Topic Reading-Vol.4464-7/14/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  

South Korea politician blames women for rising male suicides

More people commit suicide in South Korea than in any other economically developed country. Each month, over 1,000 people kill themselves, or about 25 suicides per 100,000 people each year, which is much higher than the average of around 10-11 deaths among 38 developed countries. Suicide rates are higher among elderly people as they become financially and physically fragile. Also, men kill themselves twice or more than women do. Poisoning with pesticides or carbon monoxide, hanging, and bridge jumping are common suicide methods. The  Mapo Bridge over the Han River in Seoul is often called a suicide bridge by locals. The suicide attempts along the river increased to 1,035 last year from 430 five years earlier, and the proportion of men rose to 77% from 67%. Recently, a Seoul City councilor claimed that women’s participation in the workforce had made it harder for men to get jobs and married, resulting in an increase in male suicides. Since the city councilor hadn’t provided any scientific proof, his report has been criticized by many. Whether his opinion is supported by the public or not will be judged in the next election.

Read the article and learn about the high suicide rate in South Korea.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cml2kvd2dvno

Topic Reading-Vol.4463-7/13/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

How fetching water is holding back India's women

Water scarcity in India is a significant issue, affecting millions of people across the country. About a quarter of rural households still don’t have piped water and they rely on various alternative sources to meet their daily needs, such as community wells, hand pumps, rainwater harvesting, water tankers, and natural water sources like rivers and ponds. Traditionally, fetching water has been women’s jobs. When there isn’t enough water in their villages, they have no choice but to walk kilometers for hours to only fetch water from distant water resources, especially during the dry seasons. On their way back, they have to carry the water-filled pots on their heads and buckets in their hands, which makes them extremely exhausted when they get home. Also, since water-fetching is so time-consuming that it prevents women from working for a paid job. While super-rich people spend millions of dollars on weddings in India (Vol.4462), many people are still struggling only to get daily necessities.

Read the article and learn about water scarcity in rural India.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2e47zgz2v7o

Topic Reading-Vol.4462-7/12/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  

Elephants, Michelin stars and Mughal jewels: Indian weddings are a $130 billion business

Whose wedding party can be attended by both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg? A son of Mukesh Ambani, the richest person in Asia, hosted days of wedding parties for his son that were attended by these global celebrities and quite a few Bollywood stars. Wedding ceremonies and parties are extremely important for India’s parents. Though they usually are value-conscious, India’s parents spend a big portion of their lifetime savings on wedding events for their children to show off their power, wealth, and status. On average, those who can afford to host wedding events spend no less than $15,000, over three times the average annual household income. These weddings are often spread over days and attended by over 300 guests. Accordingly, the market size of India’s wedding industry is estimated to be around $130 billion, smaller than China but nearly twice as large as the USA.

Read and learn about what India’s wedding extravaganza is like.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/05/business/ultra-rich-indian-weddings-economy-intl-hnk/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4461-7/11/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  

Need multiple alarms to wake up in the morning? Here’s what could be happening, according to experts

Some people use a snooze button or multiple alarm settings to wake up in the morning, say 10 minutes, another 10 minutes, and finally, they get up after 10 or 20 minutes of “extra” sleep. But is this a good habit? Actually, this is not “extra” sleep but “interrupted” sleep, which undermines one’s sleep quality because the last hours of sleep are essential to refresh brain function. If you have difficulty waking up with the first alarm, you might not have gotten enough sleep, or your daily schedule doesn’t match your internal body clock. If you’re sleep-deprived, you need to turn off your smartphone and go to bed earlier unless you can get up later. If you’re a night owl but still need to get up early, you want to shift your body clock gradually to match the required daily schedule or change the job. Ideally, your body clock matches your daily routine, and you get up even before the ugly alarm sound goes off. If you still need to rely on your alarm, try to get up with just one alarm to maximize your sleep time.

Read the article and learn how to sleep better and longer without hearing multiple alarm sounds.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/28/health/multiple-alarms-wake-up-sleep-wellness/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4460-7/10/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  

Soup broth is damaging South Korea’s highest mountain, warn officials

Does eating spicy cup noodles at the top of the mountain sound alluring? If you finish the noodles and soup and bring back the empty cup, you are welcome to do so. But if you dump the leftover salty broth on the mountain or in its streams, it contaminates pure water streams in the mountain. That is what the National Park Office of Mount Halla, about a 2,000-meter-high mountain on Jeju Island, is now warning hikers, where smoking, littering, leaving food, drinking alcohol, and jaywalking are all prohibited at the mountain and a violation could cost up to over $1,000. Though it has become trendy to eat hot noodles on high peaks not only in Korea but also even in the Alps, the broth should not contaminate the nature of the peaks and streams. Maybe Shin Ramyun, South Korea’s most popular Ramyeon brand, should come up with an environmentally friendly version.

Read the article and learn about how cup noodles could contaminate nature.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/27/travel/south-korea-highest-mountain-soup-broth-jeju-intl-hnk/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4459-7/9/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  

AI is replacing human tasks faster than you think

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for some years and has dramatically improved the productivity of many jobs and automated tasks that used to be done by human intelligence. Those tasks include writing reports and summaries, answering questions and inquiries, calculating delivery routes, placing refill orders, diagnosing patients, and creating artwork such as music, stories, and cartoons. So far, AI has been empowering human jobs in many different ways instead of replacing them. Companies that use AI effectively are improving quality, productivity, and competitiveness, and so are the people who work with AI. Corporate executives expect that more and more human tasks will be replaced by AI in the years to come. Then more human jobs will be replaced not by AI but by other humans using AI.  

Read the article and learn about how AI has been and will be impacting human jobs.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/20/business/ai-jobs-workers-replacing/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4458-7/8/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  

World’s first carbon tax on livestock will cost farmers $100 per cow

Methane is the second most significant greenhouse gas contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. Methane from cattle is shorter-lived than carbon dioxide but 28 times more potent in warming the atmosphere. Each year, a single cow will belch about 100 kilograms of methane. Agriculture is Denmark’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. To help meet its climate goals, Denmark’s government recently agreed to introduce the world’s first carbon emissions tax on agriculture. Once approved by the parliament, about $17 per ton of livestock emissions per year will be charged from 2030 and $43 in 2035 to farmers. Cows account for most of the cattle population in Denmark, and farmers will have to pay nearly $100 per cow. The cow tax won’t make cows produce less methane, but it might help reduce other greenhouse gas emissions from farming.  

Read the article and think if this livestock tax helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/26/business/denmark-cows-carbon-tax/index.html