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International News

From The Asian Reporter, V18, #17 (April 22, 2008), page 2.

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Authorities in northern India have banned the sale of a cheap variety of hair dye after debt-ridden farmers were found drinking it to end their lives, an official said. At least 11 farmers have died from swallowing the hair dye in a drought-hit region of Uttar Pradesh state in the past three months, said Rajiv Agarwal, a senior state official. Two-thirds of India’s 1.1 billion people depend on agriculture, and most have been left out of India’s economic boom. In parts of western and southern India, the dire economic state of farmers has been blamed for thousands of suicides in recent years. The hair dye leads to kidney failure, said Ganesh Kumar, principal of the Maharani Lakshmi Bai Medical College. "We have banned the sale of the cheap dye made locally in Uttar Pradesh state," Agarwal told The Associated Press. The state’s rugged Bundelkhand region has been battling a severe drought caused by the failure of monsoon rains for the past four years. Poor farmers often borrow money from banks or private lenders to buy seeds and meet family expenses. Some commit suicide after failing to repay the loans because of crop failures.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Hollywood giant Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Inc. plans to build a movie theme park near South Korea’s major international airport, an official said. MGM and Incheon International Airport Corp. signed a preliminary agreement in January to construct the theme park by 2011 in a site near the airport, west of Seoul, said airport official Lee Kyu-jin. MGM earlier planned to build the theme park in Busan, but cancelled the plan due to differences over land prices and other matters, Lee said. The theme park — which will be MGM’s first in Asia — will likely include an amusement park, hotels, studio sets, and restaurants, he said. The park is expected to attract 7 million visitors per year, including those from China and Japan, and create up to 20,000 new jobs, he said. The sides will meet again to discuss other details on the park such as when to start building it, he said.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Tens of thousands of Bangladeshis gathered in parks and other open spaces to herald the Bengali New Year with traditional concerts, fairs, and foods. Men, women, and children — most dressed in white and red — also joined colorful parades to celebrate Pahela Baishakh, the first day of the new Bengali year 1415. Parts of downtown Dhaka, the national capital, were closed to traffic while extra police were deployed at celebration venues. Police used metal detectors to check revellers at the popular Ramna Park, where 11 people were killed in a bomb attack during celebrations in 2001. No one has been tried for that attack, but authorities have blamed it on Muslim extremists who oppose public entertainment. At this year’s celebration, a gas cylinder used to inflate balloons exploded at a lakeside fairground in a residential area. At least one person was hospitalized with serious injuries from the blast, police officer Alamgir Kabir said. The Bengali calendar — based on a harvest cycle — was adopted in the 16th century by the region’s Mogul rulers to facilitate tax collection. The calendar is still widely used in villages and among merchants, who settle old accounts and open new ledgers on the first day of the Bengali year. Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation, officially follows the Gregorian calendar.

BEIJING (AP) — Beijing has backtracked on a proposed public smoking ban ahead of this summer’s Olympics, with a city official saying restaurants will no longer be included due to concerns it would hurt their business. Lighting up in restaurants will be allowed after the citywide ban goes into effect May 1 as long as they have separate smoking and nonsmoking areas, said Zhang Peili, an official with Beijing’s municipal government supervising the ban. Restaurants that do not comply will be fined 5,000 yuan ($714), Zhang said, though she added that implementing the regulation would be "extremely difficult." "There is a Chinese saying that tobacco and alcohol always come together. This has developed into the Chinese people’s habit," she said. The China Daily newspaper reported bars and internet cafés would also be exempt from the ban after originally being included. Beijing pledged to hold a smoke-free Olympics, and last month proposed a smoking ban in government offices, sports venues, hospitals, and museums. Chinese media reported it would also be extended to primary and secondary school campuses. Last October, Beijing banned smoking in the city’s 66,000 taxis, threatening drivers with a 200 yuan ($29) fine if they are caught.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A volcano in eastern Indonesia recently spewed ash and smoke two and a half miles into the sky, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of nearby villagers, officials said. The eruption of Mount Egon on Flores island was caused by magma coming into contact with water, said Surono, a senior government vulcanologist who uses one name. About 600 residents were evacuated from the village closest to the volcano’s crater after clouds of debris shot into the sky, he said, urging that masks be distributed immediately to protect people from breathing the ash. Indonesia is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes because of its location on the so-called "Ring of Fire," a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.