the British economy.

A latest poll has showed that 70 percent of Britons still reject the euro, up from 55 percent in 2005.

The big challenge for Britain in adopting the euro is to get a referendum passed, said Lord Lea, who was a member of the British Treasury Advisory Group on the euro. In many of the states which have adopted the euro, there was no such a referendum.

"If we had had the chance of a public vote to join the euro or not in Germany, I am absolutely sure, we would have kept the Deutsche Mark rather than switching to the euro, "said Professor Ralph E. Hartleben at University of Applied Sciences, in Weiden inder Oberphalz, Germany.

"The pound's long history, and heritage as part of British identity are the main reasons for Britons rejecting the euro," said Hartleben, adding "If I were British, I also would like to stick to the pound, as in Germany the euro has nearly doubled all prices."

Lord Lea expressed understanding for Britain's nostalgia of the pound. "However it is the reality that Britain, as an EU member, functions within the regional policies and systems," he said.

He insisted it's at the EU level that Britain can make the quickest process in securing accountability and taxation transparency of multinational businesses, including multinational banks and associated new financial instruments.

OUTLOOK OF BRITAIN'S ECONOMY

Being hit hard by the downturn, Britain has been warned of expecting a difficult year ahead, and a 2.9 percent shrink in GDP in 2009.

Lord Lea believes that Britain's gloomy economic outlook will lessen the opposition to the euro entry in the coming five years. Instead of suggesting an exact time for Britain's adoption of the single currency, he stressed the policy of "not wait and see," but "prepare and decide."

Lord Lea, who was vice president of the European Trade Union Confederation, restated the point made in 1999 by the British Trades Union Congress that if the euro entry delay persisted for a period of years, Britain would become less attractive for inward investment.

Indian PM to have heart bypass surgery

MUMBAI, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is to have a heart bypass surgery Saturday, reported local news channel Times Now.

Manmohan Singh is likely to be admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday, due to his blocked cardiac arteries and convalesces, the report said.

Doctors say there is no threat to the prime minister's life. The 76-year old prime minister will need rest for three to four weeks.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee will preside over the Cabinet meetings during the prime minister's absence. Internal orders on Pranab's expanded duties are ready.