Whatever the reason, this killing should stop, especially calling it for 'Scientific Purposes'. They should study the whales without the need to kill wholesale. I am all for the starting of a sanctuary for the whales.
It is true that people like meat, fish, poultry and in some places even dogs and horses. But all killing should stop. Animals have a right although they have no power to secure.
Service Level Agreements (SLA) is an agreement between a supplier and customer that specifies specific service levels. You often hear of 99.99% etc. but the one reported in the following link beats any known level of agreement.
The case in point is the level of service provided by the Japanese National Railways that provided the service twice daily to pick up its only passenger, one Kana Harada in Shirataki in Hokkaido, so that she can attend the school. The regular service which carried more passenger closeds some three years ago and she became the only remaining client. The JNR agreed to extend this service till she finished school, a period of three years.
Japan and Japanese institutions continues to amaze me even after a continuous interaction with its people over forty some years. This news item speaks volumes about the country and its people.
Read more here and read some of the reader reviews.
This is a very humane move by Baltimore National Acquarium to move its dolphins to a Dolphin Sanctuary in the future. Perhaps it will be nice to establish a way for dolphins to go to the open sea from the sanctuary and be back if they find a need, or even bring their friends. This will give them an opportunity to get a good idea of their roots.
Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have agreed for the Bullet train to run between Mumbai and Ahmadabad. The joint study by India and Japan has already progressed and is in its final stages. However there are still many policy matters to be ironed out. The decision to go ahead with Japan instead of China has lot of merits. Basically China is a new comer to this area with little field experience.
High speed trains are not the only pacts signed (Visa on arrival to Japanese starting March 2016, defense related business and technology transfer, etc.), read on and don't forget the video.
My first time on the bullet train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo to Osaka was a thrill ride that included the view of Fuji from within the 'Vista' car. The curtsy of the railway staff bowled me over completely. The inside cabin cleanliness was 'out of the world' for one flying out of Calcutta. Over the years the image has not changed. Lots of local systems have the same level of service even today.
I wholeheartedly endorse this project even though it is really making the wealthy more comfortable. Is it going to be inexpensive for the regular folks? I hope it will spin off a development spree in other regions.
There are huge cultural differences between the two countries. Just because it is running like clock work in Japan does not mean it will be a similar experience in India. Indians will be able to cover this gap by doing some learning on existing systems by paying attention to:
Punctuality
Cleanliness
Cleanliness
Security
Customer care
Maintenance of toilets
Clean catering
Note: Cleanliness repeated for emphasis.
Although I share and agree with most of the comments here, I really believe this is a good thing. I agree that the amount involved is quite large while there are pressing problems of greater importance like,
