With the development of drones, airliners’ safety has been threatened in recent years. Since the beginning of 2017, the safety of some airliners was influenced by drones.

Huang Hao, vice-general manager from Baiyun International Airport, said they are designing an electronic fence to block unmanned aircraft from flying in sensitive areas.

Huang also said they will establish the electronic fence to block UVA within airport boundaries. Once UVA enters into its boundary, the electronic fence system will disturb the UVA system and make it return automatically. Also, the Baiyun International Airport will cooperate with the local government and the police to strengthen the safety campaign and the daily monitor.

Yang Jieqiong, the deputy secretary-general of Shenzhen UAV Industry Association, said that there are more than 50,000 unmanned aerial vehicle (UVA) players in China, and more than half of them are in the Pearl River Delta region. The number of the UVA players is still increasing rapidly. Most of players do not have qualifications for UVA operation.

Technical measures could be taken to block UVA from the airport, said Yang. However, these technical measures have not been used in airports in Guangdong Province. Moreover, Yang calls for strengthening law enforcement and establishing real-name registration system for UVA players to ensure the safety of airliners.

The electronic fence is expected to be launched within the year.

Third Phase- Date of Poll 19.02.2017

The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 54.49 per barrel (bbl) on 15.02.2017. This was lower than the price of US$ 54.79 per bbl on previous publishing day of 14.02.2017.

The Chinese tradition of giving monetary gifts on wedding or funeral banquets has been around for centuries, but the hosting of various banquets aiming to make money has become an unbearable burden especially in rural areas.

Hosting banquets under different pretexts aiming to make money has become an unbearable burden especially in rural areas. [Photo: Xinhua]

During important occasions like weddings and funerals, the family would host open-air banquets for friends and relatives, and those who are invited will pay an amount of money, depending on closeness, as a gesture of affection and care.

“I spent over 40,000 yuan (US$ 5,824) last year on various banquets,” said a winery boss surnamed Yang in a small town in central China’s Hunan Province. “This way of returning other’s favor is really costly.”

In some places, however, banquets are also held for various reasons. Moving into a new house, family members getting enrolled into college and celebrating someone’s birthday are some of the justifiable excuses. And there could be also not-so-justifiable ones like hosting a banquet to “prevent miscarriage” for pregnant women and to “start a new life” after being released from prison.

Relief fund used for monetary gifts

Those banquets could be a huge burden for some people, especially in rural areas.

“The average annual income of a farmer is between 30,000 and 40,000 yuan, and some people are spending half of it to pay for monetary gifts on those occasions,” said Lyu Caifu, a farmer at the Three Gorges Reservoir Region in Chongqing Municipality.

Some low-income families are even drawing on their government allowance for those banquets, he added.

Hosting banquets under different pretexts has grown into a vicious cycle. Understandably, those who have paid could rack their brains to find any excuses for others to return the favor.

Tightened regulatory measures

Many places have rolled out measures to cure the “endemic” disease, with some targeting party and government officials and some the general public as well.

Regulations may vary from region to region but they mostly forbid any banquets except for wedding and funerals and limit the scale as well as attendees of those events.

As for punishment, party cadres are regulated based on party discipline. Some have even been removed from their current posts and expelled from party membership; non-party members were often investigated by the public security department or food and drug regulators. For example, a town in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region stipulated that the violator will be disqualified from enjoying subsistence allowances.

Some places have seen preliminary results. “Much of our burden has been lifted since then,” said Yao Qiong, a self-employed business owner in a small town of Chongqing.

In the past, the average annual amount paid on banquets was over 40,000 yuan, and the number has reduced to only 3,000 yuan after the campaign.

There were also some controversial measures adopted during the campaign. Some cities even banned wedding banquets for second marriages and a declaration needs to be filed ahead of hosting a banquet.

“Local government has the responsibility to curb unhealthy customs, but it should never cross the line,” said Li Ping, a professor at Renmin University of China (RUC). Li advised the local community to formulate its own rules after soliciting opinions from the masses and lead the transformation of old habits in a step by step manner.

If you buy your own home and save for your old age you end up paying for your own stay in a care home should you need one.  If you rent your home and spend all your earnings the state will pay for your time in the care home at the end of your life.

All parties in government have wrestled with this paradox. The prudent pay more tax, and end up losing their capital if they need long term care. All parties have so far concluded it is too dear to offer free stays in care homes to all who need them. All have rightly concluded if someone without any assets needs looking after in old age the state needs to step in to help.

The resulting structure is complex and cumbersome. All individuals have a right to free health care from the NHS. The amounts and cost of NHS care usually escalate dramatically in the final years of a long life. Any time a person spends in hospital provides them with free board and lodging as well as health care. The aim, however, is to enforce a rigid distinction between health care – drugs, doctors time, operations – which are free, and social care including board and lodging which is  only free if you have no money of your own. The elderly person staying in hospital has an adjustment made to their state benefits and pension to reflect their reduced living costs.

The children are third parties in the struggle between  elderly person and the state over what the state will and will not pay for.  With elderly people living into their 90s, the children are often  pensioners themselves by the time the issue gets intense. Some seem to think they have a right to inherit the “family home” or the home of their parents. This is not normally the actual family home they lived in 60 years earlier, as people usually move on. Others say that if the elderly person has moved into a care home and is not going to move back to his or her home, it is only reasonable the property is sold and the money raised is used to pay the care home bills. No-one argues the children have to pay the care home bills of any elderly person who does not have the money to pay, though some chose to.

With social care back on the agenda, I would be interested in further views on what is the right balance between private payments and state assistance. Should prudence be better rewarded? If so, how?