Knowledge Update

Tokyo, Jan 31 (IANS) Japan's industrial production rose 0.5 per cent in December 2016, compared to November, according to data published by the government on Tuesday.

The figure is lower than the 1.5 per cent month-on-month rise that Japanese manufactures recorded in November, Efe news reported.

Tokyo, Jan 31 (IANS) Japanese videogaming giant Nintendo on Tuesday said it made a net profit of 102.96 billion yen ($900 million) from April to December 2016 mainly due to the augmented reality game "Pokemon GO".

Rome, Jan 31 (IANS/AKI) Italy's share of unemployed people aged 15 to 24 rose to 40.1 percent in December, up 0.2 percent from November while overall joblessness was unchanged at 12 percent, provisional data showed on Tuesday.

​New York, Jan 31 (IANS) Apple has removed the "Activation Lock" tool that allows users to check the ownership status of their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

"The tool allowed users to enter the serial number or IMEI of iOS devices to find out if 'Activation Lock' was active, helping consumers who were interested in purchasing used

New York, Jan 31 (IANS) In a bid to make it tough for rival social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, Twitter has announced its first livestreaming deal in Europe to will telecast the proceedings of the transfer deadline day.

​London, Jan 31 (IANS) A French designer duo has unveiled a new concept for the future smartphone which is made around holograms, voice control and face-tracking technology with translucent gelatinous features, media reported. The smartphone, called Alo, will be designed in a way that is appropriate for the palm of a hand, said Philippe Starck and Jerome Olivet. Controlled by voice commands, every time the user wants to open a text message or watch a movie on the device, it will pop up in a 3D hologram. "Alo provides a fully vocalised interface in all phone functions, reads SMS and emails, and even allows them to dictate their messages rather than typing them," design magazine dezeen.com quoted Olivet as saying. The translucent skin emits vibrations by producing heat depending on its activity and its skin repairs automatically as soon as it is damaged. The holographic images will be projected by a so-called "eye" which will allow the reader to read the texts he detects or to identify the faces. Moulded aluminium alloy core at the centre of the device will function as haptic interface giving feedback through heat as well as vibration. "While it is currently only a concept, Olivet plans to develop Alo, or a version of it, into a prototype. It is attached to French electronics brand Thomson," the report added.

Beijing, Jan 31 (IANS) Volkswagen China will recall 1,993 vehicles in China due to defective body control modules (BCM), according to the country's top quality watchdog. The recall, set to begin on February 20, affects 1,476 imported 2016 Magotan travel series manufactured between Febuary 9, 2016 and May 30, 2016, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday. It will also affect 517 imported 2016 Magotan four-wheel drive series manufactured between Febuary 9, 2016 and June 2, 2016, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. The defective BCM of affected vehicles might cause the dysfunction of car lamps when driving, posing safety risks, said the statement. Volkswagen China promised to check all the affected vehicles and replace the defective parts free of charge.

Madrid, Jan 31 (IANS) Spain welcomed a record number of 75.6 million foreign tourists in 2016, according to data released on Tuesday.

The number of tourists exceeded government estimations and represented a 10.3 per cent increase year on year, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said.

Visitors from the UK made up the largest tourist population, with 17.8 million Britons choosing to holiday in Spain -- a 12.4 per cent increase on the previous year, Efe news reported.

UK citizens were followed by the French (11.4 million visitors representing a 7.1 per cent increase) and the Germans (11.2 million, a 6.4 per cent increase).

The autonomous region of Catalonia received most tourists in 2016 (almost 18 million).

The Canary Islands were the second most popular destination (13.3 million) followed by the Balearic Islands (13 million).

Experts have suggested the tourism boom experienced by Spain has been influenced by the security situation of its main competitors such as Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey.

Tourism is one of the main sources of income for the Spanish economy.

​Sydney, Jan 31 (IANS) Most of the over 100 natural World Heritage sites that are being severely damaged by expanding human infrastructure and land use are in Asia, a new study has warned.

India's Manas Wildlife Sanctuary and Nepal's Chitwan National Park are among the most impacted Natural World Heritage Sites (NWHS), the study, published in the journal Biological Conservation, identified.

"It is time for the global community to stand up and hold governments to account so that they take the conservation of natural World Heritage sites seriously," said lead author James Allan from University of Queensland in Australia.

"We urge the World Heritage Committee to immediately assess the highly threatened sites we have identified. Urgent intervention is clearly needed to save these places and their outstanding natural universal values," Allan added.

Natural World Heritage Sites (NWHS), via the formal process run by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), are globally recognised as containing some of the Earth's most valuable natural assets.

The authors looked at human pressure over time using the updated global Human Footprint criteria, which includes roads, agriculture, urbanisation and industrial infrastructure, along with forest loss.

They found that the Human Footprint has increased in 63 per cent of Natural World Heritage Sites (NWHS) across all continents except Europe over the past two decades. 

The most impacted NWHS were found in Asia. Even celebrated places like Yellowstone National Park in the US were impacted, losing some six per cent of its forests. 

Meanwhile, Waterton Glacier International Peace Park that crosses the Canadian and USA border lost almost one quarter of its forested area (23 per cent or 540 km2).

"Any place that is listed as a World Heritage site is a globally important asset to all of humanity," said senior author James Watson of the University of Queensland and Wildlife Conservation Society.

"The world would never accept the Acropolis being knocked down, or a couple of pyramids being flattened for housing estates or roads, yet right now, across our planet, we are simply letting many of our natural World Heritage sites be severely altered," Watson noted

​Kathmandu, Jan 31 (IANS) Nepal has geared up to develop a strong disaster response plan for major airports following the devastating earthquake in the country on April 2015.

Considering possible disasters in future, more than 30 officials from government agencies and airports, military and humanitarian partners and international experts were discussing the action plan at a four-day workshop which kicked off here on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The event plans to assess and strengthen post-disaster preparedness and arrangements at two of Nepal's most strategic airports, the Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) here and the one at Nepalgunj in the western part of the country.

Addressing the inaugural session, Tourism Secretary Shankar Prasad Adhikari said the disaster response capacity of TIA was not sufficient during the earthquake.

"We have to focus on further developing our airports' capacities," he said.

Being a landlocked country, Nepal relies heavily on air routes to transport aid supplies during emergency.

Right after the disaster that killed nearly 9,000 people, the country's only international airport was flooded with humanitarian aid supplies and rescue and relief teams coming from all around the world.

Large aircraft were unable to land at the airport as the runway was damaged from the influx of flights delivering aid.

Valerie Julliand, the UN Development Fund Resident Coordinator for Nepal, said: "We just can't wait for another disaster to strike to have a strong and effective contingency plans to manage the flow of emergency relief goods to the people in need. If Nepal really works on a good action plan, Nepal can transform its vulnerability of being landlocked into strength."

During the workshop, participants and trainers will evaluate the current level of preparedness at the two airports, go through trainings and provide concrete recommendations.

The workshop will also identify priorities for investment in national infrastructure that could further improve Nepal's resilience of emergency supply chains during a disaster.