The major hike in benefits comes in the form of house rent allowance

Diwali bonanza for employees as Bihar govt clears hike in allowances

In a pre-Diwali bonanza for Bihar government employees, the cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod for the revision of various perks and allowances on the pattern of seventh pay commission report. 


The amendment in the rates of allowances had been pending since the introduction of revised pay-scales from April this year. Government employees would now be entitled for a hike in their entitlements from the date of notification, likely to be issued on Wednesday. 


The major hike in benefits comes in the form of house rent allowance (HRA). An employee working in the state capital (Y category) will now get 16% of their enhanced basic salary, while it will be 8% for those located in other important towns—classified as Z category. 


Raising the number of slabs, finance department has fixed HRA at 6% of the basic pay for unclassified towns, e.g. Danapur , and 4% for government staff posted at block and police stations in rural areas, said Upendra Nath Pandey, special secretary, cabinet department, adding “for state employees posted outside the state (Delhi) it will be payable at the rate of 24%.” 


Transport allowance, based on pay-scale, will be in the range of Rs 600-1,500, while medical allowance has been hiked from Rs 200 per month to Rs 1,000. The earlier provision of providing one increment for those adopting family planning has been done away. 


Employees posted in other department, on deputation in same station, will get an additional entitlement of 2.5% of the basic salary subject to a cap of Rs 2000, while it will be 4% for those sent to serve in other stations with a ceiling of Rs 4,000. 


To encourage enhancement of professional knowledge, the journal allowance for medical professionals has been revised from Rs 3000 to Rs 4,500 per annum. The dress allowance for ANM has been fixed at Rs 1800, while drivers will get a monthly allowance of Rs 1000. 


The big incentive, in the form of leave travel concession (LTC), will now be available for travel throughout the country once in every four years.

Australia Beat India By 8 Wickets

India vs Australia 2nd T20, Highlights: Australia Beat India By 8 Wickets, Level Series

Highlights, India vs Australia, 2nd T20: Jason Behrendorff returned with figures of 4-21 that helped the visitors bowl out the Virat Kohli-led side for a paltry score of 118.

Jason Behrendorff's excellent bowling spell followed by a clinical knocks from Moises Henriques and Travis Head helped Australia earn an 8-wicket win over Indians on Tuesday in Guwahati. With this win, the three-match series is now locked at 1-1 with the third and the final match scheduled to be held on Friday in Hyderabad.  Earlier, India got off to a horrid start after losing Rohit Sharma and captain Virat Kohli in the first over of the match as Jason Behrendorff went through the Indian top-order. The left-arm seamer ended with figures of 4 for 21 and was instrumental in bowling out India for 118 in the second T20I played in Guwahati. For the hosts, Kedhar Jadhav (27) looked good for a brief period and Hardik Pandya (25) towards the end of the innings helped India cross the 100-run mark. India will have to bowl out of their skin to defend this total with the visitors looking good to level the series after losing the first T20I in Ranchi. 

Catch highlights of the 2nd T20 between India and Australia straight from Guwahati.

22:10 IST: FOUR! Henriques smashes Chahal's delivery for a boundary and Australia win by 8 wickets to level the series. Henriques remains not out on 62 and Travis Head remains unbeaten on 48

22:05 IST: Just three runs needed now. Henriques and Head stitched together a wonderful partnership 

22:02 IST: SIX! This time over mid-wicket area. He completes his second fifty also 

22:00 IST: SIX! Henriques plays it in the air over long off for a six. Nice swing of the arm and excellent follow through. He has taken the game away from the Indians 

21:58 IST: Head plays it towards the sweeper cover for a single. Australia 97/2 after 14 overs

21:54 IST: It seems like it will be Australia's game now. They need only 23 off 37 balls 

21:50 IST: SIX! It has gone over the top. Too full from Chahal and Head heaves that away over long-on for a maximum

21:44 IST: FOUR! Half-volley by Kuldeep Yadav and smashed away by Henriques. The left arm spinner is struggling to find the right line. Australia need 41 runs off 55 balls  

21:42 IST: FOUR! Henriques steers it past the first slip. Boundary to finish the over. Australia 67/2 after 10 overs 

21:37 IST: 11 off the over. Australia 61/2 after 9 overs 

21:36 IST: FOUR! Short ball from Kuldeep Yadav and put that away disdainfully by Travis Head 

21:35 IST: SIX! Gentle loosener from Yadav and Henriques punishes that away. He won't miss that one 

21:32 IST: Change of bowling from both ends. Kuldeep Yadav comes into the attack 

21:30 IST: Just two runs off Pandya's over. Australia 36/2 after 7

21:26 IST: Hardik Pandya comes into the attack and he starts off with a ripper 

21:23 IST: SIX! Henriques gets into the position early and clobbers it for a maximum

21:22 IST: Just a single to end the over. Australia 25/2 after 5 overs 

21:20 IST: Henriques misses it and a loud appeal from the Indians. All hands are up but the umpire is not interested. Bhuvi is bowling well here 

21:15 IST: Four! Travis head, the new man in, flicks it away for a boundary to end the over. Australia 24/2 after 4 overs

21:11 IST: Wicket! Finch works the ball towards the off side but couldn't connect it well. Kohli is the man at covers. Both the openers back in the hut

21:10 IST: Wicket! In the air and Warner finds the fielder at covers. Bumrah comes back well after conceding a boundary. David Warner falls for 2, Australia 11/1 in 1.3 overs 

21:08 IST: FOUR! Short ball from Bumrah and Finch puts it away for a boundary. 

21:07 IST: In the air and over square leg. The ball finds the no man land. Australia 6/0 after the first over  

21:05 IST: Some sawdust being applied at the popping crease - near the bowler's landing area

21:00 IST: Good length delivery from Bhuvneshwar. Finch drives the ball towards covers for three runs.

20:57 IST: Hello and welcome to the chase. Can India restrict Australia under 118?

20:43 IST: Wicket: Kuldeep goes for the big one, got the leading edge and it skies up in the air. Paine takes a simple catch. India have been bowled out for 118 in 20 overs.

20:41 IST: Wicket! Kuldeep Yadav tries to work it through the on side, hits his thigh pads and the pair sets off for a quick single. Tim Paine takes his gloves off in a flash and has a go at the stumps. Bumrah is well short. Run Out!

20:39 IST: India 114 for 8 in 19 overs.

20:37 IST: Four! Bumrah goes for the big almighty heave., gets the outside edge and finds the gap between the slip and the wicket-keeper.

20:34 IST: India 104 for 8 in 18 overs.

20:32 IST: Jasprit Bumrah is the new man in for India.

20:31 IST: Wicket! Pandya goes for the big one. Doesn't get hold of it and a simple catch at long off. India lose their eighth wicket. Stoinis picks up his first of the night.

20:26 IST: So the 100 comes up for India in the 17th over. Three overs to go after this.

20:23 IST: Six! Tye bowls it short and Pandya has timed it beautifully. That's gone all the way.

20:22 IST: 16 overs gone. India 90 for 7.

20:17 IST: Four! Kuldeep gets it away for a boundary. Not the best shot but India will take it.

20:14 IST: Runs coming in singles at the moment for India. 

20:11 IST: India 77 for 7 in 14 overs.

20:07 IST: Kuldeep Yadav can bat and India need Kuldeep to stay there till the end with Hardik Pandya.

20:05 IST: Wicket! The Indian batting is falling apart here. Bhuvneshwar Kumar falls prey to a short ball as he ramps this one to third man. India lose their seventh wicket. Coulter-Nile picks up his first wicket.

19:59 IST: India 69 for 6 in 12 overs.

19:57 IST: Wicket: Another great delivery by Zampa. Bowls the wrong one and Jadhav went for the big one. Failed to connect and it went right through his defence. India 67 for 6 in 11.1 overs.

19:56 IST: India 67 for 5 in 11 overs.

19:50 IST: Wicket: A game of cat and mouse and Zampa wins this time. That was beautifully bowled. Dhoni comes down the track but fails to reach the pitch of the ball. Got beaten in flight and Paine behind the stumps takes off the bails in a flash. India lose their fifth wicket.

19:48 IST: Four! Dhoni comes down the track to Zampa, makes it into a full toss and flicked it over for a boundary.

19:46 IST: Seven of the Stoinis over. India 54 for 4 in 9 overs.

19:43 IST: Marcus Stoinis comes on and drifts down the leg-side and Jadhav won't miss out on such an invitation. Four runs!

19:41 IST: 4 coming of that Zampa over. India 47 for 4 in 8 overs.

19:40 IST: Adam Zampa comes into the attack.

19:38 IST: Behrendorff finishes off his spell. 4 for 21 for him. India 43 for 4 in 7 overs.

19:35 IST: So Warner going for the kill. Gives Behrendorff four overs on a trot.

19:33 IST: 7 coming off that Tye over. India 38 for 4 in 6 overs.

19:31 IST: Four! Too much room for Jadhav there to free his arms. Andrew Tye the culprit.  

19:30 IST: MS Dhoni is the new man in and gets off the mark straight away.

19:29 IST: Four! Short and Jadhav cuts it over point. Great shot. India 31 for 4 in 5 overs.

19:27 IST: Wicket: Another one bites the dust. Dhawan comes down the wicket, tries to take Behrendorff off and a brilliant catch by David Warner at mid-off. India lose their fourth wicket.

19:24 IST: Six! Short but this time Jadhav pulls it away for a maximum. Quickly into position, got inside the line of the ball and it carried all the way. 11 coming from the Coulter-Nile over. India 27 for 3 after 4 overs.

19:22 IST: Short again from Coulter-Nile and hits Dhawan on the helmet. The ball flies off and Finch does brilliantly to save the boundary. 3 leg-byes. The Australians are charged up here.

19:20 IST: Short from Coulter-Nile and Jadhav plays it uppishly through point. Maxwell flew to his right but just out of his reach.

19:18 IST: Four coming from the over. India 16 for 3 in 3 overs.

19:14 IST: Kedar Jadhav joins Shikhar Dhawan. India are in trouble here. 

19:13 IST: Wicket! Behrendorff is on fire here. Pandey takes the long walk back. India 16 for 3.

19:11 IST: Four! Manish Pandey just steers it down the third man region and picks up a boundary. 

19:07 IST: Nathan Coulter-Nile to share the new ball with Behrendorff. Four coming of the second over.

19:06 IST: End of the first over. India 8 for 2.

19: 05 IST: Wicket: What a over this is turning out to be. Virat Kohli departs without troubling the scorers. This has been an action packed first over. Two boundaries and two wickets. Behrendorff has done the job for Australia. If Ravi Shastri would have been in the commentary box he would have certainly said, 'Just what the doctor ordered for Australia.'

19:03 IST: Wicket: That was beautifully bowled by Behrendorff. The ball came back in and Rohit was caught on the crease. That was right in front and the umpire raises the finger. 

19:02 IST: Four! Straight past the bowler. Not completely coming from the middle of the bat. The bat turning on Rohit's hand but still has enough to go to the boundary.

19:00 IST: Four! A juicy full toss to start things off and Rohit doesn't miss out on those. So India are away with a boundary.

19:00 IST: So we are all in readiness for the first ball. Rohit to face the first ball. Jason Behrendorff to start the proceedings for Australia.

18:55 IST: Both the Indian openers are out there in the middle. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma would look to take India off to a great start.

18:50 IST: With most of the Australians playing in the Indian Premier League, the excuse of playing in alien conditions just doesn't work anymore. The Aussies need to pull up their socks and show some character against an Indian side that will pounce onto any weakness that is on offer. 

18:48 IST: The Indian spinners once again came to the party in the last T20I played in Ranchi and the Aussies need to find a way to tackle the spin duo of Chahal and Kuldeep.

18:46 IST: Australia need to bat well if they are to entertain any hopes of winning the match. They have looked like a side below par in this tour and with Steve Smith out of the series with a shoulder injury, the rest of the batting needs to stand up and deliver.

18:44 IST: India would look to carry on their winning momentum while Australia would do all that is possible to bounce back and level the 3-match T20I series.

18:42 IST: India (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

18:40 IST: "The pitch looks good to play on, the only thing was the dew factor. We would have bowled first as well. Now we need to make sure we put up good runs on the board. We need to keep the winning momentum going. It's very difficult to maintain that momentum, very easy to lose it. We are very hungry to keep performing every game. We don't want to be complacent. The stadium is beautiful. It's a packed house. We could barely get into the ground. There were so many people who were so excited. We will try and entertain them as much as possible," Kohli said during the toss.

18:38 IST: India have not done any changes and have gone with the same playing eleven while Marcus Stoinis comes in for Daniel Christian for Australia.

18:34 IST: It is a beautiful stadium here in Guwahati and hopefully it will be a gripping contest.

18:28 IST: The pitch looks to be on the slower side but there should be some help for the bowlers. It will be a interesting contest reckons Sunil Gavaskar in his pitch report. 

18:25 IST: Hello and welcome to the 2nd T20I between India and Australia, straight from Guwahati.

The visitors will have to play out of their skins to arrest the slide and level the series ahead of the last T20I in Hyderabad on October 13. For that to happen, Australia will have to unravel the mystery of India's latest wrist spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal who have shared 16 wickets between them in four ODIs and one T20I.

Google Celebrates Explorer, Humanitarian With A Doodle

Fridtjof Nansen: Google Celebrates Explorer, Humanitarian With A Doodle

Born on October 10, 1861 to a prosperous lawyer and a mother who encouraged her children to be athletic and develop physical skills, Nansen soon became an expert in various physical activities such as skating, tumbling, swimming and skiing.

NEW DELHI:  Google today celebrates the 156th birth anniversary of  Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian polar explorer and the first High Commissioner for Refugees who came up with the "Nansen passports". Apart from being an explorer, Nansen was a scientist, diplomat and political activist.

Born on October 10, 1861 to a prosperous lawyer and a mother who encouraged her children to be athletic and develop physical skills, Nansen soon became an expert in various physical activities such as skating, tumbling, swimming and skiing.

From his school days, Fridtjof Nansen excelled in science and drawing, and upon entering university, he decided to do his majors in zoology.

Nansen mixed his scientific interests with his exploratory instincts to draw in a series of achievements that brought him international fame.

In 1888, he led a party of six across Greenland, the interiors of which were previously unexplored, and survived harsh conditions and dangerous icy terrain to emerge on the west coast of the country after a trip of two months, bringing back important information.

Two years later, he would published his book "The First Crossing of Greenland".

Nansen was a firm believer of moving forward. On his trip to Greenland, he would make his party burn their boats so that going back was no longer an option.

A few years later, Nansen set out on an exploratory foray into the Arctic on his ship "Fram", meaning "forward".

In 1905, Fridtjof Nansen fought for the independence of Norway from Sweden, and after the Union dissolved, served as the country's minister to Britain.

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It was in 1914, when World War I started and explorations were stopped, that Nansen started taking an interest in international politics, starting another chapter in his life.

In 1919, Nansen became the president of the Norweian Union for the League of Nations and was an influential lobbyist for the adoption of the League Covenant and for recognition of the rights of small nations.

In 1920, the League of Nations tasked him with repatriating the prisoners of war. Nansen succeeded in his task brilliantly, as he did with most of his adventures, and with his cunning and ingenuity he repatriated 450,000 prisoners in the next year and a half, despite restricted funds.

In 1921, when the League of Nations instituted its High Commission for Refugees, it was no surprise that Fridtjof Nansen was asked to head it. That is when he created the "Nansen Passports" for the stateless refugees under his care.

The Nansen Passports were documents of identification which were eventually recognized by more than 50 governments.

The Red Cross also asked him to direct relief for millions of Russians dying in the 1921-1922 famine. Despite little support for Russia and help difficult to muster, Nansen pursued his task with vigor and energy. Nansen ended up gathering and distributing enough supplies to save a large number of people. Figures being quoted ranged from seven million to 22 million.

In 1922, after the war between Greece and Turkey, he facilitated the exchange of about 1,250,000 Greeks living on Turkish soil for about 500,000 Turks living in Greece.

Having lived a life of adventure, research and humanitarianism, Fridtjof Nansen died on May 13, 1930.

Decision time in P&G boardroom brawl over direction of company

NEW YORK: A costly monthslong battle over the direction of one of America’s biggest companies culminates on Tuesday with a shareholder vote at Procter & Gamble ( P& G) headquarters in Cincinnati.

The fight pits the maker of Gillette razors and Olay soap against activist investor Nelson Peltz, 75, a billionaire hedge fund chief who has pitched himself as the outsider needed to reignite P& G, the largest company by market capitalisation ever to face a proxy battle.

The grizzled veteran of highprofile boardroom brawls accuses the company of operating with excessive cost, being weak on innovation and missing the boat on key shifts in consumer behavior.

Peltz, whose firm Trian Partners holds 1.5 per cent of P& G shares, attributes declining market share in key businesses to P& G’s “slow moving and insular culture.”

His campaign has been fortified by support from respected proxy advisory services, including Glass Lewis, which said a new voice might help reinvigorate a giant that appears to suffer from a “degree of complacency.”

P& G counters that Peltz’s campaign is based on an outdated perspective on the company and ignores key hires of outsiders as well as progress since its decision in 2014 to divest dozens of underperforming products in order to target giant brands that resonate best with consumers.

Company executives also say Peltz’s campaign seems to be motivated mostly by short-term gain to the potential detriment of longterm performance.

“We strongly recommend you give us the opportunity to finish this transformation,” chief executive David Taylor said on an October 3 investor conference call.

Whoever wins, the battle has been costly.

P& G has estimated that it will spend US$ 35 million to try to keep Peltz off the board, while Trian has said it expects to spend US$ 25 million, according to securities filings.

P& G has reported revenue declines for the last three years, pointing to the drag from the strong dollar that has caused it to underperform against European rivals Unilever and L’Oreal in some key benchmarks. — AFP

DIGITAL

As a way to compete with current western-oriented artificial intelligence (AI) devices, such as Apple’s Siri, Google’s Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa, LINE developed its own AI system called Clova in about a year and aimed to bring Asia into the AI era, one country at a time.

Introduced at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress in February 2017, the Clova technology exists in LINE’s new smart home speakers, WAVE and the smaller CHAMP, as the company’s response to the growing technological advancements of the day.

Clova’s response mechanisms are tailored to process language in a more natural way, meaning that its responses are geared toward being more “human.” The importance of its human-likeness factor is stressed in LINE Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Euivin Park’s way of referring to Clova.

“It’s not just machine learning. [Clova] is aimed to be a virtual assistant that is close to our daily lives. Machine learning is just a component of the virtual assistant,” she explained at the recent LINE Developer’s Day summit in Tokyo.

As of September, the Clova technology is only available in LINE’s WAVE and CHAMP smart speakers, which will go on sale to the general public outside of fall season pre-sales, but only to those in Japan and South Korea.

Park elaborated that LINE had long-term plans to expand the Clova technology and the WAVE and CHAMP speakers to their biggest markets such as Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand, but the plans would not be realized as yet.

Meanwhile, LINE also plans to integrate Clova into smartphones, as well as in cars, toys, home appliances and retail services.

In order to secure the technology’s future, the company has established partnerships with prominent Asian industry players, such as Toyota, Yamaha, Sony Mobile, LG, Takara Tomy and Family Mart, but has yet to provide details on whether or not Clova would be available in their products and services anytime soon.

The emergence of LINE’s Clova technology comes at a time when its Western counterparts at Google and Amazon have begun advancing the development of their own AI platforms in their own smart speakers, Google Home and Amazon Alexa.

Park comments that even though LINE’s entry into the AI market could be seen as relatively late, the company’s advantages lay inside the fact that they were focusing on their immediate markets for the time being. If the company had plans to expand their services, it was likely that these would be implemented within their largest Asian markets first.

“LINE is only five years old, but in that time we have grown rapidly. You can’t really fully compare us with [Google or Amazon], because they [...] have decades of experience. We only started this Clova project last year, but we have achieved the [initial] goal in that time. I don’t think there is any other company that can match us in that speed,” Park noted.

Similarly, LINE’s virtual assistant development manager Taiichi Hashimoto noted that the key to driving Clova’s development would be to work with as many developers as they could. Even in Japan, hiring AI talent is a challenge, due to the high competition among Japanese tech companies.

LINE therefore plans to open Clova’s application program interface (API) to all interested developers in 2018.

“I don’t think any company [in the smart home market] has a direct advantage over another. If we can fine-tune our technology in a better way, maybe we could get that advantage. Attracting talent will be competitive, and in all honesty, we need to get a lot more developers involved. That’s why we are opening the API,” Hashimoto said.

Portraits of POWERFUL WOMEN

When Eka Mulya Astuti was in high school, her class had an exercise in drawing. The teenager loved art so she anticipated praise, but instead, she was accused of plagiarism because her work was far superior to her peers’ efforts.

“I was so angry,” Astuti recalled, “I was also ashamed; I threw it away.

“In those days students didn’t argue. When I had the chance to select courses I chose natural science, which didn’t include art, just to avoid that woman,” she said of the teacher.

Eka said she was 15 back then, but now at 48, she still remembers that moment clearly. “Eventually I became a teacher so I took great care when criticising students’ work; I understand the need for positive reinforcement,” she said.

Eka quit school and shook off the damning response of a miserly mistress to triumph in her first calling. She’s also discovered another hurdle — being taken seriously. Art in Indonesia is largely men’s business.

Bandung mixed-media artist and gallery owner Moel Soenarko, 77, reckons creative Indonesian women have a greater struggle than men in getting their work appreciated.

On a recent visit to Malang the veteran campaigner for equality held a soiree where she advised Eka and other female artists to go beyond selling their works privately and mount formal exhibitions.

“We have to get out in the public,” she said. “Why do so many people who don’t do anything get in the media while we women are ignored? We need to express ourselves and get noticed.”

Eka’s portraiture is now being commissioned by collectors like Jim Willey, an American executive at the Paiton power station complex in East Java. His Las Vegas home is adorned with art from Cambodia, Nepal, China, Thailand, India and Indonesia.

Willey describes Eka’s work as “unique, and totally cool.” Each painting includes a narrative (in Javanese) that specifically describes the subject in the painting, which is rare.

“Visitors do not often understand who is on the wall. Appreciation is enhanced because the viewer can put the subject in historical perspective. Eka provides a connection to her art,” he said.

Eka is obsessed with ancient Javanese history and mythology, particularly stories of strong women; this is no surprise as her mother Mariana raised her alone from the age of two when her father died. She has also been a single mom for the past decade.

Her luminaries include Ken Dedes, the consort of Ken Arok, the first ruler of the Shiva-Buddha kingdom of Singhasari. She is also intrigued by Calonarang — a completely different figure.

According to folklore, Calonarang was a widow possessing powerful black magic who lived in Girah, a village near Kediri in East Java a millennium ago. She allegedly caused pestilence because no man would marry her daughter Ratna Manggali. The plague was lifted only when Calonarang ’s spellbook was stolen.

The wicked-witch genre also features in medieval European mythology as an eccentric crone or a threat to marriages — certainly a handy scapegoat. She is cursed when crops fail or babies die. However, feminist Indonesian poet Toeti Heraty Noerhadi Roosseno has another interpretation: She sees Calonarang as a woman victimized by a patriarchal repressive society.

Eka has completed one large portrait of Calonarang, which she won’t sell, and is planning others. She is working on a triptych of Pramod hawardhani, the ninthcentury queen credited with initiating Borobudur, the world’s largest Buddhist temple.

Because no portraits exist of her subjects, Eka reincarnates them in a semi-abstract style using acrylics. Among her heroines is the late Mexican artist Frida Kahlo who also specialised in striking portraits of women.

“To get inspiration I meditate, burn incense and play gamelan music. It’s difficult to concentrate because friends drop in for long chats; they don’t think an artist at home is a worker.

“Once I was asked to paint Nyai Loro Kidul, but felt uneasy about the assignment,” she said.

In Javanese mythology, Nyai Loro Kidul is the queen of the Southern Sea famous for having shape-shifting abilities, and is said to drown seafarers who wear green.

“When the canvas arrived it was mouldy, though the supplier said it was clean and fresh when sent. I saw this as an omen so haven’t done the picture,” Eka said.

Eka’s father was an artist but died when she was young. Mariana raised their child alone by making and selling food. Eka’s talents went beyond art; she won a university scholarship to study English, has written 18 English texts and worked as an interpreter for international companies.

Eka belongs to Bol Brutu, which started in 2009 when a group of artists visited the Kyai Sadrach historical site in Purworejo, Central Java. The name is an acronym from Gerombolan

Pemburu Batu, which translates awkwardly as the Horde Hunters Group. It stages exhibitions and publishes art texts.

Closer to her Malang home is the Hindu Kidal Temple, her source of insights and spiritual connections. The temple was completed in 1260 as a shrine to King Anushapati, son of Ken Dedes.

A Shiva statue believed to be from the Kidal Temple is in Leiden’s National Museum of Ethnology. Surprisingly, Eka is not advocating its return.

“I want Indonesians to appreciate our history and I hope my art helps. But Kidal is no longer the ideal environment. The statue is probably safer, getting better care and being seen by more people where it is,” she said.

Just after this interview, an allegedly deranged doctor smashed his car through the gates and crashed into the temple causing minor damage. He was unhurt.

How will clean development be financed?

Like most other populous emerging markets working on long-term solutions for sustainable development, China has been trying hard to adopt strategies that can achieve multiple objectives. These include shifting to an energy use pattern that relies more on renewable sources of energy rather than fossil fuels, reduces industrial and household pollution, and protects natural resources.

China has achieved phenomenal economic growth over the last four decades, and it is now the world’s second-largest economy. However, this success has come at a heavy cost to the country’s ecology and its environment. As China tries to address this damage, the biggest challenge it faces is transitioning to a development path that ensures economic growth with environmental sustainability.

This is a significant challenge, as can be seen from renewable energy. Coal remains the major source of electricity in China. Apart from producing thermal power, coal is also used in several parts of China, particularly northern China, for heating purposes during the winter. The result of the extensive use of coal has been accumulation of enormous stock of carbon in the atmosphere. China now plans to generate most of its electricity from renewable energy sources. It plans to have the capacity to produce 200 gigawatts of electricity from solar power and 250 GW of electricity from wind power by 2020.

The shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy is an extremely important and necessary move. But such a move requires the financing of new solar and wind plants, cracking down on the use of coal in the future production of electricity and encouraging consumers to shift to clean fuel. Large investments in solar and wind energy are being obtained through higher surcharges on electricity bills. The necessity of the obvious increase in household expenditures on energy must be explained to households.

Nevertheless, it will still take several years for solar and wind energy to produce as much electricity as thermal power does.

The challenge for local governments is to ensure the availability of finance for renewable energy projects so that the amount of solar and wind generated electricity increases, while at the same time ensuring household expenditures do not become exorbitant. Obtaining finance for a clean environment and green growth is a huge challenge that China and other developing countries face. The problem arises from the fact that solar and wind energy projects take a long time to become operational and earn revenues. Even after they begin earning revenues, it takes years before they recover their initial investments and start making profits. This long delay in obtaining profits means only a few private investors are willing to invest in these projects. Investments in renewable energy must come from investors who have enough funds to bear losses on their investments for several years.

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will no doubt reflect on the importance of implementing policies and actions that enable China to pursue green development. As part of this, it is necessary to determine how finance can be directed to green projects. This is going to be a serious issue given that the debt held by local governments and the corporate sector in China has become very high. The government has been concerned over the rising public debt and is working hard to control its further growth. It will be very inter- esting to see how the national congress reflects on ways that can see more investments flowing into clean energy and environment protection projects while not increasing the debt burdens of provinces and companies.

The steps taken by China in this regard will offer lessons for several other countries that are suffering similar difficulties. The author is senior research fellow and research lead (trade and economic policy) at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore.