Thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to sit their Mandarin GCSE exams on Friday.
The number of students make up only fraction of those studying European languages and many argue that is a wasted opportunity which could be costing our economy billions.
The BBC's China editor Carrie Gracie reports.
UNITAID, a U.N. agency which negotiates for cheap medicines from pharmaceutical manufacturers to treat deadly diseases, is lobbying countries such as India to join its air ticket levy initiative which began in 2006.
Under the program, countries put a nominal amount on the cost of air tickets which funds UNITAID to buy drugs for patients in the developing world. Ten countries have imposed the levy, generating $200 million annually for cheap medicine.
"What we want in India is a similar system by which a very small contribution which is painless to the traveler can be applied to large numbers of travelers," UNITAID Executive Director Denis Broun told AlertNet in an interview.
"Since air traffic is very high in India, the small amount of levy makes a huge difference to the amount of drugs that we can purchase and the number of poor who can benefit from them."
HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis kill 4.4 million people each year, UNITAID says. Approximately 14.2 million people are in need of anti-retroviral drugs globally, yet more than half cannot afford them.
India's airlines are reeling under a debt load of $20 billion and lost $2 billion last year, as high fuel prices, a weakening rupee and competition kept fares low and costs high.
But the country boasts the fastest growing air passenger market of major economies with 61 million people traveling last year, and still growing.
"People are saying I am coming at the wrongest possible moment. You hear all these arguments, but they are absolutely bogus. It has no impact on government budgets, airline traffic or the economy."
WIN-WIN FOR INDIA
Broun, who met civil aviation and health officials, said he was proposing a tax of 10 rupees (18 U.S. cents) on domestic tickets and $1 on international flights. He said discussions were at a very early stage.
Chile charges $1 per ticket as their levy, while Brazil charges $2 for international flights, he said. French passengers pay one euro for domestic and four euros for international tickets.
Mali, Mauritius, Madagascar, Cameroon, Congo, Niger and South Korea had also implemented air-ticket levies, said Broun.
He said it was a win-win situation for India as 80 percent of the drugs bought by UNITAID are from Indian pharmaceutical firms and some of which were for Indian patients.
"It would be a good thing for India. First of all, Indian patients benefit - 35,000 Indian children are treated for HIV using drugs paid for by UNITAID," he said.
"We buy most of our drugs from India so in a sense what would the tax do? It would go back into the Indian economy into the pharmaceutical sector. So it's difficult to find arguments to say it would be bad."
(AlertNet is a humanitarian news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation. Visit http://www.trust.org/alertnet)
(Additional reporting by Anurag Kotoky; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Many have told me that once they have sex with someone they're dating, they consider themselves exclusive and they don't sleep with anyone else; if the other person doesn't agree, they move on. Part of the decision has to do with not using condoms. I can count the times on one hand that I've had sex without using a condom, but many others seem to prefer forgoing condoms entirely once they're in an exclusive relationship.
The decision about using condoms isn't so cut and dry. There's a variety of factors to consider and every couple is different. Even when condoms are used correctly there's still a 2% failure rate; when not used correctly the rate jumps to 18%. Does sex feel better without them? Yes, but is it the best decision to skip them? Maybe not. So what should you ask yourself before telling your guy to go without?
Do you want to go on birth control?
I'm one of those women who has a problem handling birth control (hormonal or not); my body doesn't react well to it at all. If I were to forgo using condoms, there's basically no defense at all against getting pregnant. If you're not already on birth control, ask yourself if it's something you would consider? Keep in mind that even using the pill perfectly isn't 100% effective. For example, Planned Parenthood states, "Less than 1 out of 100 women will get pregnant each year if they always take the pill each day as directed. About 9 out of 100 women will get pregnant each year if they don't always take the pill each day as directed." However, there are a variety of types of birth control to consider, so consult with your gynecologist about which one is right for you.
Also, make sure to tell your guy if you're not on birth control. He may be willing to go without a condom if he thinks you're on it, but insist on wrapping it up if he finds out you're not. Before you have sex, let him know so the two of you can make the decision about what to do.
Do you use the pull out method?
Several people explained to me that they use the "pull out" method rather than using condoms. A few others said they thought the withdrawal method was basically fail-safe - until they got pregnant. Sure it's better than nothing, but just barely and it's more risky than some realize. When done perfectly, the failure rate is 4%; not done correctly and it jumps to 27%. It's essentially like playing Russian Roulette. The surprising thing is how many guys don't realize that there's a chance a woman can get pregnant from pre-ejaculation fluid, which is probably one of the biggest reasons they'll have no problem promising to pull out first.
Are you ready for a child?
The scary truth is that even with using condoms, pregnancy could happen, but the odds are obviously higher when you go without. Whenever you have sex without a condom, you're taking a chance with getting pregnant. Just because you're exclusive with your guy doesn't mean you're ready to have a kid with him; keep that in mind before you tell him to leave the condom in the drawer.
Are both of you STD-free?
You may already know you're STD-free, but it's a good idea to make sure your guy is as well. You may feel odd talking to him about it, but if you can be exclusive with him, you surely can have the conversation with him about it.
Are both of you only having sex with just each other?
You may be in the mindset that you're exclusive because you've had sex, but your guy may not be on the same page. Before you assume that the two of you are only having sex with each other, talk to him about it. You may not like the answer, but at least you know where you stand. A guy I was dating last year actually brought it up to me first and it made me feel better to know that we were both able to discuss things and put it all out there.
Why do you want to stop using condoms?
I've heard several women say they weren't thrilled about forgoing condoms but stopped using them because their guy wanted to. If you're not 100% comfortable with not using them, then make sure your guy knows this and uses one. Don't let him give you excuses about how it doesn't feel good or he'll leave if he has to use one. If that's the case, let him walk. A true man will respect you and your body without judgment or ultimatums. Sex is about the two of you, and while both of you would likely love to pass up on the condoms, they're often a necessity for your health.
Even if you're exclusive with someone, using condoms shouldn't come down to "Sex feels better without them so let's just not use them." No one can tell you and your guy whether or not you should use them, but both of you should be able to have an open discussion with each other about the topic and make the decision together.
More from Lauren R:
Hanging out vs. a date: How to know the difference
How to get over the bad boy
Keeping a dating spreadsheet: Yay or nay?
As you probably know, yesterday Google+ announced it will begin rolling out Hangouts On Air
to the general public. Plenty of articles have already been written detailing exactly how the new service works (Hubspot wrote a great summary here), so I’ll spare the Internet another one. Instead, this blog will focus on a critical new functionality Hangouts On Air offers businesses and marketers: the ability to promote and host webinars that are open to the Google+ audience, and can be indirectly accessed by the billions who use Google’s search engine.
Google+ Hangouts already enables live video chat with a small circle of people (up to 10). With Hangouts On Air, however, you can broadcast to a much wider audience through your Google+ stream, YouTube Channel, or even your website.
Better still, you can see exactly how many users are viewing your Hangout in real time, and once your broadcast ends, it is automatically uploaded to YouTube for easy viewing and sharing.¹
Pretty cool.
Here are a few suggestions to maximize the effectiveness of a webinar hosted via Hangouts On Air:
Promote Your Webinar - As with a traditional webinar, make sure to promote your broadcast ahead of time through your social media, blog, website, and email marketing channels. Consider creating a hashtag so you can track and monitor the conversation leading up to, during, and after the broadcast.² Remember to keep promoting your webinar after it ends by uploading a copy of it to your website and other social media channels.
Edit Your Webinar - Once the Hangout ends, you’ll have an opportunity to edit the recording, so you can clean up any mistakes, or spruce it up with additional context or content. Make sure to do this right after the event and before you distribute it beyond YouTube.
Clarify Your Goals - Why are you hosting this webinar? What is it about? Who is your target audience? Asking these questions will help you decide whether to broadcast the webinar on your Google+ page or your website. With Hangouts On Air, users can embed a livestream on any web page. This feature gives you the option of driving traffic to your own website to add more punch to your lead generation and conversion efforts (make sure to use CTAs and landing pages to capture leads).
If your goal is to build up your Google+ user-base, however, then you’ll want to host the webinar on your G+ page.²
Hosting a webinar on Google+ Hangouts On Air offers a double benefit by expanding brand your reach and improving your SEO on Google’s search engine.
For these reasons alone, Google+ may have finally hit its first homerun.
How are you planning on using Google+ Hangouts On Air for your business?
¹ CNet, “Google+ Hangouts On Air: Broadcast yourself to the world”
² Hubspot, “Google+ Launches Hangouts on Air to the Masses: What Marketers Need to Know”
Image Courtesy of The News Tribe
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