குறைந்த செலவில் நிறைந்த மின்சாரம் - படிக்காத மேதை சுப்பிரமணியத்தின்யின் பலே கண்டுபிடிப்பு....!

குறைந்த செலவில் நிறைந்த மின்சாரம் - படிக்காத மேதை சுப்பிரமணியத்தின்யின் பலே கண்டுபிடிப்பு....!
“படித்ததினால் அறிவு பெற்றோர் ஆயிரம் உண்டு.. பாடம் படிக்காத மேதைகளும் பாரினில் உண்டு..’ என்ற கண்ணதாசனின் காப்பிய வரிகளுக்கு கச்சிதமான உதாரணம் சுப்பிரமணியம்...!
சுப்பிரமணியத்தின் சொந்த ஊர், ஈரோடு மாவட்டம் சென்னிமலை. குடும்பச் சூழலால் பத்தாம் வகுப்புக்கு மேல் தாண்ட முடியாத சுப்பிரமணியம் இப்போது, தனியார் கல்லூரியின் தற்காலிக ஊழியர். ஆனால், இவரது சாதனைப் பட்டியல், பெரிய சைன்டிஸ்ட் ரேஞ்சுக்கு நீள்கிறது.
மெட்ரிக் முறையில் இயங்கும் கடிகாரம், செலவைக் குறைத்து சுற்றுச்சூழலை பாதுகாக்கும் புதிய பெட்ரோல் இயந்திரம், தினசரி, மாத காலண்டர்களைப் போல வார காலண்டர், சாண எரிவாயு உற்பத்தியில் புதிய தொழில்நுட்பம், தமிழ் எழுத்து சீர்திருத்தத்துக்கான முயற்சி… என பல கண்டுபிடிப்புகளால் மிரட்டுகிறார் மனிதர்....!
இதுமட்டுமா, சிலந்தி வலை சிக்கலில் எனது நாடு, டீசல், இந்தியா - உலக நாடுகள் பல்வகை ஒப்பீடு உள்ளிட்ட நூல்களையும் சுப்பிரமணியம் எழுதியுள்ளார். இதில், 'சிலந்திவலை சிக்கலில் எனது நாடு' என்ற நூலை, புதுச்சேரி மாநிலத்தில் உள்ள அனைத்து நூலகங்களிலும் வைக்க வேண்டும் என முதல்வர் ரங்கசாமி உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது சிறப்பிலும் சிறப்பு.
"படிப்பு கம்மினாலும், புதுசா எந்தத் தகவல் கிடைச்சாலும் மறக்காம நோட்டுல குறிச்சு வைச்சிக்குவேன். அதைத் தொகுத்துத்தான் நூல்களா எழுதிருக்கேன். எட்டு மாசத்துக்கு முந்தித்தான் இப்ப நான் இருக்கிற வேலையில சேர்ந்தேன். அதுக்கு முந்தி கம்ப்யூட்டரை தொட்டுக்கூட பார்த்ததில்லை" என்று தன்னை வெளிச்சம் போட்டுக் கொள்ளும் சுப்பிரமணியம், கடந்த, 2000-ம் ஆண்டில், தமிழக அரசின், புதிய கண்டு பிடிப்புக்கான அறிவியல் ஆய்வாளர் விருது பெற்றவர்.
இந்த, 'வில்லேஜ் விஞ்ஞானி'யின் தற்போதைய கண்டு பிடிப்பு நவீன காற்றாலை மின் உற்பத்தி இயந்திரம். அதுகுறித்து பேசியவர், ’’நம்ம மாநிலத்தில இருக்கிற காற்றாலைகள், வருஷத்துக்கு, 4 மாசம்தான் வேலை செஞ்சு, கரன்ட் உற்பத்தி பண்ணுது. அதுவும், வேகமா காத்து அடிக்கிற தூத்துக்குடி, கன்னியாகுமரி, திருநெல்வேலி, தேனி, கம்பம், உடுமலைப்பேட்டை, தாராபுரம் மாதிரியான ஊர்கள்ளதான் இந்த காற்றலைகளையும் அமைக்க முடியுது. இதுக்கான செலவும் அதிகம்.
ஆனா, நான் கண்டுபிடிச்சிருக்கிற மெஷின் லேசா காத்தடிச்சாலும் ஓடி கரன்ட் உற்பத்தியாகும். காத்து உராய்வு மூலமா, பெரிய ரெக்கைகள் சுத்தி, அது வழியா கரன்ட் உற்பத்தி பண்ணுறாங்க. இதுக்கு பதிலா, காத்து நேரடியா ரெக்கைகளை தள்ளினால், முழு சக்தி கிடைக்கும்; மின்சார உற்பத்தியும் அதிகரிக்கும்னு நினைச்சேன். அதைத்தான் இப்ப செஞ்சிருக்கேன்.
இப்ப இருக்கிற செங்குத்தான பெரிய ரெக்கைகளைக் கொண்ட காற்றாலைகள் மணிக்கு, 12 கி.மீ. வேகத்தில் காத்து வீசினாத்தான், மின்சார உற்பத்தி செய்யும். வருஷத்துல நாலு மாசம்தான், இந்த வேகத்தில் காத்து வீசும்ங்கிறதால, அப்ப மட்டுமே, மின் உற்பத்தி செய்யமுடியும். ஆனா, நான் வடிவமைச்சிருக்கிற காற்றாலையில மணிக்கு, 6 கி.மீ., வேகத்தில் காற்று வீசினாலே மின் உற்பத்தி செய்யமுடியும். அப்படிப் பார்த்தா வருஷத்துல 8 மாசம் மின் உற்பத்தி செய்ய முடியும்.
தற்போதுள்ள காற்றாலை இயந்திரங்களை, 300 மீட்டர் இடைவெளியில் தான் நிறுவமுடியும். என்னுடைய இயந்திரத்தை அருகருகே அமைக்க முடியும். காற்று எந்த திசையில் இருந்து வீசினாலும் மின் உற்பத்தி செய்யமுடியும். முதலில் சின்னதாக ஒரு மாடல் செய்து பார்த்தேன். அதில் வெற்றி கிடைத்ததால், அடுத்ததாய், நான்கு இறக்கைகளுடன் சற்று பெரிய அளவில் வடிவமைத்துள்ளேன். இதனை, 20 இறக்கைகள் வரை அதிகரித்தால், அதற்கு ஏற்ப மின் உற்பத்தியும் அதிகரிக்கும்’’ என்றார்.
கோவை, 'கொடிசியா'வில், புதிய கண்டுபிடிப்புகளுக்காக நடந்த கண்காட்சியில் இவரது கண்டுபிடிப்புக்கு ஏக வரவேற்பாம். பெருமையோடு இதை நம்மிடம் சொன்ன சுப்பிரமணியம், "இரண்டு இறக்கை கொண்ட காற்றாலை இயந்திரத்தை செய்ய, 60 ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் செலவானது. எனவே, எனது இயந்திரத்தை தனித்தனியாக அமைப்பது நடைமுறை சாத்தியமில்லை. அதிக அளவில் உற்பத்தி செய்யும்போது, செலவு குறையும்.
ராணுவத்தில் பணியாற்றும் முருகசாமி, எனது கண்டுபிடிப்பை ஊக்குவிக்க 35 ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் கடன் கொடுத்து இந்த இயந்திரத்தை உருவாக்க உதவினார். எட்டு மாதங்கள் பாடுபட்டு இந்த இந்திரத்தை செய்து முடித்திருக்கிறேன். எனது கண்டுபிடிப்புக்கு காப்புரிமை கேட்டு விண்ணப்பம் செய்திருக்கின்றேன். அரசு எனக்கு
நிதி ஆதாரம்
வழங்கினால் தொழிற்சாலை தொடங்கி இந்த காற்றாலை இயந்திரங்களை அதிக எண்ணிக்கையில் தயாரித்துக் கொடுக்கத் தயாராய் இருக்கிறேன்’’ என்று சொன்னார்.
இவரது நவீன இயந்திரத்தைக் கொண்டு மணிக்கு, 6 கி.மீ. வேகத்தில் காற்று அடிக்குமானால் ஒரு நாளில் 4 யூனிட் வரை மின் உற்பத்தி செய்ய முடியுமாம். இறக்கைகளின் எண்ணிக்கையை அதிகப்படுத்தினால், மின் உற்பத்தியின் அளவை அதிகரிக்க முடியும். சாதாரணமாக வீட்டின் மாடியில் இதனை பொருத்திவிட்டால், எட்டு மாதத்துக்கு மின்சாரம் தடையின்றி பெறமுடியும்.
ஆயிரக்கணக்கில் கோடிகளை கொட்டி அணு உலைகளை அமைத்து மின்சாரம் தேடும் ஆட்சியாளர்கள் தனது எளிய கண்டுபிடிப்பை அங்கீகரிக்கத் தயங்குவதாக ஆதங்கப்படுகிறார் சுப்பிரமணியம், ‘’அதற்காக நான் சோர்ந்துட மாட்டேன் சார்.. எடிசனையே அவர் ஆயுசு இருக்கும் வரைக்கும் இந்த உலகம் கண்டுக்கல. அதே மாதிரி, என்னையும் ஒருநாள் இந்த உலகம் கண்டுக்கும். அதுவரைக்கும் நாட்டுக்கு தேவையான நல்ல விஷயங்கள் எதையாவது கண்டுபிடிச்சுக்கிட்டே இருப்பேன் சார்’’ நம்பிக்கை துளிர்க்கச் சொன்னார் சுப்பிரமணியம்.

Saint Julian and Saint Basilissa Martyr († 313)

Saint Julian and Saint Basilissa

Martyr
(† 313)

Saint Julian Martyr and Saint Basilissa Saint Julian and Saint Basilissa, though married, lived by mutual consent in perpetual chastity. They sanctified themselves by the most perfect exercises of an ascetic life, and employed their revenues in relieving the poor and the sick. For this purpose they converted their house into a kind of hospital, in which they sheltered up to a thousand poor people. Basilissa attended those of her sex in separate lodgings, and Julian, who for his charity is known as the Hospitaler, cared for the men.

Egypt, where they lived, was in those days blessed with persons who, either in the cities or in the deserts, devoted themselves to the most perfect exercises of charity, penance, and mortification. Conversions were numerous, and persecutions by furious pagans followed as the numbers of Christians increased. Basilissa, after having survived seven of those, died in peace, foretelling to her husband that he would die a martyr. Julian lived afterwards for a number of years, but eventually received the crown of a glorious martyrdom in 313. His interrogation and his tortures were accompanied by astonishing prodigies and numerous conversions.

With him died thirty-one other persons, including a priest named Anthony, a new Christian named Anastasius, Celsus, the seven-year-old son of the judge who sentenced Julian, Marcianilla, the mother of Celsus, who when she came to visit her son was won over to the faith, and many other Christians. Spared by fire and wild beasts, Saint Julian finally was decapitated. His tomb became illustrious by many great miracles, including the cure of ten lepers on the same day.

Many churches and hospitals, in both the East and in the West, bear the name of one or another of these martyrs. Four churches at Rome and three in Paris are dedicated to Saint Julian.

Unaccompanied, underage asylum seekers face exploitation in Indonesia

Without a legal guardian, children face even more obstacles than adults when it comes to securing refuge.

Asylum seekers from Bangladesh, Iran, Nepal and Pakistan gather at a hotel in Tasikmalaya, West Java, after they were turned back at sea by the Australian Navy in a failed attempt to reach Christmas Island

By Antje Missbach
Indonesia:  When Karim (not his real name) was a teenager, he traveled from Myanmar to Indonesia as an asylum seeker. Stranded in Java without money and friends, he slept in a mosque for a number of weeks until an Indonesian man invited him to his family home.

What first seemed like an act of kindness soon turned out to be a trap. The man molested Karim. Unaccompanied and underage asylum seekers, more than their adult counterparts, face risks of becoming victims of exploitation.

I met Karim four years after he first arrived in Indonesia. He was not a talker. But the longer we knew each other, the more he opened up.

Most unaccompanied minors in Indonesia are boys aged between 13 and 17. They are usually from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. Some come from Somalia and Myanmar. They travel to Indonesia en route to Australia. Asylum seekers deem the journey to Australia cheaper than trying to reach Europe or the United States.

But many asylum seekers get stranded in Indonesia longer than they assumed at first. Since Australia implemented Operation Sovereign Borders in September 2013, very few boats with asylum seekers are departing from Indonesia. The Australian government intercepted some that did and turned them back to Indonesia.

They might have to wait even longer now to get resettled. In November 2014, the Australian government announced they would stop accepting refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Indonesia on or after July 1, 2014.

As of August 31, 2014, there are 9,581 people registered with the UNHCR in Jakarta. 5,450 of them are asylum seekers and 4,131 are refugees. 7,407 were male and 2,174 were female. 2,652 children are currently registered with the UNHCR, including 908 unaccompanied minors and separated children. Compared to statistics at the end of 2013, the number of children among the asylum seeker and refugee population in Indonesia has increased by 18 percent.

Indonesia has not signed the UN Refugee Convention but it has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As an important transit country for asylum seekers in Southeast Asia, Indonesia does have certain responsibilities in regard to offering protection for unaccompanied minors. So far, Indonesia has been highly reluctant to fulfill them. It has delegated many of its responsibilities for the care of unaccompanied minors to the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

By November 2014, 950 children, including more than 440 unaccompanied minors, were housed in immigration detention centers across Indonesia. Like many adult asylum seekers, some minors “surrender” themselves to the Indonesian authorities in order to be detained. This usually happens when they have run out of resources.

Conditions for minors in detention centers in Indonesia are deplorable. Human Rights Watch released a report in 2013 detailing that children experience and witness violence in detention centers.

The IOM has been working with the Indonesian government to move the children from immigration detention centers to government-run orphanages and to provide alternative accommodation for families with children. The local partner organization of the UNHCR in Indonesia has also established two special shelters in Jakarta for unaccompanied minors. The conditions in these shelters are far from ideal, but much better than in the immigration centers.

Around 120 children stay in the two shelters. They receive basic medical care and enjoy some educational activities (IT and language courses, swimming, futsal). None, however, attend school on a regular basis.

They receive a small allowance (US$15) a week to cover their costs, such as food. The shelters apply very strict rules, such as night curfews. Failure to comply leads to expulsion. In order to be accepted into these shelters, some asylum seekers pretend to be under age 18.

The special shelters have limited capacity to meet a growing demand. Newly arrived asylum seekers have to depend on friends or new acquaintances for accommodation. Young men often rent cheap rooms in Jakarta. Latest observations revealed that more and more asylum seeker children are forced to sleep on the street or in mosques.

Asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia have no legal rights to work and earn money. Monthly stipends from the UNHCR are only available for a small number of vulnerable cases. Asylum seekers under the care of the IOM receive higher monthly stipends. But in Indonesia, asylum seekers and refugees often face extortion, which makes it hard to make ends meet.

At the beginning of their journey, most asylum seekers would have money or be able to rely on remittances from back home or friends elsewhere. Usually these funds dry out the longer they are stuck in transit. Some asylum seekers have tried to enter the informal employment sector, such as working as motorbike taxi drivers, but the local population oppose such attempts. Next to surrendering to immigration detention, some asylum seekers (including minors) give in to sex work and other forms of exploitation.

Unaccompanied minors in Indonesia can undergo the bureaucratic process to get refugee status and apply for international protection. However, they have no access to legal aid. Without a legal guardian, they face even more obstacles dealing with international protection regime. Even adults find the process of providing detailed evidence to prove they need protection difficult.

The long waiting times in Indonesia cause substantial stress among both minor and adult asylum seekers. Not knowing what the future will hold for them and where they will end up going, some try to numb their sorrows through substance abuse.

Children have always made up a significant proportion of the international refugee population. But recently, scholars have started talking about the “infantilization of migration”. More and more children are compelled to leave their homelands — with or without their families — in search of asylum.

While most children travel with their parents, some have been separated from their kin or became orphaned before or during the journey.

In some cases, parents send their underage children ahead as “lead migrants” as they lack the money required to flee with the entire family. They hope the child could be the key figure for a potential family reunion outside of their country of origin. Families are mostly motivated by the hope to escape wars and conflict in their home or transit countries. Potential education and employment in the host country might also serve as incentive. Children’s search for asylum is often facilitated by exploitative and abusive arrangements, during and sometimes after the journey.

Another reason for why children travel on their own is to make use of the few remaining gaps in the restrictive asylum policies of the West. Many potential destination countries have special protection for people under 18. It is usually harder (but not impossible) for transit or destination countries to deport minors.

That said, after going through the arduous journey, minors have slim chances to be resettled even when found to be genuine refugees. Many countries, including Australia, refuse to accept underage refugees in order to avoid claims for family reunion.

Antje Missbach is a lecturer in anthropology at Monash University.

Source: Jakarta Globe

Chinese authorities urge netizens to inform on one another

Move hearkens back to Mao-era political thinking, say government critics.

China:  An article in a state newspaper on Tuesday urged China's netizens to "be good online citizens" and report online critics of the country's ruling Communist Party, in a move that commentators liken to the ideological campaigns of the Mao era.

A signed article in the Global Times, which has close links to party mouthpiece the People's Daily, said China's 642 million Internet users should be "good netizens" and a "force for good".

"We need young netizens to shoulder the responsibility of morality and consciously practice socialist core values online," the paper said in the signed opinion article.

"Instead of being a silent majority ... a good netizen should dare to be a member of the 50-cent army ... to bring a positive voice to the Internet and help to spread the power of mainstream values," it said.

In March 2014, the authorities announced a certified training course for Internet propagandists, who are paid to manipulate public opinion by posting and retweeting comments favorable to the regime.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology last year set up the National Online Public Opinion Management Skills Proficiency Test Center, which tests aspiring 50-centers on skills like directing online discussions of "mass incidents" of civil unrest and rioting that are a common occurrence in today's China.

They are also tested on managing the influence of "Big V" tweeters, with huge followings on popular microblogging platforms like Sina Weibo, who have been warned by the government to exhibit "social responsibility" after some posted comments highly critical of the government.

China recently launched a new recruitment drive for human censors to help maintain the complex system of blocks, filters and manual censorship known loosely as the "Great Firewall," which controls what people can see online.

One of the state agencies involved in suppressing undesirable online content, the China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center, placed a job advertisement last month calling for fresh recruits to its team of monitors.

The center aims to "maintain order" on China's tightly controlled Internet, to "safeguard the interests" of users and to "build a healthy, orderly civilization in cyberspace."??

However, many Chinese netizens are openly dismissive of pro-government commentators, poking fun at the "50-cent" army, who are said to be paid 50 yuan cents (less than US$0.01) per tweet.

Some are hired to write pro-government comments, while others are paid to flag "undesirable" online content to organizations for censorship or possibly prosecution.

Online activist Wu Bin, known by his online nickname Xiucai Jianghu, said the party is increasingly expecting Chinese citizens to toe the line when it comes to online opinion.

"The Global Times thinks that singing the praises of the party and flattery are the same as being a force for good in the world," Wu said. "They have turned something shameful into something glorious."

"This is beyond shameless," he said. "It's like imperial times, when everyone had to say how wonderful the emperor was from morning until night."

Former Beijing University journalism professor Jiao Guobiao said the article shows the resurgence of Mao-era political thinking, however.

"Are they calling for another Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, perhaps," Jiao said. "I think this article represents an ill wind that is blowing [in Chinese politics]."

"We could say it is an example of Maoist thinking spreading unchecked," he said. "But it won't work; even the Berlin Wall had to come down."

"A broken stone can't stop the Yangtze river from flowing to the sea."

Online commentator @anhuizhangyidong said the main criteria for being a "good netizen" in China were refraining from criticizing the behavior of local governments and obeying orders from their propaganda departments.

"It's about preserving the image of local governments," the user said.

China has cracked down on a number of high-profile journalists and tweeters in recent months, under new rules forbidding online rumors, even in a retweet.

On September 1, 2013, China's highest judicial authorities issued a directive criminalizing online "rumor-mongering," in a move widely seen as targeting critical comments and negative news on the country's hugely popular social media sites.

Rights groups say the government has stepped up the level of official control over freedom of expression to include criticisms of the government that are merely implied.

Source: Radio Free Asia

Ahead of Sri Lanka election, candidates court Tamil vote

Hotly contested presidential race threatens to raise tensions.

President Mahinda Rajapaksha at a presidential election rally

Colombo:  Sri Lankan voters are readying to cast their votes for the next president on Thursday while both main candidates have urged minority Tamils to back them in a hotly contested election.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is seeking an unprecedented third term. He called the snap election two years ahead of schedule and his coalition party has faced several problems, including withdrawal of support from Buddhist and Muslim parties. That, in turn, has led to a significant amount of electioneering toward Christian and minority voters.

“President Mahinda Rajapaksa and opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena came for the blessings of the Catholic Church and priests urged equal rights and freedom to live in the country,” said Father Victor Soosay, Vicar General of Mannar.

Both candidates urged minority Tamils to back them in tomorrow’s vote.

In turn, said Father Soosay, the church was asking for an improvement in how the oppressed minority is treated.

“We urged both candidates to provide dignified life for Tamils… Tamils must be recognized as a nation, they are also people with equal rights in the country,” said the priest.

“We urged President Mahinda Rajapaksa to find justice for the disappeared people but it was not a satisfactory answer from him,” he said, referring to the thousands abducted during and after the country’s brutal 25-year civil war.

Tamil voters, who widely loathe the incumbent, account for around 13 percent of the 15 million voters; this year’s vote has placed them in a sensitive situation.

On Monday, a pro-government TV channel broadcast the Tamil politician Ananthi Sasistharan seemingly making an appeal for Tamil voters to boycott the vote. She quickly went public saying the footage was falsified to keep Tamils from the polls.

“I never asked for a boycott of the election,” she said.

The opposition politician said security threats have increased ahead of the election, and her home was attacked recently.

“My children missed being hit by a stone which went through the window inside the house,” she told ucanews.com.

Sasistharan said she was concerned by an increase in troop deployment in the Tamil-dominated north, which she said could lead to voter intimidation and abstention.

Sri Lanka's election commission said Wednesday it is investigating claims that troops are being deployed in the Tamil-dominated north before the presidential vote, which has already been marred by violence.

Chief election commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said there had been complaints that security forces were deploying in the northern Vanni region, in contravention of election laws.

The Vanni is part of the former war zone where Tamil separatists fought the Sri Lankan military in a decades-long conflict that ended in 2009.

"I have already taken this up with the army commander, who says he has not ordered troops to deploy," Deshapriya told reporters on the eve of the bitterly contested election.

"I have been told that there had been 'stand-by orders' given to send the army to police stations and other vital institutions."

Police have said that 65,000 officers armed with an automatic assault rifles are being deployed around the country.

Source: AFP/UCAN

Hong Kong takes next step on political reform

Government says candidates would still be screened by Beijing.

Hong Kong:  Hong Kong Wednesday announced new proposals for how the city should choose its next leader but made clear that candidates would still be screened — the key issue behind more than two months of mass protests.

More than 20 lawmakers carrying yellow umbrellas — the symbol of the pro-democracy movement — walked out of the legislative chamber as the consultation document was about to be presented by government number two Carrie Lam.

They shouted "I want universal suffrage" as they left the chamber, forcing a brief adjournment.

The document — posted online so that residents can give their views — outlines options for how leadership candidates will be nominated and for the composition of the nominating committee, which democracy campaigners fear will be stacked with pro-Beijing figures.

But Lam emphasized that the process would have to adhere to China's ruling that candidates must be vetted.

"Any attempt to revoke the Beijing decision is unrealistic," she said.

China has pledged that voters in Hong Kong can elect the city's next chief executive in 2017 — the first time there has ever been a public vote.

But it insists that only two or three candidates can stand and that they will be vetted by a loyalist committee.

That decision sparked demonstrations that brought tens of thousands onto the streets at their height, before protest camps were cleared in December.

The government has billed the reform process as "historic" and says that it wants to reflect the pluralistic nature of Hong Kong society in the vote for the next leader. But campaigners have branded it fake democracy.

"We call on the Hong Kong government not to waste time but relaunch the political reform process," Alan Leong of the pro-democracy Civic Party said after walking out of the legislature Wednesday.

Leong had earlier been called a "running dog" — a Chinese saying meaning traitor — by pro-government protesters gathered outside the legislature waving a large Chinese flag.

Cyd Ho of the Labour Party added: "We cannot accept a vote after vetting because it doesn't offer real choices."

The consultation said one option was that anyone with 100 votes from the 1,200-strong nominating committee could start lobbying to become an official candidate for leader.

But the same committee would carry out a second round of vetting, with each final candidate needing to secure 50 percent support before standing for the public vote -- a stipulation of the Beijing ruling.

The consultation is the last official gauge of public opinion before a finalized proposal on electoral reform is put before the legislative council.

Pro-democracy lawmakers have vowed to vote against the plan unless it revokes the vetting of candidates.

If the final framework fails to pass with a two thirds majority it would mean a delay in the introduction of a public vote to Hong Kong.

"If the bill is not passed, Hong Kong's democratic development will be delayed... until 2022," Lam said.

"I urge democrats not to boycott the consultation or veto the bill."

But even senior member of the reform task force Raymond Tam said he was "pessimistic" it would go through.

Currently the city's leader is chosen by a pro-Beijing election committee.

Political analyst Sonny Lo said it was "too early to say" whether the final reform bill would be passed, as some pro-democrats could be persuaded by public opinion to vote for it.

"Public sentiment in Hong Kong is politically pragmatic. Most people would like to see a more harmonious way of discussion," he said.

There is still discontent and concern about China's increasing influence over the semi-autonomous city.

But many residents also became frustrated with the fragmented democracy movement and protest camps which brought parts of the city to a standstill.

Hong Kong was handed from Britain back to China in 1997 and enjoys freedoms not seen on the mainland.

Source: AFP/UCAN

Within the Church, the southern hemisphere is rising

Francis continues restructuring the Curia and making sure the universality of the Church shines through.

With the upcoming Consistory Francis is continuing along the path he set out on a year ago: restructuring the Curia and focusing on the peripheries whilst doing away with automatically assigned titles.

More than the statistics and percentage analyses, it was the pronouncement of the names of the new cardinals that really signalled change in the upcoming Consistory: most of the choices made came as a complete surprise and were totally unexpected. Pastors from the peripheries of the world, in many cases bishops of dioceses that had never had a cardinal before.

This is a sign that Pope Francis intends to continue along the path he set out on a year ago: cutting down on the number of cardinals who are members of the Curia (on 14 February their number will drop from 30 percent to 27 percent); stopping the Cardinalate from being automatically connected to certainsees, that is the unwritten tradition of naming cardinals the archbishops of certain sees considered "cardinalatial sees"; and above all giving a voice to the southern part of the world, thereby allowing the true universality of the Church to increasingly shine through.

Source: Vatican Insider