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The article focuses on the decline of the paper industry in the 21st century. There was a significant decrease in printing-paper consumption since the peak in paper demand in North America in 2000. The key challenges facing the sector are boosting the environmental and usability credentials of paper and finding new applications for the pulp. But the consumption decline in the west is not reflected in Asia and South America.

Focuses on the story of the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that extended from Japan and China in East Asia across Central Asia, south to India, and west across the Iranian plateau and other lands to the Mediterranean. Details of the stories how silk and paper traveled the Silk Road from China to Europe; Discussion on the story of paper production; Establishment of sericulture in China.

In the present paper, we review two of the most neglected intestinal food-borne trematodiases: echinostomiasis, caused by members of the family Echinostomatidae, and gastrodiscoidiasis produced by the amphistome Gastrodiscoides hominis. Both parasitic infections are important intestinal food-borne diseases. Humans become infected after ingestion of raw or insufficiently cooked molluscs, fish, crustaceans, amphibians or aquatic vegetables. Thus, eating habits are essential to determine the distribution of these parasitic diseases and, traditionally, they have been considered as minor diseases confined to low-income areas, mainly in Asia. However, this scenario is changing and the population at risk are currently expanding in relation to factors such as new eating habits in developed countries, growing international markets, improved transportation systems and demographic changes. These aspects determine the necessity of a better understanding of these parasitic diseases. Herein, we review the main features of human echinostomiasis and gastrodiscoidiasis in relation to their biology, epidemiology, immunology, clinical aspects, diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lists books about archaeology in Asia. 'Studies of Shang Archaeology,' edited by K.C. Chang; 'Artefacts as Categories: A Study of Ceramic Variability in Central India,' by Daniel Miller; 'Kuli: An Exploration of an Ancient Civilization in South Asia,' by Gregory L. Possehl.

The author reports on the increasing number of papers written by researchers in Asia which are published in scientific journals.

This paper highlights the importance of taking a broader view in the study of history, as far away as possible from classical Eurocentric interpretations, in order to enable students to deal with issues and problems that go outside the boundaries of the State perspective. For these reasons, the courses 'Global History' and 'History of Asia' aim to explore the processes that have shaped global relations in the modern age from a political, economic, social and cultural point of view and to provide a solid knowledge of the history of Eastern Asia between the 19th and 20th centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the plans of Asian countries to build 100-seat commercial airplanes. Includes Indonesia, Japan and Korea; Analysis of the technological capabilities of the countries; Airlines with ongoing projects building airplanes; Cost of the projects; Target and potential markets.

Presents news briefs related to health and environment in Asia as of September 2001. Study conducted by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors on steel companies using environmental filters; Order issued by Malaysian High Court Judge Datuk Ian Chin Hon Chong against Borneo Paper and Pulp Co.; Start of the world's largest solar project in the Philippines that will bring electricity to residents of rural Mindanao.

Presents news briefs on Asia as of March 2001. Victory of the political party Thai Rak Thai in the election in Thailand; Publication of the book `Tiananmen Papers'; Tribunals against the members of the former communist Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot.

The article discusses an offer from Chinese philanthropist and billionaire Chen Guangbiao to purchase "The New York Times" newspaper. Topics include Chen's interest in using the paper and his influence to spread a message of world peace, environmental protection, and human kindness throughout Asia, a refusal from "The New York Times" chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. regarding the sale of the paper, and several of Chen's extreme and untraditional acts of charity.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a public health problem that threats the entire world today. Japanese Encephalitis virus (JEV) mostly became a threat due to the significant number of increase of susceptible mosquito vectors and vertebrate hosts in Asia by which around 70,000 cases and 10,000 deaths per year took place in children below 15 years of age. In this paper, a mathematical model of JE due to JEV from the vector source (infected mosquito) and two vertebrate hosts (infected human and infected pig) is formulated. The disease can be controlled by applying several control measures such as vaccination, medicine and insecticide to the JE infection causing species. The model has been formulated as an optimal control problem and has been solved using Pontryagin’s maximum principle. Also, the stability of the system has been studied with the help of basic reproduction number for disease free and endemic equilibrium. The results of fixed control for endemic equilibrium is presented numerically and depicted graphically. The effects of different control strategies on human, pig and mosquito has been analyzed using Runge–Kutta 4th order forward and backward techniques and presented thereafter graphically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets the stage for this Special Issue covering a set of papers, which try to provide a cross-scale evaluation of the trade-offs and synergies evident among aquaculture, water quality and environment in the empirical context of 8 different countries from Asia and Africa. Having discussed the livelihood and policy significance of the issue of cross-scale trade-offs and synergies, this paper provides an eclectic review of literature to show how this issue has been insufficiently treated in past studies. With a brief overview and synthesis of the papers included in this Issue, this paper also indicates how they overcome the analytical, methodological, and data challenges so as to provide a cross-scale evaluation of the trade-offs and synergies in different empirical settings. After illustrating how the new research insights can be integrated into the public debates and policy processes, this paper concludes with the identification of future research and policy needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports that students from China and other Asian countries are using fake English-language certificates to try to enroll in overseas universities. Issuance of forged English competency certificates through the British Council's International English Language Testing System (IELTS); Cost of fake certificates.

Reports on the impact of stock markets' volatility on newspaper publishers in Asia. Publishers' move to enlist their online subsidiaries in preparation for the expected instability in the markets; Singapore-based AsiaOne's competitors; Online publishers that have ventured outside their base country.

Discusses Britain's Cable and Wireless (C&W) February 29, 2000 sale of a stake in Hong Kong telecommunications carrier C&W HKT to Richard Li. Li's stake in Internet company PCCW and plan to provide broadband Internet access by cable or satellite in Asia; Singapore Telecom's negotiations with C&W.

Purpose – Since the construction of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) launched in 2002, the bilateral trade increased rapidly. The purpose of this paper is to test the competition and cooperation in trade relationships between China and the main trading partners (Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand (SMT)) from ASEAN in international trade under CAFTA. Design/methodology/approach – Grey Lotka-Volterra competition models are established for testing the trade relationships between China and SMT, respectively, based on the data of import and export from 2003 to 2014. To improve modeling accuracy, the interpolated coefficients for dynamic background value are introduced into the grey Lotka-Volterra model. The optimal parameters are solved through minimizing the mean absolute percentage error and the constraint of parameter relationships. Besides, eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix are adopted to carry out the stability of equilibrium points of the trade relationships. Findings – As the beneficiary party, China has mutual benefit and win-win trade relationship with Singapore, while it has predator-prey trade relationships with Malaysia and Thailand. The future exports from SMT to China will stabilize at 462.31, 598.13 and 447.03 billion dollars, respectively. The future exports from China to SMT will stabilize at 637.16, 943.71 and 827.52 billion dollars, respectively. Practical implications – This study can be regarded as an important reference for China and its trading partners from ASEAN. The modeling results can help the decision makers to formulate appropriate international trade strategies to gain and maintain competitive advantages. Originality/value – A new approach to testing the trade relationships is proposed based on grey Lotka-Volterra competition model. The study also proposed a dynamic optimization method for the background value of grey Lotka-Volterra model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offers advice for Asians on how to buy postage stamps that can be used as investments. Importance of buying stamps of quality; Increased price for stamps with watermarks; Revolving trends in stamp collecting.

The relation of hydroinformatics to modern science is considered in relation to the origins and nature of modern science itself and to the technology that has assured the predominance of the European peoples over the peoples of most of the rest of the world for some 250 years. The current increasingly rapid reversal of this predominance is introduced with special reference to Asia in general and China in particular. This reversal is seen as a consequence of a transmutation in societies generally from modern conditions to postmodern conditions. The relation between knowledge providers and knowledge consumers is then introduced and related to the advent of the Internet and further to the World Wide Web, and further again to mobile devices. It is explained that the numerical predominance of China in access to the Web and to mobile telephony has proceeded alongside Chinese government initiatives that have supported this social development. The present contribution follows upon one with the same main title that was directed specifically to the Islamic world and another directed more generally to North-East Asia. Since this paper is directed almost exclusively towards China, it traces some developments currently occurring in China that exemplify its theses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asia accounts for 70% of the world's irrigated area and is home to some of the oldest and largest irrigation schemes. While these irrigation schemes played an important role in ensuring food security for billions of people in the past, their current state of affairs leaves much to be desired. This paper takes forward the IWMIFAO-ADB (Asian Development Bank) recommendation of a five-pronged approach for revitalizing Asia's irrigation and provides a region-specific road map for doing this. The underlying principle of these multiple strategies is the belief that the public institutions at the heart of irrigation management in Asia need to give up comfortable rigidity and engage with individual users' needs and the demands placed by larger societal changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A revitalised hydropower development narrative is emerging in the Mekong in which the concept of 'trade-offs' plays a central role. The importance of and risks to capture fisheries in the Mekong is such that any degradation has huge social, economic and environmental implications. While potential impacts of hydropower development on capture fisheries are acknowledged in this emerging narrative, it is argued that these are less than anticipated previously, that impacts can be assessed, mitigation measures introduced and trade-offs negotiated. The concept of trade-offs has an immediate appeal but it is also problematic. It draws attention away from considering development objectives and options towards focusing on impacts, and infers a technical approach as opposed to a political process of decision making. This paper draws on anthropological approaches to development policy to consider the implications of a hydropower narrative based on trade-offs in light of experience in the Mekong Basin, and to consider alternative ways of framing debate on hydropower and capture fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents economic analysis, viability and trade-off issues for small-scale (family) inland capture fisheries in three fishing communities, each representing a distinct floodplain characteristic in Cambodia. The average net profits of family fishing was US$12 and US$4.6 per trip during the open (October to May) and close (June to September) seasons, respectively; but real profit--deducting the cost for family labour from net profit--was only US$4.5 and US$1.6 during the open and close seasons, respectively. The return from family fishing varied greatly across sites surveyed, depending on the quality of the fishing grounds, hydro-ecology settings, local institutions, and socio-economic factors. The high degree of seasonality, the spatial variation of returns and costs of capture fisheries suggest interdependence of fishing activities with basin-level water allocation policies, and also related trade-off in the fisheries sector with water allocation and water resources management policies. There is also now an urgent need for synergy of the various rural development efforts with that of fisheries policies in the Mekong River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the ASEAN-5 countries and explores the impact of structural breaks on the level of financial integration in that region. An extended cointegration procedure allowing for three types of structural break, is employed and compared with the standard Johansen procedure, for daily and weekly returns. The empirical results suggest a higher level of integration within the ASEAN-5 markets than previously found, suggesting that financial risk reduction benefits from diversifying investments across the region are less than previously thought. Further, Singapore and Thailand are the main long-term drivers in the region; Malaysia and Indonesia are more short-term drivers. Structural breaks are found to correspond with the Asian financial crisis in 1997/98 and a possible Y2K effect in late 1999. Results are verified using another structural break model and method, where break dates are treated as known. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes the valuation scheme of European, barrier, and Asian options of single asset by using radial basis function approximation. The option prices are governed with Black–Scholes equation. The equation is discretized with Crank–Nicolson scheme and then, the option price is approximated with the radial basis functions with unknown parameters. In the European and the barrier options, the prices are governed with Black–Scholes equation. The governing option of the Asian option, however, is different from them of the others. In that case, one has to adopt the other radial basis functions than that for the original Black–Scholes equation. Finally, numerical results are compared with theoretical and finite difference solutions in order to confirm the validity of the present formulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses Asian influences on American culture, which is most apparent in the areas of sports, cuisine, architecture and entertainment today. The influence of Asia on Western society is not a new phenomenon, though. Some of the earliest influences came in the introduction of Chinese technologies such as paper, porcelain and gunpowder. Asian philosophy and Asian-influenced art have also become widely popular in the 19th century United States.

Discusses graphs on the rate of growth in key science and technology indicators in the U.S. and group of science-minded Asian countries such as Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, China and India. Growth in gross domestic expenditures on research and development from 1991 through 2001; Rise in the number of papers in the Science Citation Index from 1986 through 1999; Increase in U.S. patents invented in Asia from 1986 through 2003.

This paper emphasizes the need for major social and political changes aside from economic policy reforms in Asia to rectify its deeper problems. In 1998, the collapse of the Thai baht dragged East and Southeast Asia through a default spiral as exchange rates plunged and equity and property values collapsed. Governments have been slow to enact reforms, so nationalized financial assets have not been restructured, definitions of nonperforming loans are sham, independent regulators do not enforce stock market rules, and litigation still accomplishes too little. In East Asia, capital is allocated according to the notion that a strong state's proper role is to help coordinate the flow of external financing to companies. Asian policymakers learned from the 1997 crisis that closed production systems are inflexible and that opening up requires stronger external legal systems and less state favoritism. Rather than pressing directly for policy reforms in the short term, which might provoke resentment without spurring lasting changes, Washington should put its faith in more indirect forces. The conglomerate and family models of business organization today, 2001, still make it difficult for companies to adopt the preferred business model for global competition. East and Southeast Asian firms must learn to better manage the risks inherent in the international economy, without depending on favoritism and government bailouts.

Discusses the relationship of Australia with Asia. Examples of Australian regional involvement; Information on Australia's White Paper on foreign and trade policy; Security and economic interest of Asia; Aims of the Australian aid program.

Reports on the number of scientific papers published by Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, according to the Institute for Scientific Information. Increase in contribution of first-rate papers; Singapore as leader of the five countries.

Examines how the Asian economic turmoil affects Australia. Origins of the crisis and proximate impact on Asian economies; Potential effect on real income, price, tourism and investment confidence; Budget paper analysis of the economic fall out; Channels through which economic crisis in Asia in being translated to Australia.

The article discusses the politics involved with reproductive health. A decade ago, the world's leaders met in Cairo at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). There, they crafted a plan to achieve "reproductive health and rights for all" by 2015. That plan was wide-ranging--from more contraception and fewer maternal deaths to better education for girls and greater equality for women. The ICPD plan also aimed to change the way those at the sharp end of making policy and delivering services thought about reproduction. It wanted to move away from a focus on family planning (and, by extension, government policies on population control) towards a broader view of sexual health, and systems and services shaped by individual needs. Over the past week, hundreds of government officials, public-health experts and activists met in London to mark the anniversary of the ICPD and to take stock of progress towards achieving its goals. On paper, that progress has been impressive. Governments around the world have introduced legislation that reflects the ICPD's aims. But when it comes to turning policy into practice, "mixed success" is the verdict of a report card just released by Countdown 2015, a coalition of voluntary bodies involved in the field. According to the United Nations' Population Fund (UNFPA), 61% of married couples now use contraception, an 11% increase since 1994. This has helped push global population growth down from 82m to 76m people a year over the past decade. But in some places--particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia--birth rates remain high. Few poor countries have earmarked enough of their budgets to meet their citizens' reproductive-health needs. Nor have donors lived up to expectations.

The article presents information on the prevailing terms concerning the China proposed Belt and Road Initiative as translated by the China Academy of Translation. Topics discussed include a five-pronged approach as discussed by President Xi Jinping in his speech in Kazakhstan, steering group for the Belt and Road Initiative and a white paper entitled "Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road."

It has been over 10 years since a deadly paramyxovirus known as the Nipah virus emerged in Asia. Over the subsequent decade there has been multiple outbreaks. Some traditional practices like drinking raw date sap are hard to break. The year's first outbreak in Bangladesh (Jipurhat) this year resulted in death in all six affected individuals. The incubation is about 5-7 days and the attack begins with fever, changes in cognition and seizures. Health care workers are urged to wash their hands frequently when caring for patients with Nipah virus infection. Bats and ("flying foxes") get access to palm sap collecting jars and denial of such access is the major public health remedy currently applied. A recent publication from the CDC and the International Centre for Diarrheal Diseases in Bangladesh discusses a way to compare Nipah viruses. In the paper the full genome sequence of 2 viruses were reported and partial sequences from virus from 3 patients. A proposed standardized scheme evolved out of these genomic studies. Using the N-terminal region of the N gene open reading frame, there are 25 distinct nucleotides (nt) that "universally differentiate the genotypes." The M proteins are highly conserved among the genotypes from Malaysia versus Bangladesh and India. Phylogenetic analysis disclosed two major groups designated M for Malaysia and Cambodia and B for Bangladesh and India. What are known as the topologies and branching patterns in the phylogenetic trees are very similar for the comparison of whole gene sequences reported earlier. (Arankalle, VA, et al. Emerg Infect Dis 2011;17:907-9). So this new shortened method of classifying Nipah Viruses should work well towards standardization. It has been over 10 years since a deadly paramyxovirus known as the Nipah virus emerged in Asia. Over the subsequent decade there has been multiple outbreaks. Some traditional practices like drinking raw date sap are hard to break. The year's first outbreak in Bangladesh (Jipurhat) this year resulted in death in all six affected individuals. The incubation is about 5-7 days and the attack begins with fever, changes in cognition and seizures. Health care workers are urged to wash their hands frequently when caring for patients with Nipah virus infection. Bats and ("flying foxes") get access to palm sap collecting jars and denial of such access is the major public health remedy currently applied. A recent publication from the CDC and the International Centre for Diarrheal Diseases in Bangladesh discusses a way to compare Nipah viruses. In the paper the full genome sequence of 2 viruses were reported and partial sequences from virus from 3 patients. A proposed standardized scheme evolved out of these genomic studies. Using the N-terminal region of the N gene open reading frame, there are 25 distinct nucleotides (nt) that "universally differentiate the genotypes." The M proteins are highly conserved among the genotypes from Malaysia versus Bangladesh and India. Phylogenetic analysis disclosed two major groups designated M for Malaysia and Cambodia and B for Bangladesh and India. What are known as the topologies and branching patterns in the phylogenetic trees are very similar for the comparison of whole gene sequences reported earlier. (Arankalle, VA, et al. Emerg Infect Dis 2011;17:907-9). So this new shortened method of classifying Nipah Viruses should work well towards standardization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an article about the boom in the mining industry in Asia in 2005. Investors with an ear to the ground have been hearing the buzz from below: the miners are back. It has been nearly a half-century since the mining industry experienced what economists call a "real" boom. In recent decades, mining has been the boom-bust bane of the stock market -- companies borrowing too much during booms to open too many new mines which came on stream at times of falling demand, producing price collapses for both the metals and their shares. The inflation mania of the 1970s, driven by fashionable intellectuals' claims that the world was running out of almost everything except fast-depreciating paper money, led to massive overinvestment in mines and smelters and plunging metals prices. Flash forward to the annual BMO Nesbitt Burns Global Resources Conference in Florida this month, one of the world's biggest gatherings for miners and institutional investors. Mining is a global business. Companies from around the world came to the conference to talk to investors from around the world. Mining companies must somehow find the will, the capital and the ore bodies to give the people of Asia the chance to live in the fashion we have long taken for granted.

The article discusses America's current-account deficit and a prediction that the dollar will decline sharply. The dollar's latest slide seems to have been triggered by uncertainty about the presidential election and a flurry of comments from Fed officials. The dollar has fallen by over 30% against the euro since 2001, but its trade-weighted index has fallen by much less because of heavy intervention by Asian central banks, aimed at holding down their currencies against the dollar. Some economists argue that America can sustain its large current-account deficit for at least another decade, without a sharp fall in the dollar, because it will be happily financed by China and other Asian countries. In a series of papers Michael Dooley, David Folkerts-Landau and Peter Garber at Deutsche Bank have argued that the present arrangements resemble a revived Bretton Woods, the system of fixed exchange rates after the second world war. Currency intervention by Asian central banks helps to explain why America has so far been able to finance its deficit without higher American bond yields or a bigger fall in the dollar. George Magnus, an economist at UBS, argues that the parallels with Bretton Woods are superficial. One big difference is that in the 1960s the United States ran a current-account surplus and was a net creditor to the rest of the world. Today, America is the world's biggest debtor, which could undermine the dollar's role as an anchor currency. Another important difference is that, unlike under the Bretton Woods regime, most Asian countries have scrapped capital controls or where they still exist, as in China, they are leaky. Under Bretton Woods there was no real alternative to the dollar as a reserve currency. Today there is the euro, into which Asians could diversify.

Reports on developments in Asia recent to February 2000. Includes the release of a white paper by China warning of possible military action should Taiwan dawdle about reunification; Increase in India's military spending desired by Defense Minister George Fernandes; Expected upgrade of Malaysia's credit rating by Moody's; Apology of Microsoft to Thailand for describing Bangkok as a sex center in the Encarta Encyclopedia.

The article presents the inaugural 2015 U.S. News Best Global Universities rankings of the top 500 academic institutions across 49 countries in regions including Europe, Asia and Latin America based on data and metrics from Thomson Reuters InCites. It discusses rankings based on criteria including global research reputation, publications and number of highly cited papers which found Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the first and second places.

The article assesses the challenges and opportunities for the growth of higher education in Asia. Reommendations are offered for the progress of Asian universities including international promotion and engagement with global peers, publication of papers in world-class journals by Asian researchers and attendance in international conferences, and industrial collaboration for technological innovation. It stresses the need to build a sustainable cycle and a strategic framework for universities.

Like so many highly trained young women these days, Elizabeth Scharpf has choices. She could be working in a Manhattan office tower with her Harvard Business School classmates, soaring through the ranks as a banker or business executive and aspiring to become a senator or a C.E.O. someday. After all, there's no question that women around the world enjoy opportunities that simply didn't exist a few decades ago. Yet the women exerting the greatest pressure for change often aren't the presidents and tycoons but those toiling further down the pyramid, driven by a passion to create a better world. And in particular, a better world for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a discussion paper released by Science-Metrix Inc. in February 2010 which examined geopolitical shifts in knowledge creation in Russia, the Middle East, and Asia, as well as their effects on scientific production. An example of geopolitical change and its effects cited is the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany in 1989, which was followed by the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The report noted that different responses in the development of national scientific systems resulted from political tensions in the Middle East.

The article reports that eleven years after Asia's first gay pride parade, Bangkok played host to another Asian first this summer of 2005. An academic conference dedicated to gay studies. With low acceptance of gays and lesbians in most Asian nations, organizers hoped for 50 papers to be presented at the "International Conference of Asian Queer Studies." Instead, 225 abstracts were submitted. Of those, 125 presentations were chosen for the conference. The response was overwhelming. Although speakers came from an impressive 24 countries, including Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Philippines, not all news from the region is upbeat. An attempt to form a gay studies department at a major university in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, failed. Laws in India, Malaysia and Singapore prohibit homosexual acts and one scholar at the conference reminded attendees that such acts are punishable by death in 10 Asian nations. There does appear to be some receptivity to scholarly work focusing on gay communities in many countries, but homophobia and repressive laws are still common.

Focuses on the competition between Japan-based Toshiba Corp. and South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. in the flash technology market. Toshiba's white paper on multilevel-cell performance; Samsung's support on single-level cell technology.

Reports developments concerning investments in Asia as of November 2001. Significance of the success of Goldman Sach's real-estate investment trust to foreign investments; Details of the launch of javelin Asia Pacific Principal Protected Notes by ZCM Investor Capital; Price of Asia Pulp & Paper bonds.

Lists the top companies in the Asian forest products and mining industries for 2001, ranked according to sales. BHP Billiton; Oji Paper Co.; Rio Tinto.

This article reports that the periodical "The Economist" is baffled by all those countries that have sprung up in the place that used to go by the name of the Soviet Union in the periodical. It states that had the Commonwealth of Independent States looked like a fixture, one might have continued to treat all its members as honorary Europeans; but increasingly their differences look larger than what they have in common. Accordingly, papers about the countries of ex-Soviet Central Asia will now usually be found in the Asia section. The other ex-Soviet Asian republics are more awkward. Georgia and Armenia are more European in outlook and proximity than the Central Asian states, and it would be odd to detach their neighbor Azerbaijan from them. So all three stay in Europe, which is, after all, where the periodical puts Turkey, even though most of it is geographically in Asia.

Warns that the 99 percent of the natural forests in Asian countries has been lost, as reported by the World Resources Institue in the United States (US). Information on forestry in the India; Continued growth in the paper products industry; High rate of forest destruction in Asia during 1960 to 1980.

Discusses the emergence of fax machines as vital office equipment in Asia. Historical background on the development of fax machines and fax services; Reconfiguration of fax machines by the Japanese to make them affordable and regular office fixtures.