Around the nation: China drivers fined for hugging and kissing while on the road
Also, pupils trained to deal with emergency situations and advertisements banned from using only foreign languages
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 31 December, 2014, 10:23pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 01 January, 2015, 2:03am
A Hubei driver has been fined 200 yuan after he was caught with a woman on his lap while driving. Photo: SCMP Pictures
ANHUI
Identity thief exposed
A man in Dingyuan county has been exposed for giving his friend’s name and identity card number to police when he was arrested for drug possession, Jianghuai Morning Post reports. The man, who had earlier been arrested twice for the same offence, posed as his friend for more than a year before police discovered the truth while carrying out an investigation at his friend’s home.
Babies’ deaths probed
A private maternity hospital in Anqing is being investigated after two newborns died there last week, The Southern Metropolis News reports. A baby girl died 40 minutes after being delivered naturally and a boy died two days after being delivered via caesarean section.
HUBEI
Caught up in passion
Yangxin county police have made public the photos of two drivers and their passengers who violated traffic rules in the heat of passion, Chutian Times reports. One driver started kissing his partner at a red light. The couple was fined 50 yuan (HK$63) for not wearing their seat belts. Another driver, who had a woman on his lap while driving, was fined 200 yuan.
Loan gone wrong
A man has been escorted back to Xiangyang after Guangdong police arrested him for killing a woman, Chinanews.com reports. The man said the woman had refused to return him the 45,000 yuan he had loaned her, so he stabbed her to death with a knife and took her necklace, ring and mobile phone before leaving her body in a cornfield.
HUNAN
Fatal ‘potty training’
A 26-year-old woman from Leiyang has been arrested for killing her four-year-old daughter by kicking her in the stomach after the toddler soiled herself, Sanxiang City Express reports. The woman, who has another daughter, told police that her parents-in-law were disappointed as she could not give them a grandson, and that she often beat the toddler over minor issues.
Forging ring busted
A man has been arrested in Huaihua for running a syndicate that issued fake invoices for air tickets, Rednet.cn reports. His workshop sold 11 million forged invoices with a face value of 22 billion yuan across the country over the past year. An official said most of the invoices were bought by officials who wanted to claim inflated expenses.
JIANGXI
University chief on trial
Former Nanchang University president Zhou Wenbin stood trial on charges of accepting 22 million yuan in bribes and embezzling public funds, Jxnews.com.cn reports. Among those who bribed Zhou was the boss of a small construction firm who gave him a total of 3.8 million yuan in exchange for construction contracts between 2003 and 2011. The businessman told the Intermediate People’s Court of Nanchang that he usually hid the cash meant for Zhou in fruit baskets.
Waste disposal rules
Residents of Nanchang found collecting or transporting restaurant waste without a licence can be fined up to 5,000 yuan and those who illegally dispose of food waste can be fined 10,000 yuan, Jxnews.com.cn reports. Restaurants also face penalties if found selling the waste illegally. The authorities are trying to eradicate gutter oil, which is recycled from restaurant waste.
SHANGHAI
Mind your language
A new rule that takes effect today in Shanghai prohibits advertisements from using only foreign languages, Xinmin Evening News reports. The rule – which also requires instructions at public places with large crowds to appear both in Chinese and any other foreign language – is China’s first regional regulation on the application of foreign languages.
Dirty garments
Villages on the northwestern outskirts of Shanghai have been running illegal workshops to collect waste garments for 0.8 yuan per kilogram, which are then washed and sorted before being sold to clothes stores at 15 yuan per item, Jfdaily.com reports. Experts said the clothes were in poor condition and may pose health problems. Village authorities said the workshops, which operate under poor sanitary conditions, have so far resisted being shut down.
SHANXI
Violent policeman nabbed
A policeman in Taiyuan has been arrested after he and his colleagues beat up four migrant workers who were in a dispute with their construction firm’s security guards, Dahe Daily reports. More than 10 police officers allegedly attacked the workers, including a woman who was beaten to death. Police are investigating which other officers were involved.
Emergency training
Beginning this year, all Shanxi primary and middle school pupils are required to attend training for natural disasters and other emergencies, the Taiyuan Evening News reports. The pupils will be put through simulations involving fires, earthquakes, poisoning, scalding and animal bites. In particular, middle school pupils will be taught basic first aid.
SICHUAN
Rejected fare
Senior transport officials from Zigong have visited a disabled man at his home to offer their apologies after he complained to the town’s vice-mayor and transport heads that more than 10 taxi drivers refused to transport him, Newssc.org reports. The cabbies gave many excuses and some empty taxis did not bother to stop, he said.
Brawl leaders to die
Three men have been sentenced to death for leading a fight in a dispute over the ownership of a coal mine in Guangyuan 20 years ago, Xinhua reports. The brawl left 18 people dead while 16 others fell into a river and went missing. A total of 38 others involved in the fight have received jail terms and suspended death sentences.
TIBET
More bottled water
Lhasa’s gross bottled-water output is expected to hit 3.5 million tonnes within the next three years, according to the municipal government, which has issued a blueprint to foster the industry’s development, Chinatibetnews.com reports. The city has 15 bottled-water producers with a combined annual output of 150,000 tonnes. Their annual sales were expected to grow 51 per cent to 1.2 billion yuan last year.
Nepal visitors on the rise
An increasing number of mainland travellers are entering Nepal via Lhasa, according to a Nepalese tourism official at a Tibet-Nepal tourism travel coordination meeting, the Tibet Business News reports. More than 93,000 Chinese visitors travelled to the neighbouring Himalayan nation in the first 11 months of last year and the number is expected to rise to 200,000 this year because more flights will soon be offered.
