25 February 2012

Stories from 25 February 2012

Italy: Historic ‘Guilty’ Verdict in the Eternit Asbestos Trial

  25 February 2012

It is a historic verdict: on February 13, 2012 in Turin, northern Italy, the two top senior executives of the multinational Eternit, a producer of asbestos, were sentenced to 16 years in prison after a criminal trial began in 2009. Here are the reactions of the associations and the families of asbestos victims in Italy and Europe.

India: Why Can’t Women Own Land?

  25 February 2012

Rita Banerji discusses some recent court rulings in India and opines that “regardless of gender-neutral laws, even modern democracies like India that proudly flaunt their Constitution, have people in decision making capacities, as in government, law etc. who still apply the law within context of their old cultural mindsets.”

Bangladesh: The Ethical Dilemma of Using Opportunities

  25 February 2012

In developing countries, where bureaucracy, corruption and misinformation thrive, people may create opportunities to cash in from those anomalies. Some consider this as creativity or simply a part of the livelihood and some question about the ethics in using those opportunities.

China: 1 Billion Mobile Phone Users

  25 February 2012

C Custer wrote in Asia Tech News for the World on the latest statistic of mobile users in China. The country's mobile phone users will break 1 billion in February 2012 and about 13.7 percent of China’s mobile users are on 3G.

Australia: Political Paralysis Before Leadership Vote

  25 February 2012

Australia’s governing party will decide between the leadership of the country's current Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the one she deposed in 2010, Kevin Rudd. After months of speculation, Australian Labor Party parliamentarians will vote after a very self-destructive confrontation this week. Twitter is aflutter.