• briefing asia infrastructure aug 15, 2006 • briefing asia energy aug 15, 2006

China and India.
And from a commercial aspect, Nigeria has been a place where U.S. oil companies have been able to invest for decades, namely ExxonMobil, Chevron, but also smaller companies such as Devon and Conoco-Phillips.
MARTIN: Have these - has Nigeria been a consistent supplier?
Ms. ENFIELD: Yeah.
MARTIN: I mean, has it been able to continue to export, despite the political instability that they've experienced over the years? Political turmoil, I should say.
Ms. ENFIELD: Yeah, as you mentioned earlier, Nigeria is among the top five exporters to the United States after Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Venezuela. But the reason why Nigerian crude is especially important is the type of crude that Nigeria produces is classified light sweet, meaning that when you refine it in U.S. refineries, you get a very high yield of clean products, which are gasoline and diesel, which is what we use here in this country.
So Nigerian crude is desired on a global market, because it's a very specific type of crude; it's used in U.S. refineries, and last year, as we saw with the outages after Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico, Nigerian crude was able to substitute a lot of that crude production that was out. So very important to U.S. refining, refiners.
MARTIN: Let me just pause briefly to say, you're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.
Monica, do - are the oil companies concerned about this phenomenon of these pipeline explosions?
Ms. ENFIELD: Yes.
MARTIN: What is their analysis of why this is happening?
Ms. ENFIELD: Well, certainly oil companies, U.S. and European alike, are worried about their social license to operate in the Niger Delta, as well as around the world.
Just to put it in context, you know, Shell Oil Company has been there since the 1950s, and many of these companies have operated and produced oil and extract oil throughout various periods of Nigerian history, some were more violent than others. The Bakassi - I'm sorry, not the Bakassi Rebellion, but other periods of Nigerian history.
They are concerned now, because there seems to be a lot more militant and criminal activity. These are no longer just groups that are willing to attack you in a speedboat, but have much more sophisticated weapons. And the volumes that they're able to impact are much higher than in the past. For example, since January and February, some attacks that occurred in Bayelsa State, there are over 500,000 barrels a day of production shut in, still. This is in contrast to a few years back, when these levels were about 125, 150,000 barrels per day.
So, from a global oil market standpoint, we have such tight capacity around the world; 500,000 barrels is a lot of oil to be out.
MARTIN: Do U.S. corporations feel a pressure to improve the human rights or the sense of social equity in Nigeria as a way to forestall these attacks, or at least to try to stop these attacks?
I mean, there's a bumper sticker that you often see around town, it says, you know, if you want peace, work for justice. And is there a sense among corporations that perhaps they might have to do that, whether or not they consider that their core responsibility, just in order to protect their business?
Ms. ENFIELD: Yes, and I would say that they've been doing this for a few years now. I know that Chevron has spent at least $45 million in community development programs alone in Nigeria over the past 20 years. So there's a company that has been in the Niger Delta for that long. And everything from schools and roads and hospitals, but this is a new and sophisticated approach, doing much more comprehensive programs. For example, the River State Development Initiative, which brings the U.S. government, U.K. government, World Bank, other organizations together, to do a much more comprehensive and macro approach to development. I think they all realize this, but this certainly isn't their core of expertise. Their expertise is the oil and gas industry, not social development. But it is something that the oil companies are taking very seriously.
MARTIN: Are they asking the United States government to do anything, either diplomatically or politically - to participate in helping them protect their investment in the country?
Ms. ENFIELD: Well, I think the U.S. government has their own initiatives. I don't want to speak for an oil company, but the U.S. government certainly is working with the Nigerian Navy to help better protect shallow and deep water areas, their Coast Guard and their Navy to help combat these militants, as well as generally improving governance in the region. But, as far as I know, this River State Development Program is the first time that so many actors are brought together. It includes the U.S. government, the USAID, and the oil companies.
MARTIN: I'm sorry, tell me more about this. It's an effort to what, sort of target development in this area? How effective do you think this initiative has been, or is it just too soon to really assess?
Ms. ENFIELD: It's just now getting off the ground, but past initiatives, everything from the Niger Delta Development Initiative and others, have not been terribly successful because of reasons such as corruption and others. So I think a lot of people are looking to this to be a new initiative - led by the Governor, Peter Odili, and others. But it's still too soon to tell.
MARTIN: When we come back from a short break, we'll talk more about Nigeria and oil and how it affects us. Plus, the floodwater is receding in the Northeast and New Englander's are assessing the damage. If you were affected by the flooding, we want to hear from you. The number is 800-989-8255, that's 800-989- TALK.
I'm Michel Martin. It's TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.
(Soundbite of music)
(Soundbite of upcoming news)
(Soundbite of music)
(Soundbite of headlines)
MARTIN: But first, Nigeria's oil, a blessing and a curse.
Our guests are Monica Enfield. She's a manager at PFC Energy, a consulting firm specializing in the international oil and gas industry. And now, we want to bring in another voice, Christopher Albin-Lackey, a Nigerian researcher at Human Rights Watch. And he's joining us from his office in New York.
Christopher, thank you for joining us.
CHRISTOPHER ALBIN-LACKEY (Researcher, Human Rights Watch, Nigeria): Good afternoon. Thanks.
MARTIN: What role do you think the oil industry - I don't mean the industry, in terms of sort as corporate entities, but the dominance of oil as a part of Nigeria's economy. Does that - how does that affect the human rights situation in Nigeria?
Mr. ALBIN-LACKEY: I think most people agree that that fact lies at the heart of many, maybe most of Nigeria's human rights problems.
MARTIN: Why is that?
Mr. ALBIN-LACKEY: As oil’s come to dominate the economy and has returns far greater than any other kind of economic activity in the country, it's sort of generated pressures that have led the political system in the country, as a whole, to become centered around struggle for control of a piece of the cake, as it's often referred to in Nigeria, that comes from having control over a piece of the oil sector of the economy.
MARTIN: What do you mean? Are you saying that there's just so much money to be had? In a way, it's like the - like the - like the illicit drug industry in some other countries, that it generates so much money that it becomes irresistible to various political factions, what have you?
Mr. ALBIN-LACKEY: Well, it's also the source of revenue that is less accountable than other forms of government revenue might be. It's not raised or taxation. Most people in Nigeria don't have any very clear idea of how much money is actually involved. The politicians throughout Nigeria, especially at the state and local level and especially in the Niger Delta, have a richly- deserved reputation for siphoning off huge amounts of money that, if they were put into development projects or other worthwhile initiatives, it would have a huge impact on the ordinary lives of many Nigerians.
And discontent over that state of affairs, especially in the Delta, where most communities find themselves with almost nothing in the way of amenities that should be provided by government, but, at the same time, are consciously aware of just how much money is being generated from the ground beneath their feet. That state of affairs has fueled a huge amount of discontent that has led to some of the violence in the region and has been, in some cases, exploited by political leaders and others to create more problems, still.
MARTIN: Let's take - let's bring in a caller at this point. Let's go to Boston and Gerald(ph). Gerald, what's your question?
GERALD (Caller): Yes.
MARTIN: Gerald, what's your question?
GERALD: Okay, my question, yeah, I'm very glad you guys took my call. I have a question, but I'll put it in first like a comment. Why do the American corporations, the oil companies from America, couldn't do the right thing? For example, put the oil pipeline underground. Your guest said correctly that there's no way you can see any pipeline in America; they're all underground. And again, why can't they just foresee? You know, look at Texas, Dallas and Houston. You see the effect of - or the result of oil being over there. Why can't Niger Delta (unintelligible) say, enough is enough. Give us some, you know, (unintelligible) down there.
MARTIN: Okay, Joe. Thank you so much for your question.
Christopher, I think I'm going to ask you this question, simply because it's kind of posed as a question of why - I think I would cast it this way: Who would be accountable for asking the oil companies to do this? I mean, isn't that a governmental responsibility? And if so, are they not - do they not see themselves in a position to make demands of this type, to ask for greater safety safeguards, or things of that sort?
And, Christopher, I'd like to hear from you, and then I'd also like to hear from Monica on this point.
Mr. ALBIN-LACKEY: I think there are two sides to the answer to that question.
On the one hand, it's quite clear that, historically, oil companies operating in Nigeria have not done enough to stand up to meet their own responsibilities, in terms of ensuring that the impact of what they're doing on the communities in the Niger Delta is as minimal as possible in terms of its environmental impact and other negative consequences.
But, at the same time, you're right, it is the responsibility of the Nigerian government, at the end of the day, both to see that oil companies are regulated and also to see that the proceeds of the oil industry are reinvested into communities in a way that addresses some of the underlying social causes of all of the problems there.
And I think that while it's perfectly right to call attention to some of the failings of the oil companies in Nigeria, at the end of the day, none of these problems can be solved until government in Nigeria - and not just the federal government, but at all levels - takes it's own responsibility more seriously in that regard.
MARTIN: Monica?
Ms. ENFIELD: I was just going to add that, in the case of the product pipeline in Lagos, it's a series of islands and so forth, so it's also a limit on geology and geography. The Niger Delta, where the bulk of oil production comes from, is a series of mangroves and swamps and so forth. Many of those pipelines are above ground simply because they can't be below ground given the nature of the area.
But I do agree with the previous guest about the level of environmental regulation. It could be improved, and if you have a system there - you have a series of institutions and regulations, and you tell the oil companies to do this, then they can do it. They do it in other countries around the world.
MARTIN: Christopher, we're down to our last couple of seconds, but I wanted to ask you, what would - let me phrase the question this way. Some analysts suggest that the drive to democratize in Nigeria has also been a mixed blessing in the same way that the oil wealth has been a mixed blessing, in that the increased political competition has encouraged some sort of political actors to siphon off oil wealth to support their kind of political regimes, or to kind of to enhance their own sort of political standing.
I mean, that that’s kind of part of it that this sometimes takes a violent turn. If that’s the case – if you agree that that’s the case, is there any appropriate role for outside entities, outside governments, to help this process along, to create a more appropriate form of political competition?
Mr. ALBIN-LACKEY: Well, I think there’s some truth in that, but I don’t think it’s right to say that democratization in Nigeria is a mixed blessing. The problems that you’re pointing out really have to do with the limitations – the limits on the extent to which the country actually has started to become more democratic.
As you point out, there are political leaks at all levels of the country that are, themselves, directly involved in the illegal oil bunkering trade in Nigeria, and involved in finding ways to try to protect their own interests in that trade. And to the extent that political competition has helped to fuel violence in the Niger Delta, which it certainly has, that’s a reflection of very undemocratic politics, of a style of politics where the person with the most money and patronage to distribute, and unfortunately the most muscle, is often the one who emerges triumphant in any political contest.
MARTIN: And briefly, Christopher, because we’re really are just down to our last couple of seconds. Is there anything that the U.S. or the U.N. or other outside entities can appropriately do to support democratization or appropriate political development in Nigeria?
Mr. ALBIN-LACKEY: Yes, there’s room for support; more importantly, I think, there’s a need for more pressure. Western governments have, historically, not done enough to pressure Nigeria into democratizing more quickly – in a more real way, because so much attention is focused on western interests in the oil industry. It tends to distract attention from more fundamental issues.
MARTIN: Christopher Albin-Lackey is a Nigeria Researcher at Human Rights Watch; he joined us from his office in New York. Thank you so much.
Mr. ALBIN-LACKEY: Thank you.
MARTIN: And Monica Enfield is a manager at PFC Energy, a consulting firm specializing in the international oil and gas industry; she joined us here in studio 3A. Thank you, also, for joining us.
Ms. ENFIELD: Thank you.
Document TOTN000020060519e25i00003

VOA NEWS: CHINA FLEXES ITS ECONOMIC MUSCLE IN AFRICA
787 words

8 May 2006

US Fed News

INDFED

English

© Copyright 2006. Hindustan Times. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON, May 8 -- The Voice of America issued the following story:
By William Eagle
Africa is becoming an increasingly important trade and investment partner for the People's Republic of China. Nearly 700 Chinese companies now invest in Africa, with trade reaching over 30 billion dollars a year. Today China is Africa's third largest trading partner, ahead of Britain and France. Much of that rise is due to an increase in inexpensive exports, including textiles, from China to Africa; a second factor is China's growing dependence on African oil.
Africans welcome China's offer of trade and aid, which can be seen in the country's involvement in oil fields in Sudan, Angola, Kenya and Nigeria; vegetable farms in Zambia; a lucrative construction trade in Botswana; mines in central and southern Africa; and telecommunications, road and rail lines in Ethiopia. China also helped launched Nigeria's first space satellite.
Sanusha Naidu is a research specialist the Human Sciences Research Council in Durban. She told English to Africa reporter William Eagle that much of Africa now looks to China: "The way in which China has emerged in the global economy means that everyone wants to be seen as doing business with [Beijing]…. Everyone wants a relationship with an economy that's recording up to 10% growth rates. And the incredible consumerism that emerges within China - you want those products in there."
That's particularly true of South African companies, which are trying to gain a foothold in China's enormous domestic market. They include mining companies SASOL and Kumba Resources and beer brewer SABMiller. China's own growing urban population means a greater demand for food and potential market for southern African food and livestock exports.
In return for low-interest loans and aid, China asks that African countries accept its "one-China" policy and drop relations with Taiwan. (As a result, all but about six of Africa's 53 countries have now done so). And, unlike many western countries, China promises that its aid and investment comes without pre-conditions requiring promises of good governance, a reduction in corruption, or democratization.
Naidu adds, "In the case of Nigeria, it will be very interesting considering the latest visit by [Chinese] president Hu Jintao. They signed a memorandum of cooperation…and the Chinese companies were given first preference in four licenses [regarding] offshore oil drilling. [The Chinese don't bring up] the third term debate for President Obasanjo and changing the constitution. [By contrast] if you see what the US is arguing for and the [recent] visit there by US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, [for the Nigerians, it meant] a need to begin thinking about political reform, increased transparency and political governance, accountability and allowing for the democratic process to emerge. For [other] countries with bad human rights records or who do not have (an economic or political) profile with the West, the Chinese are seen as an open line (of credit) they can trade with."
But Naidu says some are concerned about the growing number of cheap goods on the African market. Textile manufacturers complain that Chinese products are driving them out of business. Chinese companies, and businesses that deal with them often hire Chinese laborers rather than local help.
Naidu says, "Last year, a contract awarded to a Chinese consortium, CITIC-ARCE, by Steelmaker Ispat Iskor allowed for several hundred Chinese workers to be brought into South Africa to construct Ispat Iskor's plant in northern KwaZulu Natal. There are also indications from Sasol, South Africa's energy company that it would import 2000 qualified artisans mainly from Asia due to domestic shortages in the local economy. Now this has raised questions about what is the responsibility of South African companies towards addressing South Africa's unemployment crisis and skills deficiencies. If they see it is easier to get foreign workers to come in, then there will obviously be a backlash. This is happening not only in South Africa but in other parts of Africa as well."
Naidu believes the Sino-African relationship will strengthen in years to come, although she says Africans need to better study the Chinese market so that Beijing's economic opening to Africa guarantees that everyone wins. The alternative would be a situation resembling colonial times, with Africa continuing to ship inexpensive raw materials to the industrialized world, which in turn would sell the finished products back to the continent. Historically, it's a formula that leads to continuing under-development.
Listen to interview with China specialist Sanusha Naidu: http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/english/2006_05/Audio/mp3/Eagle_China_Naidu_One.mp3
HTS hppb 060509-430455 PBORA
Document INDFED0020060509e258000mv

Intel Unveils Mobile Personal Computer
By MATT SLAGLE

AP Technology Writer

509 words

3 May 2006

08:27 PM

Associated Press Newswires

APRS

English

(c) 2006. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The head of the world's largest chip maker on Wednesday unveiled a mobile personal computer designed to provide affordable collaborative learning environments for teachers and students around the world.
Intel Corp. Chief Executive Paul Otellini said the $400 machines -- code-named "Eduwise" -- will feature built-in wireless and will be able to run Microsoft Corp.'s Windows or the Linux operating system.
"What we want to do is accelerate to uncompromised technology for everyone in the world," Otellini said during a demonstration at the World Congress on Information Technology in Austin. "No one wants to cross the digital divide with yesterday's technology."
The flip-open Eduwise computer includes a handle, light blue accents and snaps shut like a purse. Special software allows students in a classroom to view presentations, take tests and interact individually with their teachers using a built-in wireless connection.
The cheaper PCs are part of a $1 billion investment by Intel over the next five years to promote the use of computers in schools, cafes and other public spots in developing countries, Otellini said.
The Eduwise machine was designed by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel but will be built by its computer-making customers. Otellini said the devices should be available next year.
Many high-tech companies, including Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Microsoft, have announced similar initiatives in an effort close the digital divide between developed and developing nations.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nicholas Negroponte's nonprofit One Laptop Per Child association hopes to begin providing $100 laptops to millions of children in China, India, Egypt, Brazil, Thailand, Nigeria and Argentina by early 2007.
Tentative designs call for a machine that uses one-tenth of the power of conventional laptops, a 7-inch screen and the Linux operating system. The project's partners include Google Inc. and AMD.
In an earlier speech at the conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the benefits of the global spread of technology are only starting to be felt.
"What we see going forward over the next five, ten, 15 years is a world of technology that has the potential itself to be even more important than the positive change it has enabled society in the past ten years," he said. "Computers will see, computers will listen, computers will understand. Computers will help the world grow smaller and help people to collaborate in new ways."
Also Wednesday, Otellini said Intel had reached a deal with the Mexican government to provide new, low-cost PCs to 300,000 teachers by the end of this year.
"The federal government of Mexico has made great progress in bringing computing into the primary and secondary school classrooms of our country," Mexican President Vicente Fox said in a prepared statement.
Fox didn't attend the conference but gave a short speech that was projected on two large video screens.
------
On the Net:
World Congress: http://www.wcit2006.org
7
image | 6a83b9a6-3bad-4349-95a2-af31d9c45328
Document APRS000020060504e2540006a

Intel unveils new low-cost PC for developing nations
By MATT SLAGLE

AP Technology Writer

507 words

3 May 2006

07:25 PM

Associated Press Newswires

APRS

English

(c) 2006. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The head of the world's largest chip maker on Wednesday unveiled a mobile personal computer designed to provide affordable collaborative learning environments for teachers and students around the world.
Intel Corp. Chief Executive Paul Otellini said the $400 machines -- code-named "Eduwise" -- will feature built-in wireless and will be able to run Microsoft Corp.'s Windows or the Linux operating system.
"What we want to do is accelerate to uncompromised technology for everyone in the world," Otellini said during a demonstration at the World Congress on Information Technology in Austin. "No one wants to cross the digital divide with yesterday's technology."
The flip-open Eduwise computer includes a handle, light blue accents and snaps shut like a purse. Special software allows students in a classroom to view presentations, take tests and interact individually with their teachers using a built-in wireless connection.
The cheaper PCs are part of a $1 billion investment by Intel over the next five years to promote the use of computers in schools, cafes and other public spots in developing countries, Otellini said.
The Eduwise machine was designed by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel but will be built by its computer-making customers. Otellini said the devices should be available next year.
Many high-tech companies, including Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Microsoft, have announced similar initiatives in an effort close the digital divide between developed and developing nations.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nicholas Negroponte's nonprofit One Laptop Per Child association hopes to begin providing $100 laptops to millions of children in China, India, Egypt, Brazil, Thailand, Nigeria and Argentina by early 2007.
Tentative designs call for a machine that uses one-tenth of the power of conventional laptops, a 7-inch screen and the Linux operating system. The project's partners include Google Inc. and AMD.
In an earlier speech at the conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the benefits of the global spread of technology are only starting to be felt.
"What we see going forward over the next five, ten, 15 years is a world of technology that has the potential itself to be even more important than the positive change it has enabled society in the past ten years," he said. "Computers will see, computers will listen, computers will understand. Computers will help the world grow smaller and help people to collaborate in new ways."
Also Wednesday, Otellini said Intel had reached a deal with the Mexican government to provide new, low-cost PCs to 300,000 teachers by the end of this year.
"The federal government of Mexico has made great progress in bringing computing into the primary and secondary school classrooms of our country," Mexican President Vicente Fox said in a prepared statement.
Fox didn't attend the conference but gave a short speech that was projected on two large video screens.
------
On the Net:
World Congress: http://www.wcit2006.org
7
Document APRS000020060503e253003hv

Intel unveils new low-cost PC for developing nations
By MATT SLAGLE

AP Technology Writer

578 words

3 May 2006

06:39 PM

Associated Press Newswires

APRS

English

(c) 2006. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
AUSTIN (AP) - The head of the world's largest chipmaker on Wednesday unveiled a new mobile personal computer designed to provide affordable, collaborative learning environments for teachers and young students.
Codenamed "Eduwise," Intel Corp. Chief Executive Paul Otellini said the $400 (euro317) machines will feature built-in wireless and will be able to run Microsoft Corp.'s Windows or Linux operating systems.
"What we want to do is accelerate to uncompromised technology for everyone in the world," Otellini said during a demonstration at the World Congress on Information Technology in Austin. "No one wants to cross the digital divide with yesterday's technology."
The flip open Eduwise computer includes a handle, light blue accents and snaps shut like a purse. Special software allows students in a classroom to view presentations, take tests and interact individually with their teachers using a built-in wireless connection.
The cheaper PCs are part of a $1 billion (euro790 million) investment by Intel over the next five years to promote the use of computers in schools, cafes and other public spots in developing countries, Otellini said.
The Eduwise machine was designed by Santa Clara, California-based Intel but will be built by its computer-making customers. Otellini said the devices should be available next year.
Many high-tech companies, including Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Microsoft, have announced similar initiatives to close the digital divide between developed and developing nations.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nicholas Negroponte's nonprofit One Laptop Per Child association hopes to begin providing $100 (euro79) laptops to millions of children in China, India, Egypt, Brazil, Thailand, Nigeria and Argentina by early 2007.
Tentative designs call for a machine using one-tenth of the power of conventional laptops, a 7-inch (17.7-centimeter) screen and a Linux operating system. The project's partners include Google Inc. and AMD.
In an earlier speech at the conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the benefits of this global spread of technology are only starting to be felt.
"What we see going forward over the next five, ten, 15 years is a world of technology that has the potential itself to be even more important than the positive change it has enabled society in the past ten years," he said. "Computers will see, computers will listen, computers will understand. Computers will help the world grow smaller and help people to collaborate in new ways."
Otellini also doubled former Intel CEO Andy Grove's prediction in 1996 that there would someday be more than a billion computers connected to the Internet.
He said the billion mark should be reached by next year, and that figure could double in five years because of cheaper, more powerful computers and the spread of the Internet to rural regions with the deployment of a long-range wireless technology called Wi-Max.
Also Wednesday, Otellini said Intel had reached a deal with the Mexican government to provide new low-cost PCs to 300,000 teachers by the end of this year.
"The federal government of Mexico has made great progress in bringing computing into the primary and secondary school classrooms of our country," Mexican President Vicente Fox said in a prepared statement. Fox didn't attend the conference but gave a short speech that was projected on two large video screens.
------
On the Net:
World Congress: http://www.wcit2006.org
7
Document APRS000020060503e253003h2

Intel unveils new low-cost PC for developing nations
By MATT SLAGLE

AP Technology Writer

571 words

3 May 2006

06:12 PM

Associated Press Newswires

APRS

English

(c) 2006. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
AUSTIN (AP) - The head of the world's largest chipmaker on Wednesday unveiled a new mobile personal computer designed to provide affordable, collaborative learning environments for teachers and young students.
Codenamed "Eduwise," Intel Corp. Chief Executive Paul Otellini said the $400 machines will feature built-in wireless and will be able to run Microsoft Corp.'s Windows or Linux operating systems.
"What we want to do is accelerate to uncompromised technology for everyone in the world," Otellini said during a demonstration at the World Congress on Information Technology in Austin. "No one wants to cross the digital divide with yesterday's technology."
The flip open Eduwise computer includes a handle, light blue accents and snaps shut like a purse. Special software allows students in a classroom to view presentations, take tests and interact individually with their teachers using a built-in wireless connection.
The cheaper PCs are part of a $1 billion investment by Intel over the next five years to promote the use of computers in schools, cafes and other public spots in developing countries, Otellini said.
The Eduwise machine was designed by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel but will be built by its computer-making customers. Otellini said the devices should be available next year.
Many high-tech companies, including Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Microsoft, have announced similar initiatives to close the digital divide between developed and developing nations.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nicholas Negroponte's nonprofit One Laptop Per Child association hopes to begin providing $100 laptops to millions of children in China, India, Egypt, Brazil, Thailand, Nigeria and Argentina by early 2007.
Tentative designs call for a machine using one-tenth of the power of conventional laptops, a 7-inch screen and a Linux operating system. The project's partners include Google Inc. and AMD.
In an earlier speech at the conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the benefits of this global spread of technology are only starting to be felt.
"What we see going forward over the next five, ten, 15 years is a world of technology that has the potential itself to be even more important than the positive change it has enabled society in the past ten years," he said. "Computers will see, computers will listen, computers will understand. Computers will help the world grow smaller and help people to collaborate in new ways."
Otellini also doubled former Intel CEO Andy Grove's prediction in 1996 that there would someday be more than a billion computers connected to the Internet.
He said the billion mark should be reached by next year, and that figure could double in five years because of cheaper, more powerful computers and the spread of the Internet to rural regions with the deployment of a long-range wireless technology called Wi-Max.
Also Wednesday, Otellini said Intel had reached a deal with the Mexican government to provide new low-cost PCs to 300,000 teachers by the end of this year.
"The federal government of Mexico has made great progress in bringing computing into the primary and secondary school classrooms of our country," Mexican President Vicente Fox said in a prepared statement. Fox didn't attend the conference but gave a short speech that was projected on two large video screens.
------
On the Net:
World Congress: http://www.wcit2006.org
7
Document APRS000020060503e253003du
News

The dark side of India's success: Half the world's 146 million undernourished children live in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan

Peter Foster

Daily Telegraph

867 words

2 May 2006

Vancouver Sun

VNCS

Final

A9

English

Copyright © 2006 Vancouver Sun
SHIVPURI, India
SHIVPURI, India -- It is the forgotten face of a new and prosperous India, and it belongs to a little sparrow of a child who is emaciated almost to the point of death.
Her name is Devki and were it not for the intervention of a local health worker she would almost certainly have joined the 1.2 million Indian children who die every year because of malnutrition.
She still might.
While Africa dominates the headlines, the celebrity endorsements and the crisis summits, the reality is that half of the world's 146 million undernourished children live in just three countries -- India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
A report to be published by the United Nation's Children's Fund (Unicef) on Wednesday will offer some sobering statistics about the world's failure to tackle extreme poverty and hunger.
To the outside world, India is striding towards greatness, with an economy growing at eight per cent and potential markets for foreign investors that made India the star of the show at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos.
However in Devki's village of Sersai Khurd in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh 435 kilometres south of Delhi, the benefits of the emerging India seem a very long way off.
A health worker has arrived to check on Devki's weight, and see whether her mother, Gangawati, has been keeping up with the breast feeding program that she was given to try to nurse her baby back to health.
The child is unwrapped to reveal a pitiful little bag of bones whose skin hangs off her like an old man's, but soon she is suckling gratefully at her mother's breast.
The causes of her condition -- Devki was born weighing 2.26 kilograms but within six weeks her weight had fallen to 1.7 kilos -- are as much cultural as they are due to the grinding poverty of Indian village life.
While Devki feeds, her twin brother, Rahul, sleeps contentedly, his limbs plump by comparison with his sister -- stark evidence of the social preference for boys that still rules in India.
The reality, explains a Unicef official, is that when resources are limited -- Devki's family farm just five acres of unproductive land -- boys get preferential treatment, even if that means that girls starve to death.
Back in Shivpuri, the nearest large town, an eight-bed emergency feeding centre is filled with babies like Devki who cry in the midday heat. It could be a scene from an African famine.
One little girl, 18-month-old Kiran, weighed just 4.3 kilos -- less than half the recommended weight of a healthy one-year-old (10 kilos) -- when she was brought to the centre a few weeks ago.
Her mother, Gyan Bai, already has two boys and is almost eight months pregnant with her next child. She has made clear that she must return to her village, even if that means the death of Kiran. The new child must take priority, particularly if it's a boy.
Children as starved as Devki and Kiran are just the tip of an iceberg of poverty that, for all the Mercedes Benz dealerships and new mobile telephone connections, continues to hold back India.
While not starving, almost half of India's children are malnourished, suffering from anemia and vitamin deficiencies which render them unable to defeat infections that cause pneumonia, diarrheal diseases and often death.
India's new middle classes are often insulated from the poverty in which the great majority of Indians still live.
However, research shows that failing to tackle poverty will leave everyone worse off.
A recent World Bank report estimated that failure to tackle nutritional issues could negatively impact productivity by up to five per cent of GDP.
The contrast between Indian and China is huge. In China the prevalence of underweight children almost halved between 1990 and 2002 -- from 19 to eight per cent -- while in India the annual rate of reduction since 1990 is less than two per cent.
Tackling nutritional issues will be key to whether India's wider population enjoy the fruits of economic growth in the decades to come.
THE WORLDWIDE PICTURE
Here are some of the facts on the plight of children around the world who do not get enough to eat.
- Every year 5.6 million children around the world die from causes linked to malnutrition.
- In 1990 the international community pledged to halve the proportion of underweight children by 2015. At current rates of progress, the world is not on target to meet that pledge.
- There are more under-nourished children in India (57 million) than the whole of Africa (41 million).
- After India, the worst countries for malnutrition are: Bangladesh (8 million), Pakistan (8 million), China (7 million), Nigeria (6 million), Ethiopia (6 million), Indonesia (6 million).
Source: Unicef: Progress for Children, A Report Card on Malnutrition.
Ran with fact box "The Worldwide Picture", which has been appended to the end of the story.
Photo: (See hardcopy for complete text)
Document VNCS000020060502e2520000r

Nigerian unions monitoring delta attack, no plans to pull workers
832 words

2 May 2006

07:11 AM

Platts Commodity News

PLATT

English

Copyright 2006. Platts. All Rights Reserved.
Nigerian oil unions Tuesday said they were monitoring the latest threats to oil installations in the Niger Delta but had no plans to withdraw workers.
"We have our people on the ground monitoring the situation but right now we have no reason to be worried," Pengassan's president Peter Esele told Platts.
Nupeng's general secretary Mojibayo Fadakinte said his union was also keeping a close eye on the latest crisis to hit Nigeria's oil hub.
Nigerian separatist militants carried out a car bomb attack on fuel trucks near the Warri refinery on Saturday and again warned oil companies to evacuate staff from the restive region.
The militants also issued a specific threat to Chinese oil workers, warning Beijing not to invest in the Nigerian oil industry.
A group known as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, which claimed a previous car bomb in Port Harcourt on April 20, said it had detonated 30 kg of dynamite using a cell phone as the trigger.
"This is the last warning to all oil industry workers. This warning goes particularly to tanker drivers and all involved in the petroleum industry in one way or the other," MEND said in a statement.
Since January, the group's attacks have left at least 24 members of the security forces dead and cut Nigeria's production by 20%, driving up world oil prices.
MEND's statement specifically warned China not to come to their region. "We wish to warn the Chinese government and its oil companies to steer well clear of the Niger Delta," it said.
"Chinese citizens found in oil installations will be treated as thieves. The Chinese government by investing in stolen crude places its citizens in our line of fire," it added.
China last week agreed a $4 billion investment deal in which the Chinese would invest $2-billion in Nigeria's downstream sector in exchange for preferential rights on four oil blocks in mini licensing round planned for this month. China, which has gone from being a net oil exporter to the world's second biggest consume-after the US, is increasingly looking to Africa as a source of energy supplies.
CNOOC last month finalized a $2.7 billion deal to buy 45% working interest in Nigeria's OML 130 offshore block.