1 ‘China needs massive bailout’ (Straits Times) Charlene
Chu, a banking analyst who made her name warning of the risks from China's
credit binge, said a bailout in the trillions of dollars is needed to tackle
the bad-debt burden dragging down the nation's economy.
Speaking eight days after a Communist Party
newspaper highlighted dangers from the build-up of debt, Ms Chu said she was
yet to be convinced the government is serious about deleveraging and
eliminating industry overcapacity.
She also argued that lenders' off-balance-sheet
portfolios of wealth-management products (WMPs) are the biggest immediate
threat to the nation's financial system, with similarities to Western bank
exposures in 2008 that helped to trigger a global meltdown.
She estimated as much as 22 per cent of all China's
outstanding credit may be nonperforming by the end of this year, compared with
an official bad-loan number for banks in March of 1.75 per cent. "The
stock of Chinese banks' off-balance-sheet WMPs grew 73 per cent last year.
There is nothing in the Chinese economy that supports a 73 per cent growth rate
of anything at the moment” she said.
"We call off-balance-sheet WMPs a hidden second
balance sheet because that's really what it is - it's a hidden pool of
liabilities and assets. In this way, it's similar to the Special Investment
Vehicles and conduits that the Western banks had in 2008, which nobody paid
attention to until everything fell apart and they had to be incorporated
on-balance-sheet.
"The mid-tier lenders is where these second
balance sheets are very large. China Merchants Bank is a good example. Their
second balance sheet is close to 40 per cent of their on-balance-sheet
liabilities. Enormous. However, the idea that China needs a massive bailout in
the trillions of US dollars isn't something I think the authorities are on
board with or accept yet. They still believe they can grow out of it."
2 World’s first 3D-printed office in UAE (Khaleej
Times) "The rapidly changing world requires us to accelerate our pace of
development, for history does not recognize our plans but our
achievements," Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and
Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai said while opening the 'Office of
the Future', the first 3D-printed office in the world.
The unique building on the Emirates Towers premises
will house the temporary office of the Dubai Future Foundation. Shaikh Mohammed
stated: “We announce today the opening of the first 3D-printed office in the
world, after less than a month of launching Dubai 3D printing strategy which
showcases a modern model of construction.”
Shaikh Mohammed pointed out that the competitive
advantages of 3-D printing in terms of lower costs and faster delivery will
make the UAE one of the most important sustainable economic hubs, enabling the
effective use of this technology to establish future cities in all sectors.
The office space covers up to 250 square metres,
while the exterior design reflects the most innovative forms of future work
place. The 3D-printed office was constructed using a special mixture of cement
and a set of building material designed and made in the UAE and the US.
A 3D-printer measuring 20 feet high, 120 feet long
and 40 feet wide was used to print the building. The printer features an
automated robotic arm to implement printing process. The labour involved included
one staff to monitor the function of the printer, seven people to install the
building components on site, and a team of 10 electricians and specialists to
take care of the mechanical and electrical engineering. As a result, the labour
cost was cut by more than 50 per cent compared to conventional buildings of
similar size.
The full model took only 17 days to print after
which the internal and external designs were adopted. The office was installed
on site within two days, which is significantly faster than traditional
construction methods.
3 Uber tests self-driving cars (Emily Price in San
Francisco Chronicle) One of the first self-driving Ubers is hitting the streets
within the next few weeks .The ride-sharing company is deploying a self-driving
Ford Fusion, a test car from its Advanced technologies Center.
The vehicle is loaded with sensors and will be
mapping the areas it drives through while simultaneously testing the car’s
self-driving capabilities. Don’t worry, the car won’t be alone. In the driver’s
seat will be a trained employee that will be monitoring how the car performs,
and will be there to grab the wheel if anything happens.
“[A total of] 1.3 million people die every year in
car accidents — 94% of those accidents involve human error. In the future we
believe this technology will mean less congestion, more affordable and
accessible transportation, and far fewer lives lost in car accidents,” Uber
said in its blog.
Uber isn’t the only one looking into self-driving
cars. Lyft and General Motors have teamed up to work of a self-driving taxi of
their own, and they plan on testing self-driving Chevrolet Bolt vehicles on
public roads within the next year. In January, GM made a $500 million
investment in the ride-sharing service.
4 People of no religion outnumber Christians in
England & Wales (Harriet Sherwood in The Guardian) The number of people who
say they have no religion is rapidly escalating and significantly outweighs the
Christian population in England and Wales, according to new analysis.
The proportion of the population who identify as
having no religion – referred to as “nones” – reached 48.5% in 2014, almost
double the figure of 25% in the 2011 census. Those who define themselves as
Christian – Anglicans, Catholics and other denominations – made up 43.8% of the
population.
“The striking thing is the clear sense of the growth
of ‘no religion’ as a proportion of the population,” said Stephen Bullivant,
senior lecturer in theology and ethics at St Mary’s Catholic University in
Twickenham.
The new analysis will fuel concern among Christian
leaders about growing indifference to organised religion. This year the Church
of England said it expected attendance to continue to fall for another 30 years
as its congregations age and the millennial generation spurns the institutions
of faith.
According to Bullivant’s report, both the Anglican
and Catholic churches are struggling to retain people brought up as Christians.
Four out 10 adults who were raised as Anglicans define themselves as having no
religion, and almost as many “cradle Catholics” have abandoned their family
faith to become “nones”. Neither church is bringing in fresh blood through
conversions. Anglicans lose 12 followers for every person they recruit, and
Catholics 10.
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