1 billion yuan for outstanding grads

China has allocated one billion yuan ($160 million) from its central budget to award 45,000 outstanding graduate students for the 2012-13 academic year, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday. Scholarships will be granted to 10,000 doctoral students and 35,000 postgraduate students studying for their master's degrees. The selected postgraduates will each receive 20,000 yuan, while each doctoral student will get 30,000 yuan.

Authorities urge school bus safety

All schools nationwide must purchase school buses in accordance with an approved list of qualified vehicle types and vendors in order to ensure safety, the Ministry of Education said in a circular published on Monday. All school buses purchased by elementary schools and kindergartens must be bought from approved vendors. Schools that do not buy a school bus from an approved vendor will lose their licenses.

$1.28 trillion goes to green economy

Up to 8 trillion yuan ($1.28 trillion) will be invested in the development of China's green economy over the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) period, Hu Angang, president of the Institute for Contemporary China Studies of Tsinghua University predicted. About 1.5 trillion yuan will be invested in eight environment protection projects, and 2.4 trillion yuan will be invested in emission-cutting projects.

Infectious diseases claim 1,454 lives A total of 574,404 cases of infectious diseases were reported on the Chinese mainland in October, resulting in 1,454 deaths, the Ministry of Health said on Monday. A total of 293,278 cases identified as Class B infectious diseases by the MOH were reported in October, of which 1,415 were fatal, the ministry said. Class B infectious diseases include AIDS, tuberculosis and dysentery.

Hainan

National book fair to open next year

China will hold its national book expo in Hainan province in April 2013, the General Administration of Press and Publication announced on Tuesday. The Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center in the provincial capital Haikou will serve as the main expo venue, and three branch venues will be set up in the cities of Sanya, Danzhou and Wanning.

Shandong

Confucius' family tree goes digital

Descendants of ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius will have access to digitized books delineating their family tree, to make it easier to revise. The original paper collection of the family tree containing a record of all 83 generations of Confucius' offspring of over 2 million people is currently 43,000 pages long and takes up 80 books. The digital version has embedded search bars, diagrams and the analytical functions.

Truck racing wraps up in Wucheng

Huaxia Bank ETC took the crown at the 2012 China Super Truck Racing competition, which ended on Monday in Wucheng county, Shandong province. After four-stop qualifying sessions, six teams reached the finals of the competition, and Huaxia Bank was the overall winner. Super truck racing is a popular sport in the United States, Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Guangdong

Air force to reduce pilot training costs

China's air force has undergone reforms aimed at reducing the cost of training new pilots and enhancing the quality of their training, an air force official said Monday. Reforms relating to theoretical study, the pilot selection process, training subjects and methodology have taken place, He Weirong, deputy commander of the People's Liberation Army Air Force, said at an international symposium on military flight held in Zhuhai.

Province to boost air quality tests

Air quality monitoring stations in Guangdong province will start tracking levels of dioxins, a cancer-causing chemical, in the coming months, a provincial official of environmental monitoring said on Tuesday. Dioxins levels are not monitored in the province because of a lack of special equipment. "The equipment was provided by the central government and it will take some time to install," the official said.

Guangxi

Rare dolphins survive pollution

The number of Chinese white dolphins is increasing despite concerns that industrial pollution was threatening the endangered animal, recent research has found. Investigations found that dolphin numbers have been growing in the Beibu Bay of the South China Sea. The number of Chinese white dolphins near Qinzhou Port in the region has increased to nearly 140, up from 98 in August 2004.

Sichuan

Latecomers forced to climb stairs

A company in Chengdu, Sichuan province, has started to force employees who arrive late to climb the stairs to its 19th-floor office. The measure has proved more effective than imposing fines, West China Metropolis Daily reported. Almost no employees have shown up late since the new measure was introduced a month ago to replace the fine of 100 yuan ($16).

Xinjiang

Authorities rescue 219 wild birds

The Forestry Administration in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has confiscated nine guns and rescued at least 219 wild birds in a campaign to save wildlife since this year. Two criminal gangs were busted, at least 38 offenders were punished and about 545,000 yuan ($87,500) in economic losses were retrieved. An official from the administration said smuggling wild animals remains a serious issue.

China Daily - Xinhua