Pipeline CA, RIM-NTP -- Follow the Yellow Brick Road -- India, China, Burma-Stilwell Road, IT Partnership & UN Security Council Votes

This government gets to make this decision? This government?

Alaska fight takes off -- TransCanada says it can build more quickly, efficiently Claudia Cattaneo and Jon Harding, Financial Post, April 08, 2005

CALGARY - TransCanada Corp. launched a counterattack yesterday against pipeline rival Enbridge Inc. over who gets to build the US$20-billion Alaska gas pipeline.

The company defended its legal rights to build it under the Northern Pipeline Act (NPA), a law passed more than 25 years ago, and ruled out any co-operation with Enbridge, which has proposed a competing project with the support of Alaska natural gas producers.

[. . . . ] Construction of the proposed pipeline has become a controversial issue in Canada because the Canadian government is under pressure to decide whether it will continue to support the NPA or whether it will allow a new project regulated under the National Energy Board, effectively allowing competitors to come forward with competing proposals.

A decision is required for the project to move ahead.

Enbridge and Alaska producers, ExxonMobil Corp., BP PLC and ConocoPhillips, escalated their lobbying efforts in recent weeks asking Ottawa to open the process to competition. [. . . . ]

RIM, Copyright and NTP

The value of Research in Motion's stock (RIM makes the Blackberry) has gone down lately, it is suggested, because of a copyright problem associated with NTP. RIM has to pay NTP.

Does this have relevance? I remembered vaguely that RIM has been trying to develop business relationships in China where just about every design and copyright holder gets ripped off. NTP is very important to computers, from what I can tell. In light of my reading that espionage and spying are rampant with Chinese "students" and in various other ways, this might have implications. Judge for yourself.

The Network Time Protocol Project

The NTP Project conducts Research and Development in NTP and --at least, that is what I read--produces the Official Reference Implementation of NTP along with the Implementation Documentation. Background information about NTP, along with briefings and a bibliography, are available at the --at least, that is what I read--Network Time Synchronization Project page.

NTP is--at least, that is what I read--a protocol designed to synchronize the clocks of computers over a network and therefore, VERY important. NJC




"The challenge is to separate the minerals into custom-made powders that in some cases sell for more than US$300 a kilogram."

Rare earth minerals are hot -- 15 natural metals: Demand driven by growth in electronics Drew Hasselback, Financial Post, April 06, 2005

AMR gets its rare earths from China, which is home to about 90% of the global supply. The minerals are usually recovered by Chinese miners looking for other commodities, such as iron. These mining firms are glad to part with this surplus, unwanted ore at bargain basement prices. Concentrates can sell for less than US$1 a kilogram.

An explosion in demand for consumer electronics, such as Apple's iPod, has created a thriving market for an exotic family of metals known as "rare earth minerals."

For those uninitiated in the mysteries of chemistry, rare earth minerals can seem like a bizarre collection of elements with barely pronounceable names and little apparent use. But for electronics manufacturers, rare earths are hot properties. [. . . . ]

I seem to recall that China has been buying up minerals or scrap metals around the world. Maybe not. Check.





"just like two Pagodas — one hardware and one software"

Wen for Indian software in Chinese hardware The Tribune, Chandigarh, India, Apr. 11, 05

Bangalore is associated with computer science.

Bangalore, April 10

Ahead of his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao today suggested cooperation with India in high-technology, including space, and said the two countries could join hands to usher in “Asian Century” in information technology.

Wen kicked off his four-day trip by interacting with honchos of India’s biggest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services and visiting ISRO’s satellite development centre here.

“If India and China cooperate in the IT industry, we will be able to lead the world IT industry and when the particular day comes, it will signify the coming of the Asian century of the IT industry,” the Chinese Prime Minister in his interaction with TCS executives.

Noting that India’s advantage in software and China is ahead in hardware, Wen said cooperation was “just like two Pagodas — one hardware and one software and combined, we can take the leadership position in the world.” [. . . . ]

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)

Two held for illegally using internet for international calls Apr. 11, 05

(PTI News) Hyderabad, Apr 10 : Two persons have been arrested for allegedly using internet illegally to allow customers to make international calls.

[. . . . ] They were using internet telephony services, which were activated and controlled from US without installing any authentication platform (equipments) in India.

While our children have been amusing themselves to death . . . I am being too hard on them, but it is true of too many.

I remember helping an 8 year old who was fascinated with what little I knew about a 3-D animation program. I contacted the software company to see if they could help harness this boy's intelligence by providing him with a trial version. Someone else told me he would pay for the program. I sent a message to that effect to the member of the family I knew, someone who has discovered Bingo and likely, by now, internet gambling. The next time I asked about this bright little character, I was told, "Oh, he's not interested in learning 3-D any more. Now, he plays games on the internet."





India, China finalize border deal Times of India (India Times / indiatimes), Apr. 11, 05

NEW DELHI: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Monday that Beijing and New Delhi will sign an accord aimed at resolving a boundary dispute that has bedevilled relations between the Asian giants for more than four decades.

[. . . . ] India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometres (14,670 square miles) of Indian territory in Kashmir illegally ceded to it by Pakistan in the 1950s.

Beijing, in return, claims that the remote 90,000-square-kilometre Indian-administered state of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to China. [. . . . ]

Indo-China highway gets face-lift -- Stillwell Road Apr. 11, 05

BEIJING: In a bid to further boost booming Sino-Indian trade, China has started renovation of the historic Stilwell Road connecting its Yunnan Province to Myanmar and India, the state media reported on Sunday.

Chinese authorities have begun renovating the Stilwell Road built during World War II [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] After the reopening of the renovated road, the distance from Baoshan, a border city in Yunnan via Myitkyina in Myanmar, to Ledo in India will be a touch above 500 kms.

[. . . . ] Starting in Ledo, the road was originally called "Ledo Road" and was later renamed after US General Joseph Stilwell (1883-1946), Chief of Staff of the Allied Forces.

The road was constructed under the direct supervision of General Stilwell in 1942, connecting some sections of the old 'Burma Road', stretching from Kunming.

Some 60 kms of the Stilwell Road lie in India, 1,000 kms in Myanmar and more than 600 kms in China. [. . . . ]

How very intriguing. Lately, on one day, this website received 6 visits from Myanmar / Burma. Someone working on the road?




Govt, Industry hail transnational gas pipeline via Bangladesh and here

Kolkarta, Jan 14 (UNI). . . agreement signed in Yangon [Rangoon] for a transnational gas pipeline from Myanmar to India via Bangladesh [. . . . ]

India, China to Make Gains on Trade Apr. 11, 05, Reuters

[. . . . ] Wen and his 150-strong delegation will also discuss how to expand trade between two of the world's largest economies, with the eventual establishment of a free trade zone on the agenda.

The Chinese leader's first stop in India was the southern high-tech capital of Bangalore, home to such world-leading information technology firms as Infosys Technologies and Wipro and the flagship of India's technology aspirations.

"If India and China cooperate in the IT industry, we will be able to lead the world ... and it will signify the coming of the Asian century of the IT industry," Wen said on Sunday.

India also wants to discuss how the energy-hungry nations can cooperate in the race for stakes in foreign oil and gas projects. [. . . . ]

A company from India has bought the mill that had been closed in Nacawic, NB, I understand.




Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at International Technology Park Ltd. Bangalore

India, China will beat the world in IT Apr. 11, 05

[. . . . ] Jiabao, who has landed up with a battery of high-profile business executive, representing over 140 Chinese companies, called for greater ties in chip designing and a few niche hi-tech areas.

Top executives from several large Chinese companies like ZTE, Sino Steel, Huawei and Dalian Shide, apart from other small and medium-sized companies, were present in the delegation to explore new business opportunities with Indian companies. [. . . . ]

Wen for Indian software in Chinese hardware -- "in the area of remote sensing" The Tribune / PTI, Chandigarh, India, Apr. 11, 05

[. . . . ] Wen [Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao] kicked off his four-day trip by interacting with honchos of India’s biggest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services and visiting ISRO’s satellite development centre here.

[. . . . ] India already has a memorandum of understanding with China is space applications in the area of remote sensing.

“We are in touch with CNSA (China National Space Agency),” [ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair] said. [. . . . ]

Food for thought: Green 'karela' for Red China Times of India, Indrani Bagchi, Apr. 11, 05

[. . . . ] Among the agreements to be signed on Monday, one will be on India building a Buddhist temple in Luoyang, in the central Chinese Henan province. To be housed in the White Horse Temple (or Baima Si) complex, the temple will be a showcase of Indian Buddhist architecture. India will also gift a statue of the Buddha [. . . . ]

How ironic. Other religions / spiritual groups don't fare as well in China--think Falun Gong--but, where there is an opportunity . . . all the stops are pulled out.




China to support India for permanent UNSC seat April 11, 05,

[. . . . ] "People in the UN are now discussing expansion.there are many different ideas, I don't want to make any specific remark on that. I don't want to influence it in any way," Chinese envoy to New Delhi Sun Yuxi had told reporters earlier this month before Wen's four-day India visit.

Japan, India, Germany and Brazil have launched a joint bid to win permanent seats on the Security Council. Veto-wielding power is currently in the hands of five powers, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, in a system rewarding the winners of World War II. [. . . . ]

India, China to Make Gains on Trade Reuters, Apr. 11, 05

Wen's visit is being welcomed as a chance to forge a new era in relations by some analysts, although some sections of industry remain wary of a flood of cheap Chinese imports, which have captured a significant share of low-end consumer sales in India. [. . . . ]

Premier: China and India to establish closer partnership People's Daily Online, China, Apr. 11, 05

Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Monday in New Delhi that China and India would establish closer partnership relations.

He told reporters after an official reception honored to him by his counterpart Manmohan Singh "We will establish closer partnership, we will finalize political guiding principles for solving border issue and we will announce the 5-year plan for economic and trade cooperation after my talks with Singh." [. . . . ]