Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 8th December

In this Bulletin…

- Safety warnings ignored at deadly mine blast;
- Taiwanese opposition make big gains in local elections; and
- Low cost purifier brings clean water to India’s poor.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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A truck transporting a load of gunpowder exploded in central China’s Hubei Province on Saturday. Four people were killed in the blast. Twenty-six other people are known to have been injured.

The truck was near Xiaogan City on the Beijing to Zhuhai highway when the gunpowder exploded. The blast left a 30-foot crack in the highway that was up to one-foot deep in places.

The explosion also damaged three other trucks and blew the windows out of a number of houses. Villagers were advised to leave their homes over structural safety fears.

Watch NTDTV for more on this story

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Information from Heilongjiang Province suggests that the lives of hundreds of miners killed by an underground gas explosion could have been saved if safety advice had been followed.

Local state-media has reported that a warning that gas levels were dangerously high had been received more than 40 minutes before the explosion.

Mr Li, who declined to give his first name, lost his brother in the disaster. He told SOH that the mine operator ignored safety warnings.

Mr Li said after a safety technician tried to get his brothers team of eight people out of the mine before the explosion, but they were told nothing was wrong and ordered them back down.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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Taiwan’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party made huge percentage gains in local elections held over the weekend.

Although President Ma’s Kuomintang still holds a majority of the seats, the gap between the two parties is much narrower.

The president’s focus on opening Taiwan to Chinese trade and investment are believed to have affected the election.

Cross-straits ties have only recently improved since Mr Ma became president after decades of tensions.

The opposition supports formal independence from China.

Analysts have said that if this voting trend continues, it could threaten President Ma’s chances of re-election in 2012.

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A new low-cost water purifier has been launched in India. It could help drastically improve the health of millions of people in poorer rural areas across the country.

The device is the result of a decade or research and development by the Tata Group.

The Swach water device was named after the Hindi word for clean. One Indian report has suggested it will cost less than 1,000 rupees, less than 22 US dollars.

The Swach uses ash from rice milling to filter out bacteria, and also uses tiny silver particles to kill harmful germs that can lead to diseases like diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid.

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You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network

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Two people were killed by a bomb at a market in southern Thailand on Monday. Nine other people were wounded in the blast.

The bomb targeted shoppers buying food in the city of Narathiwat. A separatist insurgency has been raging in the Muslim-majority area for nearly six-years.

The blast happened about a kilometre from where the Thai prime minister is due to have lunch with his visiting Malaysian counterpart on Wednesday.

Police said the explosives had been hidden inside a motorcycle.

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New Zealand’s prime minister has come under fire for not meeting the Dalai Lama when he visited the country over the weekend.

New Zealand’s Green Party has criticized the prime minister’s decision. One Green Party MP said as a result of the free trade agreement between the two countries News Zealand seemed terrified of getting off side with China.

China is New Zealand’s fourth largest trading partner.

The prime minister denied his decision was a result of pressure from the Chinese regime.

Friends of Tibet in New Zealand said the prime minister’s decision was disappointing.

Watch NTDTV for more on this.

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“Asia Cast… keeping you across the top headlines from Asia and the World.”