Actor Awarded

(XINHUA)

Chinese actor Chen Jianbin won the Most Popular Actor award at the fourth China Image Film Festival in London on October 28 for his starring role in the film People Mountain People Sea, directed by Cai Shangjun.

The film is adapted from the true story of five brothers in southwest China's Guizhou Province who travel across the country by motorbike to track the murderer of their youngest brother. In the film, Chen plays farmer Lao Tie. It also won the Silver Lion at the 2011 Venice International Film Festival.

Chen said that it was not difficult for him to take on his first role as a farmer because of his experience as a child living in a village with his grandparents. Playing the role of Lao Tie made him reconnect with the essence of being a farmer, he said.

The China Image Film Festival was established in 2009 with the purpose of introducing more Chinese films to Britain and is the country's only Chinese-language film festival.

Greater Police Transparency

The Ministry of Public Security has issued a new decree that will increase the public's awareness of the job responsibilities of police officers.

The move, which will come into effect on January 1, 2013, is meant to ensure more transparency regarding police actions, said the ministry on October 30.

The ministry has issued the new rules based on information obtained in recent years by police departments in some localities. These departments have tried new methods of law enforcement, such as Internet-based information services and case-handling activities.

Soil Pollution Control

The Chinese Government has pledged to launch a national program on soil protection as part of ongoing efforts to improve the environment.

The pledge came out of an executive meeting of the State Council, China's cabinet, on October 31.

A six-year government-led study found that the country's soil has been vastly polluted by human activities in the industrial, mining and farming sectors.

The State Council decided to strictly protect the soil of cultivated land, bring pollutants under control, strictly monitor and control risks threatening the soil environment, and carry out programs to control and rehabilitate polluted soil.

Food Inspections

Chinese authorities uncovered 169 batches of substandard imported food in September, according to figures released by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on October 30.

The substandard food, which came from 31 countries and regions, covered 14 categories, mainly dairy products, pastries, biscuits and beverages, said the administration's spokesman Li Yuanping.

The administration also uncovered seven batches of substandard cosmetic products imported from three countries or regions, which carried wrong labels, contained unqualified additives, or did not match their certificates.

These products were either sent back or destroyed and did not enter the Chinese market, Li said.

Safe Water

About 298 million more rural residents in China will hopefully have access to safe drinking water by 2015, said a water resources official on October 29.

Resolving water safety problem for these rural residents and 114,000 schools in the countryside is listed as one of the government's priority projects, said Yan Guanyu, Deputy Director of the China Irrigation and Drainage Development Center under the Ministry of Water Resources.

China will invest 175 billion yuan ($28 billion) by 2015 to ensure supplies of safe drinking water in rural areas, according to a report in June by Vice Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying.

Over the past decade, China has spent 178.6 billion yuan ($29 billion) on projects to improve water quality across the countryside, benefiting 326 million rural residents, according to data from the ministry.

Smart Nursing Homes

China plans to build 100 hi-tech nursing homes for its ageing population within 10 years, the China National Committee on Ageing revealed on October 31.

The hi-tech system will feature modern communication and computer technologies. It will provide various services for the elderly, including medical care, education and entertainment facilities, said Zhu Yong, deputy head of the committee.

The system can also offer customized rehabilitation and mental care, Zhu said.

Construction of the first facility began on October 29 in Beijing, and will cover an area of 86,115 square meters.

China had about 185 million people above the age of 60 at of the end of last year. The figure is expected to surge to 221 million in 2015.

Electricity Across Tibet

A solar power project is expected to bring electricity to villages in remote regions in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, marking one of the final steps in the government's efforts to provide electricity to all rural Tibetans, a government official said on October 29.

Liu Qinghong, an official with the Tibet Regional Development and Reform Commission, said solar panels will be installed in 1,630 villages in Tibet by year's end, bringing power for the first time to schools, monasteries, public venues and homes in remote areas.

The Golden Sun solar project, estimated to cost 1 billion yuan ($160 million), started in 2008. The government has pushed for full power coverage in Tibet by extending major grids, building small hydropower stations and installing solar panels in remote areas.

Human Genetic Research

China on October 31 began soliciting public opinion on a draft regulation over materials related to genetic research that highlights improved protection.

The 50-article draft was designed to replace the existing interim measures on human genetic research, which was introduced in 1998, according to a statement posted on the Central Government's website on October 31.

The draft proposes the all organizations involved in the collection and storage of human genetic resources be licensed.

Such organizations must set up internal ethics supervisory boards and submit annual work reports to provincial science and technology authorities, according to the draft.

As defined in the draft, "human genetic resources" refer to genetic materials such as human organs, tissues, cells, DNA and DNA products, which contain the human genome, genes or gene products, as well as information extracted from such genetic materials.

The draft is open to feedback until November 29.

Massive Telescope

Scientists unveiled a new radio telescope in Shanghai on October 28.

The telescope, located on Sheshan Mountain, will be used to track and collect data from satellites and space probes.

The newly-built radio telescope can pick up eight different frequency bands and also track deep space probes, said Hong Xiaoyu, head of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.

The telescope will be used for the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), a type of astronomical interferometry used in radio astronomy, to collect data and increase its angular resolution during astronomical observation.

China's VLBI system is made up of four telescopes found in the cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Kunming and Urumqi, and includes a data center in Shanghai.