India: Adani Plans $2bn Mega Power Plant in Odisha

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.Reuters

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate proposes to invest $2bn to build a 2,500 megawatt power plant in eastern India, a move that will raise group capacity by 25%.

The Adani Group, the largest private power producer in the subcontinent, expects to sign a pact with the state of Odisha later in the year to set up the coal-fired plant, Rajesh Jha, who handles the group's mining business in that state, told Reuters.

The group plans to generate 1,000 megawatt (MW) of electricity by 2017 in Odisha, ramping up to full capacity by 2019, Jha added.

The facility will source coal from within Odisha.

Earlier in the month, Adani Power, agreed to acquire a 1,200 megawatt thermal power plant in southern India. That deal was valued at more than $990m (£597m, €751m).

The Adani Group has 9,240 MW of power capacity at its plants located in three Indian states: Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

It imports about 100 million tonnes of coal a year, primarily from Indonesia, to feed those plants.

Bitcoin Villain Mark Karpelès Gets into Web Hosting Business

Mt Gox's CEO Mark Karpeles.Reuters

Mark Karpelès, CEO of collapsed bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, is looking to make a future in the web hosting business.

He launched a new web hosting service, Forever.net, which is registered under both his name and Mt Gox's parent company, Tibanne.

"TIBANNE Co.Ltd. is a Tokyo, Japan-based corporation founded in 2009 by talented technopreneurs," the website says on its about section.

"TIBANNE specializes in web hosting, IP transit, VoIP, software development and network administration. We are currently engaged in the research and development of new and existing services to produce innovative solutions for our clients."

"Unlike other subjects, I am able to discuss Forever.net," Karpelès said in an email correspondence with NewsBtc.com.

"We've been doing this since 2009, and even before founding Tibanne I help founding a couple other hosting companies (one still has its site online, however the offers listed on there are far outdated, not sure what they are doing today."

Karpelès noted that Tibanne faced severe loss of revenue and increased legal costs due to the Mt Gox saga.

"As such we are now controlling expenses and focusing on revenue generating in order to be able to do our part," he said.

"With Forever.net we make use of existing resources and provide services based on the technology we developed over the years."

Karpelès added that he is considering cryptocurrency payment option for the web hosting service.

"We are also considering accepting payments in BTC/LTC/etc. For information[,] Tibanne's other hosting service KalyHost.com has been accepting BTC since Sept. 2010 and generated since then a total revenue of over 13000 bitcoins (we will soon be releasing a new version of the KalyHost.com website too)," he said.

Mt Gox, which at one point hosted 80% of trades in the popular digital currency bitcoin, collapsed after reporting that 850,000 bitcoins were stolen in what it claims was the result of a two-year-long cyber attack. The company later said it recovered about 200,000 of the missing bitcoins.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan on 28 February and subsequently in the US.

Japanese Porn Actresses to Take Part in Day-Long Breast-Squeeze Event for Charity

Japanese porn actresses offer day-long breast-squeeze charity event for aids awarenessReuters photo (representative purpose only)

At least 10 Japanese porn actresses are expected to participate in a day-long "breast-squeeze" event as part of an Aids awareness programme. The entire show will be broadcast live on an adult television channel.

The annual charity event, roughly translating into "Boob Aid", has been taking place for the past 11 years.

Those who would like to squeeze will donate for an Aids charity organisation, but the actresses have asked the squeezers to be a bit gentle.

"I'm really looking forward to lots of people fondling my boobs. But I would be very happy if you would please be delicate," Rina Serina, one of the actresses who have volunteered to take part in the event, told the Tokyo Sports daily, reported the AFP.

Others are also equally enthusiastic about the upcoming programme over the weekend.

"It's for charity. Squeeze them, donate money -- let's be happy," said the 21-year old adult movie actress Iku Sakuragi.

The programme is being supported by the Japan Foundation for Aids Prevention.

During earlier occasions, rules such as sterilisation of hands before the squeeze and only two squeezes per head were implemented. This year's event is likely to follow similar guidelines.

Heinz China Recall: Fragmented Supply Chains and Food Tracking Issues Compound Problems

A box of Heinz AD Calcium Hi-Protein Cereal, which is part of a batch of the cereal not affected by a recent recall, is pictured at a supermarket in Hangzhou, China.Reuters

Fragmented supply chains and inadequate food supply tracing technologies have compounded ketchup giant H J Heinz's problems in China, where the firm recently recalled some infant food over a lead contamination scare.

China is dotted with small farms and barcode tracking systems for produce, common in Europe and the US, are largely missing in the nation, Reuters reported.

Barcodes hold details such as the farm of origin, dates of planting and harvest, storage and shipment.

"Standardised traceability of food products does not currently exist in China. It's a long way from it," David Mahon, Beijing-based managing director of an investment firm focusing on China's food and beverage sectors, told Reuters.

"When supply chains are so large, you can't always prevent a supplier buying from someone else if someone else has a cheaper price," an industry executive in China, who previously ran a food processing plant serving multinational firms in China and abroad, told the news agency.

"It's a matter of one guy doing things wrong and the product is contaminated," the executive added.

China's food traceability systems and regulation were classified as "poor" in an August report by the Institute of Food Technologists. That was the lowest score among the 21 countries surveyed.

A March 2014 HSBC report pointed out that seven of China's top 10 farming provinces figured amongst the areas most exposed to heavy metal pollution.

Heinz is the latest firm to suffer a food contamination scare in China. KFC parent Yum Brands, McDonald's, Walmart Stores and New Zealand's Fonterra Co-operative Group have all suffered similar scandals in recent times.

In 2008, milk powder contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine killed at least six infants in China.

China: Firms Float $3.3bn Fund to Bolster Civil Aviation Industry

A file photograph of a policeman inside Beijing International Airport.Reuters

A clutch of Chinese firms have floated a 20bn yuan investment fund to help reinforce China's fast-growing civil aviation industry.

Led by the parent of Beijing International Airport Co, the $3.25bn (£1.96bn, €2.46bn) Civil Aviation Investment Fund will pump money into airport construction, aviation economic zones, cargo and general aviation related projects and budget carriers, the China Securities Journal reported.

Capital Airports Holding controls 20% of the fund. HNA Group, the parent of Hainan Airlines, and other fund management firms hold the remainder, the report added.

Beijing has been pouring big money into its aviation industry in recent times to deal with fast-growing air travel demand.

Two budget carriers, including a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, began operations this year and over 100 general aviation companies are lining up for registration.

Airport construction too has gathered pace, with ongoing construction at a facility south of Beijing alone costing $14bn, Reuters reported.

Around 60 Chinese cities have set up aviation economic zones where aircraft manufacturers, including European multinational Airbus Group and Brazil's Embraer, operate alongside parts suppliers and logistics firms.

As many as 754 million Chinese travelled by air in 2013, a near 86% jump from 2008, according to government data.

Brazil Cascavel Prison Riot Leaves Three Inmates Beheaded

A file photo of Brazilian policeKai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

At least three prisoners have been decapitated after a riot erupted in a prison in the southern Brazilian city of Cascavel.

The riot, which began after hundreds of prisoners started protesting demanding better meals and living conditions, has also claimed the lives of two other inmates who were thrown from the roof of the building.

Several others have been injured in the violence as authorities are struggling to contain the situation.

Two jail officials and some prisoners have been taken hostage by the rebellious inmates' leader, officials say.

The identities of the people involved in the trouble have not been released as yet. Though initially it was thought that two people were beheaded, officials found the body of a third prisoner who had been executed in a similar manner.

One of the beheaded men was said to be a police officer.

"They are using the severed head of one of the prisoners to inflict psychological torture on one of the hostages," Jairo Ferreira, a lawyer for the prison guards' union, told local news outlet Gazeta do Povo.

Images broadcast by local media outlets showed at least two dozen prisoners atop the prison building, whipping other men who were held by ropes around their necks.

The prison authorities are attempting to negotiate with the inmates for better living conditions in a bid to end the revolt.

There were more than 1,000 prisoners when the riot broke out and more than 80% of the facility is presently under the control of the rioters.