India Launches 'World's Cheapest' Computer

India has unveiled what it is calling the world's cheapest computer,
aimed at bridging the digital divide between the nation's rich and
poor.

The tablet computer is called "Aakash", or sky in Hindi, and will be
sold to students at the government-subsidized price of $35.

Indian officials and the company that developed the computer, DataWind
Limited, handed out the devices Wednesday to hundreds of students in
New Delhi.

The company is planning a pilot-run of 100,000 units.

The computer tablet provides word processing, Internet browsing and
video conferencing. The device also has two USB ports.

DataWind Chief Executive Suneet Singh Tuli on Wednesday called for
competition in order to get the price of the tablet computer down to
$10.

Indian Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal called the
computer India's gift to all children, and a tool to help lift many
out of poverty.

India has a reputation for creating affordable innovative products,
including the compact "Nano" car, which sells for about $2,000.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/India-Launches-Worlds-Cheapest-Computer-131164843.html

Students display Aakash, which means sky in Hindi, dubbed the world's
cheapest tablet computer, after its launching ceremony in New Delhi,
India, October 5, 2011.

Chinese language schools in Cambodia

A Cambodia's senior education official said Wednesday that Chinese
language schools have been mushrooming throughout Cambodia and the
language becomes the second most popular foreign one in the country
after English.

"I observe that more and more Cambodian children flock to study
Chinese language nowadays," Chey Chab, secretary of state for the
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, said Wednesday during the
inauguration of the Beijing International Academy (BIA) in Phnom Penh.

"I see that Chinese language has been broadly used internationally now
and it looks more important, especially among business communities,"
he said.

Chab said that in Cambodia, the language has gradually been gaining
popularity as China is the country's largest investor and a leading
trade partner with Cambodia.

According to the Chinese Association in Cambodia, there are 56 Chinese
schools with more than 30,000 students throughout Cambodia. The figure
does not include local private schools that offer part- time Chinese
language courses.

Diana Liu, the BIA's director, said the BIA was the first academy in
Cambodia that offered Chinese and English programs with complete
combined programs including arts, cultures, sciences, music, dance and
martial arts.

"We are committed to building an excellent quality of Chinese and
English education in the country," she said. "Our presence here will
also help the government of Cambodia to develop human resources."

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/culture/2011-10/05/c_131175527.htm
2011-10-05

World Day Against Child Labour

Hundreds of Cambodian schoolchildren marched through the country's
capital on Sunday to mark the World Day Against Child Labour, waving
banners calling for an end to the widespread practice.

Hundreds march in Cambodia capital urging end of child labor - PHNOM PENH

The demonstration was organized by the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) and the Cambodian government, who have set a goal
of ending the worst forms of child labor in the country by 2016.

They also announced the launch of an ambitious program to rid Phnom
Penh's popular riverside area of child workers by this time next year.

Menacherry Paul Joseph, head of the ILO's anti-child labor programmed
in Cambodia, said it was "a shame" that young children could be seen
begging or selling books and souvenirs to tourists until late at
night.

"Cambodia is truly a kingdom of wonder. Let us make it a kingdom
without child labor," he said at the rally, where demonstrators waved
banners saying "Warning! Children in hazardous work — End child
labor."

According to the ILO, some 1.5 million Cambodians under the age of 18
are forced to work, more than 310,000 of them in hazardous jobs such
as spraying pesticides or working in brick factories.

Ten-year-old child worker Soth Ousphea, watching the rally, said his
mother could not afford to send him to school, and instead he earned
around 50 cents a day collecting plastic bottles and cans.

"I want to go to school," he told AFP.

Cambodia is one of Southeast Asia's poorest countries, with around a
third of its 14 million people living on less than a dollar per day.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/other/2011/06/13/306009/Hundreds-march.htm
June 13, 2011