Beijing is to make condoms more accessible in its hotels, nightclubs and construction sites, according to a meeting on the city’s health work on Saturday.

The move came amid the municipal government’s tightened efforts to prevent sexually-transmitted diseases.

Guesthouses, hotels and scenic resorts are all required to put condoms in toilets, and night clubs, bathing centers and major construction sites should have condom-selling vendors installed.

The condoms shall not be used as evidence of prostitution and whoring, according to the meeting.

Beijing Municipal AIDS Prevention and Control Working Committee, the organization that launched the campaign, has urged local public security bureaus and health bodies to organize trainings for hotel managers on the promotion of condom use. (Xinhua; March 31, 2008)

Surely, there will be more hair band stock after the Games. Would you like to import them? Read this: Hair band from China - made of recycled condom.

An eastern coastal state in India has decided to retain the world’s oldest pigeon post service despite the communication technology revolution sweeping across the country.

While the Internet and mobile phone are contemporary buzzwords, the Orissa state police is adamant in preserving the pigeon post as a heritage, though new innovations had encroached into the birds’ stellar role in modern Indian society.

The 1,400 birds of Orissa’s Police Pigeon Courier Service - considered the world’s last pigeon courier — had been ordered not to flee their lofts despite of government’s repeated pressure to avert unnecessary state expenditure.

B. N. Das, the Superintendent of Signals at the pigeon service headquarters in Cuttack, said the pigeon post service, started in 1946, would continue although pigeon couriers are not frequently used, as in the past, but it was useful during times of calamity.

“We still feel that the machine sometimes faults but not the birds because courier pigeons are able to reach isolated communities cut off by floods and earthquakes,” he told Bernama.

The Auditor-General’s office put the cost at about 500,000 India Rupees (USD 12,530 / EUR 8,000) a year to maintain this pigeon courier fleet.

But the undaunted Das said the expenditure on the pigeon post service was “very low” and it was unfair to reduce the winged service to merely a museum showpiece.

“Its only cost 30 paise (three sen) to maintain each bird everyday, so there is no plan for us to close down the service,” he added.

A total of 810 well-fed pigeons make up the roster at the headquarters of the Orissa Police Pigeon Courier Service in Cuttack and there are 574 in other neighbouring stations.

In the barracks, in the 26 lofts, these birds are minded and trained by 26 pigeon constables. These trained pigeons could cover up to 700 to 800 km carrying written messages tied on their tiny legs and return to their base stations without any hassle.

Although rarely called into active service, pigeons are still trained to perform an array of messenger duties, including transporting messages back to the headquarters and the cleverest pigeons deliver messages to a number of addresses.

During the 1982 floods when Orissa was devastated, with all communications network snapped, pigeons played a gallant role in carrying messages and even as late as 1999 during the supercyclone havoc, the birds still ferried mails.

The pigeon post may find it hard to compete with their new fancy rivals like the e-mail, but at least in states like Orissa, their service is much appreciated.

By P. Vijian -BERNAMA-

Come and celebrate Songkran Festival (a.k.a Thai New Year) in Thailand from April 13 to April 15 every year.

The word “Songkran” means move or change so this festival is the period that the sun moves close to our earth and all southeastern people regard this time as their new year. Moreover, this period is also the harvest season.

India is the first country holding this festival before the end of the year but there wasn’t water war as today. After this festival spread over the Asia, water started to play the vital role in celebration, being the symbol of richness.

There are three days for this festival:

First day is called Songkran day, the last day of the year. People will clean their home to welcome the coming New Year.

Second day is Wan Nao. People will bathe the Buddha image and all children will Rod-nam-dum-hua (pour water on the hands of revered elders and ask for blessing) their parents. Furthermore, they believed that saying the rough word on that day will bring the bad luck.

The last is Payawan Day, the beginning day of New Year. People will make merit for their happiness. In the north, they will bring a timber to prop the big tree for their long life. All male and female teenagers will water each other for removing all bad things. This is only one day that they will meet each other, doing activities at the temple together.

Photo: AraiGordai

News source: At-Bangkok dot Com

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Try this. Go to your Google screen, type ‘5 star airline’, click ‘Search’ button and then proceed to click the top link.

You will find all the 5 Star Airlines are from Asia! They are:

• Asiana Airlines (South Korea)
• Malaysia Airlines (Malaysia)
• Qatar Airways (Qatar)
• Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
• Cathay Pacific Airways (Hong Kong)
• Kingfisher Airlines (India)

SKYTRAX defines 5 Star as “The ultimate sign of Quality Approval, awarded to airlines achieving the highest overall Quality performance. The Official 5 Star Airline® ranking recognizes the highest standard of Product across assessment categories, and consistently high standards of Staff Service delivery in both the Onboard and Airport environments.

The Official 5 Star Airline® ranking recognizes those airlines at the forefront of product and service delivery excellence; often setting trends to be followed by other airlines.”

There are 259 airlines in the list. Please go through carefully. It’s for your comfort and safety.

So far, I’m lucky. I flew with Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and Cathay Pacific Airways only.