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In October 2012 we travelled to Nepal and South India. We had been to North India a couple of years ago and wanted to see more of this fascinating country; that will be the most populous country in the World within the next two decades.
In many ways India is like a federation of several countries; so different is one region from another. For my commentary on our trip to Northern India in 2009 Read here...
For that matter Nepal could well be part of India as it differs less from some regions of India than do some actual regions of India.
These regional differences range from climate and ethnicity to economic wellbeing and religious practice. Although poverty, resulting from inadequate education and over-population is commonplace throughout the sub-continent, it is much worse in some regions than in others.
In 1960 the Russians shot down an American U-2 spy plane that was overflying and photographing their military bases. The U-2 Incident was big news when I was in High School and I remember it quite clearly.
The Incident forms the background to Bridge of Spies a 2015 movie, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance from a screenplay written by Matt Charman together with Ethan and Joel Coen that centres on these true events.
Spielberg and the Cohen Brothers. Who could miss it?
New South Wales electricity users are to suffer another round of hefty price increases; with more to come.
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has announced that electricity prices for the average New South Wales resident will increase by 17.6 per cent from July. Sydney customers will pay on average about $230 more each year, while rural customers will face an extra $316 in charges. IPART says it is recommending the increases because of costs associated with energy firms complying with the federal government's Renewable Energy Target (RET). The RET requires energy firms to source power from renewable sources such as solar or wind.
What is this about and how does it relate to the planned carbon tax?