Panasonic donated a unit of Life Innovation Container (LIC) to the Millennium Promise Alliance Inc.(MP). It is the first donation of LIC to Africa and aims to contribute towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through our corporate citizenship activities. This is to be used by the people living without electricity in Mbola village, which is located in the heart of Tanzania, in cooperation with the Millennium Villages Project operated by several organizations including the MP. 

Tape-Cutting at the Handing-over Ceremony

LIC is a stand-alone power system from Panasonic's "energy creation" and "energy storage" technologies packaged into the 20ft container to provide electricity to non electrified regions all over the world for a better living and sustainable society. 
18 solar panels (includes 6 panels on the roof) generates about 9.9kWh of power a day, and 48 storage batteries　inside the container enables to keep supplying electricity even if it's not sunny for 3 or 4 days. It can be installed easily and is very portable. 

Watching a Video Letter from Japanese Kids (electricity Supplied by Life Innovation Container )

Life Innovation Container Carried into the Site
Panasonic donated 1,000 solar powered LED lanterns to the Millennium Village in March, 2011, which stores electricity that can be generated in daytime and illuminates light at night time. These lanterns are used widely in non electrified regions. They are eco eco-friendly products which don't produce CO2 while in use. 

Tanzania is a special country for Panasonic, as we have been operating dry cell battery business for 43 years there since 1968. As a stand-alone power system for a community in a non electrified area, LIC is expected to be used for audio-visual education, internet kiosk to improve villagers' access to information, or small businesses. Furthermore, we hope that it will be useful to realize sustainable society in the future. 

Panasonic will strengthen the efforts to contribute towards achieving sustainable development and accomplishment of MDGs in both businesses and corporate citizenship activities. The objective is to realize our vision to become No.1 Green Innovation Company by 2018. 

Mr. Hidetoshi Osawa, Executive Officer of Panasonic Corporation Shakes Hands with Head Teacher of Mbola Primary School

Moscow: Iran has no long-range missiles, a Russian defence official said on Tuesday, in Moscow's first response to a series of tests conducted by Tehran near the vital Strait of Hormuz oil supply route.


"Iran does not have the technology to create intermediate or long-range inter-continental ballistic missiles," defence ministry spokesman Vadim Koval told the Interfax news agency. 

"And it will not get such missiles any time soon," he added. 

Iran reported testing three missiles close to the Gulf oil-transit waterway yesterday amid preparations by Western powers to impose more economic sanctions over Tehran's nuclear drive. 

Two of the missiles can fly a maximum 200 kilometres, generally considered short-range weapons, although the Iranian media and a navy spokesman described one of them as "long-range". 

The other, a Nasr anti-ship missile, had a shorter range of 35 kilometres.

Russia has relatively close ties with Iran and built its first nuclear power station in the southern city of Bushehr. Moscow has also delivered the nuclear fuel for the reactor. 

Moscow has echoed Western concerns about the nature of the Iranian nuclear programme but has stopped short of publicly accusing Tehran of seeking atomic weapons and always said that the standoff should be solved by diplomacy. 

Kabul: The Afghan Taliban say they have reached a preliminary deal with the Gulf state of Qatar to open a liaison office there that could have a key role in peace talks to end more than a decade of war. 

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on Tuesday the liaison office will conduct negotiations with the international community. He did not say when it would open. 


Mujahid's statement says the Taliban held negotiations with Qatar's government and other "relevant parties" about the office's opening. 

For the US and its allies, the idea of a Taliban political office in Doha has become the central element in efforts to draw the insurgents into peace talks. 

A recent global survey shows S'pore rising to be the sixth most costly city in Asia

S’pore sixth most costly city in Asia: Survey

Regional director of ECA International Asia Lee Quane said rising prices in Singapore might erode the cost advantages it used to have over other cities in the region. (Yahoo! file photo)

Singapore has jumped two places to be the sixth most expensive city in Asia, according to a global survey.

This comes on the back of a stronger local dollar against major currencies and a 5.7 per cent rise in the average price of goods and services.

For the first time, Singapore also ranked ahead of its closest competitor Hong Kong, which slipped from sixth last year to ninth position in this year.

The annual Cost of Living survey, conducted by ECA International in September this year, used indicators comprising of day-to-day goods and services such as the price of groceries, clothing and electrical goods. It measured cost of living in more than 400 cities.

Regional director of ECA International Asia Lee Quane said, “When we look at the overall cost of ECA’s basket of goods and services in Singapore a year ago, these items were 1.7 per cent less expensive in Singapore than when purchased in Hong Kong.”

“Now those same items are 8.5 per cent more expensive in Singapore than Hong Kong.”

With rising prices in the Lion City, Quane noted that this might erode some of the cost advantage that Singapore used to have over other destinations in the region.

For one, companies will now have to pay their staff a higher allowance when they send them to Singapore, she said. However, the rising prices are “unlikely” to deter companies from relocating their staff to the country, she added.

Compared to countries worldwide, Singapore rose from 42nd to 32nd position while Hong Kong, which saw an increase in the price of goods, dropped 26 places to 58th position – the largest fall among Asian cities.

"When we look at Hong Kong in a regional context, the weak dollar means that the city is now cheaper than a number of other locations including Singapore, Beijing and Shanghai, where not only has there been significant price inflation but also currencies have strengthened,” said Quane.

Meanwhile, Tokyo remains the most expensive city in Asia for the second consecutive year. It is followed by three other Japanese cities, Nagoya, Yokohama and Kobe, as well as the Korean city of Seoul.

Rounding up the top ten after Singapore is Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Busan.

The Japanese capital also topped the global ranking for the second year running, due largely to the recent sharp rise of the country’s currency. Coming in second and third are Oslo and Geneva.